Last week was a bit unproductive. I mean there is not a lot that I can do now. I have to wait, and see what happens with my three projects. The first project with the different plant pots worries me, because I didn’t have growth on all of the pots with regular dessert soil. Only one of the five pots with a bean planted had germination and growth. I don’t understand what happened. In addition, the legume plants that were growing on the pots with potting soil are dying!!!

However, the second project with the winogradsky columns is showing progress. There is a change in color in the pond sediment, and the color is changing to a deep green (a sign of bacterial growth!!). I am very excited to see the end results. Well, I am not that excited to smell them.  Honestly, I can’t imagine how putrefying that smell would be!!

Finally, the last project is trying to create my own growth medium for bacteria. Just as the winogradsky columns, this project is a smelly one! The smell was so bad that I had to move my flasks twice, because it bothered other S-STEM scholars. I had to move them to a small incubator, and they seemed to be doing well.

For now, I am going to be working on doing a bit of more research. However, I also have to  focus on my other courses, because the semester is coming to an end. I know there is still seven weeks, but time doesn’t wait for anybody…..

Winogradsky column showing change in color

Plant pots with legume

So spring break is over...

            However, the week before spring break, I was able to move on with my project. That week, I came up with a liquid growth medium for bacteria. This growth medium was a broth containing deionized water, yeast extract, and either plastic stripes or small polyethylene beads.  The broth was made using 400 ml of deionized water, and mixing in 8 grams of yeast extract.  This mixture was prepared six times, and stored in different flasks. Five per-weighted stripes of plastic were added to three of the flasks. One gram of polyethylene beads were added to another three flasks.  

The last few weeks have gone very fast. I can’t believe that spring break is over!

             In order to introduce the bacteria to the broth, one gram of pond muck was added to one of the flasks with the plastic stripes, and another to the flaks with the polyethylene beads.  A gram of dessert soil was also added to one flask with plastic stripes, and another to the flask with the polyethylene beads. The two flask left were used as a control group.

           So far, the flasks have emitted a pungent smell, and I think that is a good sign. Just as with the other parts of my project, all I can do now is wait…..

The six flasks with growth medium

         I can’t believe another week has gone by.  Once again I played the waiting game. However, I have been very productive in writing my Abstract for the EMCC conference. Matt has revised it twice, and it’s looking good. Other than that, I have only watered my plants. I am a bit upset that the bean plants are dying off. At the begging I thought it was too much water, but reducing the amount of water isn’t helping. Matt suggested that they are dying because the plants have outgrown the pots. In addition, I have noticed that some of the Winogradsky columns have changed color to a green or black tone. I am very happy with that, because it is a good sign of bacterial growth. 

My plants are dying!!!