The No.1 sample which was a brown yellow natural soil from Niuzhuang, Haicheng City and 21 samples of artificial soils were respectively put in 22 flowerpots and the flowerpots were put on the balcony of my house to do the test. The crops planted included wheat, rice, pakchoi, spinach, flower, grass and wild garlic. The saplings of locust tree, willow and elm were also planted. Wheat planting was the focus of the test.
On April 16, 2002, 200 seeds of wheat were sown respectively in 20 flowerpots, among which No.1 flowerpot was loaded with No.1 natural soil sample and No.2-No.20 flowerpots were loaded with No.2-No. 20 artificial soil samples. Three days later, the seeds in No. 5, 7,8,10 and 15 flowerpots sprouted and in No.8 black grey gangue artificial soil, 10 seeds sprouted. On the fourth day, seedlings were found in No.1 natural soil flowerpot with 3 in the morning and 22 in the evening while at the same time, 73 seedlings had been found in No.8 artificial soil flowerpot. On the fifth day, seedlings were found in No.19 cement artificial soil flowerpot that was the last to have seedlings in the 20 flowerpots. Seedlings were also found in No.20 slag artificial soil. On April 23, i.e. eight days after sowing, No. 3 flowerpot with black mudstone artificial soil in it had the most seedlings of 192 with the germination percentage of 96%, followed by No.1 natural soil with 188 seedlings and the germination percentage of 94%. The worst case was with No. 19 cement artificial soil with 73 seedlings and the germination percentage of 36%. By April 28, the seedlings in No.19 soil had increased to 127 with the germination percentage of 63%. The seedlings in No. 20 slag artificial soil reached 133 with the germination percentage of 66%, being the second from the bottom.
On May 5, 2002, the heights of the plants were measured, i.e. measuring the length from the surface of the soil to the top of the wheat leaves. The height of the wheat in No.13 granite artificial soil was 38cm, being the maximum, followed by the wheat in No. 1 natural soil of 36cm. The shortest was the wheat in No. 19 cement artificial soil with the height of 24cm and the wheat in No. 20 soil ranked the second from the bottom once again with 26cm.
On June 25, 2002, the first ear of wheat was found in No. 4 dark grey gangue artificial soil and wheat heads were spotted successively in other flowerpots afterwards. Up to now, it can be concluded that the lab test of artificial soils for planting has been successful. When the test was over, the development of the roots of wheat was observed and it was found that the development of roots in the artificial soils was no difference from that in natural soil except in No. 19 and No.20 soils. As for the low germination percentage and short and yellow plants at the initial stage as well as the occurrence of dead seedlings in No. 19 and No.20 soils, the poor living conditions for plants were to be blamed. Due to timely watering, the roots in these soils were developed better and the plants grew better. |