During the winter, you spread salt daily on your driveway to melt the snow. In the springtime, when the lawn begins to grow, you noticed that there is no grass growing for about 3 inches from the driveway. Furthermore, the grass seems to be growing more slowly up to 1 foot from the driveway. Question: Might grass growth be inhibited by salt? Introduction: The chemical components that make up salt are the fused elements of sodium and hollered (Editorial Board, 2012).
If there is abundance or very little salts present in dissolve fluids, there could be interference with routine cell functions. Plants depend on water for fluids within the living cells. Too much salt disrupts the flow of the necessary fluids to get to the roots. In addition, a disruption of the photosynthesis process which depends on water particles to carry oxygen and hydrogen atoms throughout the plant becomes stagnant. The salt, mixed with snow and ice, melts down to a watery substance that contains high levels of sodium chloride.
Hypothesis: The grass that has been saturated in salt will take longer to grow. Prediction: If my hypothesis is correct, then the outcome of the grass that was saturated with high levels of salt would grow much slower than the grass that was not exposed to salt. Methods In order to be consistent with the observations, mark off evenly with wooden steaks, three patches of grass 2 feet x 2 feet, starting from the edge of the driveway. Each section is touching the driveway. All three patches of grass are five feet away from each other.
Measure all three section to ensure the height of the grass are even, so trim down to 2 h inches for each patch of grass. In one bottle (1) add an inch in depth across the bottom with rock salt. In bottle (2) add h inch of rock salt across the bottom. In bottle (3) add nothing. Take all three spray bottles and fill with water from the same water source. Shake and let the bottle sit for 24 hours before using, so that the salt and water has time to mix. Bottle 1 would act as grass being grown 3 inches from the driveway. Bottle 2 would act as grass being grown 1 foot away from he driveway.
Bottle 3 would act as grass being grown 2 feet away from the driveway. The grass will be watered every day for 5 days, with the same amount of (30) sprays on each patch. Use a ruler to measure the height of the grass at the conclusion of the experiment. Results: After the 5th day of water treatment on each patch of grass, I found that the grass that used Bottle 1 only grew h inch and light brown in color. The grass that used Bottle 2 grew % of an inch and had a dark brown in color. The grass that used Bottle 3 grew 1 h inches and kept its greenish color. Conclusion:
Based on the results of the experiment, my hypothesis stands true to the facts that when grass (plants) are saturated with salt, the sodium and chloride blend disrupts the flow of H2O in the roots of the grass (Roadside Vegetation, 2011). In addition, high sodium applications affected the plant’s growth by changing the soil composition, and prevented the roots to absorb water and air. A resolution can be determined if, by installing a barrier along the driveway or taking preventive measures by treating the contaminated grass immediately after exposure with growth fertilizer.
