Hydroponics: What Factors Affect The Growth Rate Of Plants

Purpose

My interest in the growth rate of plants developed from looking at my grandparent’s garden and wondering why certain plants grew faster and larger than others even if they develop into the same vegetable. I became interested in hydroponics after learning about how it does not require soil and it intrigued me that one can grow a vegetable without soil. This led me to look into what factors affect the growth rate of plants in hydroponics, and I found out that pH can affect the growth rate. I chose pH because it is simple to manipulate.

Research Question

What effect does the pH of the hydroponics plant pod have on the growth rate of basil (Ocimum Basilicum) seeds?

Introduction

Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without the use of traditional fertilizer or soil. When growing plants, 16 elements are needed for growth and these elements are obtained from water, air, and fertilizers. When using hydroponics to grow plants, the nutrients needed that are traditionally found in soil are put into a water based nutrient solution which allows growth of the plant to occur indoors or during any time of year because it is not dependent on the growing conditions outside. There are numerous benefits to using hydroponics compared to gardening with soil or traditional fertilizer. The growth rate of a plant using hydroponics is about 30-50 percent faster than the growth rate of a plant using traditional soil or fertilizer. Also, more plant is produced when using