Lab Report on Seed Germination

Aim:
To measure how long it takes for a mustard seed to carry out
germination and in which conditions.

Apparatus:
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)
Water (H2O)
Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)
Three regular (yellow?) mustard seeds
3 black mustard seeds
3 glass beakers

Procedure:
Step 1: Put a cotton ball inside three beakers. This is because a surface
is needed for the seeds to germinate and cotton can be hydrated.
Step 2: Put three yellow mustard seeds and three black mustard seeds
in three beakers.
Step 3: Put a small amount of hydrochloric acid in one beaker, a small
amount of water in another beaker and a small amount of sodium
hydroxide, which is an alkali, in the final beaker.

** Safety Precaution: Ensure that the cotton ball is soaked but not
drenched as too much hydration can cause the seed to die as oxygen
cannot reach the seeds.

Result:
Among the three beakers, only the beaker containing H2O saw
germination take place as one of the seeds sprouted. However, since
only one seed sprouted. We can conclude that due to a lack of proper
conditions, complete germination was unable to take place.
Discussion:
It takes 7-14 days for mustard seeds to
germinate properly. The optimum
temperature for germination to take
place is between 18-20 degrees
Celsius. The cotton ball must be kept
moist but not wet or dry. They grow
best when they are sown directly in the
garden. They must be sown 5mm deep
and 30-40 cm apart from each other in
rows 40-60cm apart. Mustard is also
known as a cool season crop and does
not grow well under warm, summer
conditions. Mustard seeds do not grow
under hydrochloric acid nor sodium
hydroxide, meaning it does not grow in
acidic nor alkaline conditions.
The seeds were not given enough time
to germinate properly. The current
season is summer with high
temperatures reaching up to 38
degrees Celsius with high humidity.
Since water was added every day, too
much hydration may have taken place
either destroying the seed or
preventing oxygen to travel efficiently,
delaying the rate of germination. They
were not grown in an ideal
environment as they were grown in a
beaker with seeds not being deep
enough and too close to each other
preventing them from having enough
space to grow. Since mustard seeds do
not grow under acidic or alkaline
conditions, the beakers with cotton
soaked in HCl and NaOH did not see
any germination take place in the
seeds.
Improvements:
1) Less water should have been
poured onto the seeds so that
there is ample space for oxygen
to travel in.
2) The seeds should have been
placed further apart from each
other and the space should have
been maintained so that the
seeds have enough area to grow
in.
3) More time should have been
given to find out if more seeds
germinate as it usually takes 14
days for the seeds to grow and
temperature should have been
controlled and lowered as the
temperature used was far above
its optimum temperature of 18-
20 degrees Celsius due to
summer
Group Members:
Farzaad - e - Deen Ahmed
Nagibul Huda
Sanika Abedin
Tahsin Eusuf