Jayton-Girard FFA Members Conduct Research on Light's Impact on Plant Growth
Sunday, March 30, 2025 | Author: Texas FFA News
Griffith Reel and Daylee Chisum, Jayton-Girard FFA members, have been named the top Plant Systems (Category 6) Agriscience Fair Project in the nation at the 97th Annual National FFA Convention and Expo.
The National FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes students who gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises. Students use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food and natural resources. The agriscience fair is for middle and high school students. Students compete in one of six categories in the agriscience fair and under one of the six divisions — either individually or in a team.
Reel and Chisum’s project was titled “A Study of Photomorphogenesis in Pelargonium × Hortorum Plants Using Green, Blue, Purple, Red, and White Wavelengths of Light.”
“The purpose of the study was twofold,” said Reel and Chisum. “First to observe the growth of geraniums under different wavelengths and colors of light, and second to test the
effects of color treatments on plant growth in the following qualities: number of stems, plant
height, plant diameter, leaf size, and number of flowerheads.”
The results from the student’s study showed that growing plants under different wavelengths of light did result in differences in terms of number of stems, plant height, plant diameter, leaf size, and number of flower heads. However, plants that were grown under LED lights were also compared to plants grown in sunlight. It was concluded that, although colored light could be used to affect certain functions of growth, there really is no good substitution for natural sunlight.
“Plants need light and optimizing the light they receive can help to control the variables that can often work against the greenhouse owners,” said Reel and Chisum. “Technological advances in the greenhouse industry, such as LEDs created with specific wavelengths of light, aim to increase profitability and sustainability.”
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