Tai Nakamura, Chloe Park (School: Bergen County Academies)
The goal of this experiment is to create an experimental medium composed of sand, lignocellulose, and Rhizopus oligosporus mycelium that can sustain crops and alleviate the decrease in arable land available for agriculture. The resistive force of the experimental medium was tested with a PASCO force meter and the same was done for its two control media: potting medium and sand. It was anticipated that the experimental medium would have a resistive force greater than that of sand and equal to that of potting medium. The force required for the experimental medium was greater than that of both the sand and the potting medium, proving that it is capable of providing structural support to plant roots. The ability of the experimental medium to support plant growth was tested by germinating mung beans (Vigna radiata) and Wisconsin Fast Plants (Brassica Rapa) and recording the quantity of true leaves over 34 and 19 days respectively. The experimental medium was expected to have a greater quantity of true leaves compared to sand and an equal quantity to potting medium. For the mung beans, the potting medium was 90% more favorable than both the other mediums in terms of true leaves on Day 34; the difference between sand and experimental medium was statistically insignificant. When growing the Wisconsin Fast Plants, although there were no significant differences between the quantity of true leaves in each medium, the mean for potting medium was 120% greater than that of sand and 57% greater than that of experimental medium. The second hypothesis was not supported, and results of leaf formation demonstrate that the experimental medium is not sufficient to produce viable mung bean plants. Further investigation on the compatibility of different plants to the experimental medium, as well as the utilization of various ratios of the three media components, is warranted to ascertain in what situations this experimental soil amendment process may be useful for food production in non-arable sandy soils.