Making an indoor bonsai Paulownia tree experiment at home, free supplies and seeds - Orchid Board

KultureShock · #1 12-08-2012, 07:28 PM

I am proud to announce the first in their series of unique Plant Growth Regulator Science Experiments.
We will be giving 20 members of the Orchid Board the hormones and seeds required to complete this project.(participants must pay shipping and handling fees which come to a flat rate of 8$ anywhere in the united states and 6$ for canada. international users message me for a quote.)
Also Feel free to mention anything you think i should add i will do my best to incorporate it.

For December were going to be making Indoor Bonzi Apple Trees with the capability to produce fruit in that setting. As we go through the process of creating our Bonzie Apple Tree, we will be learning about the roles of the various hormones used in the natural life processes of apples. This information can than be applied to a number of different species and will give you a basic understanding of the chemical processes behind plant growth. So without further ado i give you this months Science Project:

Background:

The aim of this experiment is to create a Bonzi apple tree suitable for indoor growing using various plant growth regulators.
Paclobutrazol (PBZ) is a plant growth retardant and triazole fungicide. It is a known antagonist of the plant hormone gibberellin. It acts by inhibiting gibberellin biosynthesis, reducing internodial growth to give stouter stems, increasing root growth, causing early fruitset and increasing seedset in plants such as tomato and pepper. PBZ has also been shown to reduce frost sensitivity in plants.
PBZ is used by arborists to reduce shoot growth and has been shown to have additional positive effects on trees and shrubs. Among those are improved resistance to drought stress, darker green leaves, higher resistance against fungi and bacteria, and enhanced development of roots.Cambial growth, as well as shoot growth, has been shown to be reduced in some tree species.

6-Benzylaminopurine, BAP is a first-generation Naturally occuring cytokinin that elicits plant growth and development responses, setting blossoms and stimulating fruit richness by stimulating cell division. It is an inhibitor of respiratory kinase in plants, and increases post-harvest life of green vegetables. Influence of cytokinin as 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) in combination with other methods on postharvest green color retention on broccoli heads and asparagus spears, showed positive results for quality retention. Treatment with 10 and 15 ppm BAP can be used to extend shelf life of fresh-cut broccoli florets and shredded cabbage during storage at 6±1°C at commercial level.

Gibberellic acid is a simple gibberellin, a pentacyclic diterpene acid promoting growth and elongation of cells. It affects decomposition of plants and helps plants grow if used in small amounts, but eventually plants develop tolerance to it[citation needed]. GA stimulates the cells of germinating seeds to produce mRNA molecules that code for hydrolytic enzymes. Gibberellic acid is a very potent hormone whose natural occurrence in plants controls their development. Since GA regulates growth, applications of very low concentrations can have a profound effect while too much will have the opposite effect.[1] It is usually used in concentrations between 0.01 and 10 mg/L.
Gibberellins have a number of effects on plant development. They can stimulate rapid stem and root growth, induce mitotic division in the leaves of some plants, and increase seed germination rate.
Gibberellic acid is sometimes used in laboratory and greenhouse settings to trigger germination in seeds that would otherwise remain dormant. It is also widely used in the grape-growing industry as a hormone to induce the production of larger bundles and bigger grapes, especially Thompson seedless grapes. In the Okanagan and Creston valleys, it is also used as a growth replicator in the cherry industry.

The information in the lab can be applied to orchids as well, the only reason i did not use orchids as the target plant is that they take so long to grow and are hard to start from seed for the average grower. Apple seedlings react to the hormones in question in a very similiar way as orchids so information learned here is transferable.

Problem:

How to create a Bonzi Apple Tree at home that is suitable for indoor growing, and has the capability to produce fruits in that setting.

Hypothesis: Hey OrchidBoard! Give your hypothesis as to what will happen!

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Materials:

Paclobutrazol
Benzylaminopurine
Gibberellic Acid
10 Apple seeds
Planting supplies(dirt, pots, etc)
spray bottle
Pen and paper
measuring cups
3 jars with watertight lids
Plastic Gloves

Procedure:

1)Make up a solution of 600ppm Gibberellic Acid by adding the provided gibberellic acid paste to 100ml of hot water and shaking vigorously until emulsified in a sealed jar.
2) apple seeds are soaked in 600ppm gibberellic acid solution for 12 hours to break dormancy and eliminate the need for stratification
3)after the 12 hour soak all seeds should be planted 4cm below the surface in 1-2 inch separate pots.
4)Time to make a 23ppm solution of paclobutrazol.(WEAR GLOVE AT ALL TIME WHEN WORKING WITH PACLOBUTRAZOL! IF IT COMES INTO CONTACT WASH AFFECTED AREA WITH SOAP FOR 5 MINUTES! THE CONCENTRATIONS WE ARE WORKING WITH ARE WITHIN THE SAFE RANGE BUT IT IS STILL A HAZARDOUS COMPOUND SO IT IS BETTER TO BE SAFE) all you have to do is take the provided paclobutrazol paste and add it to 100ml of hot water, shake vigorously in a sealed GLASS container until emulsified.
5) Now for the preparation of the final solution. To make a 700ppm BenzylaminoPurine solution simply add the BAP paste provided to 100ml of hot water and shake vigorously in a sealed container until emulsified.
6)now that we have all of our stock solutions and all of our seeds are planted its time to start a couple of the applications before our seeds sprout. First off we are going to pick three of our potted seeds. Then we are going to apply 10ml of Paclobutrazol solution to the soil directly above where each of the three seeds are planted,then label the containers. This is so that you can see the difference each method of application can have on the final results.

7) now its time to wait for the seeds to sprout and grow to about 2 inches tall and has its first 2 sets of true leaves.
8)take 3 seedlings that have not been treated with pacloburazol yet, and spray each of them with 10ml of the paclobutrazol solution you made earlier, and then label the containers(DO ALL MISTING OF PACLOBUTRAZOL OUTSIDE WITH THE WIND BLOWING AWAY FROM YOU!JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE OF THINGS!)
9)take another 3 untreated seedling and mist with 20ml 700ppm Benzylaminopurine and then label the containers.
10)This is where it starts to get interesting. All groups of plants should now be labelled so that you know which plant was treated with what and it's time to start growing them as you would normally, except the growth that about to begin should be anything but normal.
11)Take a photograph of each group of plants once a week, Posting the photo's here so that the rest of the people working on the project can see and compare results with you.
12)Together Using the information you have gathered from your own observations and the observations of your fellow participants come up with a procedure to enhance the growth of the Bonzi Plants using the remaining hormone solutions.(HINT: Everything you need to do so is provided)

Conclusion Questions:

What ended up being the optimal hormone to use after the initial treatment for inducing new lateral growth?
Did you manage to find out how to reverse the effects of Paclobutrazol?
What changes do you think occured upon application of the various hormones to cause the reactions in the plants that they did?

Call_Me_Bob · #2 12-08-2012, 08:01 PM

interesting concept, but there are a few things ill mention.

mainly that as far as i know, it takes years for seeds to grow large enough to produce fruit, and thats outdoors with unrestricted growth. i imagine adding hormones that retard growth would just add to that time.

also, apple trees are deciduous and live in climates with a cold winter. so if growing them indoors all year long, they wont live long.

and as far as creating a "bonzi" (bonsai?) it can take YEARS to creat anything with substantial trunk maturity to have a good bonsai

KultureShock · #3 12-08-2012, 08:16 PM

Frequently Asked Quetions:

as far as i know, it takes*years*for seeds to grow large enough to produce fruit, and thats outdoors with unrestricted growth. i imagine adding hormones that retard growth would just add to that time.

The reason giving the plants growth stunting hormones doesnt slow down the overall growth is because of the way the hormones work to supress growth. The only one of the hormones were using that is classed as a growth retardent is Paclobutrazol and it works by making it so the plant cannot synthesize Gibberellic Acid on it's own. Gibberellic acid is the hormone that is responsible for stem elongation, so when this hormone is not being produced by the plant it becomes very difficult for it to grow upwards. It does not inhibit any of the other main growing factors though, and the weight of treated and untreated plants is generally the same, because the plant is no longer growing upwards it can put all of it's energy into developing roots,leaves, and side shoots. Sometimes the use of Paclobutrazol can actually increase the rate of growth exponentially!
Benzylaminopurine is the other hormone that we use to prevent the plants from growing upwards. It works by inducing active cell division, which results in growth from most if not all of the plants lateral dormant nodes. It also prevents most vertical growth although the mechanism of action for this is poorly understood.
I hope this gives a little better understanding of whats going on.

Also, apple trees are deciduous and live in climates with a cold winter. so if growing them indoors all year long, they wont live long.*:

I was going to leave this for another months project and slowly describe the entire picture so as not to confuse things, but i'll give a short description now.
The hormone combination we use to help in this situation is: Brassinolide,Triacontinol and Indole-butyric Acid.
Brassinolide acts by strengthening the plants natural defense systems. causing increased resistance to drought,flooding,insect infestations(make leaves less penetrable),improves resistance to root rot, and when used in combination with Triacontinol allows plants that would normally require a dormancy period to keep growing without one.
Indole-butyric acid is useful in this situation because it eliminates symptoms of shock that can be caused by cold draft and temperature drops in the winter.

I will get into more detail once we get to that part of the project. As things are the baby tree's wont need any special dormancy treatment for the first year or so.
Also it is possible to induce dormancy in tree's grown indoors if you wanted to allow the plant to get its natural rest period.

as far as creating a "bonzi" (bonsai?) it can take YEARS to creat anything with substantial trunk maturity to have a good bonsai :

With the aid of various hormones getting an appropriate sized plant can be done in a relatively short amount of time. Benzylaminopurine will be of the most use for this particular purpose. It forces plants cell's to divide resulting in a rapid thickening of the stem, widening of the leave, and breaking of dormancy in nodes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

i know you never said it would be a short project, i was just motioning that it wouldnt be short..

now as far as hormones that will allow a tree, that otherwise would need to be outdoors and have that winter "rest", to thrive indoors, i believe you if you say so, but can you explain how this works? which additional hormones that you add will alleviate this potential problem, and how?

I was going to leave this for another months project and slowly describe the entire picture so as not to confuse things, but i'll give a short description now.
The hormone combination we use to help in this situation is: Brassinolide,Triacontinol and Indole-butyric Acid.
Brassinolide acts by strengthening the plants natural defense systems. causing increased resistance to drought,flooding,insect infestations(make leaves less penetrable),improves resistance to root rot, and when used in combination with Triacontinol allows plants that would normally require a dormancy period to keep growing without one.
Indole-butyric acid is useful in this situation because it eliminates symptoms of shock that can be caused by cold draft and temperature drops in the winter.

I will get into more detail once we get to that part of the project. As things are the baby tree's wont need any special dormancy treatment for the first year or so.
Also it is possible to induce dormancy in tree's grown indoors if you wanted to allow the plant to get its natural rest period.

KultureShock · #4 12-08-2012, 08:27 PM

I've included all the information in this post in the FAQ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

interesting concept, but there are a few things ill mention.

mainly that as far as i know, it takes years for seeds to grow large enough to produce fruit, and thats outdoors with unrestricted growth. i imagine adding hormones that retard growth would just add to that time.

also, apple trees are deciduous and live in climates with a cold winter. so if growing them indoors all year long, they wont live long.

and as far as creating a "bonzi" (bonsai?) it can take YEARS to creat anything with substantial trunk maturity to have a good bonsai

Just thought i would give you a more indepth answer, i never once claimed that this was going to be a short project, The aim here is to educate you on the various roles of the hormones in the life cycle of plants while doing it in a way that makes it interesting and gives you something to show for your work,and yes it going to take time but all the best things do. With the aid of various hormones it is more then just possible to grow an apple tree year round indoor's its extremely simple and is a much faster process than would occure in nature. So for those of you who have patience and dont mind waiting to see results i think this is a great opportunity.

Call_Me_Bob · #5 12-08-2012, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KultureShock

Just thought i would give you a more indepth answer, i never once claimed that this was going to be a short project, The aim here is to educate you on the various roles of the hormones in the life cycle of plants while doing it in a way that makes it interesting and gives you something to show for your work,and yes it going to take time but all the best things do. With the aid of various hormones it is more then just possible to grow an apple tree year round indoor's its extremely simple and is a much faster process than would occure in nature. So for those of you who have patience and dont mind waiting to see results i think this is a great opportunity.

i know you never said it would be a short project, i was just motioning that it wouldnt be short..

now as far as hormones that will allow a tree, that otherwise would need to be outdoors and have that winter "rest", to thrive indoors, i believe you if you say so, but can you explain how this works? which additional hormones that you add will alleviate this potential problem, and how?

KultureShock · #6 12-08-2012, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

i know you never said it would be a short project, i was just motioning that it wouldnt be short..

now as far as hormones that will allow a tree, that otherwise would need to be outdoors and have that winter "rest", to thrive indoors, i believe you if you say so, but can you explain how this works? which additional hormones that you add will alleviate this potential problem, and how?

I was going to leave this for another months project and slowly describe the entire picture so as not to confuse things, but i'll give a short description now.
The hormone combination we use to help in this situation is: Brassinolide,Triacontinol and Indole-butyric Acid.
Brassinolide acts by strengthening the plants natural defense systems. causing increased resistance to drought,flooding,insect infestations(make leaves less penetrable),improves resistance to root rot, and when used in combination with Triacontinol allows plants that would normally require a dormancy period to keep growing without one.
Indole-butyric acid is useful in this situation because it eliminates symptoms of shock that can be caused by cold draft and temperature drops in the winter.

I will get into more detail once we get to that part of the project. As things are the baby tree's wont need any special dormancy treatment for the first year or so.
Also it is possible to induce dormancy in tree's grown indoors if you wanted to allow the plant to get its natural rest period.

KultureShock · #7 12-08-2012, 09:12 PM

Oh yea one more thing Call_me_Bob , sorry i didnt mention it earlier i got kind of side tracked. The reason giving the plants growth stunting hormones doesnt slow down the overall growth is because of the way the hormones work to supress growth. The only one of the hormones were using that is classed as a growth retardent is Paclobutrazol and it works by making it so the plant cannot synthesize Gibberellic Acid on it's own. Gibberellic acid is the hormone that is responsible for stem elongation, so when this hormone is not being produced by the plant it becomes very difficult for it to grow upwards. It does not inhibit any of the other main growing factors though, and the weight of treated and untreated plants is generally the same, because the plant is no longer growing upwards it can put all of it's energy into developing roots,leaves, and side shoots. Sometimes the use of Paclobutrazol can actually increase the rate of growth exponentially!
Benzylaminopurine is the other hormone that we use to prevent the plants from growing upwards. It works by inducing active cell division, which results in growth from most if not all of the plants lateral dormant nodes. It also prevents most vertical growth although the mechanism of action for this is poorly understood.
I hope this gives a little better understanding of whats going on.
Best regards,
Kevin Disher
KultureShock

KultureShock · #8 12-08-2012, 09:29 PM

Frequently Asked Quetions:

as far as i know, it takes*years*for seeds to grow large enough to produce fruit, and thats outdoors with unrestricted growth. i imagine adding hormones that retard growth would just add to that time.

The reason giving the plants growth stunting hormones doesnt slow down the overall growth is because of the way the hormones work to supress growth. The only one of the hormones were using that is classed as a growth retardent is Paclobutrazol and it works by making it so the plant cannot synthesize Gibberellic Acid on it's own. Gibberellic acid is the hormone that is responsible for stem elongation, so when this hormone is not being produced by the plant it becomes very difficult for it to grow upwards. It does not inhibit any of the other main growing factors though, and the weight of treated and untreated plants is generally the same, because the plant is no longer growing upwards it can put all of it's energy into developing roots,leaves, and side shoots. Sometimes the use of Paclobutrazol can actually increase the rate of growth exponentially!
Benzylaminopurine is the other hormone that we use to prevent the plants from growing upwards. It works by inducing active cell division, which results in growth from most if not all of the plants lateral dormant nodes. It also prevents most vertical growth although the mechanism of action for this is poorly understood.
I hope this gives a little better understanding of whats going on.

Also, apple trees are deciduous and live in climates with a cold winter. so if growing them indoors all year long, they wont live long.*:

I was going to leave this for another months project and slowly describe the entire picture so as not to confuse things, but i'll give a short description now.
The hormone combination we use to help in this situation is: Brassinolide,Triacontinol and Indole-butyric Acid.
Brassinolide acts by strengthening the plants natural defense systems. causing increased resistance to drought,flooding,insect infestations(make leaves less penetrable),improves resistance to root rot, and when used in combination with Triacontinol allows plants that would normally require a dormancy period to keep growing without one.
Indole-butyric acid is useful in this situation because it eliminates symptoms of shock that can be caused by cold draft and temperature drops in the winter.

I will get into more detail once we get to that part of the project. As things are the baby tree's wont need any special dormancy treatment for the first year or so.
Also it is possible to induce dormancy in tree's grown indoors if you wanted to allow the plant to get its natural rest period.

as far as creating a "bonzi" (bonsai?) it can take YEARS to creat anything with substantial trunk maturity to have a good bonsai :

With the aid of various hormones getting an appropriate sized plant can be done in a relatively short amount of time. Benzylaminopurine will be of the most use for this particular purpose. It forces plants cell's to divide resulting in a rapid thickening of the stem, widening of the leave, and breaking of dormancy in nodes.

Leafmite · #9 12-08-2012, 09:55 PM

Actually, I think you have a great idea. Maybe the experiments just should involve orchids and not apple trees. I grow apple trees and I know from my reading that you rarely get good apples from trees grown by seed. This is why the trees you buy are always grafted. To get apples, you need full sun, cold winters, bees, and must spray the trees every two weeks, from the time of pollination until harvest, with malathion (sometimes Sevin) and captan so that the apples are edible. A tree does take many years to mature, as pointed out and not all seeds produce trees hardy enough to survive. Stark Brothers, a tree company known for selling fruit trees, has pot grown trees in the size that is likely the smallest able to survive the conditions for producing fruit (and they are grafted). Please, don't take offense. I think it is great that you are coming up with ideas. Ideas are valuable to progress even if they sometimes have limitations that prevent them from leading to success. Try something that grows more quickly, such as a papaya tree. They are perfect for what you want to do!

KultureShock · #10 12-08-2012, 09:58 PM