About

The Setup

Each plant is a green shoot cutting from the same bramble plant.  Each is roughly the length of my hand, potted in a black pot 9cms in diameter.  Each is potted in soil from the same source, watered at the same time, and given top-ups of nutrients at the same time.  Independent Variables will include heat, humidity, hours of direct sun, and being indoors or outdoors.  The Dependent Variable is how well the plant thrives.  

Rubus 1 (5 plants)

These five plants are essentially the control, cool but not cold, medium on everything but humidity, on a windowsill that has nursed a lot of weak plants up to full strength.  There are some interesting variations among the plants themselves in this group, and these are also being explored.  They are named Bella, Milo, Fizz, Jake, and Doodle.  

Rubus 2 (6 plants)

These six plants are on various windowsills around the house.  'Tilly' group receives more sun than Rubus 1, slightly less humidity, and is hotter.  'Tom' group receives less Sun than Rubus 1 and is the coolest and driest condition.  'Tiny' group receives the least Sun of all, is as humid as 'Tilly' group, warmer than Rubus 1 but only just.  

Rubus 3 (2 plants)

These two plants are being given a fortnight indoors to get themselves steady before being put straight outdoors in pots larger than the other groups.  They will receive no inputs from me at this point, only from Nature.  'Rosie' will hang from a horizontal surface with no saucer under the pot.  'Jim' will be at the same height as 'Rosie', only standing on a flat surface in a saucer.  

The Author

I'm Joey McKillop, 27 of Strawberry Hill in London.  I'm a keen gardener.  I have A levels in Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology from West Thames College; and I plan to go to university when my own circumstances are more favourable.  I'm doing this experiment because the bramble out front is likely to go soon anyway, so I might as well learn stuff about it.  I'm blogging it so that you might learn stuff, too.

Note to Teachers, Professional Scientists and other Amateur Scientists.  

This experiment is a nice and simple one with which to demonstrate a practical botanical study to Secondary pupils.  For an FE class, it might demonstrate the problems inherent in studies with smaller sample sizes.  All or part of the study may be used for the instruction of students on a not-for-profit basis.  If you wish to publish academic materials which reference this study then please give credit and enclose a link.  Contact me to arrange permission prior to any for-profit publishing.

The setup with pictures

    What to do, then?  Well, I intend to keep the bramble one way or another, but if the bulk of it must be chopped down then I might as well try some stuff out.  I'm not saying this'll work, so you shouldn't take this as a guide to action.  Still, here's what I'm getting up to:

The tools I'll need.  
I've filled the pots with soil from my garden, the same soil the parent plant is growing in.  Most would say to use potting compost, and I'd tend to agree.  My soil is crumbly, silty loam which successive gardeners since the 1930s have dug endless peaty compost into.  If I wanted a better medium for growing I'd have to invent it. 

I took the soil from the beds.  Specifically from a point furthest from where my V. faba are growing.  No sense in depriving the beans at this time of year.  Once filled, I took cuttings from shooting tips of the Rubus. They're easily spotted by the claw-like, mitroid tips.  These are where new growth is happening most vigorously, so they should be most likely to take root.  I think the greenest shoots are probably best.  Prior to cutting the blades of the scissors were suspended in a pan of water as it boiled.
The growing end of a vine.  
The shoot cutting, size 7 hand for scale.  

I took only healthy shoots, avoiding any that had a problem with greenfly.  Once a shoot cutting was taken, it had to be rinsed under the tap.  A good soaking helps prepare the cuttings.  A hole was made in the centre of my potted soil using a skewer and the cut end put into the soil.  I then used my thumbs to press the soil down gently, just enough to close the hole without compressing the soil.  



I've made a number of these - each of roughly the same length - and put them in the Nursery (my landing windowsill).  Mike, my baby bay, has been relocated to my bedroom windowsill for the duration.  Once there they each got a solution of 4:2:6 up to the yellow line on the saucer.  Now for the experiments.  I say experiment, but these are more akin to case studies than true lab experiments, albeit with certain controls in place.  Basic exercises in botanical study, but interesting for all that.  I'll observe the cuttings over the coming months and report on their progress.  Here's the five from Rubus 1 as they stand today:





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