Showing posts with label Mangroves Flora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mangroves Flora. Show all posts

Monday, June 1, 2009

Do we need soil ...?

Fascinating discovery! About 30 seedlings I collected were sitting in the plastic bag half-filled with tap water and placed in the bucket. They were sitting in there for more than a week. I was about to change the water in the plastic bag and Wow! Roots! They were so cool.

Ingredients to allow roots to grow without any soil:
water, plastic bag (seedlings must be in the water at upright position)

Strange but true. I have no idea why. To get the roots out, the seedlings must be in the upright position. I have put seedlings in a huge bucket half-filled with water and the seedlings were horizontal position for 2-3 weeks; no roots.


Rhizophora apiculata sp. (bakau minyak) with their roots.


From left: Rhizophora mucronata sp (Bakau kurap); Center: Rhizophora apiculata sp (Bakau minyak); Right most: 15-cm ruler. Compare the length of these two different species but same family.


Average length of the root after more than a week is about 1cm.

In future posting, I will show you where the shoot of the young seedlings come from.
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