Shelby Rauck

Megan DeVries

Biology 104 Lab

February 14, 2017

Allelopathy Experiment

Introduction:

Plants that have allelopathic qualities tend to impact the growth

and germinations of surrounding species through forms of chemical

secretions. Not all plants have allelopathic qualities, but the plants that

do, usually impact other plants in a positive or negative way.

Allelopathic qualities can easily be measured in a greenhouse or

research lab through experiments, due to the ability to manipulate

control settings, compared to an outside, natural environment.

Purpose of Experiment:

This Allelopathy experiment was designed to test if the direct

contact of onion, impacts germination and length of lettuce seedling

sprouts.

Hypothesis:

Null: The presence of onion will have no impact on the seedling

length and germination abilities of lettuce.

Alternative: The presence of onion negatively impacts the

seedling length and germination abilities of lettuce.

Methods:

First, a control group was designated, consisting of 8 replicate

petri dishes, where the bottom of the dish was covered with a damp

tissue material and filled with 10 lettuce seedlings, scattered

throughout the container randomly. Second, a treatment group was

created, again with 8 replicate petri dishes, a damp tissue base, and 10

randomly scattered lettuce seedlings; in addition, all of these dishes

also received the presence of chopped onion. Following these steps,

temperature, distilled water (measured via pipette) and light conditions

remained consistent among all groups. Lastly, after one week of letting

the lettuce seeds grow, the number of germinated seedlings was

counted and sprout lengths were measured (in centimeters).

Results:

Whereas presence of onion has little, but a positive effect on the

number of lettuce seeds germinated, the presence of onion inhibited

the length of lettuce seedling sprouts.

Number of Seeds Germinated

Number Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Averag

of Seeds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 e
Control 5 7 5 5 6 8 7 0* 6.1

(no
onion)

Treatme 8 4 3 7 9 7 9 8 6.9

nt

Control Group (no onion) Column1

Figure 1. The above figure shows that lettuce seedlings exposed to

onion germinate slightly more on average compared to lettuce

seedlings without onion presence.

Length of Seedling Sprout (cm)

Length Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Dish Averag

of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 e (cm)

Sprout

(cm)
Control 4.2 3.3 2.8 1.7 5 4.8 3.5 0* 3.6 cm

(no cm cm cm cm cm cm cm

onion)
Treatme 3.5 2.0 2.3 3.8 2.6 2.2 3.1 3.7 2.9 cm
nt cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm

(onion)

Control Group (no

onion)
Series 3

Experiment Groups

Figure 2. The above figure shows that lettuce seedling sprouts exposed

to onion were slightly shorter on average compared to the lettuce

seedlings that grew without onion.

Illustrated in Figure 1, the presence of onion combined with

lettuce seedlings in a petri dish produced more germinated seeds (6.9)

on average, compared to the seedlings that grew without the onion

(6.1). Figure 2 illustrates that lettuce seedling sprouts exposed to onion

grew slightly shorter seedling sprouts (2.9 cm), compared to the

seedlings that grew without onion (3.6 cm). It should be noted that one

set of results were eliminated due to excessive water disrupting

accurate results.

Discussion:

Claim: The presence of onion has little effect on seed

germination; however, it tends to inhibit the length of lettuce sprout

seedlings.
 Knowing that allelopathic qualities among some types of plants

reduce seed germination and seedling growth (Einhellig and Leather,

1988), our experiment tested these effects from onion on to lettuce.

Since most herbs and spices with strong odors tend to have higher

allelopathic activity, onion was chosen to be the independent variable.

In previous studies, onion has been proven to significantly reduce

seedling shoot length and seedling weights; for example, in chickpea

(Baber, Nadeem, and Javaid, 2009). In the onion allelopathy

experiment, the average number of seeds that germinated among the

petri dishes were so close to being equal, at 6.1 cm and 6.9 cm,

showing that onion does not have a large impact on benefiting or

inhibiting seed germination of lettuce. On the other hand, the presence

of onion in the petri dish negatively impacted the overall length of the

lettuce seedling sprout, similar to the previous study mentioned above

dealing with chickpea seedling growth. On average, lettuce seedlings

were able to grow longer without the presence of onion (3.6 cm)

compared to the dishes that hosted the onion (2.9 cm).

In addition, allelopathic qualities have large impacts on the field

of agriculture and weed management. Onion specifically, has been

proven to have a substantial allelopathic presence among agricultural

situations, inhibiting both maize (corn) germination and growth

behavior and sorghum seedling germination and growth behavior

(Guatam, 2013). Some researchers may say that allelopathic

measurement techniques in a lab should be considered less reliable as

representations of what actually occurs in the natural environment,

due to the lack of naturally occurring variables such as soil, microbes

and other plants themselves (Inderjit and Weiner, 2001). Whereas

these points are valid, lab research settings can sometimes be just as

equal, if not more reliable than natural observation due to the ability to

control for extraneous variables like temperature and the amount of

water each dish receives.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, many plants have allelopathic qualities that will impact

its surroundings in a positive or negative way. Even though the

presence of onion does not inhibit seed germination, the allelopathic

qualities of onion negatively impact lettuce seedling sprout length.

Studying allelopathic qualities similar to these has many practical

applications in the scientific and agricultural fields.

Works Cited:

Babar, Babar H., et al. "Allelopathic potential of wild onion

(Asphodelus tenuifolius) on the germination and seedling growth

of chickpea (Cicer arietinum)." Weed Biology and Management

9.2 (2009): 146-151.

Einhellig, Frank A., and Gerald R. Leather. "Potentials for

exploiting allelopathy to enhance crop production." Journal of

Chemical Ecology 14.10 (1988): 1829-1844.

Guatam, Shiv Shankar. Allelopathic interaction of wild onion on

germination and growth of sorghum and maize (2013)

Inderjit, and Jacob Weiner. Plant allelochemical interference or

soil chemical ecology? Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution

and Systematics 4(1):3-12 (2001)