Photos from the 2003 East Tennessee Collegiate Division Meeting of the Tennessee Academy of Science held at Pellissippi State Technical Community College
4/11/2003
Heather Amann, Tennesee Wesleyan College
ABSTRACT
The Effects of Rock Salt on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth
Since the last century, rock salt has become a highly popular ice and snow dissolvent. Because of the availability and low price of salt, most major and minor roads are sprinkled or sprayed with rock salt with little attention paid to the effects of this salt on the soil and vegetation. In this experiment, the effects of rock salt on Phaseolus limensis (lima bean) were tested. Ten P. limensis were planted and rock salt was sprinkled on top of the soil before watering the plants. The results were that almost half of the plants had a mold associated with them, and the other seeds slowly germinated, thus proving salt's harmful effects on plants not adapted to saline environments.
