Glucose solution - too much of a good thing?

Since the autopsy i have been considering different possibilities as to why my beans germination was unsuccessful. Initially i had thought that glucose would help the bean by giving it more energy, although i am aware that the bean has all the energy it needs for germination ready inside. The mixture was quite strong, about 1:10 glucose / water, a combination which works for me when i need high levels of energy at times of physical exertion. I had presumed that the bean would also be involved in a high level of physical exertion in germination, and the glucose would help!

I considered possibilitythat perhaps the glucose had made it too sticky for the bean to emerge, although the autopsy revealed that the bean had made no progress whatsoever on the germination front. Although there was evidence of moisture in the bean, perhaps there wasn't enough at its critical stages of germination.

A feasible theory on it's failure to germinate could be related to osmosis which would affect the water balance of the bean and absorption of moisture. If the sugar content of the water outside the bean was greater than the bean itself then water could potentially be drawn out of the bean.
To test whether the water was just too high in glucose i conducted a further experiment. I put a cube of potato in the remaining glucose solution, and one of the same size in water. If the water was easily absorbed the potato will get bigger, if it shrinks the water is evidently being drawn out of the bean. Interestingly over 12 hours, the water potato got bigger, and the glucose potato got very slightly smaller, showing that the glucose solution actually drew moisture out the potato.

Instead of the glucose helping germination, the concentration was so high that it actually hindered the absorption of moisture essential for growth. Although i had intended to help growth, i inadvertently jeopardised any chance of life that my beans may have had!

The last bean gets the chop

I'm now just a little concerned with the lack of progress the glucose solution beans have made, no plant has ever done as poorly as this in my care! After holding out as long as i could, hoping for change i have now decided that no germination period could be as long as this in 'favourable' conditions. With no signs of life, my beans have now had an autopsy, not to see cause of death in this case, but to see if there were any signs of life before death. The outer shell of my beans are quite brown and shrivelled now, and the inside revealed itself to be soft and creamy - not shrivelled at all. It is evident now that moisture has reached the inside, yet something was obviously inhibiting the beans growth. Water and glucose should have been an ideal solution for beans, yet i really can't see how it had no effect on my beans. I'm off to do some more research...

The Roswelll Autopsy

I have today done an autopsy on one of my beans (without the presence of any rheumy eyed aliens or reference to Area 51), the shoots are quite green still and are about two inches in length with the beginnings of leaves on the end.
However they do not look overly healthy with the outer shell being very brown and shrivelled which has allowed a somewhat small white bean to emerge.
I have cut the bean in half from the shoot downwards, the inside of the bean is a creamy white colour and is a little like a water chesnut in texture. Inside of the beans there are several brown rings (simillar to the rings in a tree stump), I am unsure of why these are present, I wonder if perhaps this is due to the salt which is rotting the beans cell structure by depleating its water intake and ability to hold the water within the cells.
The beans roots are now very brown in colour and shrivelled, I think this is partly because they have been unable to root themselves and also because of the salt effecting the beans growth.

I have quite enjoyed my bean blog, I have not grown anything from scratch for a while, I think I will not be watering my house plants with a salt water solution anytime soon!
On the whole my results were as I thought they may be from the research I carried out on the subjects of plants and beans and the use of salt solution watering.
It has also made me think about my own salt intake in my own diet and the effect it could have on my insides as it effected the beans insides.

The Final Watery Bean Blog Entry

The water fed beans on cotton wool have surpassed all my expectations. One plant has reached the lofty height of 25cm, the second plant is at a slightly shorter height of 18cm. They both have many bright leaves and look healthy and strong. However, I do expect that the may have been a bit less spindly is they could have got some nutrients from some soil and had something a bit stronger to grab hold of than a pad of cotton wool.

Water Bean Autopsy
Even though I felt really guilty about killing a healthy living plant, I had to cut it open to see what it contained (all in the name of science).
The bean still had a little bit of the brown shell on it, and once remove there was a waxy feeling bean inside. Once this was cut in half I noticed three little white shoots (a bit like new roots) coming from the plant stem in to the bean and a small pale brown patch in the centre. There was one thick brown root coming out of the bean with many smaller roots coming from this.

I have enjoyed doing my bean blog and feel that maybe I have greener fingers than I first thought. It have been interesting observing them closely and my daughter has been excited at bery new development. Even though the bean blog has finished I will be continuing to grow the last bean to see just how far it will go.

This is the successful watery bean blog, signing off for the last time.

Berlin by Christmas!

My beans are now somewhat bedraggled, they are starting to with a bit and the once long green shoot has gone floppyand limp.

I should be pleased really as not only will I not have to scrutinise them for much longer, but also my hypothesis of what would happen when giving them salty water (that the salt would increase their organic metabolic rate and cause the bean to outgrow itself to death) seems to be correct.

But I actually feel quite sorry for them, however it has to be said that mother nature is a tough old bird and that plants will try their hardest to grow despite their growing conditions.

I think the growth factor is also affected by the chilly weather and without doubt also that the roots which are now quite numerous and long have no where to plant themselves, this probably means that by now, the nutrients and general goodness that a bean would normally get from the soil is not there, I am alos wondering if over exposure to light my be a factor? not sure about that one.



Anyway I will continue to watch them and hopefully they may perk up for Christmas, I think within the next week I will dissect one and see whats going on inside before they completely conk out.

The Watery Beans just keep broadening!!

My watery beans are steadily growing bigger and stronger. There are six leaves on each of the plants. One is three inches long with loads of tiny roots the other is just over two and a half inches long with just as many roots and beginning to peek over the top of the cup. I too am thinking that it would have been better to put each bean in their own cup to be able to check the variables a bit better. I do still want to dissect one, but as they are growing so well I feel almost too attached to one to kill one. But if it is the name of science then it may have to happen. It may also be interesting to put one in soil to see the whole life cycle of the plane. However, again I have only two beans and the bean experiment only has a few weeks until we have to bring it to a conclusion, so priorities in the name of science must dictate that a dissection is the only way to go.

Broad Beans: A History

Vicia faba, the broad bean, fava bean, faba bean, horse bean, field bean, tic bean is a species of bean (Fabaceae) native to north Africa and southwest Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. Although usually classified in the same genus Vicia as the vetches, some botanists treat it in a separate monotypic genus as Faba sativa Moench.

These commonly cultivated plants can be attacked by fungal diseases, such as Rust (Uromyces viciae-fabae) and Chocolate Spot (Botrytis fabae).

Broad beans are rich in tyramine, and thus should be avoided by those taking monoamine oxidase (MAOI) inhibitors.
Raw broad beans contain vicine and convicine, which can induce hemolytic anemia in patients with the hereditary condition glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD). This potentially fatal condition is called "favism" after the fava bean.[1][2]
Broad beans are rich in L-dopa, a substance used medically in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. L-dopa is also a natriuretic agent, which might help in controlling hypertension.[3] Some also use fava beans as a natural alternative to drugs like Viagra, citing a link between L-dopa production and the human libido.[4] (Taken from Wikipedia 'Broad Beans')

Broad eans are also known as Fava beans in America made famous by 'Silence of the Lambs'

Interestingly, when left to grow Broad bean plants will flower in certain conditions producing a pinky white type flower with long stalks and large green leaves

Beans Meanz Blog

My beans are doing very well, although one seems to have sprouted slightly more than the other, I wondered if this was because of the conditions for boths beans seem to differ slightly- is one somehow getting more light or salt water than another on the windowledge?
I think perhaps if I carried the experiment out again I would pu them in separate cups and gauge more accurately how much light each bean was getting from it position by the window.
But too late now.
The bean's root is quite long now and looks like it is looking for somewhere to bury itself (looking for soil I suppose) the shoots are green and quite long, in the cup both shoots are growing upwards (towards the light).
I am still feeding with salt water although, because they are not as dehaydrated as they were I am now starting to need to water water the beans less as the cotton wool seems to hold much more moisure which the beans are growing on and I assume taking the saline solution from via their newly grown roots.
I will add some photos- still looking for my camera lead to take pictures so for now I will add what I have found on internet that is quite interesting.

Lets get Disecting

Even though my boring watery beans do seem to be growing quite well I do think that disecting one of my beans and allowing the other to grow to its full potental is in fact the way to go. I think that I shall wait to the weekend, (unless they both start to look like they are going to pop their little clogs then I may have to bring the operation forward in my schedual) and will record the results and observations for you all right here!
xx

Ahh, wonderdog, I have just read your blog! I think an autopsy could be the way to go for your beans although you could give them a bit longer maybe they're just a bit slow!
I think I might cut one of mine up next week and leave the other one to grow to its full potential, or out grow itself as I think may happen with salt water feeding.

tis the season to be sprouting!

My beans are sprouting marvelously now, there has been a bit of a gap in my blog due to the week of school experience, but I am hoping now that I can turn my attention back to my beans.In the busy interim, my beans have split their shells in half and have sprouted a white and green shoot as well as growing a white and brown root on each bean.
They look very healthy, I am at the moment trying to find the lead for my camera so that I can upload some photos of the beans.
I am suprised that they have grown this well, as at the beginning I thought that perhaps they would not grow at all due to my giving them salty water.I wonder if this growth sprout is due to the effect of the salt on the plants/beans organic growth as I found when I researched into the effects of salt on bean growth on the internet- that the salt can cause the plant to grow quickly but at the risk of the plants longterm health/wellbeing and development.
I am going to research a bit more on the net, I am also considering MAYBE cutting one of my beans open to have a look at its cross section and what is going on inside the shell and bean itself.Are any of the other bean growers going to do this?

High Energy Has Beans...

The glucose solution beans have done nothing, despite the attentive 'watering' every day... the only thing i think they have begun to sprout is mould!

How are salty beans fairing?

I am contemplating an autopsy (on just one bean) to see if anything did happen inside the bean itself, any ideas?

Watery beans pics as promised

They are OK, but for how long?

The watery beans are still growing. The roots are approximately 2 inches long and the stems are around one inch long with green leaves starting to clearly form. However, all is not plain sailing on these plain watery seas as the roots are beginning to turn brown. I have been unable to find any sources to tell me if the roots change colour as they grow and I have no previous experience with growing broad bean seeds on cotton wool. I am concerned that the roots are being exposed to too much light and that they have nothing to cling on (root) to. I'm guessing that only time will tell. My beans may have been the first to grow, but they may also be the first to burn themselves out.
I will paste some pictures on as soon as I can get my camera to work again.

The plant is emerging from the watery depths

The beans that have had their fill of plain tap water are thriving so far. They have sprouted and the white root is beginning to get quite long now. There is also a green shoot beginning to emerge from the same part of the bean. However, I am concerned that this will not continue for long as I predict that a cotton wall pad will not be enough to sustain the growth of the bean as the roots will have nothing to cling to (and we all need something to cling to sometimes!!).

Let The Sprouting Begin!!

Exciting news!! The shell on one of my beans has split and a small white shoot has now emerged!!
Im soo excited- my partner thinks I am very sad.
My cats had a look at the beans today but I think have been put off by the salty cotton wool, the non- sprouting bean is still intact but I have high hopes that it too will sprout very soon........
The beans have now turned lighter in colour and the dark blotches have disappeard from their shells they have grown a little in size which I suppose must be where they are absorbing the salty solution.
I will have another look on the internet about the germination and sprouting process, nature will find a way I suppose.

Energetic Beans, or not...

A fleeting moment of excitement this morning as i thought my first shoot had appeared, alas it was only cotton wool fluff.

Still no change on the glucose bean front, could a high energy solution be inhibiting growth?

A watched pot.....

My beans seem as yet to do anything, I had a look at them earlier and have found that despite being on a moist salty bed of cotton wool they have gone hard again! So I have added more salty water to them in the hopes that this will revive them.
I wondering if the salt water is dehydrating the beans and sapping their moisture preventing them from growing...I did think this would happen but time will tell.
I have just been on the internet (you would not believe how many things are on there about broad beans!) the website I used was an except from a Journal seemingly from the Netherlands- http://www.springerlink.com/content/7870716v4718x126/
The general consensus of the salt/bean experiment seems to be that salt is an organic metabolic inhibitor aka stunts growth to the point of non growth, it apparently seems to cause some sort of leaf thickness so I suppose it could possibly lead to the plant burning itself out too early(imagine the incredible hulk but a bean and no ripped shirts or sad music)
Anyway I will keep an open mind- my beans may define science!

The watery beans ARE BOTH ALIVE!!

These are two rather blurry pictures of my two plain watered beans. They are not very clear but both beans have split their skins and begun to sprout. This has happened very quickly and am excited about what developments may occur in the next few days. I will keep you all updated and a soon as their are any more interesting changes that my camera may pick up a little better, I will be sure to capture it.

Clare

The Importance of Bean Ernest

Well.....My beans seem extremely reluctant to pop their shells in an effort to grow, they have increased in size and seem to look alot healthier since I first brought them home, but they are slowww beans. I have wondered if maybe their in trauma as on a few occassions I have found our cats up on the windowsill peering in the cup at them.
They have however changed in colour, they now have lighter and darker patches on them, I think maybe where either the shell is starting to rot a bit or perhaps were they have most access to water. Wikipedia says this about the requird conditions for bean and seed growth:-

Requirements for seed germination
Seed germination depends on many factors, both internal and external. The most important external factors include: water, oxygen, temperature, light and the correct soil conditions. Every variety of seed requires a different set of variables for successful germination. This depends greatly on the individual seed variety and is closely linked to the ecological conditions in the plants' natural habitat.

Water
Germination requires moist conditions. Mature seeds are typically extremely dry and need to take up significant amounts of water before metabolism can resume. The uptake of water into seeds is called imbibition and leads to a marked swelling. The pressure caused by imbibing water aids in cracking the seed coat for germination. When seeds are formed, most plants store large amounts of food, such as starch, proteins, or oils, for the embryo inside the seed. When the seed imbibes water, hydrolytic enzymes are activated that break down these stored food resources and allow the seedling to germinate and grow non-photosynthetically until it reaches the light. Once the seedling starts growing, it requires a continuous supply of water and nutrients.

I am hoping that once it starts to grow I will be able to take some photos with my digital camera and upload onto the Bean Blog! I wondering if the salt water is having advers effects on my beans maybe it has killed the bean inside?........hmmmm I will investigate and see if this experiment has been done before........

Its starting for the boring bean Day 3

The embryonic shoot is showing on one plainly watered bean!!

Some useful scientifc info on how broad beans grow

http://www.nccpg.com/Default.Aspx?Page.Aspx?Page=127

The seed and seedling of the broad bean Vicia faba

While all of us are careful as we sow our seeds, we spend little time in concentrating upon the structure and germination of the seed itself.

Seeds of Dicotyledons have two seed leaves or cotyledons, hence the name, while seeds of Monocotyledons have only one cotyledon. Most of our trees and shrubs and plants with branched veins belong to the first group, while the plants with parallel veins, i.e. all our bulbs, grasses, sedges and rushes, belong to the second group.

The Broad Bean seed is formed in a large pod or legume.

The extra large seed, if soaked for 12 hours, will reveal, when dissected, its unique and intriguing structure. First observe the seed coat or testa, which is impervious to water. Squeeze the soaked seed slightly and you will notice a slight bubbling coming out of a little hole, known as the micropyle. This is where the water essential for germination gets into the seed. Near the micropyle there is a dark scar where the seed was attached to the mother plant in the bean pod, and that is termed the hilum. With your finger nails peel off the testa or seed coat and you will find two sections which are known as cotyledons. These cotyledons store starch which was obtained from its parent. When germination starts to take place this starch is converted into sugar and will give the necessary energy for germination to take place.

In between the two cotyledons you will find an embryonic shoot with vein markings and an embryonic root. The embryonic shoot is called the plumule, while the embryonic root is termed the radicle. The radicle develops first by pushing its way through the soil and developing root hairs just behind the root cap which take in water and mineral nutrients by the process of osmosis. In the broad bean the plumule acts as the first pair of leaves by going green and carrying out the process of photosynthesis. In other Dicotyledons it is the paired cotyledons that form the first pair of leaves, e.g. tomatoes, lettuces, French beans and brassicas, etc. It is unique that in the broad bean the cotyledons stay below ground and eventually rot as the seedling develops into adulthood.

The Boring Beans update after 2 days

The plain water beans are looking fat and plump after two days of sitting on a water soaked cottonwool bed. I have named them Bertha and Bellinda. On closer inspection, it is possible to see that under the skin of the bean they are slightly changing colour, there is a couple of dark patches. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing (they may be rotting from the inside, but lets hope not!)

I will update when I notice any other changes.

I'm glad that everyone has been able to access the blog ok, I guess I set it up ok!

Clare xx

Bean doing anything interesting?

High energy beans are now resting on a lovely soft cushion of cotton wool soaked in solution of water and glucose.

A good soaking for 24 hours left them a little damp and wrinkled, but then i'd be looking similar after the same time in water.

I'm thinking that these high energy beans will be off for a faster start than the average bean after having an easily absorbed energy drink. I know that's how i feel!

salty beans take 1!

Howdy bean-lovers!
After a long soak my beans are lovely and soft.
They have lightened in colour and their skins (or outer bean shells) are a little wrinkled.
I feel a little sorry for my beans as (prediction) I do not think they will fair well with salt water, but all in the name of science and progress I suppose!
I am just about to put them on their bed of cotton wool inside a cup, and give them their first few drops of salt water.
I will be keeping them on the window ledge in the kitchen so they will have lots of light and be quite warm.
How are sugary and water beans getting on?

Beans, beans, good for your heart

This is the start of Clare, Kate and Caroline's science bean blog.