Effect of Magnetic Field on Germination

[NORBY]

The moon has no molten core and therefore does not have the same affects as on earth.
Basically hot metals moving about create a magnetic field. (Magma)

 

[dankula]

I know nothing

Although it’s weak, its gravitational pull on Earth may be responsible for not only generating tides at the surface, but also deep within the outer core by mechanically “stirring” its liquid contents.

 

[Talonxracer]

I know nothing

Although it’s weak, its gravitational pull on Earth may be responsible for not only generating tides at the surface, but also deep within the outer core by mechanically “stirring” its liquid contents.

Absolutely, the moons gravity actually deforms the surface of the earth pulling the earth into a slight egg shape as it passes around the earth.

 

[Buz]

I don't want to leave this as a one off. I have been busy with the same batch of seed. I got a couple of super strong 1" rare earth cylinder magnets and made a chamber to be able to handle these beasts. I still have to be careful but am learning. I have now been getting consistency, in that there are differences between treated and control sets but sometimes it is not so much difference. Here are two photos of magnetic treated dormant seed on the left and control dormant seed on the right. There are marked differences in one trial and not so much in the other. I'm working on pinning down the differences. Eg use of stratified seed, having the seed in different positions during the treatment, different time treatments. So far nothing to report definitively, just interesting and suggestive. Nothing has yielded the marked differences of that first trial ( it may have something to do with those seeds having been refrigerated???). I have a few thousand of this batch of seed...a cbd photo strain from 2020 that I either use or throw away. So as long as the seed holds out I will try to pin this down. I have been measuring radicle length with a cool open source program ImageJ used in the research and medical fields. (http://imagej.org)

So far the numbers(an average of all that have germinated ) show that the control seed radicles are shorter than the experimentals. Percentages have been 30%, 78%, 85%, 46% The two pictures are of the 46% trial #1(marked difference) and 85% trial #2(not so much difference but still visible) The standard deviation is enormous but this is probably unavoidable and usual in outbred seed like these. So averages may not be the best indicators....if any of you are statisticians and have some tips, please chime in!

Thanks for all the comments and interest. Weird stuff especially on dormant seed.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I don't want to leave this as a one off. I have been busy with the same batch of seed. I got a couple of super strong 1" rare earth cylinder magnets and made a chamber to be able to handle these beasts. I still have to be careful but am learning. I have now been getting consistency, in that there are differences between treated and control sets but sometimes it is not so much difference. Here are two photos of magnetic treated dormant seed on the left and control dormant seed on the right. There are marked differences in one trial and not so much in the other. I'm working on pinning down the differences. Eg use of stratified seed, having the seed in different positions during the treatment, different time treatments. So far nothing to report definitively, just interesting and suggestive. Nothing has yielded the marked differences of that first trial ( it may have something to do with those seeds having been refrigerated???). I have a few thousand of this batch of seed...a cbd photo strain from 2020 that I either use or throw away. So as long as the seed holds out I will try to pin this down. I have been measuring radicle length with a cool open source program ImageJ used in the research and medical fields. (http://imagej.org)

So far the numbers(an average of all that have germinated ) show that the control seed radicles are shorter than the experimentals. Percentages have been 30%, 78%, 85%, 46% The two pictures are of the 46% trial #1(marked difference) and 85% trial #2(not so much difference but still visible) The standard deviation is enormous but this is probably unavoidable and usual in outbred seed like these. So averages may not be the best indicators....if any of you are statisticians and have some tips, please chime in!

Thanks for all the comments and interest. Weird stuff especially on dormant seed.

It looks like there is an advantage in germination, so the next question is does that advantage continue through veg? flower? the life of the plant? If you have room 3 or more of each the treated and the control should show a difference. My guess is the trait will run true. It looks like the plant cannot wait to grow!
Well done experiment! Thank you!

 

[DCLXVI]

Super interesting. I'm glad to see you continuing and investigating. I mean worst case, the magnets do nothing and you've just gotten a few dozen old farts to start faffing about arranging magnets near their seeds.

I can hear it now:

Wife: "Where's my fridge magnets gone?"
Me: "Some guy on the internet said I need to use them to invigorate my seeds with the magnetic field!"
Wife "Why don't you just stick them on your head to keep the tin foil on better."

 

[Buz]

Wife "Why don't you just stick them on your head to keep the tin foil on better."

Exactly..... Especially the old farts faffing. Good thing my graduate advisor is long passed, it would have broken his heart to see how far I have fallen. BTW He was one of the first to pin down epigenetics as a phenomenon in somatic animal cells in culture in the 1970s and this certainly qualifies as an example of an epigenetic change (heritable alteration of genetic expression) if the findings hold.

It looks like there is an advantage in germination, so the next question is does that advantage continue through veg? flower? the life of the plant?

Bingo! In progress, local grower friend has a batch Lemongrass (Humbolt Seed) of 25 Control and 25 Magnetics in the field as we speak. They did show some differences throughout their "solo cup" stage. I gave all a randomized number and the grower does not know which is which and I no longer know when I visit. We are still trying to figure out an easy method of measuring plants to get data so any input is appreciated. Otherwise we will get wet harvest weight for each plant and then break the code.....

 

[Olderfart]

Exactly..... Especially the old farts faffing. Good thing my graduate advisor is long passed, it would have broken his heart to see how far I have fallen. BTW He was one of the first to pin down epigenetics as a phenomenon in somatic animal cells in culture in the 1970s and this certainly qualifies as an example of an epigenetic change (alteration of genetic expression) if the findings hold.

Bingo! In progress, local grower friend has a batch Lemongrass (Humbolt Seed) of 25 Control and 25 Magnetics in the field as we speak. They did show some differences throughout their "solo cup" stage. I gave all a randomized number and the grower does not know which is which and I no longer know when I visit. We are still trying to figure out an easy method of measuring plants to get data so any input is appreciated. Otherwise we will get wet harvest weight for each plant and then break the code.....

Well done does not cover it. Please keep us posted. When I get my mischief going in the fall, I may try to duplicate and/or extend your experimenting.

As to measurements of complete plants, I would go with two, final dried harvest, and final wet weight of the entire plant from the dirt up. Both should be easy and cover the important questions. It will be really interesting to see whether the differences persist. I would not bet much on measurable differences showing up later, but ya never know, especially with autos where early vigour might carry through given the limited growth time available.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Exactly..... Especially the old farts faffing. Good thing my graduate advisor is long passed, it would have broken his heart to see how far I have fallen. BTW He was one of the first to pin down epigenetics as a phenomenon in somatic animal cells in culture in the 1970s and this certainly qualifies as an example of an epigenetic change (alteration of genetic expression) if the findings hold.

Bingo! In progress, local grower friend has a batch Lemongrass (Humbolt Seed) of 25 Control and 25 Magnetics in the field as we speak. They did show some differences throughout their "solo cup" stage. I gave all a randomized number and the grower does not know which is which and I no longer know when I visit. We are still trying to figure out an easy method of measuring plants to get data so any input is appreciated. Otherwise we will get wet harvest weight for each plant and then break the code.....

Yes the weight at harvest but remember that the last fertigation should be 12 hours past for all samples. Also I would have a subjective score based on appearance. Just use your eyes to evaluate the overall plant. I mean if you wanted to really run comparisons a few bud samples to the lab would be on the thorough side?

 

[Buz]

I would not bet much on measurable differences showing up later, but ya never know, especially with autos where early vigour might carry through given the limited growth time available.

It would be great to be able to increase vigor in autoflower seed. In my limited experiences with autoflowers, individuals grown from seed are highly variable and so greater uniformity would be wonderful to induce somehow. The usual way of getting uniformity in plants grown from seed is by crossing two highly inbred lines to get seed showing hybrid vigor in the F1 generation. This process takes a long time and there are inherent problems with maintaining the progressively weaker inbred parents. So this type of seed is pretty rare. So a method to increase robustness of the routine autoflower seed would be useful.