Root Washing

In the plus column, I have washed 35 samples of roots. I'm over halfway finished washing the roots from the bioassay! It has been quite interesting to see the variety of masses and volumes of the root systems. When looking at a plant, it is very easy to focus on the quality and size of the above ground mass. I have learned that the appearance of the shoots can be very similar, but the root systems of the plants can look completely different. Furthermore, their volumes may look very similar, but they may have a huge variance in masses. By huge, I mean a couple grams. This is quite a bit when the average mass of the roots remaining after the cassette's subsample is made is only 1.5 grams.

On the other hand, we are far from being finished with these roots! There are 25 samples left to wash. The remainder roots from the washed samples are still in the drying oven along with all of the shoots. Once all of the samples have been washed and dried, we will be able to draw conclusions about their composition. It has been pretty hectic for me, both in and out of the lab, so hopefully by the next post, I will have more of an update. In the words of the Dalai Lama, remember, " The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness". Washing these roots has given me a much greater appreciation  for the less obvious aspects of growing; all of the unseen parts are still a part of the big picture.