Experiment data and analysis for calculating the effects of a toxicant (CuSO4.5H2O) on the growth of plants.

The experiment aims to measure the effect of Cu2+ on the growth of plants. For this purpose, a sample of garden cress seeds were planted in petri dishes infused with different concentrations of CuSO4.5H2O. The concentrations were 3.125mg/l, 6.25mg/l, 12.5mg/l, 25mg/l, 50mg/l and 100mg/l, three petri dishes for each concentration with 22-25 seeds planted in each petri dish. A control sample of 3 petri dishes with 22-25 seeds infused with distilled water was also planted.

After a week, each petri dish was taken out and all the seeds were measured by root length in mm, stem length in mm and the sum of both was calculated also in mm. It was also noted which ones had branched roots as this is also supposed to be an indicator for the presence of a toxicant.

Experiment was held as a practical class part of the Ecological monitoring discipline at Faculty of Biology, Sofia University.