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Re: [AGA-mcm] Potential AGAF staff
Phil,
I would like to be involved in an experimentation forum, and I think
the APC people are not particularly interested in that. I would be
happy to work in that area. I still think that AGA ought to think
carefully about the time and expense of going down the road towards a
be-all-for-everybody forum. I know AGA doesn't have a convention
coming up next November, but does everybody have to be up to their
ears and beyond in responsibilities all the time?
Experimentation is a difficult thing to support, and AGA has tried it
in the past. We had a research committee, and I sort of recall we
finally got an article out of it by Matthew Mason after endless
person-hours of wrangling. I can't remember the details, but we
almost had a total falling out with Diana Walstad, among other
things. What I am thinking of is something much more casual---a
forum where people who are interested in doing experiments talk. I
have some experience doing experiments with aquatic plants, and a
pretty good feel for the good old 'scienterrific method':
question---hypothesis---experiment development process. These
experiments should not be big deals where the experimenter wants to
get funding from AGA for equipment or anything like that. Funding
should be strictly on your own! If AGA sets up a fund for supporting
experiments, all kinds of people will come out of the woodwork mainly
wanting to get their hands on tanks and equipment.
It is surprisingly difficult to find people actually willing to do an
experiment. I can think of a bunch of experiments that ought to be
done in the area of improving survival of plants during and just
after shipping. I mentioned some things to try on APC, but nobody
was interested in doing any experiments. For example: I have had a
lot of freshly cut and shipped stem plants die on me, such as
Ludwigia inclinata var. Pantanal. I have an hypothesis that the
stems would ship a lot better if they were floated for a week or so
before shipping. This would give the stem time to seal over the cut
end and start some roots. It would be a simple experiment to do.
Bag up and box some stems that have floated for a week and some
freshly cut stems and see which comes out in better shape. But, I
couldn't get anybody interested in doing the experiment, just a
statement that fresh cut stems would surely be the best way to ship.
Just think of the number of experiments that could be done to answer
the following questions (and that is not all the questions that could
be asked):
What affects the survival of plants during shipping (excluding
temperatures during shipping)?
a. The health and state of nutrition of the plant?
b. Emersed versus submersed plants?
c. Freshly cut stems versus stems that have been allowed to float and heal?
d. Amount of mechanical agitation of plant during shipping?
e. Amount of water with the plant?
f. Amount of air (ventilation)?
g. Treatment with plant hormones?
Paul,
One of the foci I feel is important to stress for moderators on a
potential AGA forum is that they're not around to keep discussion
going or to have a certain number of posts per unit time. They're
around to keep things polite and that's about it. You've got a
level head and a lot of experience that many people in the hobby can
gain from. Just because we've made large technological strides
doesn't mean we totally understand what we can do with them and how
they affect our plants. Experimentation is a good thing and I think
is something the AGA would like to support.
Regards,
Phil
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--
Paul Krombholz in sunny central Mississippi
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