Introduction > Planning Your Research > Keeping a Record > Missing Information

Missing Information There are several key points of information that are missing from materials and methods, including: Plant material - cuttings, or whole plants, the age of the material, who supplied it? Is it potted, if so, what size pot and what medium was used - compost, peat, and have nutrients been added? Spacing - the plants were in double-rows, but how close were they to each other? Irrigation piping - what size of irrigation tubing was used and who was the supplier? Spaghetti drippers - how many per pot, what rate will nutrients be supplied at? The student subsequently modified her materials and methods to include the missing information: “Plant material was supplied by Park Growers Ltd, and unless otherwise stated, consisted of one-year old rooted softwood cuttings taken from certified disease-free stock by Matthew Park (Park's Farm, Henley-on-Thames, Berkshire) and potted into peat. Plants were stored outside in Henley and hand watered until required. On delivery to the University of Reading’s Experimental Field Site, the plants were arranged into double rows with 10cm between plants within a row and 80cm between rows. Black soft-walled, 21mm irrigation piping (Currant Irrigation, Currant Retail Park, Dundee Street, Dundee) was positioned in the middle of each double row and spaghetti drippers, supplying nutrients at a rate of 8lh-1, were added where required, with 2 drippers being placed in each 5l pot and one dripper placed in each 3l pot.”

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