Charlie was not entirely confident about this bet, and could only rely on the biological knowledge stored in his chip, as well as his decades of academic and research experience.
If he lost, he would have to give up a 2,000-gold-coin magic equipment; if he won, he would temporarily escape the possible retaliation from Griffin and the persecution from the Pavil family's hidden hand, and get one step closer to magic.
Weighing the risks and benefits, this bet was worth a try.
Charlie began to examine the layout of the room. The ceiling was embedded with a glowing crystal, and under the crystal was a large parasol that could be used to control the lighting.
Under the parasol was a wooden table with several clay pots containing soil, fertilizer, and water, and about a dozen seedlings of Weeping Grass.
The two participants had the same basic conditions, but the difference was that Maka had rich experience in plant cultivation and was familiar with the life cycle of Weeping Grass, and had a mature cultivation method, while Charlie needed to find the rules of Weeping Grass within at least two days and develop a better cultivation plan in order to catch up with the trailing momentum in the subsequent few days.
Unfortunately, there was no professional genetic analyzer, otherwise, the habits of Weeping Grass would be clear once the genetic analysis data was obtained.
Charlie took a deep breath, sat down, and put aside all the distractions in his mind, entering a state of concentration.
Charlie randomly picked up a Weeping Grass seedling and carefully examined it under the light. Each seedling was planted in a small clay pot the size of a fist, and with the help of the chip, the appearance data of the seedlings was clear.
The gray-white buds were semi-transparent, containing two unopened leaf buds and a curved stem bud, about 3.12 cm high, overall curved, the bud tip retracted to the innermost part, facing down, nestled in the soil, like a shy child with its butt sticking up and its head buried in the soil.
Charlie noticed an extremely subtle phenomenon - when he moved the seedling to a bright light, the bud retracted even tighter, and when he placed the seedling back in the shade, it "relaxed" noticeably. These reactions were extremely subtle, and only his chip-enhanced visual and ultra-strong memory functions could perceive such micrometer-level changes.
Charlie couldn't fully trust his opponent's words, so he needed to verify them himself. The current situation indicated that Weeping Grass would respond to light stimulation, but it did not mean that it liked or disliked light, and he needed to observe it for a longer time.
The reason Charlie criticized the cultivation method of the Botanical Garden was that they focused on too few factors and the granularity was too coarse.
For example, they would focus on the fertility of the soil, and Roan the Master rented the William Castle because he noticed its soil: loose, fertile, and well-drained.
However, on Earth, plant scientists would focus on the components of the soil itself, the acidity and alkalinity, the proportion of trace elements, the organic matter content, the number of microorganisms, and so on, and these data would be quantified to find the most suitable ratio.
Again, for example, they would focus on whether the plant likes shade or sunlight.
But on Earth, plant scientists would precisely calculate the plant's degree of acceptance of sunlight, the intensity and duration of light, and the optimal ratio of photosynthesis and respiration.
Again, for example, they would focus on watering the plants.
But plant scientists would study the water quality preferred by the plants, the acidity and alkalinity, the content of trace elements, and so on.
In addition to these factors, they also need to consider factors such as air temperature, humidity, air quality, wind strength, pollen pollination, pest control, and weed control, in short, this should be a science that requires accumulation and summarization.
Charlie believed that in this respect, Earth was far ahead of this continent.
Considering all these factors, Charlie began to do experiments to try to find the best growing environment for Weeping Grass.
Before starting the experiment, Charlie needed to prepare a secret weapon - homemade organic fertilizer, which was a major advantage against Maka.
Charlie pressed the alarm bell, and as expected, Martin had not left, and Brian was worried about Charlie's safety and had not left either.
Martin saw that the room was in the same state as before and smiled, "What, does Esen have any requests?"
Charlie asked, "I need some things, but I don't know if it's allowed to use them?"
Martin proudly said, "As long as you don't bring the finished Weeping Grass in, it's fine."
"Okay." Charlie smiled slightly and handed him the written list, saying, "Please help me pass this on to my uncle, these are the things I need, please help me prepare them as soon as possible."
Martin's brow furrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but look at the paper in his hand.
Gauze, rotten leaves, fruit peels, bird droppings, straw, kitchen waste...
What kind of stuff is this?
Martin looked at it for a while, but he couldn't figure out the reason behind it. Could this be a folk remedy from their hometown?
Martin looked at Charlie with a suspicious eye, he vaguely felt that something was not quite right, but the words had already been said, and it was not easy to change his mind. Moreover, Martin chose Weeping Grass as the subject, and he had actually dug a pit here. Before Weeping Grass could grow into a mature plant, there was an indispensable process. If this process was not done, the quality of Weeping Grass would decrease by at least 60%, and this detail was only known to the frontline caretakers. He did not believe that Brian knew this detail, let alone his nephew.
Even if he knew this detail, Maka was a three-headed blue-collar gardener who had been immersed in plant cultivation for over a decade and ranked among the top five in the Roan Master's Botanical Garden, how could he possibly lose to a rookie who had not even fully grown up?!
Martin found a bunch of reasons in his heart, and handed the paper to Brian. Brian saw the things on the paper and was also puzzled. His reaction somewhat comforted Martin.
...
Time passed minute by minute, and in Charlie's precise vision, Weeping Grass was growing rapidly in a way that was difficult for the naked eye to discern. It was indeed a plant that could grow into a mature plant in seven days, with a growth momentum faster than ordinary plants, giving Charlie a sense of urgency. The faster Weeping Grass grew, the less time he had to study it.
Brian also knew how much importance Charlie attached to this competition, so he did his best, categorizing and collecting the items on the list, packing them neatly and in large quantities.
Ten minutes passed, and Brian hurried back with all the items. After being reviewed by the supervisors, they were handed over to Charlie.
Next, Charlie began to manufacture his secret weapon.
Charlie prepared a large clay pot, sprinkled a layer of soil at the bottom of the pot, moistened it with water, and then minced the rotten leaves, fruit peels, straw, and kitchen waste, mixed them with bird droppings, and according to the scientific ratio of homemade fertilizer in the chip, mixed them with the soil layer by layer, moistening each layer with water until the clay pot was full of the black mixture.
Charlie covered the mouth of the clay pot layer by layer with a bag and sealed it, then took out his magic wand and cast a variant of "Flame Hand" to maintain a temperature of around 40 degrees Celsius around the pot.
Fermentation is a necessary step in homemade fertilizer production, and the fermentation cycle is generally relatively long, requiring preparation in advance. Charlie did not have time, so he could only artificially raise the temperature to accelerate the fermentation efficiency.
"This thing can probably give me an extra 20% chance of winning!" Charlie muttered to himself.
Then Charlie began the first round of seedling experiments, the light response.
Charlie wrote a line on the paper:
Experimental group 1, two Weeping Grass seedlings, strong light environment, moist water, no fertilization, temperature 21 degrees.Experimental group 2, two Weeping Grass seedlings, low light environment, moist water, no fertilization, temperature 21 degrees.Experimental group 3, two Weeping Grass seedlings, no light environment...
In order to highlight the experimental effects, other factors must be excluded, so except for the different light effects, the rest of the conditions were the same, and each experimental group contained two seedlings, which could to a certain extent avoid the interference of some unpredictable special conditions on the experimental results.
Then came the long and tedious waiting time, and Charlie had to rely on his naked eye to distinguish the growth and development of these six seedlings.
...
Three hours passed, and Charlie began to observe the experimental results.
Experimental group 1, both seedlings had a certain degree of wilting and growth inhibition; experimental groups 2 and 3, grew 321 micrometers in height, with normal growth, but the comparison between the two was not obvious, and the results were about the same as expected.
Conclusion of the first round of experiments: strong light environment will inhibit the growth of Weeping Grass seedlings.
The light experiment was a small step in the accumulation, and although the effect was not very good, at least one factor was excluded.
The second round of temperature response.
The temperature was divided into three grades: 10 degrees, 20 degrees and 30 degrees, and were placed in low light and no light environments respectively, so this time there were six experimental groups.
The experimental time for this round was set at six hours, the longer the time, the greater the difference, and the better able to distinguish the effects of different conditions.
Looking out the window, most of the people outside had already left, Brian had his own things to do, and Martin could not stand the boredom of the competition and left the scene, leaving only two supervisors to monitor the experimental site.
Another long wait...
Until sunset, the outside was completely dark, and the biological clock awakened Charlie. He looked at the door lock, it was intact.
Then Charlie began to check the results of the second round of experiments.
A smile appeared on Charlie's face, something unexpected had happened, but it was a pleasant surprise, and his chances of winning had increased by another two percentage points.
There was a difference between the low light and no light environment experimental groups, generally speaking, the seedlings in the low light environment grew more rapidly, with all the experimental groups having their leaf buds expanded, while the high temperature no light environment seedlings showed an inhibitory reaction.
At the same time, among the three experimental groups in the low light environment, there were also some differences, and the seedlings at 10 degrees grew the fastest and were the healthiest, with the leaf buds not only fully expanded, but the leaves also larger, the gray-white showing a faint purple, different from the other individuals, with the best growth momentum.
With a light heart, Charlie wrote down the conclusion of the second round of experiments: low temperature in a low light environment is the best environment for the development of Weeping Grass seedlings.
In this way, Charlie had found two favorable factors and accumulated a little advantage.
At this point, there was a knocking sound at the door, it was dinner time, Charlie covered up the layout of the room, opened the door, took the food, and then locked the door.
At night, the experiment continued, and the third round would be the humidity experiment.