| Abraxan
Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Perth, AU (GMT +8)
Posts: 25,070
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Jasper Hart
Graduated
  x10  x10
|  sorry for the delay! ½ EagleBrain ♥ Creeperdoodle ♥ Raven Dor ♥ Berry ♥ ½ Team House Elf
SPOILER!!: Mo Quote:
Originally Posted by Erndearment  As directed by the professor, Mo settled his jar on the floor beside his bucket of peaty soil and began to transfer some it into the bottom. It was probably just like potting a regular plant, and he wouldn't want to pack the soil in too tightly or else his plants would never grow.
As he transferred soil into his jar and spread it evenly around the bottom, he considered how he wanted to distribute his seeds. Like with like, probably, and he wouldn't want tall things all around the outside of the jar, preventing him from being able to see the shorter plants inside.
Plus, he had seeds for a Great Sundew... and a question about that as he worked. "Professor? I have these seeds from a carnivorous plant, a Great Sundew, and... d'you think we're creating a biome that can support that type of plant? Will there be bugs and things in there for it to eat?"
Turning to the Ravenclaw, Seren nodded her head in understanding. "Of course, but we'll get onto that bit later," she said with a wink. SPOILER!!: Kendall Quote:
Originally Posted by SecretAdmirer Sitting back and just taking a moment to eye the soil she had already put in side her jar, Kendall thought once again about if there looked like there was enough there for her plants to grow. Other people had already planted theirs, but then not everyone seemed to have quite as clear of an idea as to what they were recreating. Of course, she still wasn’t entirely sure of the exact arrangement she wanted with her seeds, but at least she knew the basic idea. She wanted a microcosm of Ireland, and that was what she was going to get whatever it took. All she had to do was start. First, though, she added a bit more soil just to be sure there was enough. It altered her little hills and low spots, but that wasn’t as important as getting everything to grow in the first place. Everything was going to end up at different heights no matter what.
Once she decided that her soil issue was taken care of, she slid her container of seeds toward herself and started separating out each kind. In the end, she had a tiny pile of wild asparagus seeds, another of frosted orache, a third pile of brookweed, then the dewberry, bluebells, and lesser butterfly orchid seeds last. At which point she realized that maybe those would need more, but she’d handle that when it came. Either way, she was planning on starting at the outside and working toward the center, and that meant the orache and wild asparagus first. She picked up a few seeds of the orache, and evenly spaced them in a ring near the edges of her jar, but not too close to the sides, and then created a second ring of the wild asparagus inside the first, placing those seeds in the spaces between the orache seeds. Moving on, she loosely alternated brookweed and dewberry seeds inside that ring, ending with bluebells and butterfly orchid seeds near the center. That way there would be space if they wanted to get taller, provided that they grew at all. “Professor Bentley? Is there anything I should add to the soil or anything to help lesser butterfly orchids grow?,” she asked, raising a hand once she’d gotten most of the seeds covered by soil again. She didn’t want to move too far ahead and then have to start over.
Seren peeked into the bottom of the girls jar. "Not for the moment, wait for the next step." SPOILER!!: Dylan Quote:
Originally Posted by THE Govoni With his soil arranged and prepped, Dylan was ready to start adding the living aspects. Carefully lining all the different mini-jars and containers up on the table for easy access, the Slytherin put on his concentration face. It was TIME to create an ECOSYSTEM!
First things, first...The Host plant that his gillyweed was going to feed off of. This was in one of the bigger containment jars, a basic shrub he'd gotten for the purpose of his plant's food. Twisting the cap off, Dylan lifted it up, loosening up its roots so that he could allow it to thrive for a period of time in the jar. After doing so, he reached a hand down into the jar and dug a hole. Then the Slytherin was settling it down into it's new home. Making sure the roots would be able to breath and get nutrients, he patted the soil around it...ensuring that they were covered.
Next...he'd grabbed the tiny jar that housed his flower seeds. Dylan figured they could grow and be food in the future...if this all worked out. Meh, he was hoping to be on the right track here...Really, he'd never done anything like this...SO, yea. Digging out some random holes scattered around the bottom, he littered them with the seeds...and then quickly covered them with dirt. So, there would be BEAUTIFUL flowers; lilies, daisies, other randoms he'd gotten sent to him. His mother had helped him out there...
Then it was time for bugs...Yes, yes. Bugs. Everyone knew that bugs added their own unique fertilizer to soil...So, he'd gotten some worms and caterpillars. If he seen butterflies about to happen, he could remove cocoons. Hmmm, on second though...he'd ask Professor Bentley about that in a minute...She'd know if they were a good idea or not...Perhaps it could be helpful? He didn't know...
The wild guesses didn't end there! He'd also brought along some toadstools and spores...but Dylan wanted to check before added those things in. He didn't want to ruin what he already had done...SO, those would go in after question time.
Picking up another bigger container, it was time to add the main aspect of this whole ecosystem...The precious gillyweed. It was fresh and unhavested...So, slowly opening up the container, he carefully plucked it up and lowered it into the jar. He held it close to the shrub, hoping it'd do something like....latch on? Maybe? He wasn't sure how this part worked...Maybe it wouldn't do it while he was looking?...
Eyeing the finished work, the Slytherin suddenly had another idea. "Professor, what if I wanted to add a small body of water into my ecosystem? Like...a mini pond?" There was that one side that didn't have seeds of anything in or on it. "Also...with what I have going on, do you think toadstools would be a bad idea?"
Seren pursed her lips, her eyebrows narrowing... giving her the appearance of a fish... "I recommend not including a water feature... particularly because this is your first attempt yes?, and because it's incredibly tricky getting the proportions right. Just stick to the land ..." or things could get messsyyyy, and not in the fun way.
Good. Good... good. Things were looking GOOD.
Returning to her spot, she cleared her throat, waiting for the students to settle down. "Thank you.." now, where were they up to? Oh! right!... "... now that we've planted our lovelies, we need to show them some love, so remember to water them, and add a pinch of fertiliser. For those of you creating water biomes, you'll need to fill your jars with water and the appropraite amount of saline solution - if you're water body is of salt water quality. Fresh and salt water biomes should include two drops of mooncalf solution."
Well what where they waiting for? Oh... right. "All fertiliser items and saline solution may be found in the stores cupboard. Line up, elbows in, one at a time!" OOC: Moving on in approx 24 hours.
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