SPOILER!!: Ariadne
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Anna Banana 
She listened to the ideas and then raised her hand. "Nitrogen is good for plants, but it can also be harmful if there's too much of it. So maybe the bottom half gives the nitrogen that's needed, while the top half fights off the parts that aren't," she suggested. If that wasn't right, the she had no idea. She'd just wait to hear what the professor had to say. Now...where would this plant be beneficial? "We helped Headmistress Moxley clean up a disaster area in Muggle Studies. Maybe this type of plant would be good for areas like that one."
Paul nodded.
“Absolutely, Miss Geinrgroth! These would have been helpful in that sort of area, for sure!” SPOILER!!: Tenacius
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Steelsheen With his frankenstein plants now sitting before him, Tenacius looked up when the Professor posed his next questions. "Uhm, well because soil nutrition is said to be rather poor now, what with Muggles turning everything into agricultural land and just sucking all the nutrients out of the soil, making them imbalanced for other plants to survive in." At least that’s what he hears from the big adulty people "And again Muggles just pollute the air, so now we need plants to suck all the bad stuff out of it. So basically we are making a plant that can do two things at once." Huzzah for efficiency. Oh and where do they plant it? "Maybe we should plant these whereever Muggles have ruined nature. Or maybe exactly where Muggle cities are-- our Magical trees will take over and Muggles cant do nothing about it." Makes sense to him.
Paul listened to the boy’s response and just...nodded a lot, because he made some good points...but his answer did concern Paul. Did the boy had...things against muggles? The way he worded that last sentence…
“I...think you’re correct, muggles do a lot of stuff to the environment that is not good--but I should advise you against saying that only muggles mess up the environment. Wizards do, too. Toxic spills, magic holes or magic that has a reaction in the environment...weather magic...while we may not do it as constantly, m’boy, when we mess with the environment….the reactions are much worse immediately and on a larger scale.” Hmmmm.
“And I hate to tell you this---but what we’re doing today, the muggles can do as well. We’re just doing to speed up the process since we have magic!” He would explain in due time.
SPOILER!!: Lol Dima
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lemon So.... there were a lot of reasons Dima couldn't quite think of an answer to any of Paul's questions:
1.) He was not the type of Ravenclaw who could spout textbook answers like there was no tomorrow (which some first years from his house were doing and making him feel ridiculously stupid. Thanks, guys.)
2.) Everyone else was taking the obvious answer, stating that you could help the soil and pollution. And he wasn't a repetition fan, so that path was out, too.
3.) There was actually no desire present in him to do well right now. Sorry, not sorry.
Which meant... he was raising his hand with this gem. "Because it'll make a cool looking plant, sir." In answer to the 'why' question.
Nailed it.
Aha! That had Paul laughing and he nodded.
“It will indeed, Dima! You’re right!” It certainly wasn’t a WRONG answer.
SPOILER!!: Tia
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PhoenixRising
Oh, and another question. While she was considering the how to do it, Tia glanced over at Myers thoughtfully before raising her hand. "Grafting, whether for plants or for human tissue, is done to not done necessarily to get the benefits of the other plant, but because one plant, the legume struggles with air pollutants and might be sick and dying. So by combining plants in such a way where you can help it better cope with air pollutants but also in keeping with nutrients from the soil, the plant will thrive better in the long-term."
"I'd imagine that these grafted trees could be used anywhere where air pollution is a problem, which is for the most part urban areas, but it's really anywhere on Earth."
Tia did know grafting fairly well, for he could tell by her confidence while speaking on it.
"And yes yes, you're right! Heh...these would be good anywhere--except for soils already rich in nitrogen. As Ariadne say, having too much of that is bad...the right amount is needed." ANYWAYS.
TIME TO MOVE ON.
Paul went to grab a Persian Silk and a Dadap and brought them to the front, on the table he would be working on.
“Does everyone have the previous notes copied down?” he asked and waited only a second before wiping the board clean with his wand.
“TWO more vocabulary terms that will most definitely show up on any exam I give you--and they are scion and rootstock.” He paused, letting the chalk write.
“A SCION is, essentially, the tree with the leaves or fruit you’re taking. The branches part. The ROOTSTOCK, as it would indicate, is the plant whose roots you want. Easy enough, right?” he hoped so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackboard
Scion: The plant chosen for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits
Rootstock: the plant chosen for its particular roots
“Everyone got it?” he hoped they were taking notes. Paul’s lessons were typically ones you needed to take notes in, after all.
“Now! I am going to walk you through the steps as I do them up front. If any questions should pop up along the way, please ask me!” he grinned as he pulled his gloves on.
“Gloves on, everyone!” For safety!
“The very first step...is to take your STOCK tree...meaning the one with the roots you want, and make a very precise cut.” The baby trees were currently in little pots with soil.
“Feel free to stand as you work.” It would probably be much easier.
“The cut must be about THREE INCHES above the surface of the soil.” He had pictures! Huge ones! Like...slightly bigger than a posterboard! He pushed it onto the chalk tray so that everyone could see it.
“About right there!” he pointed at the spot with his wand, the same one the arrow was pointing at.
“Now...that cut can’t just be ANY cut...it has to be at a 45 degree angle.” he slipped another picture in front of the other.
“Like that. You want to make it a smooth...straight...diagonal cut. You can either use Diffindo or--” he shook a little tool bag to make the contents clank around.
“I do have some grafting knives if you’re paranoid about making that cut perfectly with the spell.” Paul could do either/or. He grabbed his wand and muttered ‘Diffindo’ underneath his breath and made the cut, split through the rootstock’s thin trunk.
“Now...set the top of this tree aside--don’t worry, we’ll make use of them!” he smiled. It must feel weird to cut a tree in half. Almost...cruel. Paul had grafted many times before, though, and thought this was nothing to feel bad about. “
But for right now...set it to the side and focus on the bottom half, the part still in the dirt.” Obviously.”
He cleared his throat.
“We’re going to make what we call a TONGUE in Herbology...but really, it’s kind of like a little flap. Halfway up from the bottom of the cut--” he put the picture in front of the last one on the board.
“You want to go about halfway up the length of this cut...and make the little flap with either your wand or a grafting knife. When you make the flap...you just...cut straight back!” he hoped that make sense?
“Does anyone have any questions? If not--let’s do those steps! I’ll put them up on the board and walk around to make sure everyone is okay.” He quickly cut the flap into his rootstock’s cut and moved the pictures on the blackboard to the side so that they could see the steps clearly written for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackboard
Step 1: Cut your diagonal cut (about a 45 degree angle) three inches above the soil
Step 2: Cut the flap into the diagonal cut
Two steps so far. He didn’t want to go further just yet, in case they couldn’t...get this or...some people had ISSUES and whatnot.
“All right then, everyone, let’s get started then!” He smiled.
OOC: Wheeee y'all are all doing so great and amusing me/Paul so much xD For this part of the lesson, either one detailed post or two baby!posts will do <3 I'll move on in a little over 24 hours. I keep forgetting to tell you guys this--but please number your posts if you're doing more than one xD Thanks!
Ps. If you want to do catch up posts/post go ahead--just label please so I know! Thanks!