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Weslaco student keeps poinsettias pretty
Texas
Almost daily from September to mid-December, 16-year old Amy McDaniel slipped quietly into an ornamental greenhouse at the Texas A&M agriculture research facilities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. While most of her classmates at Weslaco High School were still dressing for class, McDaniel would go in, do her thing, then quietly slip out again.
For an entire semester, McDaniel's "thing" was tending to some 120 poinsettia plants as part of a class called "Agriculture Independent Study." Her teacher, Robert Perez, arranged for McDaniel and several other students in his class to work alongside scientists at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.
Despite never having had much of an interest in plants, McDaniel chose to work in Dr. Yin-Tung Wang's ornamental greenhouse, thinking she might learn something there.
What she learned, McDaniel said, was fascinating and gave her an appreciation for the role science plays in successful agriculture.
"I didn't know that certain chemicals can slow down and control how a plant grows and that by pinching a plant as it grows, you can control its shape," she said.
Horticulturist Wang said McDaniel was assigned to care for and collect data from poinsettia plants in a growth regulation study designed to help the wildly popular holiday plants maintain their appeal to consumers.
"Poinsettias grow fast and tall," Wang said. "All the poinsettias shoppers buy around Christmas have been treated with a growth retardant to keep them short and compact. Otherwise, the leaves and bracts would be several inches apart and the entire plant would grow several feet tall."
During production, however, a grower can easily miscalculate the concentration of the retardant and result in poinsettias too short to be marketable.
"McDaniel took part in a study on how to restore the growth of these over-retarded poinsettias using a chemical called gibberellic acid, which is a powerful but natural plant hormone that promotes stem elongation and serves as a growth stimulant," he said.
Various rates of the plant hormone were applied to the plants under McDaniel's care. Her job was to water, feed and care for the plants while collecting data on their growth rate.
"I'd come in early every morning to give myself plenty of time to do everything I had to do, especially on Wednesdays and Fridays when I had to measure all the plants," said the high school junior.
McDaniel and Wang found that it takes only three parts per million of gibberellic acid to restore the growth of the over-retarded poinsettias. Higher rates, they found, result in spindly plants.
"Our preliminary results will be used to develop a grant proposal for a more detailed study next fall," said Wang. "But what I also discovered in this study is a very professional and dedicated young woman who took her task seriously. McDaniel was reliable and responsible throughout. She learned quickly and did an outstanding job for us. I was very impressed with her work ethic and positive attitude. She could one day make an excellent scientist."
McDaniel said agriculture research could indeed be in her future. "I haven't decided on a career yet," she said. "But I sure wouldn't rule out plants. Ag research is a definite possibility for me. And like my brother Ryan, who attends Texas A&M, I'm a future Aggie myself."
McDaniel is the daughter of Don and Becky McDaniel of Weslaco.
Date: 12/31/03
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