Pale Grass

A plank that is left behind by mistake on the lawn often causes an undesired change of the grass. The “planks” in Tom Tits Experiments have been left behind on purpose. A wooden construction with the shape of a piece of pie is allowed to lie on the lawn for a few weeks, and nearly no light reaches the grass during this period. The grass and other plants react by changing colour and becoming yellow-white. The stalks and leaf stalks become longer; the leaf surfaces become smaller; and the development of the plants remains incomplete. One reason for this is the fact that plants that are kept in the dark increase their rate of growth so that they reach the vital sunlight more quickly. After a while, we move the piece of pie one step onwards, so that a new sector of the lawn is kept in the dark. This makes it possible also to study what happens when an area that has been kept in the dark is again exposed to full daylight.