Not Just Your Basic,

Average, Everyday,
Ordinary, Run-of-the-Mill,
Ho-Hum Plant Project

By 1-08,
Period 1 Physical Science (Purvis)

Research Question/ Problem Statement

When Microgreens Peas for Shoots Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds (www.botanicalinterests.com) are grown in
three different containers made of different materials (plastic, coconut, and clay), which will grow the highest
in fifteen days (because that is the time that the bean sprouts should be ready to be harvested)?

Rationale

This experiment is helpful to society, because Microgreens are very healthy plants, and they can be grown
anywhere. If someone wanted to grow Microgreens Peas, and they have very little space to plant them, then
they would want to know which type of container would grow the highest microgreens, so they could grow
their seeds in a small space in only a short amount of time.

Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to find which type of container (plastic, coconut, or clay) grows the highest
Microgreens peas in 15 days. The procedure involved filling 15 plastic containers,15 coconut containers, and
15 clay containers with 60mL of sterilized potting soil and placing 1 Microgreens Peas for Shoots Heirloom
seed 6mm down into the soil at the center of the container. Each of the 45 containers was watered once each
day at the same approximate time, and the heights and observations were recorded. The daily data
measurements and observations included plant height, weather data, soil saturation, soil temperature, amount
of water, and number of leaves. The conclusion of the experiment is that when all of the heights of all of the
plants for each type of container were averaged together at the end of the 15-day testing period (including a
height of 0 for plants that did not grow), clay had the highest result (176 mm), followed by coconut (95.467
mm), and then plastic (47.334 mm).

Hypothesis

If the microgreens are grown in a clay pot, then they will grow the highest, because clay containers are very
beneficial to plants. Clay is able to remove unneeded moisture from the soil, reducing the chance of overwatering, and clay containers also protect the plants' roots because of the sturdy material that the container is
made from.

Materials

1) Organic soil (Grannys All-Purpose Sterilized Potting Soil)

2) Water (filtered, cold, dispensed from the refrigerator)

3) Anchor Hocking Oven Basics #498 glass measuring cup

4) Plastic gardening containers (80.7 mL #6 recyclable plastic Solo cups, BPA free) (55mm diameter x 55mm height)

5) Clay gardening containers (Ashland clay 2 container) (70mm diameter x 55mm height)

6) Coconut gardening containers (Planters Pride, 100% peat-free renewable coconut coir Plantable Pots) (63.5 mm diameter x 60 mm
height)

7) Microgreens Peas for Shoots Organic Heirloom Seeds (Botanical Interests)

8) Blue masking tape (for marking each containers number)

9) Sharpie marker

10) AcuRite Weather Station (Model #02022WB) (to measure weather data

11) TruTemp #3519-9 Digital Thermometer (Taylor brand)

12) Digital camera

13) tripod (for camera)

14) Ruler with metrics (flexible plastic)

Procedure
For Setup:
1. Find an east-facing windowsill for plants that is both wide enough and long enough to fit all 45 containers.
2. Gather 15 identical plastic containers, 15 identical coconut containers, and 15 identical clay containers.
3. Place all 45 gardening containers on the windowsill in a grid pattern according to the following diagram so that each type of
container is represented in each section of the windowsill to receive similar amounts of sunlight.
5. Fill each container with 60mL of soil (Grannys All-Purpose Sterilized Potting Soil).
6. Pack in the soil.
7. Make a hole in the center of each containers soil by pressing your finger 6 mm down into the soil
8. Place one Microgreens Peas for Shoots Heirloom Seed inside of each hole.
9. Cover the seeds with 6 mm soil.
10. Setup a camera on a tripod to take photos each day of the testing period.

Procedure (cont.)

For each of the 15 days in the testing period:

11. At approximately 8 am, record the weather data from the AcuRite Weather Station.
12. Record sunrise/sunset times from local newspaper.
13. Measure the plants height and record
14. Record soil and plant observations.
15. Water each of the plants the same amount of cold, filtered water from the refrigerator and record.
16. Every evening at approximately 8 pm, measure the temperature of the soil with the digital thermometer and
record.

Diagram of How the Pots Are Placed

Front Left
(Clay#1-5)

Front Center
(Plastic#1-5)

Front Right
(Coconut#11-15)

Middle Left
(Coconut #1-5)

Middle Center
(Clay #6-10)

Middle Right
(Plastic#6-10)

Back Left
(Plastic #11-15)

Back Center
(Coconut #6-10)

Back Right
(Clay#11-15)

Pictures

Container#

Plastic

Coconut

Clay

140

270

150

240

140

230

160

200

260

210

280

40

280

170

180

230

Average for the Plants That Grew:

10

40

170

Plastic: 710/3=236.667

11

220

Coconut: 1432/12=119.334

12

110

210

Clay: 2640/12=220

13

80

180

14

220

180

15

12

180

Graph:
Day 15 Data Results
(Height in Millimieters)
Average for All 15:
Plastic: 710/15=47.334
Coconut: 1432/15=95.467
Clay: 2640/15=176

Ranking Results

*After the conclusion of the test, clay #8

began to grow. By day 19, it was 25 mm in
height

Average Ranking for All 15 Containers For Each Type (Average Height, Highest to Lowest) (Mean):

6 mm)

2.

Coconut (95.467 mm)

3.

Plastic (47.334 mm)

Average Ranking for Only the Plants that Grew For Each Type (Average Height, Highest to Lowest)
(Mean):

1.

Plastic (236.667 mm)

2.

Coconut (220 mm)

3.

Clay (119.334 mm)

Highest Individual Plant for Each Type of Container After 15 Days:

Plastic (260 mm) (#5)

Clay (280mm) (#6 and #7)

Coconut (210mm) (#5)

Highest Individual Plants Overall (Ranking from Highest to Lowest):

1.

Clay #6 (280 mm) Clay #7 (280 mm)

2.

Clay #1 (270 mm)

3.

Plastic #5 (260 mm)

Total Number of Plants that Grew For Each Type of Container:

Plastic: 3

Coconut: 12

Clay: 12 *

Results
The pots that grew in the clay containers grew
the highest, but an interesting thing to note is
that although the plants in the plastic pots didn't
grow very well (only three sprouted), the sprouts
that grew in the plastic containers actually grew
the highest.

Conclusion
The conclusion of the experiment is that when all of the heights of all of the plants for each type of container
were averaged together (including a height of 0 for plants that did not grow), clay had the highest result
(171.334 mm), followed by coconut (94.334 mm), and then plastic (49.334mm).
It is interesting to note that when only the plants that grew for each container are averaged, plastic actually
has the highest result (246.667mm), followed by clay (214.167 mm), then coconut (128.636 mm).
My hypothesis was correct. The container that grew microgreens the best was the clay containers. I believe
that the clay containers absorbed the extra water from the soil, which protected the seeds from overwatering.
Also, I thought that clay might have absorbed warmth, which could have also helped with not overwatering
and keeping the soil at a moderate temperature. When soil temperature was measured each night, the
temperature was about the same for each type of container.
The seed in clay container #8 began to grow after Day 15, so it was not included in the analysis.

Resources

Watson, Benjamin. Taylors Guide to Heirloom Vegetables. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
Print

https://www.botanicalintrests.com/articles/view/44/Seed-Starting-Outdoor Seed Starting Outdoors
botanicalintrests.com N.p, 2016. Web. September 9, 2016.

https://www.botanicalintrests.com/articles/view/87/Microgreens-and-Baby-Greens-Sow-and-GrowGuide Microgreens and Baby Greens: Sow and Grow Guide botanicalintrests.com N.p, 2016. Web.
September 15, 2016.

https://www.botanicalinterests.com/articles/view/70/MicrogreensandSproutsWhatistheDifference
Microgreens and Sprouts: What is the Difference botanicalintrests.com N.p, 2016. Web. September 15,
2016.