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| Vertical structure with control plants on bench=1 Block |
I hope you enjoyed our England posts as much as we enjoyed our England trip! As I mentioned in my previous post, my fellow co-horts and I have much more to share, naturally. So for this week, I would like to provide a brief synopsis of my summer semester thus far after returning from England.
Once I returned from England, I hit the ground running with my research experiment, which was initiated the day before we left for England. What is my research experiment? Well, let me tell you a little about it! My research is a pilot study that focuses on using vertical A-frame structures that serve as an innovative, cost-effective method for growing edible, herbaceous plants, and other plants as well.
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| Detroit Dark Red Beet Seedling |
The goal of the study is to illustrate that the vertical structures will yield twice the amount of plant yield, with the same quality yield, as a traditional bench plot, which takes up the same amount of square footage as one vertical structure. If that explanation was a little confusing, here is another way to word the goal of the experiment. One A-frame vertical structure occupies a total of 16 square feet. One bench plot, which serves as the control, also occupies a total of 16 square feet. The wooden A-frame vertical structure has 2 wall panels comprised of metal cattle fencing; this is where the pots are placed on the structure. The bench plot holds a total of 21 plants. Since there are 2 usable wall panels on one structure, the entire structure holds 42 plants; thus, the yield on the vertical structure holds two times the amount of plant material as the bench plot while occupying the same amount of space as the bench plot. In essence, you get more bang for your buck by growing plants on a vertical structure. | ||||
| Kira drilling holes in plastic pots | for drip-irrigation |
Here's the research behind the experiment. We've doubled the plant number on the vertical structures, but the real question is, "Will the plants on the vertical structure grow as well or better than the plants grown on the bench?" What a great question, right?! Well, I can't answer the question for you just yet, because I just terminated the study last Thursday and will need to analyze the collected data. However, I will be sure to let everyone know the results whether it is via the blog or my thesis.
Here's what I can tell you though. The plants that were grown on the vertical structure, amaranth, basil, and red beets, they grew beautifully!By the end of the study, the vertical structures (4 total) looked like a jungle! It was beautiful, and I was oh so glad to see that the study was a success since all the plants grew well on the vertical structure, and none of the plants died! Take a look at the pictures for more details about my experiment!
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| Leah recording leaf area data for amaranth post-harvest |
As for now, today is the first day of experiment 2, which will be a repeat of experiment 1. The only major difference between experiment 1 and 2 is the beets grown in experiment 1 will be replaced by cilantro. Wish me luck and pray this experiment is as successful as the former!
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| From L-R: Seth and Monte loading | basil into the plant dryer |
Until next time, I hope y'all have a great week! Get ready for some awesome posts and photos from our new students in the program who are at the APGA Conference in Colorado for the week. I can't wait to see what's in store for them as well.
Adios, amigos!
-Hilary
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| Jayne (pink shirt), Seth (behind Jayne), Monte (red shirt), and Evan counting basil leaves |
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| A small jungle of beets, basil, and amaranth | (from top to bottom) |
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| Bench plot- Amaranth is one of 2 other crops on the bench. |
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