Growth Rates of Barley in Potting and Pine Soil,

with and withoutMiracle-Gro

Matt Aber

Arri Brown

Sherry Land

Nicole VanLear Kelley Patterson

Ricki Lee Stautz

December 2009

This experiment was run to determine whether barley grows better in potting soil or pine soil…

And whether or not Miracle Gro aids in efficient growth rate

Barley germinates

through Winter…

…or through Spring

It’s seeds are cylindrical and light yellow

And can grow as tall as 45 cm with a furry or hair-like appearance

Tons of barley is produced and harvested every year throughout the World,

Especially in Northern locations Such as America

The uses of barley vary widely from being malted for beer…

…to being used in breakfast cereals

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Beer Distilled Alcohol Malted Food

Products

Uses of Malted Barley

Percentage

80%

14%

6%

25% of Barley is malted,Of this 25 %,80% is for Beer14% is for Distilled Alcohol6% is for Malted Food Products

Our experimental units included both potting and pine soil.

Potting soil can come in different consistencies depending on the

desired type of plant.

Ferns prefer moist soil Cactus prefers sandy Venus Flytraps prefer low nutrients

Pine soil is not very high in nutrients andbecause of the high number of needles that provide acidity and rooting problems,few plants can efficiently grow in it

Hydrangea

Azalea

We also incorporated Miracle Gro

in our experiment

Miracle Gro is said to aid in efficient andspeedy plant growth due to its high contentof nutrients, however experiments have beenrun in the past that disprove this…

Soil Consistency (in grams)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

#6 #20 #40 #100 base

Mesh Size

Gra

ms

of

So

il

Potting

Pine

1.48 g

0.13 g

4.55 g

1.15 g

2.56 g

2.99 g

0.34 g

3.1 g

0.07 g

0.62

The first step inour processwas to measurethe consistencyof each soiland record our results

Next we had to measure the weight of the seeds in order to evaluate the dry mass growth over thecourse of the experiment Dry Mass of Unit (seed & plant)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Pot A Pot B Pot C Pot D

Wei

gh

t in

Gra

ms

Beginning

End

0.43 g

1.28 g

0.43 g

8.49 g

0.43 g

15.55g

0.43 g

13.28 g

Following this we planted a single seed of barley in each of four pots,

Two containing Pine Soil

Two containing Potting soil

And one of each with Miracle Gro

Over the next 8 weeks we measured the growth in each pot weekly,

recorded our results,

and took notes of anysignificant changes

The growth of our barley was incredible.

Week 1 Week 2

Week 8

Total Growth

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

10/9/

2009

10/11

/200

9

10/13

/200

9

10/15

/200

9

10/17

/200

9

10/19

/200

9

10/21

/200

9

10/23

/200

9

10/25

/200

9

10/27

/200

9

10/29

/200

9

10/31

/200

9

11/2/

2009

11/4/

2009

11/6/

2009

11/8/

2009

11/10

/200

9

11/12

/200

9

11/14

/200

9

11/16

/200

9

11/18

/200

9

11/20

/200

9

Date of Collection

Gro

wth

in

Cen

tim

eter

s

Pot A

Pot B

Pot C

Pot D

Approximate Growth Rates

10/9 10/16 10/23 10/30 11/6 11/13 11/20

Pot A: 8cm 13.6cm ~18cm 22.5cm 26.7cm 34.29cm 37cm

Pot B: 2.6cm 15.2cm ~22cm 29cm 37cm 38.9cm 47.2cm

Pot C: 10.2cm 17.9cm ~30cm 41cm 46cm 49.7cm 52cm

Pot D: 10.5cm 19.6cm ~29cm 37cm 43cm 46.5cm 47cm