Our Class Plant Blog
Tuesday, 9/7 Day 1
We planted our seeds today! On Tuesday we prepared the quads for planting. The planters are called quads because they have four sections. In each section, we put a wick for drawing up water from our watering system. Next, we filled each section half-way with soil, and placed three fertilizer pellets on the soil. After that, we filled each section with soil to the top of the quad. The quads were ready for our seeds!
Finally, today we planted our seeds. We put two seeds into each section, poking them just below the soil. We can't wait until they start to grow!
Finally, today we planted our seeds. We put two seeds into each section, poking them just below the soil. We can't wait until they start to grow!
Above: Ashley uses a toothpick to push her seeds just below the surface of the soil.
Left: Riggs waters his seeds.
Monday, 9/12 Day 6
Our plants have sprouted and are growing fast! Today we will thin them. That means we will remove plants until there is only one plant in each section of the quad. Plants need a lot of room to grow, so this will help them be healthier.
David's plant on Day 6:
This picture was taken on September 12, 2011, six days after we planted the seeds. The plants are very young and only have the cotyledon leaves, which are smooth around the edges.
David's plant on Day 16:
This picture was taken on September 22, 2011, 16 days after planting. The plant has true leaves now, which are much larger and jagged on the edges.
Our plants are growing like crazy!
Every day we have been measuring our plants and recording their growth on a line graph (see below). Duncan's plant is almost 10 cm tall! Check out the buds!
The Growth of My Plant
This line graph shows the growth of Ted's plant. We are recording the dates on the bottom and the height in centimeters on the side. Did you know that a line graph is the best type of graph to use when you want to show how data changes over time?
WHOA! Flower power on Day 20!
When we came into school on Monday, September 26th, we found our plants had grown tons of yellow flowers! Time to pollinate! Good thing we made bee sticks the Friday before!
What's a bee stick?
It's a bee on a stick, or on a toothpick to be precise. We glued real (dead) bees to toothpicks. This will allow us to use the bees to help pollinate our plants (just like live bees would).
Day 27: Bean pods!
Our plants are growing what look like green beans! They are seed pods! Many plants have lots of pods! In this picture, Marc is holding one of the pods on his plant.