For the last two years I have been conducting an activity in the EB's to demonstrate 3 different planting mediums that are resources used around the world and their effect on Okra 'Cajun Delight' and Pole Bean 'Helda'. I used Pro-mix (America), coconut fiber (Ghana) and 1/2 pro-mix 1/2 perlite (to represent jal, Mexico). My results are as follows...
totals 2006 2007
Okra
PM 8.9lbs 39.1lbs
CF 12.18lbs 10.6lbs
1/2 7.8lbs 13.4lbs
Bean
PM .75lbs 5.3lbs
CF 0lbs 2.5lbs
1/2 0lbs 3.8lbs
My first year was not very organized and people were eating my produce from the garden
The next year was much more organized and better demonstrates the different mediums yields. As the season went on each plant was affected differently with the heat. The Pro-mix held its leaves the longest and was the tallest. The 1/2 and 1/2 was the middle of the road with leaf retention and height while the coconut fiber was very short and lost it's leaves throughout the growing season. It can be a fun activity. You can come up with a hypothesis, keep track of each harvest, and measure the height of the plants each week if you have the time. Many observations can be made which can lead to interesting questions for kids to research. The possibilities are endless.
