Tyana Cullen

Biology Honors
MM. Nandi Devan
Question:
Is there truly a difference in plant growth due to the soil they are planted in? Which soil works
the best?

Hypothesis:
I believe that there will be a difference in the growth of the seeds planted in the
different soils. I believe that the plants grown in the compost will be healthier, but the plants
grown in Miracle Grow will be taller. The plants being grown in A-1 Show of Rose mix will grow
slowly but will still be strong healthy plants.

Materials:
o Miracle Grow Potting Soil
o Homemade Compost
o A-1 Queen of Show Rose Mix
o 27 Edamame Seeds
o 9 Pots
o Filtered Water

Experimental Procedure:
1. Each soil gets three pots. Label and fill all 9 of the pots with the different soils.
2. Poke three holes into each pot and place three edamame seeds into each of the holes.
Cover the holes with more soil so that bean is not seen.
3. Pour filtered water into all 9 of the pots every other day. Take pictures of the plants and
record your findings in a chart.





Tyana Cullen
Biology Honors
MM. Nandi Devan
Data Analysis:
Date/ Soil Compost Miracle Grow A-1 Queen of Show
Rose Mix
April 12
th
, 2014 Planted and Watered Planted and Watered Planted and Watered
April 13
th
, 2014 Watered Watered Watered
April 16
th
, 2014 Watered
Little plant (grass) has
risen.
Watered Watered
April 18
th
, 2014 Watered Watered Watered
April 19
th
, 2014
April 20
th
, 2014 Watered
Little plant has grown.
Watered
Two plants have risen
from the soil.
Watered
April 21
st
, 2014 Watered
Five plants have risen
out of the soil.
Watered
Three plants have risen
and one has opened.
Watered
April 23
rd
, 2014 Watered
Eight plants have risen
out of the soil and
began to open.
Watered
Three plants have
risen, opened, and
started to sprout.
Watered
April 24
th
, 2014 Watered
All plants have begun
to sprout. Burn marks
visible on three plants.
Watered
Three plants have
grown larger. Moss
seems to have formed
over soil.
Watered
April 25
th
, 2014 Watered
Random plant has
begun to blossom. All
plants continue to
grow.
Watered
Leaves have started to
grow larger.
Watered
April 28
th
, 2014 Watered
Seven edamame plants
have grown leaves.
Other plant is also
growing.
Watered
All three plants
continue to grow.
Watered
Two plants have
started to ride up. One
seems trapped under
the soil.
May 3
rd
, 2014 Watered
All plants continue to
grow. All burn marks
have been fixed.
Watered
All three plants are
taller than the rest, and
continue to grow.
Watered
Two plants have risen
above the soil and
sprouted. The last is
trill trapped under soil.
May 5
th
, 2014 Watered
All plants have grown
Watered
The three plants
Watered
The plant stuck under
Tyana Cullen
Biology Honors
MM. Nandi Devan
more leaves. The
random plants seem to
be one of the pumpkin
families.
continue to grow. the soil die. The two
others continue to
grow.
May 6
th
, 2014 Watered
Plants continue to
grow.
Watered
Middle pot still has no
growth, but plants that
have grown have
become taller.
Watered
A third plant is
emerging from the
middle pot. The two
others continue to
grow.
May 18
th
, 2014 Watered
Plants have gotten
increasingly taller.
Squash family plant has
grown largely as well.
Watered
Plants have still
continued to grow
health. Much taller
than those growing in
compost.
Watered

Conclusion:
Overall there is a very prominent difference between planting in the different soils. The
soil plants are grown in can majorly impact their health and the rate of their growth. The plants
that were grown in Miracle Grow were the healthiest, and grew at a much faster pace than the
others. I do believe there is a benefit from the chemically enhanced soil, but there was also a
noticeable difference with the compost. The plants grown in compost had a higher success rate
of living, and also grew plant friends along with the edamame. On April 24th, there were signs
of burning on the edamame plants due to the fumes emanating from the pure compost.

How can this information help in the future?
At the beginning of this project, my parents had refilled our planters with the A-1 Queen
of Show Rose Mix soil. After planting all of their vegetables, they noticed they werent doing
well. I started my project and soon realized that potting soils isnt too successful with plants.
My mom took out her cucumber plants and placed Miracle Grow inside the whole. A couple
weeks later, the growth of the plants has increased tremendously, and blooms have begun to
stay on the plant.