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Home Experiment instructions Polycultures v. Monocultures How to set up the experiment
How to set up the experiment
GROW Observatory
What do I need?
Equipment and seeds:
• Seeds/seedlings for:
18 seeds – Climbing green beans “cobra” variety – Phaseolus vulgaris “cobra”
72 seeds – Spinach “matador” variety – Spinacia oleacea “matador”
160 seeds – Radish “cherry belle” variety – Raphanus sativus “cherry belle”
It is also worth keeping a few extra seeds for spares in case of germination failure.
If these varieties are not available in your country, please choose closely related varieties
of the same species
• 18 garden canes to support the beans (at least 1.8 metres high).
• Scales to weigh harvests. • GROW recording sheets and pencil/pen for observations on the plot (to upload when
home).
• Gardening tools for preparing the soil, planting seeds, cutting your harvest andwatering if you need to.
Find a good growing site
To grow well your crops will need a site that is not water-logged and has good levels of
light. If you don’t already have a site where you grow food, you can use two simple tests
to identify a suitable site – 1) Testing soil with the squeeze and sniff test, 2) Assessing
light and shade. Find out more about these tests here.
Prepare your plots
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There are four plots needed for the experiment. They should be adjacent growing areas
that are separated from each other by at least 50 cm. The plots should be free of weeds,
and all prepared in the same way according to your usual methods (e.g. dug over,
composted for no-dig). The plot sizes needed are:
1 metre by 1 metre square (for the polyculture)
1 metre by 60 cm (for the beans)
1 metre by 40 cm (for the spinach)
1 metre by 30 cm (for the radish)
The total site area could therefore be about 2 metres by 3 metres or a 1 metre by 5 metre
strip. You can arrange the plots however best fits your space, but we recommend that
the two smaller plots are on the sunnier side (e.g. south) of the two large plots.
Once prepared you might like to cover your plots with cardboard or weed control fabric
to prevent weeds growing back if you don’t plan to plant straight away.
It doesn’t matter if you practice no-dig or have your specific way of growing, but you
must remember to treat each plot in the same way: same watering, fertilising, etc.
Ultimately, what you want is for the only difference between them to be the crops that
you’re growing in them. Otherwise you won’t know if any differences in results are
because of the different crops or differences in practice.
Describe your site
The standard descriptions below can help describe your plot in a way that is comparable
with other people’s.
You can print this recording sheet to take outside with you.
Light and shade [How do I do this?]
• Full sun (plot is not shaded) • 1-25% shady (plot is shaded less than a quarter of the day, for example, 3 out of 12
hours of daylight)
• 26-50% shady (shaded 3 to 6 hours out of 12) • 51-75% shady (shaded 6-9 hours out of 12) • 75-100% shady (shaded three-quarters of the day or longer)
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Canopy cover [How do I do this?]
How much is your experiment plot obscured by trees immediately above it?
• Less than 5% • 6-10% • 11-25% • 25-50% • 51-75% • 76-90% • more than 91%
How much is your experiment plot obscured by shrubs immediately above it?
• Less than 5% • 6-10% • 11-25% • 25-50% • 51-75% • 76-90% • more than 91%
The landscape around your plot
Is the landscape around your growing area hilly or flat? [How do I do this?]
• Flat • Hilly
If Flat >
Where is your experiment plot positioned?
• Micro-high
• Micro-low
• Flat
If Hilly >
Where is your experiment plot positioned?
• Summit
• Shoulder • Backslope • Footslope • Toeslope
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Slope angle – How steep is the slope of your experiment site (in degrees) [How do I do
this?]
Slope aspect – Which compass direction does your experiment slope face? [How do I do
this?]
If your four experiment plots are not all on the same slope, it is valuable to record the
slope angle and aspect for each plot.
Planting and layout
We are going to plant climbing beans which can grow to 2 metres high and need to be
supported, spinach which will cover the ground and grow to about 40 cm, and radish, a
root crop, the leaves of which will grow to about 20 cm.
The polyculture mix will grow in a 1 metre square. The beans in 1 metre by 60 cm, the
spinach in 1 metre by 40 cm, and the radish along in 1 metre by 30 cm.
Once we’ve marked out the rough size of the plots, you should remove all the weeds,
being especially careful to remove the deep rooted ones like dandelions and thistles,
11/02/2019 How to set up the experiment – GROW Observatory
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and those which spread rapidly like couch grass, bind weed, and creeping buttercup.
Beans
Plant 9 green beans in each bean plot, so 18 altogether. These are climbers and need
poles to support them.
The beans are susceptible to frost and need to be planted out after the danger of frost
has passed. Depending on where you live, you can either plant these straight outside in
the ground at a depth of 5 cm when any danger of frost has passed. Alternatively, you
might prefer to start them off indoors in pots to plant out in early summer. It’s good to
use paper pots or cardboard tubes so you don’t damage the roots when transplanting
them, and the containers will just decompose.
Polyculture – Make 3 tripods, placed 20 cm from the plot edge and about 30 cm apart. If
it is too early to plant your beans out, leave the tripods to mark where you will plant the
other crops.
Monoculture – You will plant the beans in staggered rows 20 cm apart. Place canes to
join between the rows in tripods with two in the first row and one in the second row
together, then two from the second row and one from the first row. See the layout
diagram above.
Spinach
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There will be 36 spinach plants in each plot. These are planted 1 and a half cm deep.
Polyculture – Place roughly 4 around each bean plant, trying to keep them about 15 cm
from the beans and about 10 cm from each other. Check the image above for the
polyculture planting layout.
Monoculture, you will plant them in staggered rows about 10 cm apart. 36 seeds makes
4 rows of 9 plants.
Radish
Plant a total of 80 radishes in each plot. They are planted about 1 cm deep. So these don’t
all come at the same time, you can plant them in succession every 2-3 weeks. So long as
you plant the same number at the same time in the polyculture and the monoculture,
you will have a good comparison for the experiment.
Polyculture – first plant 20 on the north side, so they get the light before the other crops
grow. In 2-3 weeks time, plant on the east side, then 2-3 weeks later on the west and
another 2-3 weeks, plant on the south.
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Updated on 11th February 2019
Planting radish at the edges is sensible because you will be pulling them up after 4-6
weeks to harvest them and you want to minimise the disturbance to the other crops
when you do this.
Monoculture – Plant in two rows of 40 seeds. You’ll start on the north-east side and plant
the first half a row of 20 seeds the same day as you plant the north side of the
polyculture. Then plant the north-west, south-east and south-west at the same time you
plant the east, west, and south sides respectively in the polyculture.
Over the coming weeks, you can look for the emergence of your seedlings. Make sure
that they get enough water – don’t let the ground dry out or get too wet.
11/02/2019 Finding a good growing site – GROW Observatory
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Home Finding a good growing site
Finding a good growing site
GROW Observatory
For most food-growing experiments, there are two initial site factors to assess:
1. Will the soil support growth?
2. Does your site get enough light for crops to grow?
You might need to assess a few sites before you find the best spot.
As with every other outdoor activity in GROW, please always make sure you read and
follow the safety guidelines.
Soil
Anaerobic conditions and pollution – The smell test
Take a handful of soil from the site and thoroughly smell it. Does it have a:
Sour, putrid or chemical smell?
No smell?
Earthy, sweet or fresh smell?
If your soil smells sour, chemical or putrid, then this is not a viable area to do the soil
tests, choose another site and check the smell again.
Waterlogging and dryness – The squeeze test
Take a handful of soil in your palm and squeeze. What happens to the soil?
The soil is dry if there is no water and the soil does not stick together at all when
squeezed.
The soil is moist if there is no visible water and no drips, however the soil sticks
together slightly and is not dry.
The soil is wet if there is visible water which runs or drips out of the soil when
11/02/2019 Finding a good growing site – GROW Observatory
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Updated on 30th January 2019
The soil is wet if there is visible water which runs or drips out of the soil when
squeezed.
If the soil is so damp that water drips from your hand when you squeeze then this is not
a viable area to undertake the soils tests. Choose another site. If the soil is very dry, you
will need to add some water to do the texture test.
Light and shade
Most annual vegetable crops need fairly high light levels to produce a crop. Your plots
should get light at least half the day for them to grow well.
Shade assessments should be made at different times of day as the shadows move
around. A plot might be sunny in the morning but shaded in the afternoon. An easy way
to assess this is to take photos every few hours on a sunny day. You could also place
markers at the end of the shadows and track how they move.
We’ll use a simple shade-scoring system:
Full sun (plot is not shaded)
1-25% shady (plot is shaded less than a quarter of the day, for example, 3 out of 12
hours of daylight)
26-50% shady (shaded 3 to 6 hours out of 12)
51-75% shady (shaded 6-9 hours out of 12)
75-100% shady (shaded three-quarters of the day or longer)
You should also consider that where and when shadows fall will change over the course
of the year as the sun gets higher in the sky in summer and lower in winter, and as
leaves appear on trees. Try to do your shade assessment for the time of year when you
will be growing.
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11/02/2019 Canopy cover – GROW Observatory
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Home Canopy cover
Canopy cover
GROW Observatory
Canopy cover, or canopy coverage is about how much of a piece of land is directly
covered by trees, shrubs, and other plants. This can give you more specific information
about important aspects affecting plant growth such as how much light your plants get,
how humid it might be, what relative temperature you can expect or how quickly wet soil
surface will dry up. This information can help us better interpret results from
experiments and help you make appropriate choices about what plants will grow well in
your gardens, allotments, and farms.
Frequently, when working in our gardens, we choose species to suit the different light
conditions, and/or intermix our food plants to use vertical height effectively so we can
create layers of plants.
Observing and estimating canopy coverage
Imagine taking a bird’s eye view to estimate how many trees and shrubs actually cover
up your experiment site. You’ll be making a guess of the total area that is covered during
the growing season. This estimate can only be an approximation.
To familiarize yourself with the concept of canopy cover, you can, for example, go outside
and look straight up through a paper roll (standing, kneeling, lying down). Do you see
leaves and branches? If yes, the spot you are standing on would be under canopy cover.
You can also do this the other way around and look to the ground to determine which
ground plants cover a single spot. If you looked at enough spots on a piece of land
(“representative samples”), you could consider all single observations together and fromthat get an estimate of canopy cover. This is how scientists do it, with more
sophisticated tools and a clear sampling design, but the general idea is the same.
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Estimating canopy cover © Gerid Hager
You can also try to estimate canopy cover for smaller parcels from sight on the ground
using visual aids such as these diagrams. Each image represents coverage in percent,
imagined from a bird’s eye view, similar to photos taken from space onto a piece of land.
Or the other way around, as if you’d look up from the ground in exact vertical direction.
Scale for assessing canopy cover © University of Dundee/GROW
A human viewpoint, however, always has a specific angle, so without using special tools,
we need to use some tricks to get a good enough estimate.
You can use online services with satellite images (online maps which provide a
photo layer) on your computer or smartphone to help you take a bird’s eye view.
Find your location on a map and explore your parcel and its coverage. This is
especially suitable for larger parcels with trees or shrubs (e.g. a vineyard or an
orchard).
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You can also look at the shade on the ground to get a better idea about canopy
cover of trees and shrubs. However, this only works if the sun is high up (steep
angle), ideally directly above the plants. Shadow can be misleading if the sun falls
in from a lower angle. So this really only works well during the summer months
around midday. For places close to the equator, this works well around midday all
year long.
You can move around to a few different spots on your experiment site and consider
canopy cover from different viewpoints. Do your estimates change depending on
where you stand? Do your estimates change depending on which time of day you
make your guess? If you have a friend with you, do you get the same estimates?
You may also consider, that people have shown a tendency to underestimate
canopy cover when they are trying to make exact estimates by eyesight and for a
larger area. We don’t ask you for an exact estimate, but for estimating which range
your canopy cover falls into. This should already help buffer human error in the
estimates. Nevertheless, you may weigh your estimate and try to be aware of this
potential human bias.
How to use the diagrams
First, consider if trees and shrubs are covering your growing area.
Trees: All wooden plants with usually one main stem. Trees are further divided into fruit
and nut trees (this includes e.g. hazelnut and walnut as well as olive trees and citrus
fruits) and other coniferous or broad-leaved trees.
Shrubs: All wooden plants with usually several main stems or of a scrub or dwarf
vegetation type, often not able to reach more than 5m of height. Shrubs are further
divided into fruiting shrubs (edibles such as e.g. blackberries, redcurrant or sloe) and
other shrubs.
Then try to use the diagrams to arrive at a final percentage range. First, eliminate the
options that seem the least likely. Then, weigh the other options and close in on your
final approximate estimate. Look at the examples below to get a feel for how to estimate
canopy cover.
The cherry tree in the urban garden below, covers the patch up to a quarter of the overall
visible area (within path).
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© University of Dundee/GROW
The following two growing patches have a tree canopy cover of <5% each.
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© University of Dundee/GROW
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Updated on 2nd May 2018
© University of Dundee/GROW
When you estimate canopy cover for the experiment, we’d be interested in the canopy
coverage for the area of the experiment plots only!
You can use the canopy cover classification sheet to note down your estimates. We will
ask you to save and share this information with us later on!
Back to the experiment
11/02/2019 Slope position – GROW Observatory
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Home Slope position
Slope position
GROW Observatory
Whether your experiment site sits on a slope or on a flat plain, as well as its overall
profile or type, has a major effect on water movement, soil composition and available
sunlight. The actual position of your site on a slope or flat plain also matters.
We can look at large changes across slopes in a hilly area, or small (micro) changes
across a site which can indicate if water will pool or run off. This can influence, for
example, the local availability of nutrients and water to plants. If you look around your
country or region, you will likely find that the flatter areas tend to be used for agriculture.
Slightly steeper areas might be more suitable for animal pasture. The steepest areas are
most often used for forestry. Sometimes growers create flat areas to improve their
growing conditions.
So, is your growing area at the top of a hill, or at the bottom of a valley? Are you on a
slope, or flatter ground? Which way does the slope face? These are all important
questions that can give important insight into the otherwise hidden flows of water, wind
and nutrients.
You may wish to have a look at this presentation in which Dr Endre Dobos from the
University of Miskolc in Hungary, explains how to categorise slope type and position and
how it affects water movements in the landscape.
Hilly slope: Slope position
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Updated on 30th April 2018
Flat slope: Micro highs and lows
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11/02/2019 Slope angle – GROW Observatory
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Home Slope angle
Slope angle
GROW Observatory
For flat areas, the movement of water and overall exposure to light are likely to be
consistent across the area. Where there is a slope, those factors will change depending
on which compass direction the slope faces (the slope aspect) and how steep a slope is
(the slope angle).
Both slope angle and aspect can influence the growing environment for plants. They can
affect how much light an area gets, how warm it is, how moisture moves through, and
how processes like erosion and deposition can influence rock weathering and soil
formation.
See how to do it. This video shows how to measure slope angle using a home-made
angle finder or a smart phone app.
Measure your slope angles
First, you will need to decide:
Is my growing space flat? If so, your slope angle will be zero and there will be no
Measuring Slope, Angle and AspectMeasuring Slope, Angle and AspectMeasuring Slope, Angle and Aspect
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aspect.
Can I use a mobile device, app, and/or compass to calculate slope and compass
direction? (This is the quickest way).
If you can’t use a mobile app, your other option is to print and create your own
‘clinometer’ to measure slope angle. You can also use the sun’s direction, or a map to
work out a rough aspect.
Equipment you will need to make the slope clinometer
• Print out of the clinometer image here
• Cardboard (for example, the back of a cereal packet)
• Glue or sticky tape • Scissors • Drawing pin or nail • A piece of string with an object tied to the end as a weight. This needs to be longenough to hang right across the clinometer image (For example, 30 cm).
• Two tall garden canes or poles • Two ‘ribbons’ of bright coloured paper as markers on the poles.
Create the cardboard clinometer
tip: if you only want to use this once, you may not need to stick it to card
Print the clinometer image
1. Cut out a piece of cardboard the same size as the printed paper
2. Stick the paper to the cardboard using glue (or sticky tape at the edges)
3. Cut out the tabs at A and B marked in red, leaving them attached along the dashed
line by the letter A/B.
4. Fold up the cardboard tabs so that they are at right angles to the main clinometer –
these are your sight lines.
5. Add a drawing pin or thin nail at point C, ready to pin to your pole.
6. You can hang your weight-on-string from this point.
7. This will attach to your pole (when it is in the ground) at your eye height
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Positioning the poles
Position your poles and attach the clinometer
1. Mark each pole with a bright paper strip, ensuring the top of the strips are at the same
height above ground for each pole.
2. Set up the poles so that they are at the top and bottom of your slope. This will be at
the top and bottom of your experiment site for an overall observation and at the top
and bottom of each plot to measure all four plots separately.
3. Check that you can see the top of one paper marker strip from the other pole. If not,
move them a bit closer together.
4. Attach your card clinometer to one pole with point C pinned/nailed in level with the
top of your coloured paper marker strip.
5. Hand your weighted string from the drawing pin/nail at point C.
6. Check your card can pivot on the nail and that your string hangs down across the
paper.
With the card clinometer and weightedstring
Take the reading
1. Line up your clinometer so that you can see through both of the sight line tabs. The top
of the coloured paper on the far pole should be visible right in the middle of each tab (at
the apex of the notch)
growobservatory.org
2. The string should be hanging down directly to the ground. Either ask a friend to help
read off the slope angle – where the line of the string crosses the markers on the card
clinometer. Or hold the string in place with your hand so that you can turn and look at
the angle it marks.
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Updated on 10th May 2018
This reading is 10 degrees uphill
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11/02/2019 Slope aspect – GROW Observatory
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Home Slope aspect
Slope aspect
GROW Observatory
The slope aspect is which compass direction your slope is facing. If you are on flat
ground, the aspect is zero.
The easiest way to find your slope aspect is using a compass. If you have a smart phone
you can use a compass app too. Stand with your back to the slope and hold your
phone/compass so it is pointing directly away from the slope. From an app you can read
straight off. With a traditional compass, move the face around so that the marker lines
up with north. Then read off the bearing at the marker point.
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Updated on 30th April 2018
Using a compass to find the slope aspect © Backgroundimage CC0 “satellitov”
If you don’t have a compass or app, you could work out your slope aspect from looking at
a map (either a paper or an online map) of your growing space. Usually, the top of the
map is north (but do check for a compass rose to be sure). You can use the compass
rose on the recording sheet to place on your map and work out which direction your
slope is facing.
You could also do this using the sun. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. At
midday (12 noon, not adjusted for daylight saving) it will be to the south if you are in the
northern hemisphere, or the north if you are in the southern hemisphere.
11/02/2019 Carrying out the soil texture test – GROW Observatory
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Home Experiment instructions Polycultures v. Monocultures Carrying out the soil texture test
Carrying out the soil texture test
GROW Observatory
Soils are composed of mineral and organic components. Soil texture refers to the
relative amounts of three particle sizes: sand (the largest), silt, and clay (the smallest).
The diagram below shows the relative sizes of these particles.
The soil texture triangle shows the proportions of each particle size and the name of the
resulting soil texture.
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Texture is a key soil property and influences water drainage, nutrient levels and
susceptibility to erosion.
Loam soils are ideal for growing food as they have a good balance of smaller and larger
particles, which means they have space between for air and water (most plant roots
need both). Water does drain in loam soils, but not too quickly, so they do not get too wet
or too dry, and hold nutrients well.
Sandy soils tend to be drier and low in nutrients as water drains away quickly washing
nutrients away quickly.
The very fine particles in clay soils make it difficult for water to penetrate so they can
become waterlogged. When clay soils dry out they become very hard which makes it
difficult for plant roots to penetrate them, and water tends to run off the surface. Clay
soils tend to be rich in nutrients because the many tiny particles hold more.
Use this guide to determine the soil texture in your Experiment plot, there is also a
printable guide that you can take outside with you.
Collecting your soil sample
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You will need:
• Gardening gloves to protect your hands • Trowel to collect the soil • Ruler or measuring tape to measure the correct depth
Only one sample is needed and it should be taken from the corner of your experiment
plot, away from where you have planted. Most plots should have space on the south side
(or north if you are in the southern hemisphere) for you to dig. However, if you need to,
use the area just outside of the plots to avoid disturbing the plants.
Dig a hole to 15 cm depth using your trowel – use your ruler or measuring tape to
measure the correct depth. At 15 cm from the surface push the trowel into the side of the
hole to take a sample at this depth.
Once you have collected your sample, break up the soil with a spoon or your fingers, and
remove any stones, gravel, and pieces of large organic matter like leaves or roots. It is
best to wear gardening gloves for this part to protect your hands.
Hand texturing test
Watch our short video outlining the process of assessing your soil texture.
Manipulating soil with your hands and observing what shapes you can form can give an
estimate of soil texture. To begin the hand texturing test, take a handful of soil and add
water until the soil begins to stick together without sticking to your hand. Knead the
moist soil between your fingers and palm. Now follow the flowchart below to determine
your soil texture.
Assessing Your Soil: Soil Texture by HandAssessing Your Soil: Soil Texture by HandAssessing Your Soil: Soil Texture by Hand
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Updated on 30th January 2019
11/02/2019 Harvesting and measuring your yields – GROW Observatory
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Home Experiment instructions Polycultures v. Monocultures Harvesting and measuring your yields
Harvesting and measuring your yields
GROW Observatory
Harvesting is perhaps the most satisfying part of growing. It is also an important part of
the experiment for data collection.
Please read and follow the instructions here carefully to ensure that your results are
accurate and comparable.
There is a printable recording sheet that you can use to make your recording easier.
When to harvest
Harvest each crop evenly from both plots. Harvesting from only one plot will affect
growth in that plot, but not the other.
French beans
Begin picking the pods when they are 10cm (4in) long. Pods are ready when they snap
easily and before the beans can be seen through the pod. By picking regularly you can
crop plants for several weeks. Cut the beans at the stem using scissors or a sharp knife.
Harvest the same proportion e.g. half of what is ready from each plot e.g. if 20 beans are
ripe on the polyculture and 40 are ripe on the beans plot (and you don’t need them all
now) take 10 from the polyculture and 20 from the beans. Weigh from each plot
separately.
Spinach
Harvest the leaves continually once they’re large enough to pick. Harvest a few leaves
from each plant, cutting them off low down with a sharp knife or scissors. Select the
outer leaves first and allow the inside ones to keep growing. Spinach leaves are usually
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p g g p y
nicest as younger “baby” leaves and can be eaten raw or cooked. If they get a bit larger,they might be nicer cooked. Harvest the same proportion from each plot e.g. 2 leaves
from each plant that is ready for harvest.
Radish
You might not know it but you have two options for harvesting your radish!
Roots – the round red-white root is the most commonly eaten part. You ideally want to
harvest after 3-4 weeks when they are about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across. Brush away some of
the soil above the root with your fingers. If the roots are too small, cover them up again
and let them grow a bit more. If it is ready to harvest, hold it at the base of the leaves,
just above the root, and pull upwards gently. Harvest as they become ready on each plot.
This might not be the same number at the same time. Try not to harvest too early or too
late from one plot and not the other.
If the roots have become too large, they can go “woody” and hard and won’t be nice to eat.At this point you can leave them to grow and eat the fruits!
Fruits – if you leave a radish to grow on, it will flower with clusters of white-pink flowers
with four petals. Leave it a little longer and these will develop long fleshy green seed
pods. These seed pods are edible (before they dry out). They taste of radish but are a little
milder than the roots. You can get a lot of seed pods from a single plant so this is quite
an efficient way to harvest. If you choose to leave some or all of your radish to fruit, take
the same number of plants from each plot as roots and as fruits.
Weigh your yield and assess the quality
This is the most crucial measurement in the experiment. Weigh the harvest of each,
from each plot, each time you pick them. It is best to keep scales and your recording
sheet or notebook near to your plots (e.g. in a waterproof container or shed). If you can,
please weigh in grams as this is more precise than ounces.
You should weigh the parts that you are going to eat (as if you bought them from the
shop)
Beans – weigh the pods before washing. Stems should be removed.
Spinach – weigh the leaves. Shake off any dirt, but do not wash them as this will make
them heavier.
Radish – weigh either the roots or the pods. Leaves and stems should be removed, along
with the root tip. Brush off any dirt on the root, or give it a quick rinse and pat dry.
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Updated on 30th January 2019
Assess your quality
Quality can be assessed against a simple scale: how much of the harvested crop (that
you just weighed) is good to eat?
How much is good to eat?
0 – none of the crop
1 – some, but less than a quarter
2 – a quarter up to a half
3 – a half up to three quarters
4 – more than three-quarters of it
Notes
Other aspects of growing could affect your results, so it’s useful to record notes. This can
be used to help understand any odd results you get later. For example:
Harvest quality – if less than perfect, what do you see as causing the problem?
Weather – e.g. has it been rainy/hot since your last record?
Activity – e.g. Have you weeded or watered the plot(s)?
Time spent – How long have you worked on each of the four plots?
Damage – Any signs of pests or disease? On which plot(s)?
Differences – Are plants growing differently in each plot? Has anything else happened
that could affect the plants in one plot?
Questions – Anything you need to know more about – you could correspond with others
doing the experiment in the GROW Experiment forum or social media.
You can fill these results in on your recording sheets or a notebook.
You can continue to record your data until your harvests are complete.
Recording sheet: Polyculture v. Monoculture Experiment
Soil texture Print this sheet and use it to test your soil texture and record your observations in your growing site.
Collecting your soil sample
You will need:
• Gardening gloves to protect your hands
• Trowel to collect the soil
• Ruler or measuring tape to measure the correct depth
Only one sample is needed and it should be taken from the corner of your experiment plot, away from
where you have planted. Most plots should have space on the south side (or north if you are in the
southern hemisphere) for you to dig. However, if you need to, use the area just outside of the plots to
avoid disturbing the plants.
Dig a hole to 15 cm depth using your trowel - use your ruler or measuring tape to measure the correct
depth. At 15 cm from the surface push the trowel into the side of the hole to take a sample at this
depth.
Once you have collected your sample, break up the soil with a spoon or your fingers, and remove any
stones, gravel, and large organic matter like leaves or roots. It is best to wear gardening gloves for this
part to protect your hands.
Hand texturing test
Manipulating soil in your hand and observing what shapes you can form gives an estimate of soil
texture. To begin the hand texturing test take a handful of soil and add water until the soil begins to
stick together without sticking to your hand while kneading the water and soil between your fingers
and palm. Now follow the flowchart overleaf to determine your soil texture.
What texture is your soil sample? ___________________________ How confident are you in this result? ☐ Very confident ☐ Quite confident ☐ Not quite sure ☐ Not at all sure
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under grant agreement No 690199.
Recording sheet: Polyculture v. Monoculture Experiment
Site Description
Print this sheet and use it to record your observations in your growing site. Full instructions for how to do
each measurement can be found here:
https://knowledge.growobservatory.org/knowledge-base/how-to-set-up-the-experiment/
Location/ name of experiment site _____________________________________
Finding a good site Does your soil smell sweet or not really smell?
□ Yes
If your soil smells bad (e.g. sour, putrid, or has a chemical scent) it is probably waterlogged and will not
make a good growing site. Repeat this test in another place until you find soil that doesn’t smell bad.
What happens when you squeeze a handful of soil?
□ It does not stick together. The soil is dry. You will need to water your site to get good growth.
□ The soil sticks together and does not drip. This is a good site for growing
□ Water runs or drips out. The soil is wet. It is not a good site for growing if the soil is always wet.
Light and Shade For how much of the day, if any, is your plot shaded? Note that shadows will move around so you should
make observations over one sunny day in the growing season. An easy way to assess this is to take photos
every few hours on a sunny day. You could also place markers at the end of the shadows and track how
they move.
Select the description which best matches the site where your experiment is located:
□ Full sun (plot is not shaded)
□ 1-25% shady (plot is shaded less than a quarter of the day, for example, 3 out of 12 hours of daylight)
□ 26-50% shady (shaded 3 to 6 hours out of 12)
□ 51-75% shady (shaded 6-9 hours out of 12)
□ 75-100% shady (shaded three-quarters of the day or longer)
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Canopy cover During the growing season, are there trees and shrubs directly above (overhanging) your experiment
site?
TREE CANOPY
< 5% 6-10% 11-25% 25-50% 51-75% 76-90% > 91%
If you take a bird’s eye view looking directly up from the experiment plot, how much of the site is
covered by trees, approximately? (mark the closest illustration to what you see)
SHRUB CANOPY
< 5% 6-10% 11-25% 25-50% 51-75% 76-90% > 91%
If you take a bird’s eye view looking directly up from the experiment plot, how much of the site is
covered by shrubs, approximately?
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The landscape around your plot - Slope position and type Consider the wider landscape that your experiment is located in. This is likely to be beyond the boundaries
of the whole growing site. Consider the total landscape through which water might flow to/from your site.
Is your experiment located in an area that is:
□ Hilly
□ Flat
If the area is flat, where is your site, approximately? (mark on illustration)
If the landscape is hilly, where on the hillside is your experiment site? (mark on illustration)
Slope angle How steep is the slope your experiment is located on? Give your answer in degrees. If the site is flat,
record 0 degrees. Most growing sites are 0 to about 20 degrees. A completely vertical slope, like a wall,
would be 90 degrees.
__________ degrees
Are all four experiment plots on the same slope angle?
□ Yes
□ No
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If no, what is the angle for each plot?
Polyculture __________ degrees
Beans __________ degrees
Spinach __________ degrees
Radish __________ degrees
Slope aspect Which compass direction does your slope face? If it is flat, record 0 degrees. If it faces north, record
360 degrees.
__________ compass bearing (degrees)
Or estimate based on the cardinal direction
● N 0 ° ● NNE 22.5° ● NE 45° ● ENE 67.5 ° ● E 90° ● ESE 112.5° ● SE 135° ● SSE 157.5° ● S 180° ● SSW 202.5° ● SW 225 ° ● WSW 247.5 ° ● W 270 ° ● WNW 292.5 ° ● NW 315 ° ● NNW 337.5 °
Do all four experiment plots face the same direction?
□ Yes □ No
If no, what is the angle for each plot?
Polyculture __________ degrees
Beans __________ degrees
Spinach __________ degrees
Radish __________ degrees
That’s all your site description done – well done!
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under
grant agreement No 690199.
Recording sheet:
Polyculture v. Monoculture Experiment
Harvests
Print this sheet and use it to record your observations in your growing site. Full instructions for how to do each measurement can be found here:
https://knowledge.growobservatory.org/knowledge-base/how-to-set-up-the-experiment/
Location/ name of experiment site (if more than one) _____________________________________
Your units of weight
Are you recording in
□ Kilograms and/or grams (kg and g) □ Pounds and/or ounces (lb and oz)
Harvest quantity
Weigh and record each harvest of each crop from both the polyculture and the
monoculture plots. It’s good to keep scales and your recording sheets and a
pencil near to your plot to make this as easy as possible. You should weigh the
parts that you are going to eat (as if you bought them from the shop)
Beans – Weigh the pods before washing (stems removed).
Spinach – weigh the leaves. Shake off any dirt, but do not wash.
Radish – weigh either the roots or the pods. Leaves and stems should be
removed, along with the root tip. Brush off dirt or rinse and pat dry.
Harvest quality
You can assess quality against a simple scale: how much of the harvested crop
(that you just weighed) is good to eat? How much is good to eat?
0 – none of the crop 1 – some, but less than a quarter 2 – a quarter up to a half 3 – a half up to three quarters 4 – more than three-quarters of it
Date
(day/month)
Crop
B – Beans
S – Spinach
Rr - Radish root
Rp - Radish seed
pod
Plot
P – polyculture
M - monoculture
Weight
Mark your
units above
Quality
(0-5)
Notes
e.g. weather, activity on plot, time spent on plot, pest/disease signs, plot differences,
questions for the forum
e.g. 14 / 06 / 2019 S M 550 g 5 Dry and sunny all week, Spent 2 mins a day watering seedlings in each plot. Spinach in polyculture seems to be greener than that in monoculture.
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Print additional copies of this page if you need them.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690199.
