Move It! An Experimental Study on Plant Population Density Megan Haley and Allison Dennert Burnaby Mountain Secondary Floor Location : J 162 V

The environmental issues of overpopulation, crop failure and destruction of precious trees inspired us to experiment with the population density of plants. For our experiment, we basically planted a test group of seeds close together, and a control group of seeds at the recommended distance apart. We wanted to see the effects on the plant's health, whether or not that had any effect on the plant's surroundings, and if the plant would ultimately survive. We chose Altaglobe Radishes to test, as they germinate quickly in little amounts of space. 180 Seeds in total were planted, 5 seeds each in 3 containers with water collection pans, spaced 2.0 cm apart (control group), and 55 seeds each in 3 containers with water collection pans, spaced 1.0 cm apart (experimental group). Each container was labeled; the titles of A,B & C were given to the control group, and the titles of and D,E,& F were given the experimental group. Each container was given 80ml of water every second day, and subsequently, data was collected at the time as well. A final data collection was taken after 52 days. (After 28 days---which was the recommended growing period---insufficient data led us to continue our experiment) We found that every seed planted in the control group germinated, yet only 93.9% of the seeds in the experimental group germinated. Overall, 80% of the seeds that germinated in the control group survived until the end of the experiment, where as only 31.3% of the seeds that germinated in the experimental group survived. Furthermore, the overall health and appearance of the control group was much more preferable than that of the experimental group. In conclusion, we found that if plants are spaced evenly, they will have a greater chance of survival and possible fruit production than those that are planted closer together. This information, when studied further, is important and could help us with overall crop health, and production rates, as well as other important environmeantal issues.