The Effect of Miracle-Gro Concentration on the

Height Grown by a PlantBy Matt Balick

Problem Statement / Hypothesis Problem Statement- Does the

concentration of Miracle-Gro affect the height that a plant will grow?

Hypothesis- If a plant is given a concentration of 1 mL of Miracle-Gro mixed with 32 mL of water, then that plant will grow taller than plants with other concentrations of Miracle-Gro.

Basic Concepts What is Miracle-Gro?: “Miracle-Gro is a

synthetic fertilizer that contains ammonium phosphate and several other chemicals.”

What does Miracle-Gro do for plants: Miracle-Gro allows plants to live longer and grow taller.

Is Miracle-Gro healthy for plants?: Some gardening experts believe that Miracle-Gro is detrimental to plants because of the chemicals that the fertilizer uses, but others believe that, because it helps the plants to grow and live longer, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Materials 100 sun flower seeds 4 Large trays (Jiffy Professional

Greenhouse) 100 mLs of Miracle-Gro granules Water Spray bottle Ruler Measuring cup

Procedure Add water to each of the “pellets” until they expand When they expand, pull back the mesh wrapping so that you can plant

the seeds Plant 2 seeds in each “pellet” and then cover the seeds with the rest of

the soil Water until damp (each time watered approx. 4 mL/tray) with spray

bottle on diffuse spray setting Place trays in indirect sunlight with equal amounts of sun exposure.

Place the “dome (turns into green house effect)” over tray. Remove dome once plants sprout.

3 days later add the specified amount of Miracle-Gro granules along with 32 mL of water to each pellet tray

Repeat this step every 7 days When the seeds start to grow, take out the smaller of the two plants (if

two have grown), and measure the taller plant Take an average for each tray (height of each plant added together

divided by 25). Repeat this step weekly.

Design Diagram

LEVELS 1 mL of Miracle-Gro granuels, 32 mL of water

2 mL of Miracle-Gro granuels, 32 mL of water

4 mL of Miracle-Gro granuels, 32 mL of water

8 mL of Miracle-Gro granuels, 32 mL of water

TRIALS 25 25 25 25

Title: The Effect of Miracle Grow Concentration on the Height Grown by a Plant.

Hypothesis: If a plant is given a concentration of 1 mL of Miracle-Gro mixed with 32 mL of water, then that plant will grow taller than plants with other concentrations of Miracle-Gro.

IV: Concentration of Miracle-Gro; DV: Growth of the plants (cm)

Constants: soil, plant type, sunlight, times watered Control: 2 mL of Miracle-Gro (suggested by the company)

Photo Documentation

Graph of Averaged Data After 10 days After 17 days After 24 days1 mL 2 mL 4 mL 8 mL 1 mL 2 mL 4 mL 8 mL 1 mL 2 mL 4 mL 8 mL

6.5 6 6 5.5 7 9 7 6 7 12 7.5 06 7 7 7.5 7.5 9.5 8 7.5 7.5 14 8.5 7.53 7 6 5.5 4 12 9.5 6 4 13.5 9.5 07 5 5 5.5 4 8 9.5 5.5 4 11 9.5 06 0 8 5.5 7 9.5 10 7 7 13 10.5 0

4.5 0 7 6 5 0 8 6 5 0 10 66 6.6 7.5 6 7 8 9.5 6 7 11 9.5 65 6 7 4.5 6.5 8 7.5 5 6.5 13 8 5

6.5 6.5 8.5 7 7 9 9 7.5 7 10 9.5 7.55 4.5 5.5 6.5 6 10 6 6.5 6 12 6 01 5.5 6 7.5 2 11.5 7.5 8 2 12 7.5 8

6.5 7 7 5.5 8.5 11 8 6 8.5 13.5 8 08 2.5 6 7 8 9 7 7.5 8 10.5 8 7.57 4 5.5 5.5 8 8 6 5.5 8 9 7.5 5.5

11 7 7 7 12 5 8.5 7 12 9 8.5 70 6 6 7 0 7.5 9 7 0 9.5 10 70 7 8 7 0 8 0 7 0 10 0 00 4 8.5 6 0 9.5 6.5 7 0 9.5 7 70 5.5 6.5 5 0 10 7.5 5.5 0 11 8 5.50 7.5 7 6.5 0 11 8 6.5 0 12.5 8.5 00 6 6.5 5 0 12 8 5 0 12 8 50 4.5 6 5.5 0 11.5 8 6 0 13 8 60 5.5 5 7 0 8 7.5 7 0 13 7.5 00 6 7.5 6.5 0 6 8.5 7 0 12 9 00 4 0 0 0 8.5 0 0 0 15 0 0

3.56 5.224 6.4 5.9 3.98 8.78 7.36 6.2 3.98 11.24 7.76 3.62

Graph of Average Data (continued) Averages:

• After 10 days: 1 mL= 3.56, 2 mL= 5.224, 4 mL= 6.4, 8 mL= 5.9

• After 17 days: 1 mL= 3.98, 2 mL= 8.78, 4 mL= 7.36, 8 mL= 6.2

• After 24 days: 1 mL= 3.98, 2 mL= 11.24, 4 mL= 7.76, 8 mL= 3.62

Results Used the ANOVA test P Value= 32.20 Other results:

1mL 2mL 4mL 8mLMean 3.98 11.3 7.76 3.62Standard Deviation

3.76 2.89 2.56 3.36

Median 4.00 12.0 8.00 5.00 Hi/Low 12/0 15/0 10.5 /0 8/0Average Absolute Deviation from Median

3.34 1.80 1.44 3.02

Conclusion Data is significant Null hypothesis is rejected My hypothesis was

confirmed/accepted

Sources of Error and Improvements Human error- I could have measured

something wrong and I rounded to the nearest .5

Watered until moist- some plants might have gotten more Miracle-Gro than others

Light- all of the plants might not have gotten the exact same amount of light

Trial Period – if longer period of time was observed, would the plants continued to maintain growth differences?

Time of year- not the best weather which could have affected the growth

Applications and Extensions

Applications• Easy • Cheap• I’ve never been able to grow any plants

before and wanted to see if it would help Extensions

• The Effect of Soil Type on the Productivity of Miracle-Gro

• The Effect of the Amount of Sunlight on the Productivity of Miracle-Gro

Acknowledgements My mom who put up with a mess in

my basement Mrs. Pietrangelo for helping me

through this project The people at PJAS that accepted this

project