The Effect of Fertilizer on The Growth Of Coriander

Hypothesis and Purpose Hypothesis: If tested, then Miracle-Gro will make the Coriander grow the tallest and the freshest. Purpose: Since many people like to grow Coriander (Cilantro), I decided to test which type of fertilizer would work best on the growth of Coriander.

Background Information Coriander should be grown in full sunlight. Coriander is a fast growing plant All of the parts of Coriander are edible. Coriander is a very useful medicinal herb. Miracle-Gro is enriched with nutrients for plants. Miracle-Gro “Works instantly” Terra-Cycle is an organic plant food. Terra-Cycle is made of worm excrement. Scotts fertilizer is enriched with nutrients.

Vocabulary Excrement- noun -waste matter discharged from the body. Organic- adjective -developing in a manner analogous to the natural growth and evolution characteristic of living organisms; arising as a natural outgrowth. Coriander- noun -an herb, Coriandrum sativum, of the parsley family, native to Europe, having strong-scented leaves used in cooking and aromatic seeds used as a seasoning and in medicine. Fertilizer- noun -any substance used to fertilize the soil, esp. a commercial or chemical manure. Nutrients- noun -A source of nourishment, especially a nourishing ingredient in a food. Medicinal- adjective -of, pertaining to, or having the properties of a medicine; curative; remedial: medicinal properties; medicinal substances.

Materials 1 Dry measuring cup(1 cup size) 1 Box of Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food 1 bottle of Terra-Cycle Powerful Organic Plant Food 1 Bag of Scott’s Fertilized Soil 1 bag of Ground Soil 4 Growth Lights 20 same size pots 40 Coriander seeds 1 Black Sharpie ½ cup Dry measuring cup

Set-Up 1.Open the packages of soil and fertilizer. 2.Gather the required materials. 3.Plug in the growth lights into a nearby outlet and install it under a shelf. 4.Install all the lights 3 inches apart from each other.

Procedure 1. Remove the Coriander seeds from their packaging and pour 1 cup of soil into each pot. 2. Label 5 pots Miracle-Gro, five pots Scott’s, five pots Terra-Cycle, and five pots control. 3. Measure ½ cup of each type of fertilizer and put the fertilizer into their respectively labeled pots. 4. Plant 2 seeds into each pot. 5. Place all the pots under the growth lights. 6. Leave the growth light on for 8 hours a day and water an 1/8 cup of water every day. 7. Observe and record the data from the growth of the Coriander for one week.

Data chart Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5 Miracle- Gro 2 ½ cm-1 Sprout 2 cm- 1 sprout 1 ½- 1 sprout 2 cm-1 sprout 0 cm Scotts2 cm-1 sprout 0 cm Terra- Cycle 1 cm-1 sprout 1 ½ cm-1 sprout 2 cm- 1 sprout ½ cm- 1 sprout 2½ cm-1 sprout Control (Regular Dirt) 0 cm1 cm- 1 sprout 0 cm

Data Chart of the Averages Averages of the Plant Growth Miracle- Gro 1.6 cm Scotts0.6 cm Terra- Cycle 1.5 cm Control0.2 cm

Graph

Graph of the Averages

Analysis On day 5, I started to see sprouts in the Miracle- Gro pots 2 and 3 On day 6, I saw sprouts in pot 2 of the Control and sprouts in pots 1 and 4 of Miracle-Gro. On day 7, I saw sprouts in all of the pots of terra- cycle. On day 8, I saw a sprout in pot 1 of Scott’s. All of the pots had either one or no sprouts.

Conclusion Miracle-Gro is the best for plants. This may be because it is enriched with several nutrients that are specially picked for plants. Terra-cycle is the second best fertilizer for Coriander and Scott’s is the second worst fertilizer for Coriander. The control of no fertilizer did the worst. The plants didn’t grow much at all.

Weaknesses and improvements I think that I could have improved by using temperature control. Since some of the pots were near a vent, It may have affected the outcome. Also, I think that I could have made more trials. I only did 5 trials for each brand and think that 7 trials could have bettered the results.