I am taking an organic gardening class in school. In the class we were given 2 sections of garden and were told that we must do some sort of experiment in order to pass the class.
things to note:
The garden is outside
the garden is at school so it can not be accessed at all times
I only have 1 term to do the experiment
the gardens are both 4′x4′
Comments
I am assuming all tests must be organic in nature rather compare organic to inorganic.
Is there a major crop pest that impacts a valuable small space crop? Could you grow each patch using a different IPM system to contrast results. Perhaps dedicate one patch to biological protection with selected pest predators: Bt., brown smudge bugs, ladybird beetles of various species, red and blue beetles, brown lacewings, parasitic wasps, and a variety of spiders. Braconid wasps, nematodes, and soldier beetles consume pests like the cucumber beetle and aphids or the mealy bug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) controls mealybugs. This method requires predicting possible pests and planning ahead to handle the likeliest range of troublesome pests and pathogens.
Dedicate the second to abiotic/physical/mechanical traps to control the primary pests? Summer oil sprays for mildew control, soap sprays for sucking insects, baited traps for earwigs and slugs, row covers for flying pests, stem rings for cut worms.
These of course are combined with properly planned cultural controls such as the proper timing of soil cultivation and debris cleanup; the health maintenance of plants including the proper amounts and timing of water irrigation and fertilizer to ensure healthy plants.
Any biotic control that flies will also travel to the other patches seeking prey. This will have to be accounted for. The mechanical patch receives some biotic support from the surroundings but so would any field. However the biotic beneficials will also be killed by soap/oil/natural pesticide sprays so their benefits are limited by the treatments used just as they are in commercial agriculture.
What you decide for an IPM depends on the crop you choose and the possible range of problems your surrounding environment supplies.
Your patches are too small to compare for strong results but with good pest ID and averaged sample body counts you should be able to track general numbers and species of pests for your results. Sticky strips will trap regular samples of insects for ID purposes and give evidence of relative numbers.
How about an ACTUAL yield comparison between an organic liquid fertilizer, and one that purports not to be. Or perhaps a yield comparison between conventional spacing as opposed to what Mel Batholemew calls Square Foot Gardening. You can Google Mel’s name or square foot gardening to see what I mean. I AM assuming that both plots are indentical in makeup/composition.
I believe that the fertilizer comparison will be rather eye-opening!
Donna
