My vegetable garden is a work in progress. Today it is very much different than it was when first started, and in the future I suspect that it probably will be a little different than it is now. As the years go by there are always refinements to be made, new approaches to be discovered.
Changes come about by careful observation, diagnosing the conditions that exist, and deciding if modifications are needed. In gardening altering the status quo takes time, as the results of any experimentation is usually not known until the end of the growing season. Then any subsequent trials have to wait until the following year. This can be overcome, somewhat, by beginning a number of tests all at the same time. In this way one can have the results in one year instead of perhaps 4 or 5 years if done singly.
Your garden is unique—there is no other exactly like it What grows great in one person’s garden does not necessarily do so in another. Soils, drainage, air circulation, all vary from one location to another. If there is a problem test don’t guess.
For example: If small seed germination failures are being experienced, tests should be run starting with the sowing process. Very small seed, after being pressed into the earth, can be covered with soil or just left uncovered. To resolve which method results in the best germination rate, one half of the seed sown would be covered, the other half uncovered. Final results would determine if further tests are needed.
This sort of thing goes a long way towards improving one’s gardening skills. If you decide to conduct experiments, based on my experience, I can offer the following counsel:
Recognize that no matter how meticulous one is in the formulating of a theory; expect the unexpected when the theory is put to the test under actual conditions.
In testing new methods it is very difficult to remain objective. One wants their brain child to be successful so badly that there is the tendency to develop a blind spot to any of its shortcomings. Don’t let this happen! Admit failures, put them behind you, and build on small successes.
To attain valid results any test that you do must be performed duplicating scientific methods as much as possible.
Controlled Experiments
There are basically two types of experiments that will give you the answers to most of your questions:
1) Simple–this is the testing of only one set of variables.
2) Factorial–this is the testing of more than one set of variables at the same time.
In either case before doing anything, have a clear picture of what it is that you want to accomplish.
Simple Test: Suppose that one wants to find out whether bean variety A or bean variety B is more productive under normal conditions. There is only one variable, the different varieties. The procedure would be to do a controlled experiment as follows:
1) Sow one half of a plot that has normal soil with variety A and the other half with variety B.
2) Treat both sowings exactly the same, weed, water, cultivate with no variation.
3) If at the end of the trial period variety A has produced more beans that B then it is reasonable to conclude that A is more productive since everything else was the same.
But if one wants to find out about more that one thing, then a factorial test is needed.
Factorial Test: Now suppose one wants to know not only whether variety A or variety B is more productive but also how compost or mulch would affect growth of the crops, then it gets a little more complicated.
A two factor test must be made: The different varieties being one factor and the different soil treatments being the other. Then the procedure would be:
1) Sow A in one half of a normal soil area.
2) Sow B in the other half of the normal soil area.
3) Sow A in one half of a heavily composted area.
4) Sow B in the other half of the heavily composted area.
5) Sow A in one half of a mulched area.
6) Sow B in the other half of the mulched area.
Each soil treatment represents a different approach. The purpose of doing a comparative experiment is to find out if it matters whether one approach is used rather than the other.
At the end of the trial period the results will have to be analyzed. Which variety was the most productive? But why? Did the different soil treatments have anything to do with the results? If yes, it can be assumed that that was an important factor.
Although a factorial test gives more information, it is more complex to set up, carry out and to analyze.
Conducting a test
Start by writing down your objective in a logbook, then record all successive data. In scientific experiments this is to be done by recording in ink in bound notebooks, and that is the procedure that you should follow in your tests as it eliminates the temptation to alter entries, or omit pages.
Record everything in the log. Don’t just write yourself a note on a scrap piece of paper and please, please don’t think that you are going to remember something that you didn’t write down!
For my log I use a 9¾x7½-inch school “composition” type bound notebook. The front part is used to record my experiments, the back pages for entering other observations. (Turning the book upside down transforms the last page into page one for that part.)
Most tests can be made with very little change in the normal routine. To illustrate: For years I had been growing bush beans in conventional rows, 2 inches apart in the row, rows 8 inches apart. This usually required some cultivating between rows. I decided to conduct a simple test to determine if sowing them in closer staggered rows would make a difference. A summary follows:
Case history
Title:
Bush beans conventional rows versus staggered rows.
Purpose of the test:
To determine if the method of planting has any significant effect on growth and maintenance of bean plants.
Method of conducting test:
1) Four conventional rows filled a marked-off area. Seeds were positioned 2 inches apart in rows 8 inches apart. This resulted in a total of 88 seeds being sown: (14 more that the staggered rows.)
2) Seven staggered rows filled an identical area. Seeds were positioned 4 inches apart in rows 4 inches apart. This resulted in a total of 74 seeds being sown: (14 less than the conventional rows.)
3) Both were treated identically. No cultivating was done. They were watered daily until established then were watered only if there was no rainfall in any seven day period.
Monitoring the test:
The plots were checked on a daily basis. After 3 weeks, the number of seedlings was counted. Staggered rows had a germination rate 4% better than the conventional.
It was observed that the exposed bare earth between the conventional rows dried out quickly. This did not happen in the staggered rows. The plants shaded the ground holding the moisture in. As a result they grew faster and bigger than those in the conventional rows.
Results:
Upon harvesting it was found that the plants in the staggered rows had produced about 10% more beans.
Conclusion:
Since the bush beans sown in staggered rows, produced more with fewer seeds, retained soil moisture better and did not need to be cultivated, it was decided to adopt that method for all future sowings.