Vegetable Mad Science Experiments – We Love Em! Part 1 Beans

Posted on 12. May, 2010 by Tracey in Veg Plot

Do you remember doing science experiments at school like the coin being cleaned when dropped in a beaker of coke or making a balloon rocket and firing it over the sports field? Even as adults we still have an inquisitive nature to discover the unknown.

We all like trying to conquer new things in our vegetable gardens each year. Last year I discovered whether I could grow vegetables on my office windowsill and I decided to record the contents of my compost bin for 3 months (a particular mad idea, I thought!)

Well its good news, I’m not alone. I’ve found some great bloggers that could pass for mad scientists and I’d like to share their experiments with you in weekly bite sized posts. This week, as its time to sow our french and runner beans in pots or modules I’d like to introduce to you to our first of many Vegetable Mad Scientists and an invaluable experiment that I for one would like to know the answer to and I’m sure you will too.

Mals Allotment Beans

Mals Allotment

Profile:
A weekend gardener and allotment holder for 15 years from Edinburgh, UK with a recent post on
‘Its not Rocket Science.. hopefully its Bean Science’.

Experiment Question: Which way up do you sow your bean seeds?

The Science Bit – Bean Germination:
When the bean seeds are sowed into soil and come into contact with water, the seed germinates by allowing the water into the microphyle (a small hole in the side of the seed). The seed case swells and the first root or radicle will grow out through the microphyle hole downwards into the soil. Once the root is secure in the soil, the plumule (the stem and first pair of leaves) will grow out of the hole in the seed case and move upwards towards the soil surface.

Germination of Beans

Research:
As you can see from various sources below, some people believe beans can be sowed any way up and others believe different and many of us (including me) don’t really know which way up to sow beans.

• Yahoo Questions
• Allotments-UK Forum
• Garden Banter.co.uk Forum

The Method:
A controlled experiment with 44 pots, sowing 2 beans in each, carefully labelled with the variety and orientation (which way up) the seed has been planted. The orientation options are: up, down, sideways flat, sideways vertical.

Measurements:
To record the germination speed and length of time it takes the seedlings reach 6 inches tall and to record in which orientation they were sown.

Interview Questions:

1. Where did you get the idea from to do this experiment?

Mal’s Answer:
Googling failed to come up with any answer to the question I set in my previous blog entry. No comments posted suggested a source I had overlooked. Several web posters claimed that there is no right way up to sow beans. I wondered if they had tested this.

2. Which way up have you sown bean seeds in the past?

Mal’s Answer:
I’ve always just poked beans into compost/soil randomly.

3. Will you be doing any more experiments in the future?

Mal’s Answer:
Yes! Every year is another experiment, but blogging has forced me to become better about recording things and actually following through my intentions. The camera is a great asset when it comes to recod keeping. I even use it to retain information on the back of seed packets. In the past I’ve forgotten what I did and when. My practices (and my yields) have improved no end since I have posted my efforts in public where others can scrutinise them, and I too can refer back to what I did and what I hypothesised would happen.

Mals Allotment Bean Experiment

Results: Ongoing - All results will be listed below.
Please visit Mals Allotment to find out more details.

Mals Allotment – Bean Experiment Posts:

• Which Way is Up
• State of Emergence
• As a Returning Officer

A Big Thanks to Mal’s Allotment for answering my interview questions.

If you know of any experimental vegetable gardeners or vegetable mad scientists, please contact me below so I can feature them and their experiments or projects in this series.

iGrowVeg Posts about Beans:

• Growing Dwarf French and Runner Beans
• Transplanting Beans into the Ground
• Building a Wigwam Cane Support for Runner Beans
• 5 Common Pests and Diseases of Beans and Peas

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