Gardening

[dpleau]

I am doing my first stint as a Gardening Merit Badge Counselor. I have read over all the information and thought I had it down and then got questions on the information that was interpreted differently and want to make sure I explain everything to the boys correctly.

With regard to requirement 3 (100 seed germination):

- Do these all need to be the same type of seed or can they have 10 seeds of 10 different plants?

- Does the same germinating compound need to be used for all 100 seeds or can different compounds be used?

With regard to requirement 1 (six vegetables/six flowers):

- Do these need to be six different types of vegetables/flowers?

Thanks in advance for your assistance,

[ynotquilt]

I am also a Gardening Merit Badge counselor. The way I interpret it is that they must be different vegetables and flowers in requirement #1. I also interpret #3 as being 100 of the same seed. That is the only way you can have a scientific comparison. Otherwise, it would be like comparing apples to oranges. This is how I am interpreting this badge.

AmyLynn
ASM Troop #312 Pinckney, MI

[alex gregory]

The way I interpret it is that they must be different vegetables and flowers in requirement #1. I also interpret #3 as being 100 of the same seed. That is the only way you can have a scientific comparison. Otherwise, it would be like comparing apples to oranges.

I'm new to Gardening MB. It's been a lot of fun so far. I hope I get to share in the harvest!

Not sure about the suggestion that requirement 3 has to be different than requirement 1.

Requirement 3 reads: "Test 100 garden seeds for germination. Determine the percentage of seeds that germinate. Explain why you think some did not germinate."

No mention of choosing varieties not already selected for requirement 1. I suppose 100 seeds of different varieties would be OK, although I agree that testing 100 seeds of the same variety make for better science.

I suggested lettuce for req. 1, and saw no reason why to say no to the decision to test 100 lettuce seeds under more controlled circumstances. Made for an interesting study.

[alex gregory]

[quote="dpleau"]With regard to requirement 1 (six vegetables/six flowers):

- Do these need to be six different types of vegetables/flowers?quote]

I immediately concluded 6 different varieties, which is what is being done. But I suppose a very lazy scout could get away with 6, and only 6, of the exact same plant. Would make for a pretty dull garden.

Six zuchs in a row, 3 from seed and 3 from seedlings. How much zucchini bread can you make?

Req. 1 reads:
Do the following:
Grow six vegetables, three from seeds and three from seedlings, through harvesting.
Grow six flowers, three from seeds and three from seedlings, through flowering.

[BubbaBear]

I've been trying to get access to become a wiki editor and fix this on the actual site, but if anyone is looking for the link to the seed germination helper you can access it with the wayback machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110810162 ... ege004.htm

I also thought this had some pretty good visual information to help the boys understand why some seeds are not viable: http://ipm.wsu.edu/seedcrops/PPT%20Pres ... bility.pdf

[BartHumphries]

I also interpret #3 as being 100 of the same seed. That is the only way you can have a scientific comparison. Otherwise, it would be like comparing apples to oranges. This is how I am interpreting this badge.

Statistically, you don't need 100 cases to do some good math. The law of large numbers doesn't spell out how large is large enough in most cases, but more than 30 is generally acceptable, especially for preliminary studies. That would let you compare the germinating percentages for three types of plants, or varieties of the same plant, in that 100-seed study. You're the Counselors, though, so whatever you want to have the boys do. Have a chat with them and see how much they know about statistics and whether they'd like to know more.