Inquiry Lab

Beth Martin, Sophia Chlosta, Nate Paras, Andrew Ledergerber, Olivia Dellemonache, and Nick

Brungo

Period 8

December 21, 2016

Introduction:

Our inquiry project involves onions and spinach growing. Onions are easily grown in odd places

alongside both slower and faster growing vegetables. They grow twenty to fifty onions can grow

in one to 1 or 1 ½ square feet of space. Onions can be ready in 20 to 30 days after they are

planted. Onions are grown from seeds and they can take up to five months to be completely

grown. There are a variety of different kinds of onions that can be grown in different areas,

temperature, and surroundings. Onions grow tops in cool weather and form bulbs in warm

weather. Onions also grow best in loose, well-drained sandy loam. Onion seeds are bedded in

soil at least 8 inches deep. They prefer a soil pH of 6. to 7.5. The spinach most quickly grows in

rich soil in organic matter such as compost or composted manure with the pH of 6.5 to 7. To

grow twice a year plant before 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost in the spring, and again in 6 to 8

weeks before the frost in the fall.

The independent variable of this inquiry lab is the type of plants we tested. Also, the watering of

each plant did not change. Our group watered the plants everyday before class. The dependent

variable the length that each of the plants grew. The spinach plant grew to about four

centimeters, so the length of it was changing everyday. However, for the onion plant, our group

only really started to see a change in the length about a few days ago. The onion planted grew

significantly faster than the onion plant did. The constants of our experiment are the soil that we

used for our plants, the amount of sunlight, and the amount of water we gave each other the

plants everyday.
Discussion:

Spinach is a cool weather plant that grows quickly and yields many leaves in a short amount

time. Spinach, although it is optimal to get full sunlight, will produce a fair yield in partial shade.

Spinach grows best at the temperatures of 35-75 degrees. Well drained, rich soil will produce the

quickest growth for spinach. Spinach also grows well in soil that is rich in organic matter.

Onions are also a cold weather plant they can grow in temperatures as low as 21 degrees. The

best temperature to grown onions although is 55-75 degrees. The most efficient way to grow

onions is to keep them in cooler temperatures at the early stages of life, and then increase the

temperature as time goes on. Onions need at least six hours of sunlight a day. Our groups

hypothesis of this experiment was correct. The hypothesis was that the spinach would grow

faster than the onion. The results were that the spinach plant grew to four centimeters while the

onion plant grew to a half of a centimeter. The plants were close to a window and it has been

colder outside and the chilly air gets in through the windows. Some possible errors in the

procedure of this experiment could be not watering the plants enough, putting the plants in spots

without adequate sunlight, and overwatering. This could have slowed down the growth of the

plants and affected the outcome of the experiment. Some future improvements to this experiment

would be to monitor the growth of each plant, and to use more than one plants. Doing this would

improve the accuracy of the experiment.

Materials:

• Two Styrofoam cups

• One onion seed

• One spinach seed

• Water

• Soil

Procedure:

Step one: Fill two cups 2/3 of the way full of soil. Make sure they are the same amount.

Step two: Poke a hole in the soil and plant the two seeds in the soil.

Step three: Place cups in a sunny place where they will get a proper amount of sunlight, like a

window or outdoors.

Step four: Water the soil everyday, using the same amount of water, make sure not to overwater

them, because this can kill the plant.

Step Five: Measure the plants everyday, and record and compare your results, to figure out

which one grows faster.

Results:

The results that we observed was that the spinach plant grew 5.5 cm, and the onion only grew .5

cm.
 Work Cited:

@bonnieplants. "Growing Spinach." Bonnie Plants. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.
<https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-spinach/>.