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Discussion
The importance of this research project is to help the Erie Street Community Garden by determining which soil properties are helpful and which are harmful to plant growth. Our lab group wanted to determine if the soil properties in apple tree soil and peach tree soil were significantly different. We did research to determine if the soil properties in both conditions were optimal for the growth of both apple and peach trees to better help the Erie Street Community Garden and the people of Lafayette, IN.
Conclusion
Through our research, our group was able to determine that, for both apple and peach trees, the biggest growth inhibiting factors were that the soil pH being slightly too high or basic and insufficient moisture content for fruit trees. According to Utah State University's Intermountain Tree Fruit Production Guide, at about 50% readily usable moisture content, fruit trees begin to experience drought stress, causing inadequate crop production. Since around 30% moisture content would be optimal condition, it would be beneficial for GrowLocal to prioritize their irrigation management for their Erie St. Garden location.
References
Cornell. (n.d.). Northeast Region Certified crop adviser (NRCCA) study resources. Certified Crop Advisor study resources (Northeast region). https://nrcca.cals.cornell.edu/soil/CA2/CA0212.1-3.php
Dupont, T. (2018). General Soils 101. WSU Tree Fruit. https://treefruit.wsu.edu/orchard-management/soils-nutrition/general_soils_101/
Natalie Hoidal and Emily Hansen. (2023). Soil testing for lawns and gardens. UMN Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/managing-soil-and-nutrients/soil-testing-lawns-and-gardens
University, U. S. (n.d.). Bank balance - soil water content: Intermountain Fruit. Bank Balance - Soil Water Content | Intermountain Fruit | USU. https://intermountainfruit.org/orchard-irrigation/swc#:~:text=For%20most%20fruit%20trees%2C%20the,available%20water%20in%20the%20soil.
Wu, Y., Zeng, J., Zhu, Q., Zhang, Z., & Lin, X. (2017, January 4). Ph is the primary determinant of the bacterial community structure in agricultural soils impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollution. Scientific reports. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5209717/#:~:text=Both%20natural%20and%20anthropogenic%20processes,scales4%2C5%2C6.
Acknowledgements
Our Group would have never been able to conduct this research on our own. We would like to thank our course instructor, Dr. Jacob Adler. As well as our lab teaching instructor, Ayomide Unuigbokhai, along with all of our teaching assistants in this course, Natalee Russell, Rohan Prakash, Meera Bhatia, and Valeria Feliz, for their help throughout this course.
We would also like to thank Purdue University for funding this research.
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