Cloning a Tomato eHow Homeschool

From Projects and Activities

This is Hammerhead, in this post I am posting pictures of tomato cloning step-by-step. Cloning is very simple, basically you just cut off a growing tip from a tomato plant, stick it in potting soil, keep it moist and wait.

Tip: Make a greenhouse around your new clones from thin plastic sheeting, like a painter's drop cloth or you can reuse a plastic bag.

From Projects and Activities

This photos shows one of the clones planted about two weeks ago.

From Projects and Activities

This is a picture of my tomato seed, which I transplanted out of my garden.

From Projects and Activities

This is me watering one of the three new clones.

From Projects and Activities

This is three square feet of beans, the square on the far right has its own dripper.

Square Foot Garden Project Update

That is one giant radish leaf!

Thank you for following our blog!

Our homeschool class has been working hard to prepare for the Blossom Valley Scholastic Day Camp, which starts soon! You can read about it here: Blossom Valley Scholastic Day Camp

This is an update that will consist of a few pictures of our Square Foot Garden Project.    Recently we have cloned tomatoes, harvested radishes, transplanted mint and picked several tasty strawberries.

Photographing the garden.

Examining a radish leaf.

Hammerhead added bean poles to his garden.  

This is the true sign of an optomistic gardener!

Stay tuned for a post by Hammerhead called "How to Clone Tomatoes"

Square Foot Garden Fractions and Percents

Today we headed out to the garden to collect data.

MCS, in fourth grade, focused on fractions.  She found that:

• One-third of her garden is radishes, one-third is cucumbers and one-third is beans.
• 32 out of 41 of her radish sprouts have at least one leaf missing (slugs???).
• Two-thirds of her cucumber sprouts are still alive without insect damage.

Hammerhead, in fifth grade, focused on percents.  He found that:

• 11% of hisstrawberries are already ripe.
• 11% of his garden is beans.
• 56% of his garden has already sprouted.

Later this week we will upload photographs of our Square Foot Gardens!

Square Foot Garden Math 5th and 4th Grade

Are you ready for some Square Foot Garden Math?

Here is the data from our gardens at 10 am today, May 19, 2010.

MCS average plant height:
Radish 2.8 cm
Basil 0 cm
Tomato 0cm

HammerHead123 average plant height:
Strawberry 11.1 cm
Radish 4.5 cm
Cucumber 3.9 cm
Beans 5.5 cm
Melon 0.0 cm
Tomato 3.7 cm
* The 0.0 cm data means that the plant didn't sprout.

4th Grade Square Foot Garden Math

(by MCS)

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN HEIGHT BETWEEN CUCUMBERS AND BEANS?

5.5 cm - 3.9 cm = 1.6 cm

5th Grade Square Foot Garden Math

(by Hammerhead123)

WHAT IS THE MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE AND RANGE OF ALL PLANT HEIGHTS?

MEAN: 2.8 +4.5+0+0+3.7+11.1+3.9+5.5+0= 31.5 cm

31.5/9= 3.5 cm

MEDIAN: 0,0,0,2.8,3.7,3.9,4.5,5.5,11.1 = 3.7 cm

MODE: 0

RANGE: 11.1-0= 11.1 cm

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Posted by WBD and Hammerhead123

Why Thin your Square Foot Garden?

(source: http://flickrfanstan.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/square-foot-garden-box.jpg)

Welcome back to my square foot garden blog.

In the past week I have dug, leveled, planted, watered, covered with black plastic then waited while the plants germinated. In 3days I have my radishes all sprouting and 1 melon sprouted 2 days early, because we put the garden black plastic down which kept the soil warm and wet.

(The melon that sprouted early had insect bite marks on the leaves a few days ago and was missing today! Maybe I should start melons indoors?)

Today I thinned the radishes. the word of the day is thinning. Thinning means removing extra plants. Gardeners thin their plants so vegetables will grow larger.

Tip: Don't over plant your seeds or they will compete for space, which will result in smaller plants. My crowded radishes began to turn yellow!

Do you have any idea what ate my melon sprouts?? If so, please leave a comment!

Square Foot Gardening Companion Planting

This picture is us getting ready to plant our garden.

Hi ,this is MCS and welcome to the Square Foot Garden blog, where we will learn new things about planting and maintaining a Square Foot Garden. I am very exited to learn about Square Foot Gardening and teach you in the process.

WORD OF THE WEEK: Each week I will choose one new gardening word and define it. The word of the week is “taproot”!!!
A taproot is a root that is goes straight down in the ground. Some taproots,such as carrots store food and water. That's why carrots taste so sweet!!!

GARDEN JOURNAL:
This week I designed my garden and researched on companion plants, to plant in my garden.
I learnt that some roots have chemicals and battle other roots for there space.
That is why you have to make sure you plant companion plants next to each other.

TIP OF THE WEEK: The tip is the week is that if you are planting basil and tomatoes they help each other by repelling bugs for each other so you should plant them right next to each other, if you are planting them.

Well I better go get ready to plant my garden,so tune in next week when i will post pictures of my garden!!!!

Square Foot Gardening: Companion Planting

Welcome back to the California Homeschool Blog. We are working on STAR test practice, Blogging and preparing our Square Foot Gardens for planting.  

This picture of a Square Foot Garden was found on wordpress.

Here is a link to the Square Foot Gardening Foundation:

Today Hammerhead123, MCS and myself, WD, are making a tough descision about our garden layout.

Originally we had planned on transplanting vegetable starts into our garden in a dense layout that would give us two things: shade on the topsoil to reduce evaporation and benefits from companion planting. We have decided to start our gardens from seed, which is an added challenge in the heat of early summer.

Today, the students will decide how to change their garden layout based on this new information.

Some potential changes:

• Adding plastic over the soil to keep it evenly moist during germination.
• Covering the soil with mulch to slow evaporation during germination.
• Starting some seeds indoors.
• Changing to a "monoculture" style square foot garden so that each square foot can be managed individually.  This would mean planting radishes in their own square foot with no other veggies.
• I am excited to see what the students decide to do!

Thank you for reading The California Homeschol  Blog!!!

Check back for Square Foot Gardening posts by Hammerhead123 and MCS later this week.

The California Homeschool Blog

Welcome to the California Homeschool Blog!
by Limelight Education (San Diego, CA)


Limelight Education is a San Diego based homeschool and tutoring service. This blog is written by students and adults and will cover current homeschool projects and events.

Current Authors:
HammerHead123: He is a 5th grade student and an up and coming triathlete. Hammerhead recently placed 2nd in the 12-15 age group of the Spring Sprint Triathlon in San Diego.

MCS: She is a 4th grade student who single-handedly operates Happy Cat Rescue, a cat adoption service.

WD: He is a  homeschool teacher, tutor and the Director of Limelight Education

Today is Friday, April 30 and we are excited to start off our blog with an outdoor project: SQUARE FOOT GARDENING

Why are we doing this project?
To apply 4th and 5th grade standards to real world projects and to identify ways to grow more food in less space.

Please check back for posts by MS, KS and myself, WD.