Blog 3

I started with Cycle 1, 5 weeks after the earthworm castings were applied and the groups were set. I had 2 Ziploc bags: Experimental and Control. I went to each of the 14 trees for each group and collected soil at about 2 feet in depth using a soil probe and placed it into the respective bags. After leaving the soil samples in the fridge for 1 day, I kept a portion of the soil for may home test with the Rapitest Soil Kit and sent the rest to A&L Laboratories. Here are the results from the Rapitest Soil Kit for Cycle 1: Control Group: PH – 6.5, Nitrogen – N1 – Deficient, Phosphorus – P3 – Sufficient, Potassium – K2 – Adequate. Experimental Group: PH – 6.5 – 7, Nitrogen – N1 – Deficient, Phosphorus – P4 – Surplus, Potassium – K2 – Adequate. In addition to measurements on soil, I looked at plant metrics, specifically the budding count, to see the development of the apricot trees 5 weeks after treatment application: Control group: 100 buds. Experimental group: 155 buds.