My Favorite Learning Experiences of Horticulture

There was a moment when Abby and I were teaching that I personally gained some really cool knowledge into the horticulture field. It was on our last visit to the school when we saw the progress of all the microgreens that the students produced. What surprised me was that some of the microgreens that seemed to get the least amount of sun were the ones that grew the tallest. This confused me. I had always thought that the plants with the most nutrients, sunlight, warmth, water, etc. would be the ones to grow the highest and healthiest. I asked Abby what was the difference between the beds- did the tall ones just get significantly more water or something? What she told me surprised me. Apparently plants that are just starting to grow will grow taller stems in order to reach sunlight if their is only a limited supply. She even said that sometimes this process can be reversed, depending on if corrections are made to their exposure. This was incredible. It is like survival of the fittest for plants. They too have adaptations that help them succeed in a world of limited resources. With that said, most of our microgreens ended up growing successfully. In our last third grade class, they were huge! Apparently the teacher of the class also plants and farms in his free time. Anyway, one more thing I learned through this research was that different parts of different plants can be poisonous. For instance, some potato leaves are extremely toxic. I had no idea. Meanwhile, it is said that tomato leaves are poisonous too; however, this is not even close to the toxicity levels of the potato leaves. An abundance of tomato leaves might leave you with an upset stomach, but nothing serious at all.