Growth Comparison of Beans Grown in
Soil and Hydroponically


Stephanie Grice
School of Science and Natural Resources
Lake Superior State University
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783


Abstract. Hydroponics is the soilless growth of plants. Plants are grown either with their
roots suspended in a nutrient solution or supported in an inorganic substance such as
pearlite. Hydroponics is used in this region because of a short growing season. It enables
people to grow flowers or vegetables at any time of the year in spite of poor weather
conditions. I questioned if hydroponically grown bean plants would produce higher
yields than those grown in soil. I also wanted to determine if the commercially popular
fertilizer, Miracle Grow, was an adequate nutrient solution replacement. Twenty-four
bean plants were grown in either soil or pearlite. At the study's completion, ten plants
remained. They were divided into roots, stems, and leaves, oven dried and weighed.
Variances of leaf weights appeared different between the two groups. Soil grown plants
had a much larger variance than hydroponically grown plants. Therefore, if maximum
yields are required, soil may be a better choice. However, hydroponics will produce a
consistent crop even though yields may not be as high.




Selected References

Jones,	Jr., J.B. 1 985. How-To-Do-It  Growing Plants Hydroponically. The American
Biology Teacher 47: 356-358.

Parker,	M.A. 1 995. Plant fitness variation caused by different mutualist genotypes.
Ecology 76(5): 1525-1535.