The Effect of Soil Amended with Green Tea Leaves on Spinach Production

The objective for conducting this experiment was to determine whether amending gardening soil with green tea leaves would increase the above-ground biomass of spinach plants. The alternative hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference between the plants grown in green tea-amended versus non-amended soil. To test this research hypothesis, thirty pots filled with garden soil were acquired. One tea bag with two grams of Bromley Pure Green Tea leaves was poured into each of fifteen pots, while the other fifteen pots, serving as the control group, received no tea leaves. After the plants were consistently watered and then harvested forty-six days after they were planted, their roots were removed. Lastly, the above-ground biomass of each plant was measured in grams using a scientific balance. These values were analyzed using a two-tailed, independent t-test. It was determined based on the calculated p-value of 0.543, which was less than the alpha value of 0.05, that there was no significant difference between the above-ground biomass of the spinach plants grown in green tea-amended soil versus non-amended soil. The data failed to reject the null hypothesis and did not support the alternative hypothesis. Although amending the soil with green tea leaves did not significantly increase the above-ground biomass of the spinach plants, external factors and variables which possibly affected plant growth were identified, and improvements of the experiment were considered.