Golden Ratio Lettuce

In 2020, farmers used 201,660 kilograms of fertilizer. This fertilizer is destroying the environment as it is produced from fossil fuels and gets into drinking water. Fertilizer is used to make plants grow faster and stronger, but there is another solution. Changing the peat moss to soil ratio can help plants grow at a faster rate. One ratio that could be used is the golden ratio. The golden ratio is a mathematical concept seen in all aspects of nature. From petals of a flower to a shell of a snail to even human finger anatomy, the gold ratio is used. The golden ratio is $\surd \Phi \quad =( 1 +5) /2$ which is approximately 1.61803398875. This equation derives from the Fibonacci sequence which adds the last two numbers to form the third, such as $0 + 1 =1, 1 + 1 =2, 1 + 2 =3$, and so on. When the two addends are put into a fraction, with the larger number as the numerator, as the sequence goes higher, it becomes closer to the golden ratio. Over a 2-week time span, this experiment will show how using the golden ratio of peat moss to soil will affect lettuce growth. In the experiment, 1 part peat moss and 1.614 parts soil will be mixed in a pot, producing the “golden ratio soil”. Another pot will contain 1 part peat moss and 1 part soil. The plants will be daily monitored for any growth to see which plants will grow faster.