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Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Independent Study Project on the Green Roof

Joey Hamrock, graduate student at The Ohio State University, conducted an independent study project on the cold hardiness and early growth of spinach. Dr. Emilie Regnier, Ph.D. Associate Professor Horticulture and Crop Science College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences is advising Joey through his independent study project

Joey has planted 8 different varieties of spinach, 7 heirlooms and 1 conventional, in a wheel arrangement on the Green Roof on Howlett Hall. He will look at how the different levels of “crinkliness” of the leaves might affect the cold tolerance – and expect that leaves with a greater degree of “crinkliness” will be more cold resistant. Later on in the Spring, Joey would like to look at how sugar content in the leaves differs between varieties, and possibly pollinator attraction as well.

The seeds were planted the first week in November. In December, Joey began to study the microclimate on the green roof, looking for minor directional temperature differences relative to the wall and the edge of the roof. With this, Joey hopes to see a correlation between the specific microclimates and early growth of the spinach.