This is one of a series of guides for collaborative environmental research and advocacy projects. You might want to create an Infrared Garden Experiment if you are interested in monitoring plant health. An infrared photograph of the same type of plants growing side by side can reveal unseen differences in plant health. Some possible causes could include differences in cultivation methods, drainage patterns, soil chemicals, among others.

Read more about infrared cameras, watch a fun video and connect to the community email list here: http://publiclab.org/wiki/infragram

This poster shows how an infragram camera can be used to take a picture of the same type of plants side by side to reveal which are photsynthesizing more:

Planning this event

Ahead of time:

• First off, consider your question.
  • Wondering which cultivation method is most effective with a particular kind of plant?
  • Wondering if the slope of your land is causing drainage to unevenly wash out soil nutrients, resulting in part of your field being less productive?
• If you are asking this type of question that could be answered through an investigation into plant health, then this experiment is for you.
• Make, borrow, or purchase an infragram camera
• Arrange for one or two people to spend two hours together familiarizing yourselves with the camera and the online site infragram.org.

Materials to have on hand:

• infragram camera
• charged batteries

Activity 1:

This activity will walk you through taking a picture and uploading it to the online site infragram.org for processing.

• White balance your camera
• Choose a good vantage point and take a picture
• Put the SD card in your computer and upload it to infragram.org (requires internet connection)

Activity 2:

This activity will walk you through understanding what the infrared image reveals about your plants' health.