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 plants growing side by side can reveal unseen differences in plant health due to a range of causes. Some of these 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

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[![infragram-experiment-poster.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/008/565/medium/infragram-experiment-poster.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/008/565/original/infragram-experiment-poster.jpg)

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####Planning this event

**Ahead of time:**

* First off, consider your question. _Are you interested in testing 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](/wiki/infragram)
* 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:**

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