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Your chart should have rows for each date that you measure your leaves. The columns should be labeled "number of leaves," "average length," and "average width." You should check your leaves every two to three days. Be extremely thoroughly, but make sure you do not count the same leaves twice. Include new leaf tips and sprouts in your count. Record the number of leaves down in your chart. Choose a random sampling of four or five leaves. Hold the ruler from the bottom to the tip of the leaf. Add up the measurements, and divide by the number of measurements you took. (For example, if you measured by five leaves, divide by five). This is the average leaf length for that day. Record this down in your chart. Repeat this process to find the width of the leaves. Measure the leaves at their widest part. Be as specific as possible; get the measurement down to centimeters and millimeters if you can. Keeping the leaf on the plant, draw around the leaf on grid paper. The grid should have squares that are one inch in area. Count the number of squares covered to get the surface area of each leaf. Leaves can grow quickly. Check the size of your leaves every few days to see how they are growing. You can use a modification of the growth rate formula for this purpose. You can calculate the leaf number growth rate. This modification of the growth rate formula will tell you how many leaves are approximately growing per day. The equation for this growth rate is (L2L1)T{\displaystyle {
rac {(L2-L1)}{T}}}where L1=first leaf count, L2=second leaf count, and T equals the number of days between each. The leaf size formula is the same as the plant height formula. Instead of height, the variable is the surface area. The equation for the growth rate formula is (S2S1)T{\displaystyle {
rac {(S2-S1)}{T}}}where S1=first surface area measurement, S2=second surface area measurement, and T equals the number of days between each. Once you have gathered a few weeks' worth of leaf tracings, you can use those shapes to create a template. Take a piece of paper or cardboard. Take the smallest tracing, and create a circle roughly that size, starting from the bottom of the paper. Create up to six larger circles that contain all of the measurements up to the largest. These should form concentric rings outside of the first circle. Label each of these circles with a number. One should be the smallest and six, the largest. In the future, you can use this template to measure leaves with greater ease. Hold up the leaf at the bottom of the paper with it centered around the smallest circle. Mark the largest circle it fills without going over and record that as the leaf size.
Create a chart. Count the leaves on your plant. Mark the length and width. Trace your plant's leaves on grid paper. Repeat measurements every two or three days. Create a growth template.