researchers collected seeds from a certain wild plant and planted them in groups of kin (seeds of the same mother plant) or non‑kin (seeds from different plants). each group of four seeds was planted either together in one pot or in a cluster of four pots that contained the same volume of soil. after eight weeks, the researchers measured the amount of roots each plant had produced. they found that related plants grown together in one pot produced smaller root systems so as not to compete with one another. plants grown in separate containers and non‑kin plants grown in a single container had 15% more roots.
