Doug and Mary-Jane’s Blog Entry Greenhouse Weekend Practical Sept 20th, 21st & 22nd 2013

Friday: September 20th The poinsettia crop is coming to the end of its vegetative growth period, so today we spent most of the day putting up the blackout curtains in the greenhouse. We are using the blackout curtains to create a longer dark period for the crop, by changing the photoperiod for a crop like poinsettias it will induce flowering or in this case bracts. In late September the nights start to become longer than days, using the blackout curtains will help make sure that the poinsettia are getting a soil uninterrupted dark period and prevent any light pollution from getting into the greenhouse. We were also given the tedious task of cleaning and sanitizing pots all weekend, although it may be a repetitive task it is one of the most important chores for any greenhouse. By keeping pots, tools and equipment clean and sanitized we are eliminating any potential pests or pathogens from entering the greenhouse. After everything was neat and clean we went into the greenhouse and topped off the pots that were low on soil. We finished off the day by going through the greenhouse closing checklist and locking up the greenhouse.

Saturday: September 21st Today we went through the crop removing any dead or severely damaged leaves from each plant; since these plants are going to be sold we want them looking their best for the winter sale. As we waited for the rain to die down we continued sterilizing pots and cleaning around the greenhouse. Once the rain stopped and the other group finished with the RTV we scouted around campus searching for the rest of the Colocasia (Elephant ears). After scouting out all of the Colocasia we dug them up loaded them into the RTV and brought the plants back to the greenhouse. We lined bulb crates with some old news paper and packed the plants into the baskets with some soil. This is to store the bulbs over winter so that they can be re planted in the spring. After cleaning up the mess we made from packing the Colocasia we went through the greenhouse closing checklist then locked up.

Sunday: September 22nd We started off the day by going through the opening greenhouse checklist like we did every day, then we went straight to cleaning pots. Once the other group was finished with the RTV Doug went out around campus to gather the last of the remaining Colocasia, while Mary-Jane stayed to finish cleaning the pots and pack the last of the Colocasia into bulb crates. We finished the majority of our work before lunch; we spent the rest of the day intensively cleaning the whole greenhouse. We thoroughly swept the entire floor and cleaned tables getting into every corner. We then finished off cleaning the rest of the dirty pots and stacked the clean ones in the garage. After everything was cleaned we hosed down the greenhouse floor, then once again we went through the greenhouse closing check list and locked up after everyone else.