Greenhouse Weekend Blog : Nov.28/29/30, 2014

Connor & Ben

 

 

Coming in Friday morning bright and early we as a team sat down with captain Jeff Rowley to discuss the game plan for the weekend work ahead in the greenhouse. Jeff also took us over the morning procedures with the opening and closing routines. Ben and Connor got to work shortly after prioritizing the tasks at hand for the weekend. We started by restocking the poinsettia benches, bringing plants from the back of the bench to the front to fill in the spaces and placing new emitters in the newly placed pots.
Also while doing this moving the side poinsettia crop a few inches inward, this would allow plants to not be knocked over and possibly damaged. As the day progressed we installed a heat mat system underneath our developing grass collection. The day was passing by rather quickly but the customers seemed to keep rolling in for the sale of our lovely poinsettia crop. Connor and Ben were able to help a lady from the college by producing two more poinsettia planters for her to talk home for the Christmas months. Another great opportunity arose by us having to create a new mixture of fertilizer solution for the crop. We put our brains together remembering the math over the semester and figured out the right amount of 20-20-20 fertilizer to add.

250x100 divided by 20x10 equals 2500 divided by 200 equals 125 grams.

While doing the mix we used the M.S.D.S sheet for the fertilizer to insure what PPE to be worn for the application and some of the harm the fertilizer can do. 
 
Being on time for work Saturday morning we were ready to get at it again and have another fun successful day. Starting with the the opening checklist again analyzing the temperatures, graphs of the greenhouse and all the other following procedures. Next we started to hang up a few sticky cards and cut potato slices to collect some data on the pest in the greenhouse. Taking one of each differently cultivated poinsettia crop off the bench to check the ph reading of the media, most of the crop had similar readings. We then took an average of the entire crop and found it to have a ph of 7.10. Later we had to take our trees for congress planting out of the cold and get them down to the c building tractor bay. When getting down there Connor realized that the Kubota tractor has a mechanical light on, so he decided the tractor might be unsafe to drive. He then innovated by using the RTV with a trailer on the back to get the trees down to the new location for warmth. He then started treating some plants with an isopropyl solution to get rid of a mealy bug problem. Then he pruned back the dead leaves on the elephant ears as instructed and removed the excess dead on the plant. Taking down some of the blackout curtains was a bit of a challenge for Connor due to the limited space to work in around the benches. Ben went at organizing the hanging baskets and picking out 9 for a pruning demonstration for a high school class next week. After the organizing was done we as a team did a soft pinch on the baskets and removed any dead foliage in the soil media to reduce the risk of pests or diseases.

On Sunday we opened the greenhouse like every other morning and started to walk the crop. We decided that Sunday would be our day of full water for the poinsettia crop. Started by sweeping the entire greenhouse we watered early in the morning and squeegeed up all the access water after to help reduce the humidity and condensation for later in the day. Consistently misting the wick for the priva wet bulb like the past few days to help with the humidity reduction. Going through the Ficus, Miracle and Citrus x limon tropical finding some mealy bug and powdery mildew we applied some isopropyl solution for the mealy bug infestation. For the powdery mildew we decided to use the safers soap to treat against the problem. All of the dead foliage was removed from both the plant and the tops of the soil media. Last we cut down some grasses at the side of the greenhouse and got all the weeds from the bed. Before leaving for the weekend we made sure all of the benches were walked and restocked to have everything look nice for monday morning. Connor later then took the RTV out to the compound to dispose of the compost in the designated area.

Blog Post

Greenhouse Practical

Friday, November 21, 2014

Rachael and Chantdell

We started our day with Jeff giving us the run down on how to open the greenhouse in the morning. We then started by walking the crop and watering plants that needed to be watered. We found three plants almost completely wilted so we placed them on a different bench for close monitoring. We packaged up 29 poinsettias (foiled, paper) for delivers into the school and delivered them to various locations. Today we sold $108 worth of poinsettias .Upon walking the crop we cleared all the dead foliage, made sure everyone had an emitter and gave the crop a 15 minute bath with the Dosatron. The seedlings in the fridge and tractor bay didn’t require water. Then we made sure all the cactuses were watered and assisted Mike with the interior. The blackout curtains needed to be removed off the doors and we placed four sticky cards to monitor the bugs. We packaged 7 poinsettias for Michael’s meeting. The end of the day neared we cleaned up all the pots. There was a problem with the misting system so we had to shut off water valve as it was flooding and ended having to manually running the misting system for an hour each day. We started to take pictures and continued to monitor the pests and roots in the greenhouse. Today was a very productive day. We completed our opening and closing check lists and calculated the poinsettia profit.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

This morning we walked the crop and removed all the dead foliage off the crop. We re-located the poinsettias from the back of the benches to the front for sale. Upon doing the walk around the greenhouse we had noted someone had used the greenhouse as a bathroom. Then we re-located the Perellia from the cactus location to the back of the benches to be placed on a drip for congress. We had to spray the variegated cultivars and polar bear plants with Safer insecticide soap to aide in the white-fly population and placed potatoes in some of the crop to see about catching some fungus gnats. We ended up an hour later spraying these cultivars with water to dilute the solution. Our program shirts were covered in white flies when we were done. It took about 4 bottles of the soap to complete so we also had to mix that up with safety glasses and gloves. Then mixed up 10 liters of fertilizer for the Dosatron and gave the plants a 15 minute drink. Earlier in the morning we had to remove the dead foliage off theColocasia to promote growth for spring. We had completed our tasks for today early so we gave the greenhouse a very thorough scrub and organized the materials for plant sales to make it look clean and organized. We even scrubbed all the tables, bins, misting lights, the floor mats and places that hadn’t seen a good cleaning in a while. The three poinsettias that were under watch we placed double emitters in and are making a fast recovery. We also calculated the PH readings for the Poinsettias. The weather today wasn’t so nice but we did enjoy the sound on the greenhouse roof. We completed our opening

and closing checklist and sold one more poinsettia. We completed the ph. readings however we are unsure if this devise was working correctly. We had another very productive day.

Sunday November 23/2014

What a beautiful morning. The snow is gone. We began the day doing the walking around the greenhouse as suspected we found a bunch of beer cans and bottles. Some of the bottles were smashed against the greenhouse. Upon completing the morning check list the prima box was really dry so we wet the wick. We completed the 100 Grass stems required for congress. After completing the grass we walked the crop and removed all dead foliage. We then completed the order of poinsettias for Monday’s delivery and left them in the greenhouse so that they wouldn’t be under too much stress. The wilted plants we discovered are back to full health and are ready for sale. The insect count collected for the pest management was pretty high. However, after the safer soap spray the whitefly count has come down a lot. Michael paid us a visit and we ended up selling one large pot and 3 plants today so we had to make up more arrangements. Unfortunately due to root rot we had to throw out one plant. As the near ends the greenhouse got a good thorough clean and compost put out to the heap.

Fanshawe College Greenhouse Blog

Zach and Colin - November 14-1, 2014

This is the cash register where customers and visitors purchase their plants and get their poinsettias wrapped up with gold, red or green pot sleeves according to customer preference. All sales get punched in to the register accordingly and a balance sheet is filled out at the end of the day to record the day’s sales. Since it is getting colder out we ask the customer how far they have to walk to their car, if their car is parked further away we would completely wrap up the poinsettia so it doesn’t freeze to death before it even gets home. Then the profits are stored away and one hundred dollars is left in the till for change.

Poinsettias are not the toughest plant. They will show serious signs if anything is wrong with them. What we noticed on Saturday was that they were fairly dry, but because of the open house we did not want to water them and make all the floors wet for the visitors coming through to check out the greenhouse. Any plants that were really wilted we took aside and watered them individually so that they bounced back up for the open house so that they could have a chance of getting adopted.

 

Over the weekend we determined the price for one plant with Jeff. During the open house sale we made up little desk size planters which will also help contribute to the total profit. We also made up a sign of our own outside the green house. The sign was just informing people that plants are now for sale and days that someone will be here. Most of the weekend duties were just preparing for the open house so a lot of the work was housekeeping, improving cleanliness, organizing and putting out signs.

Fanshawe College Greenhouse Practical - Courtney and Brian

Day 1- Friday November 7th 2014

On this cold but clear morning at the college, we met with Jeff and were given the orientation of the greenhouse while in the process we also opening the shade curtains for the plants in the greenhouse. We also misted the PRIVA Box Wet Wick to maintain the accuracy of the greenhouse PRIVA readings, and then checked and recorded the PRIVA readings on the computer program. With the greenhouse opening completed, we then walked the crop for the Poinsettias and groomed them of dead, dying, and/or diseased leaves to dissuade pests and diseases from the plants.

That being said though, the Whitefly problem is quite apparent on the crop with some areas above the plants being filled with hungry juice-sucking Whitefly.

 

It’s certainly a good thing that the Encarsia have been released to devour the Whiteflies. With that we then began watering the tropicals, cacti, begonias and annuals with a well-balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer at 100 parts per million for good general feeding for health and growth. We took a lunch break and then separated; one back to water the Poinsettia crop after making a new batch of 250 parts per million fertilizer for them, as the weaker fertilizer mix used for the other plants would definitely not give the Poinsettias optimal results with it, and the other went with Mike to one of the Campus’ offices to collect two large Ficus planters for grooming and repotting. Pine bark mulch was brought out to the new garden at M building for the new plants. The collected Ficus and their neighbours were given a spot killing to destroy their mealybug and scale problem and were then sent back in their fresher looking forms.

The new M building gardens were partially watered and mulched, after which time we ran out of time as it was time to close the greenhouse and begin blackout, so we separated to get the tools put away while the other closed the greenhouse.

Despite their excellent colour they are not completely ready, not just because of the Whitefly issue but because not all of the plants are fully coloured enough to be worth selling yet. In a few weeks with repeated blackout however, they will be plenty ready by the time of the sale! The last of the greenhouse data was collected for recording and we then signed out after cleaning up the work area outside of the main greenhouse. That was not the entire end of our adventure though; the key to the greenhouse was bent when we received it for the day, and upon attempting to lock the facility the key snapped clean off into the keyhole! With that issue needing resolving we called security to help in locking the greenhouse.

Day 2- Saturday November 8th 2014

An opposite feeling to the previous day, Saturday has been a cold drizzly one, giving off a dull miserable feeling to the outdoors. Regardless of this though, there is still no rest for the hard working! Bonus being that the rain will at least help charge the evergreens and other plantings a little bit for winter. With the key still broken, assistance was needed through the campus security to get into the greenhouse, which lead to quite the comedic sight of the tallest of us being lifted up to get access to the only operable door and lock. We must say that the security has been quite helpful and kind despite the inconvenience. The officer was even helpful enough to give us a heads up about a plant clean up that had to be dealt with over in the F building. With the doors free for use for the day, we separated to first open the greenhouse, and then separated further with one of us walking the crop as the other went to F building to deal with the plant clean up that the security officer spoke of. The whitefly were less active, though plenty were resting under the poinsettia leaves.

From what we were told it seems that a drunkard came in and torn out the plants at their own bemusement. The saying/complaint “this is why we can’t have nice things” comes to mind in this situation. Luckily the plants were just as easy to put in as they were to be ripped out. The annual plants in the one flowerbed beside the greenhouse was then cleaned out, with the finishing touches of leaf removal and soil raking saved for a little later as we were then regrouped to quickly water the handful of Poinsettias that appeared to have not have gotten any water from the drip lines as well as place potatoes among a few selected planters in the greenhouse for pest testing. With a little confusion at the start, we found the proper hoses and brought out the hose and sprinkler to start supercharging the newly planted evergreens. With the drying winter winds coming around soon, the evergreens can use all the water plumping up they can get. Once the sprinkler was properly placed, we then took a lunch break. After the break was finished, we then completed the finishing touches of the cleaned out annual flowerbed. We were then brought aside by Michael to be shown what other evergreens and plants had to be watered for winter preparation. After the show through, we then went to K building to move around the displayed houseplants per Mike’s previous instruction. Time soon came flying to a close, so we then separated so that one could put the tools together for washing while the other did finished touches on irrigation for the day. Blackout was done smoothly, and we signed out and called security for assistance with locking up the greenhouse for the night.


Day 3- Sunday November 9th 2014

Not unlike Friday, Sunday has been a cold but nice day, with the occasional appearance of the sun between the overcast clouds. The day started with the security helping us into the greenhouse once again, and then we signed in and set to work. We both worked together to open the greenhouse deftly and smoothly. The irrigation was started again and the evergreens were given a much more thorough autumn drink of water, as did the new evergreen that we planted. The poinsettia crop with walked and the Whiteflies once again began apparent as they were on Friday, but with just a less of them flying in the air. The irrigation was moved to our partially mulched garden to water the mulched plants as we took our early lunch break.

Nearing the end of the break, we checked the potatoes that we placed last night to see what invaded the delicious tubers. We surprisingly found not a lot of insects on the tubers but we did find a handful of mites and thrips.

With break then over we set to work to finish up mulching the remaining bare gardenbeds by M building. With the sun peeking out and heating up the greenhouse, one of us went back to check on the poinsettias. Although on the surface they appeared dry, the roots below were plenty moist so they weren’t watered. After the mulching was completed and the closing of the greenhouse started, we also began on cleaning up the work areas for the weekend closing. From the floors of the Greenhouse hallway, to the tools in the tool and tractor bays, as well as the propagation space, we did sweepings, vacuuming, and finally a hose down throughout much of them to make it cleaner than it was when we originally arrived on Friday. Even the propagation chamber was at the mercy of cleaning, with the algae on its walls thoroughly scrubbed with bleach mix.

With the Poinsettias shaded for another weekend night, we left the greenhouse after signing out and leaving security to lock up the door.

 

 

Greenhouse Weekend Blog

October 31 - November 2, 2014

Aaron, Justin, Taylor

 

 

This weekend had some ups and downs such as not having the Priva system working on Saturday morning. Another thing that put a loop into our weekend was the daylight savings (it was awesome to have an extra hour of sleep) but not when we got to the greenhouse to find out that the overhead curtains did not fall back for the one hour. That means that the were open for about 45 minutes before we got there and then closed at 3:30 pm instead of 4:30 pm but it worked out okay in the long run. 

 

This image shows the grasses that got divided (not all of them only like 2 plants worth) and some elephant ears that got put into the greenhouse for the foliage to die back. We also worked with some Tropicana cana’s that the awesome people from Clintar gave us from St. Joe's hospital.

 

The 3 annual beds at the east side of the greenhouse were cleaned up and we removed all annuals out of them. This was one of those jobs where you think that there is more work at hand but it turned out to be a pretty fast job that by time we were done it was nice to see what it looked like.

 

 

This is not Zack Effron working in the greenhouse its Justin….. this is where he put his supervisory skills aside and worked hard as nails to clean the inside of the greenhouse including the drains and washed media off the floor. As Pascoe asked for a spotless greenhouse we went at it sleeves rolled up. Mike if you read this we spent almost 3 and a half hours cleaning our greenhouse including the tractor bay inside the main room and washed out the trailer and the RTV got a wash. This weekend was a long but great weekend we had some good laughs but did what we were there for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah and Rob

Greenhouse Blog

Friday October 25th,

First day at the greenhouse. Today we spent the day with Jeff, Stacey, Mike, Sara and Carly. Jeff gave us the walkthrough of our weekend duties and greenhouse protocol. Once that was finished we started our list of duties. We tried to finish all the small/ short duties first so we could spend as much time as possible on the grasses over the next two days. We finished almost all the small duties and were able to start most of our other duties such as the blog, IPM assignment etc. Testing the pH of the cultivars was interesting. I found out the tester works with the cap on or off. 

Saturday October 25th,

After completing the morning checklist, we finished off the small tasks such as cleaning the pots and walking the crop, so we could spend the rest of our time dividing the (grasses). While inspecting the tropicals we noticed three of them had numerous spots of mealy bug, so we pulled them aside and wiped down all the foliage with the water/ alcohol solution. A couple of the poinsettia were wilted and all of them had dry media so we watered them ensuring all the emitters were functional. After turning the water on the sound of water spraying on the floor did not seem right, and we quickly noticed the furthest pipe on bench 8 had a leak. We immediately turned the individual line off and moved the several crop to different emitters on the same bench, as well as the wilted ones. The rest of our day was spent on crown division and planting the cuttings into cell packs as well as checking the Priva wick, temperatures, and cleaning up at the end of the day.

All in all it was a successful second day.

Sunday October 26th

Once the checklist was finished, we did a complete cleaning of the greenhouse because we wouldn’t be working in there all day. We also removed the potato slices we placed on various plants from Friday and noticed larva was still present in a few plants. We also placed a sticky card around each cultivar of poinsettia so monitor if the white fly were still active. We spent a large portion of our day dividing and planting the grasses. We turned roughly 100 grasses into 1000 after a long day of dividing.

Maintenance Practical – October 24th-26th, 2014

Carly K.

Jeff gave a short orientation the morning of our first day of practical. The purpose of the orientation was to familiarize and supply the practical students with all the necessary the information needed over the weekend. This included, our daily duties, available equipment, contact information, emergency information, required personal protective equipment, etc. After Jeff gave the appropriate instructions, Sara and I were instructed to prep the garden beds at the front of Fanshawe. We were told to clear the beds of all the annuals as they are affected by the frost and cold weather. Sara and I preformed a circle check on both the Kubota and trailer before we went and gathered the appropriate tools for the job. After we collected our things, we drove the RTV to the front of the school where we would completely dismantle the garden bed for the plants that will be planted there in the future. We dug out all the plants, weeded the bed, cultivated and raked the soil. We did this for 2 beds. Our third bed contained daylilies that needed to be deadheaded and cleaned up. We collected all the scraps in a pile on the trailer. Once we finished, we made our way back to the Woodland Gardens where we would deadhead more daylilies and prune hostas to aid their growth in the spring and make the landscape look more visually appealing. After those duties were complete, we took the scraps to the compost, we cleaned the tools we used throughout the day and put them back in the tool room in their designated spots. Cleaning the tools daily prevent future damage such as rust and cracks. I then returned the Kubota and trailer to the tractor bay, signed in the keys and called it a day.



The second day I worked alone in the Woodland Gardens. Just like my first day, I signed out my radio and keys, preformed a circle check on the Kubota and trailer and collected the appropriate tools for the day. I was asked to maintain, edit, weed, deadhead, prune and change anything that required it. I spent the majority of my day weeding and deadheading day lilies and taking trips to the compost pile. I cleaned the tools and put them away in the tool room for an easy find for my third day.



The third day was much like my second day with a few differences. As required at the start of every day here at Fanshawe, I signed my radio and keys out, performed circle checks and collected the necessary things I was going to need. I did more weeding and editing throughout the Woodland Gardens. I pruned grass, cultivated, raked, and collected the scraps to transport them to the compost. Added, all while having my personal protective equipment on. This includes, my hardhat, safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a reflective vest, steel toe work boots and the appropriate uniform. The faculty and students here at Fanshawe are aware that safety is extremely important. To prevent any problems from arising, the personal protective equipment is mandatory at all times while working on school grounds.

Fanshawe College Greenhouse Practical Class

October 22^nd, 2014

                In the greenhouse class, Reese, Rob, and Rachael released two beneficial  insects: Encarsia formosa and Steinernema feltaie.

Encarsia formosa - This biological control was applied to decrease the whitefly population. It is released on three seperate occassions (each one week apart) so that the full life cycle of the whiteflies are targeted. Tiny cards were hung on pots that have eggs on them which will develop through their six stages. Nine cards per m2 were applied.

Steinernema feltaie- A nematode biological which feeds on fungus gnat larvae. They are applied at a rate of 500,000 per m2 by putting the gell block into approximately 15 to 20 degrees water to break it down. The solution is continuously agitated to ensure even distribution of the nematodes and then applied directly to media in the poinsettia crop. 

Fanshawe Greenhouse Weekend Duty Blog

October 17-19, 2014

Julia and Reese

The start of the weekend duty was very interesting; I am amazed at all the things that are needed to be monitored and the maintenance that goes into running a greenhouse. The technician that over sees the greenhouse on a daily basis went through the greenhouse protocols that are required for the weekend. Jeff did a spectacular job at explaining all of the different things that we needed to know for the weekend.

We brought in all of the elephant ear plants into the tractor bay in preparation for the winterizing process. While I was doing that my partner was potting some propagated plants that the students in Greenhouse Production course did not complete. After that we filled hanging baskets with media and propagules for our stock plant collection. 

It is surprising how fast a day goes by when you are working hard. I did not realize how difficult it really is to close the black curtain - that was a long process. It has been a very busy day and a confusing one at that.

The cactus collection is watered only once a week which was completed on Friday afternoon.

 

 

Saturday brought us a visitor at the greenhouse by the name of Eric Abram. After that, we re-potted the small cactus. This took a very long time! We finished just before the end of the day. 

 

 

 

 

Sunday started out with the usual check in list. I maintained the College's interior plant scape. As I was doing that, Julia was inspecting the crop and applied culture. Upon further inspection we discovered many fungus gnats and white flies.

The crop is starting to look beautiful as some of the specific cultivars leaves are starting to turn red.

 

 

The afternoon brought lots of cleaning and organizing. 

It was a great experience this weekend in the greenhouse! We have learned so much about technical and practical techniques that are used in our greenhouse every day.