Weekend Blog- February 21^st,22^nd,23^rd

Emily Lougheed and Dylan Howlett

Friday: Friday was a good day. Emily spent some time with the hydrangea crop, testing for proper pH and EC readings. The hydrangeas had an average pH of 6.7 and an EC of 2.0 while the blue ones which very recently had an application of Aluminum Sulfate had a pH of 6.8 and an EC of 2.1. So far so good!  We also got the opportunity to use the seeding machine. Unfortunately it ended up being faster to seed by hand using the hand vibrator seeder. The seeding machine is less than perfect. We also started a tray of stock plant cuttings.

Saturday: Saturday was another eventful and productive day. It began with the walk of the crop in the morning. Some of the hydrangeas were looking a little thirsty. They were first to get a drink. Next we made cuttings of some of the stock plants to ensure a healthy supply of new plants for the spring. A list was made of our hanging basket stock plants too. Everything is becoming more organized in the greenhouse. We also examined the seeds being tested for germination rates and recorded the successes and failures.  We finished the day by consolidating the canna flats, cleaning some pots and a little housekeeping. We were lucky enough to have the company of a furry quadruped today.

Sunday:  Sunday began with sunshine. It’s still cold outside, but looking gorgeous. Today we planted the rare botanical seeds from the hardy plant society. Cross your fingers for high germination rates!  We also replaced tag labels in the cacti crop with steak labels so that metal tagging will be more easily done later on. We attended to the interior plants as well. It is quite the workout lugging R2-D2 (aquamate) throughout the entire school!  We organized the outdoor storage area. We may have moved a squirrel’s nest or two in the process. Everything looks great.  Lastly, we cleaned the greenhouse, erasing any trace we were ever here!

Weekend Blog – Jaimi and Johnny – February 14 – 16, 2014

Johnny and I (Jaimi) started our weekend practice on the romantic day of February 14^th.  Upon early arrival, we eagerly awaited the arrival of Horticultural Technician, Jeff Rowley, to be briefed on our tasks for the upcoming weekend.  After a quick look at the crop, we saw the Hydrangeas were in need of a drink, so we turned the irrigation on in the morning, as culturally recommended.  The crop is not receiving any fertilizer yet, however Johnny and I mixed up the 21-7-7 to be applied next week – calculations approved by Jeff, of course.  This crop will be available to the public with the arrival of spring, so come check them out!      

 

 

With sowing season upon us, many of our given tasks revolved around preparing for the large annual order to be completed by June.  After several hours of trying to calibrate the stubborn sowing machine, we concluded it would be more productive to do all of the sowing with the vibrating hand seeder, as tedious as this seems.  Ornamental Millet, Juncus, Nemesia and red bell peppers are just some of the seeds germinating at this moment.

 

We ended the day of romance by giving the first year Horticulture Technician students their first tour of the greenhouse, touching on the important topics of the Priva system, media, watering system and the greenhouse crops. 

 

 

Again we arrived early for our second day of work and divided up the tasks for the day. I (Johnny) began by starting to make cutting of stock plants in the greenhouse. While I kept busy, Jaimi worked on testing the germination of 60 different seeds. This was done by wrapping the seeds in wet paper towel and storing them in a chamber on bottom heat. The germination percentage is then calculated. Once I finished with all the cuttings I noticed that the greenhouse temperature was over the set temperature; indicating a problem with the Priva system. Upon this realization we contacted Jeff who, in cooperation with Mike Pascoe, program coordinator, was able set the Priva system straight.  Jaimi and I both ended the day by making new labels for the annual and succulent crops in the greenhouse.

 

 

Arriving even earlier on our last day, Johnny and I (Jaimi) finished up with any of the left over labeling from the previous day.  Once completed, I began to tackle the sowing schedule for the remainder of the seeds, which proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.  While I was busy with this, Johnny worked on potting up some succulents that are now available to the public in the Greenhouse.  The sale bench includes Jade Plant, Aloe vera, Euphorbia and other succulents.  Come check them out!

The rest of the day was spent culturing the greenhouse crop, which included a good watering as no one will be in on this holiday Monday,  and using our elbow grease to get the facility into Pascoe approved shape. 

Now it is time to head home after our first completed practical of this semester.  We hope everyone enjoys their long weekend and hope to see you in the greenhouse to check out the crop!       

 

Weekend Practical Blog January 2014

Day One (Friday Jan 21st)

With a yawn we began the day greeted by our instructor Jeffery and

we were given our duties for the weekend. After a brief introduction we set upon our duties with haste, we started by checking the Hydrangea crop and spot watering any plants that looked like they needed it after watering the bench.  After that we sorted out a pile of wood that was thoughtfully covered in 3 feet of snow thanks to our friendly neighborhood snowplow. The task was nothing to us however and we just ‘ploughed’ straight through it like the champs that we are. Then we started on dividing and potting up two flats of pennesetum rubrum and also applying a top dress of fertilizer and finally watering them in and placing them on bottom head for optimal root growth. After that was done we set about the cleaning of any problematic areas that we saw in the greenhouse, washing any dirt that lingered on the ground down the drain where it belongs. We bleached the whiteboard so it shone like new, we washed the pots in the sink and hung them to dry, and such is the life of one who works in a greenhouse on this day.

Day Two (Sunday Feb 1^st)

With a fire in our hearts and a fresh powder of snow on the ground we begun the new day of greenhouse duty, we are the watchers of the glass house brimming with life and opportunities for learning. We were greeted by the sunny and chipper Jessica Rowland who hails from the northern lands. Because we accomplished many of our duties on the first day we were wanting of things to keep our minds occupied and our hands busy so we assisted Jessica for a while. The T building cafeteria’s planters was in dire need of some variety so we decided to liven them up with a fresh Mandeville grown right on campus. To give the planter some fluff we planted several spider grasses around it and finally moved the planter to a more sunny area where the Mandeville would fare better. After that was all said and done Matt and I emptied the full to bursting compost bin into the RTV dumped the excess compost off at the compound. After that task was completed we tested all of the emitters in the greenhouse and soaked the clogged ones in CLR for a while. As the minutes wore down to when we had to leave this warm sanctuary from the cold and venture back to our respective hovels.    

 

Dawn of the Third Day (Sunday Jan 2^nd)

We started off the day with a merry cup of tea to warm us as we went about our opening checklist, to my surprise I found that there were several leaks in the overhead irrigation system and promptly replaced them with new tubes. With that all neatly sorted out I spotted another issue, both of the tree’s had a major scale problem! As I eagerly started to eliminate the pest by spraying it with insecticidal soap, Matt had the clever idea of washing all of the pots that were dirty in the potting room. It took a while but I had finally rid the olive trees of their unfortunate affliction which allowed me to breathe a contented sigh. After a quick lunch break we decided it would be a good idea to tackle the college’s interior-scaping. As it turns out there was a whole lot of dusty and mealy bug infested plants all around campus, which helped the hours just fly on by. That brings this weekend practical to a close, until next time!

Morwyn and Dan's greenhouse weekend practical

Friday, February 7^th, 2014

The students arrived fresh faced and bushy tailed Friday morning, despite weather that would freeze the paws off a polar bear.  Dan and Morwyn retrieved the greenhouse keys from Fanshawe security and began with the day’s opening checklist, which included everything from facility inspection to analyzing hydrangea culture.  Jeff Rowley, resident horticulture technician and endlessly strong mentor, discussed the weekend’s various responsibilities and expectations, along with any tasks that could be accomplished if we found ourselves lacking things to do (this never happens).  After roughly an hour long debriefing, the students sauntered over to D building to retrieve a sleeve of petree dishes and paper filters for an experimental germination test.  The next undertaking was to prune and revive a somewhat sad looking Podocarpus that had undergone considerable environmental stress after being used in the 2014 Landscape Ontario Congress Trade Show.  While Morwyn was working on the plant, she noticed a sizeable but localized mealy bug infestation on the foliage.  Without a moment’s delay she ran to the chemical cabinet for the 50:50 isopropyl alcohol solution and generously doused the besieged plant with a fine spray.  Meanwhile, Lucas Michielsen arrived bearing gifts from Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy.  The students were instructed to take cuttings of the new plant material and attempt to propagate them in their new home.  After cooperatively hosing down the temporarily hospitalized Podocarpus, Dan and Morwyn began the painstakingly slow operation of separating bunches of Dichondra and dipping them into N.1 rooting hormone before plugging them in to flats filled with Pro Mix HP.  Number 1 rooting hormone is used on softwood and fleshy plants to promote root growth for fresh cuttings.  The same process was applied to the three other plant species that Lucas brought, which occupied most of the afternoon.  At some point, another horticulture technician student stopped by to deliver three enormous agave from Parkway Gardens, which were to be repotted and cleaned up before joining their plant siblings in the greenhouse.  All in all a productive day in the office!

                                  

 

Saturday, February 8^th, 2014

The first order of business Saturday morning was to assess the watering situation in the greenhouse.  Our hydrangeas were looking a little thirsty so the Dosatron was put into action; any pots missing drip lines were located and moved to accommodate the emitter spacing.  While the irrigation system did what it does best, Dan and Morwyn hand watered a few things and enjoyed the morning calm.  Next, the students began the prickly task of transplanting the donated agave from their horribly rootbound pots into larger clay vessels.  Equipped with thick gloves and trusted safety glasses, the students carefully cut away the plastic and released the agaves from their potbound prison.  Time flew by, with the blissful greenhouse quiet broken only by the intermittent hiss of the propagation chamber.  Happy in their stylishly comfortable clay pots, the agave were thoroughly inspected for scale and any other pests before being watered and placed on the bench.  After a well-deserved lunch break, we broke open the sleeve of petree dishes and embarked on Mike Pascoe’s latest germination experiment.   A diverse selection of seed was sown, ranging from basil and beans to gazanias and impatiens.  The paper filters were dampened and placed at the bottom of each petree dish to ensure a comfortably humid environment for the little guys.  After careful, meticulous seed sowing, the students moved on to the much anticipated organization and rearrangement of the cacti collection.  Knowing full well the job was too vast to finish in the few hours that were left, Dan and Morwyn laid out and documented which succulents required labels.  Unfortunately, the label maker was being a pain so tags had to be hand written.  A good start was made on the project, and the students left the greenhouse Saturday satisfied.

 

                      

   

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Last day of practical!  Morwyn was a little late due to inclement weather and traffic, but that didn’t stop Dan from spearheading the opening duties with vigor.  Around 9am, the duo plowed through the remaining cactus work and were delighted to be finished by lunch.  The cactus collection is now completely tidy, arranged by genus and family with largest plants on the top shelf and at the back of the bottom bench.  After lunch, the two collectively shifted a large fig at the back of the greenhouse out of the way of the emergency exit doors.  While back there, they noticed a staghorn fern sagging in its metal basket and decided to investigate.  One stepladder trip later, they were astonished and disgusted with what they saw.  Not only was the staghorn horribly underwatered and chlorotic, but it was infested with scale insect.  Thus, the students diligently and lovingly wiped the plant down with the same alcohol solution earlier implemented on Friday’s Podocarpus.  It was then promptly hosed down and given a long overdue hydrating before being returned to its spot at the back of the greenhouse.  Hopefully the scale stays away!  Realizing they were running out of time, Dan and Morwyn made the difficult decision to leave one of their tasks incomplete in order to give the facilities a most thorough clean (prioritizing how they thought Mike Pascoe would have wanted).  It took a little over an hour to bring the greenhouse back to its former, spotless glory, but it was undoubtedly worth it in the end.  The students were gleefully busy this weekend, and look forward to their landscape maintenance weekend practical at the end of April.  Stay tuned to more from the Spriet Family Greenhouse at Fanshawe College!