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!