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!