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!