WEEKEND BLOG – Mary-Jane and Kayla
Friday, March 7, 2014
What a
beautiful sunny day we had to begin our weekend greenhouse practical! With the
weather being so cold lately, a sun-shiny, high-of 0 degrees Celsius day almost
felt like summer! This of course,
required us to pay special attention to our greenhouse crop, since the weather
may have come as a bit of a shock to them. After spot-watering the entire crop
in the morning, we had to perform a thorough-watering to the hydrangea crop
come mid-afternoon; they were thirsty! We also had to keep an eye on young
seedlings as well as freshly-sown seeds, to ensure they stayed hydrated and
moist. We did this check every other hour of the day. This was such an
important task because the seeds would not have survived had they dried out;
they are also the annuals that we grow for our summer clients! (No crop=No
business= No good!). Mary-Jane and I added to the collection by sowing some
culinary seeds - Oregano, as well as Spearmint. We included these new additions
to the Plant Inventory List that we were responsible for
updating/reconfiguring.
Come mid-afternoon, we were greeted by some visitors! (Fanshawe Councilors). They excitedly asked for a tour of the greenhouse and we were more than happy to provide them with one. We discussed what we were working on, how things work, and got into detail about a few plants. I’m sure we’ll be seeing them again in April, when we begin our plant sales! That’s all for now, see you tomorrow.
Come mid-afternoon, we were greeted by some visitors! (Fanshawe Councilors). They excitedly asked for a tour of the greenhouse and we were more than happy to provide them with one. We discussed what we were working on, how things work, and got into detail about a few plants. I’m sure we’ll be seeing them again in April, when we begin our plant sales! That’s all for now, see you tomorrow.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
We’re back
to an overcast day, with an average temperature of -2 degrees Celsius. We
started off the day with walking our crop and spot-watering. The plants will
not need any more watering until we check tomorrow. From there, we headed
straight into production. We began by taking cuttings from 9 of our stock
plants. Each cutting was dipped in root hormone, planted into a cell tray, and
placed into the propagation chamber for optimum growing conditions. We then
added our new friends onto our inventory list and completed all revisions. We
also transplanted some older cuttings that were ready for a bigger home (they
were placed into 3” round pots and now rest on a bench in the greenhouse). The
remainder of the day was spent washing pots and sanitizing the greenhouse.
We’ll be back at it tomorrow!
Today was a
day dedicated to catering to our interiorscape plantings (located around the
interior of the campus). We were responsible for watering, deadheading, and
applying IPM practices to those that needed it. Mary-Jane and I were surprised
to discover just how many tropical plants we have situated around the school!
This job consumed the majority of our morning. In the afternoon, we were
greeted by one of our fellow classmates; she is responsible for taking care of
the tropical plants on weekends. We began helping Jessica with the tasks she
had set out for the weekend. We started potting some large tropical plants that
were to be placed inside the campus. Next, we placed the plants on a cart,
wrapped the cart with a protective cloth (since the cold weather would have
been too much of a shock), and brought them to their required destinations.
After all of this, we were left with the wonderful task of giving the
greenhouse a thorough cleaning. Now that the place is spotless, we’ll be on our
way. Until next time.
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