Greenhouse Weekend Duty Blog

Feb 12-14, 2016

Jordan Maurice and Karima Hassan

Friday

The day started off with Jordan and I realizing winter had officially made its mark. We walked into the warmth of the greenhouse out of the bitter winter cold and started our day off. For the start of our day we went through our opening checklist to check some of the following such as temperature that was within the limits, checking the propagation chamber was working correctly and checked off the remainder items.  Next we moved on to walking the crop and watering the plants that needed it. The Cacti, Pink Hydrangeas, Stock baskets, Ornamental Vegetable seeds, Canna Lilies, the tropical plants, etc. all got a good watering for the day. After watering, Jeff came into the greenhouse and went over the checklist for the weekend to make sure we were clear on what to complete and explain the jobs we didn’t know the plan for or how to complete it. Our next move then was to drench the blue hydrangeas with Aluminum Sulphate at 7g/L of water. The reason why they were drenched is to encourage the deep blue colored flowers by changing the soil, using amendments such as Aluminum Sulphate. Jordan mixed the Aluminum Sulphate into water jugs and I went along the blue hydrangeas and gave them a good drench.

Before we went on afternoon break, we updated the hydrangea chart with what was completed, which was the drench.  After our break Jeff went over what he would like to see in B-Caf. There was a shipment of tropicals delivered the Thursday day and he wanted them to be laid simply in the empty planters and as under planting with the existing plants. The plans he wanted were simple, reuse the sansevieria already there in rectangle planters, replant the croton and include pathos as the under planting for the majority of square planters. Due to the fact that it was Friday and the school was full of students, we made the executive decision to put off this job until Saturday. I checked the temperature in the greenhouse and it was maintaining a consistency of 16 degrees which is in the desired range. Jeff then showed us how to operate the manual seeder and Jordan started off seeding 2 Dusty Miller trays. While he completed 2 out of the four Dusty Miller trays, I walked the crop to see if any plants needed water. Then I completed sowing the remaining two Dusty Miller seed trays. Once we placed them in the greenhouse on the heated bench, Jeff told us to lay a thin layer of vermiculite on the tray and then mist it.  Now that the vermiculite was on the seeds and they were watered, a cover was placed on top of them.

Before

 

After

The last bit of seeding completed between Jordan and I were the four Salvia trays. Jordan pitched six succulents in red pots that were dead into the compost. I started making cacti mix with 2/3 Pro mix HP and 1/3 turface because we had to pot the four trays in the green house that were a mixture of starfish cactus, prickly pear cactus and polka dot. After that was done we started completing the closing checklist by checking the greenhouse plants;to see if water was needed and finished off the rest of the list such as checking the temperature in the priva system.

Saturday

Today we got blown into the greenhouse from the heavy snow squall. We walked in and began our morning checklist by checking for anything broken in the greenhouse like a broken window, checked the plants and propagation chamber, etc.  Due to the good watering the crop received yesterday we only needed to spot water the hydrangeas. Next we went off to B-caf in the school with 10 pothos and secateurs. Once we got into B-caf, we went around and took out the crotons and planted them in a couple of the planters. The sansevierias were taken out and placed in rectangle planters with one cultivar instead of the way they were, which was two cultivars blended. Once the majority of the crotons and sansevierias were replanted, we used the pothos and spread them out as under planting amongst the ficuses’. We then went back and got a second load of plants, the dosatron and cleaning supplies. The remaining planters of the Weeping Figs were moved into better locations and spaced out, along with having new under plantings of pothos.

I then went around and gave each planter a good drink of water and applied culture where needed with the dosatron. Jordan went around giving the area with each planter a good sweep. Back at the greenhouse we had to use up the leftover sansevieria and crotons (because no one wants to waste good plants) and placed them in the greenhouse. After we had lunch I completed the last 3 trays of salvia seeds and placed a thin layer of vermiculite on each. Then they promptly went into the greenhouse and had a delicious drink of water. The next task on our list was to pot up the last trays of begonias in propagation chamber and we did the 2 trays efficiently and were done in no time.

 Last item of the day completed was all four cacti trays were potted up into the orange pots. We then closed up shop for the night by completing the closing list, checking on the plants if water was needed and checking the temperature for the end of the day, etc.

Sunday

The weather today was still cold but you forgot about the cold with the beauty of the sunlight engulfing the greenhouse in a warm hug.

For our last we started off the day as usual with a morning checklist. Next while Jordan spot watered the hydrangeas I went along and collected the dead foliage on the hydrangea plant. We moved over to stock basket tables and cleaned them of the dead foliage and cut back several plants to encourage new growth. I then potted up three begonias in a stock basket to replace the diseased one before that was in another basket. The staghorn fern was then cleaned of scale to the best of our abilities and the leaves were cleaned with dish soap to add a shine to it.

 We put away the boxes that were in the greenhouse from the tropical plants order and placed them in the tractor. Next up was washing the misting system up and down, which we did until it gleamed like a mirror. Once we had lunch we spent the entire afternoon cleaning. Jordan worked in the greenhouse, washing the floor and I worked in the potting room washing the floor. After the floors were cleaned so well you could eat a meal off of them (although I wouldn`t recommend it) we closed up shop for the night by completing our last closing checklist.

What a terrific experience to have in an awesome learning environment such as the greenhouse where we gain new knowledge each time we are in there, whether it be for a weekend practical or a class.  It was another great weekend in the greenhouse for us both.