Christmas in July

All hands on deck as the Spriet Family Greenhouse prepares for Christmas. Although Christmas is many months away,  preparation and care for our main fall crop (poinsettias) was this week’s focus.  After a week of cleaning and sanitizing the greenhouse, the pathogen free area was ready to receive over 700 plugs. Organization is key, with over fourteen boxes of ten different cultivars it can be very easy to accidentally mix up certain cultivars at such an early stage. The plugs are about one inch in height and were watered right away to relieve the stress of travel. They also dry out quickly due to being so little. Over seven hundred - six inch pots were flat filled with dry media enriched with mycorrhizae and then watered in to promote a consistent level for every pot. 

An ongoing project that a couple of students will be working on is monitoring and recording the growth rate of the Poinsettias. Carlee H. set up a backdrop with a measuring tape to be able to record a growth time lapse video by taking pictures of a sample poinsettia every week. 

Throughout the week the student gardeners focused on the gardens around the R3 residence. In the process of weeding, edging and mulching the students were introduced to friendly wildlife living on campus.