Weekend greenhouse blog - Carlee and Harrison

November 23-25, 2018

With the week beginning with chilly snowy weather, we arrived at the greenhouse on Friday morning with a warmer breeze in the air. We arrived at 7:50 and began getting organized to accomplish the specific set of tasks we had been assigned. Jeff gave us an outline of what was expected of us for the weekend and answered the questions that we had for him. He also informed us that there was probably going to be lots of sales because he had been noticing larger and larger numbers of customers throughout the week. He also gave us a list of poinsettia deliveries that needed to be done.  We then jumped into starting our opening checklist. I began opening the blackout curtains while Carlee walked the crop, inspected for any problems in the greenhouse and determined if the crop needed watering by feeling the soil. We then checked the culture chart to see if the poinsettias had been watered with fertilizer. We determined that it did need to be watered with fertilizer so Carlee began mixing 5L of all-purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer at 250 ppm. We activated the dosatron and as I checked the drip lines to ensure all the poinsettias were getting watered, Carlee began creating custom planters. After I was done examining the drip lines and repairing the broken lines I found, I began to prepare for sales. I placed the two signs out, grabbed the cart with the wreaths and checked to ensure we had a one-hundred dollar float. A couple minutes after we started getting a large number of customers coming into the greenhouse, we then spent a good majority of our time helping customers and wrapping poinsettias while also simultaneously trying to work away at our tasks. In the afternoon on Friday I began delivering roughly 21 poinsettias to two separate offices on campus while Carlee kept making sales and working on custom planters for customers.

As the day began to draw to a close we started to clean up, finished up the closing checklist and cashed out our sales.

                We arrived at the greenhouse on Saturday with a dark gloom of showers outside. We started by walking the crop and opening the blackout curtains. We then did the E.C and pH readings which can be found in our poinsettia culture chart. Then I began moving the valentine from the last bench to a more centered spot in the greenhouse. 

Then I moved 23 Christmas Wish Red and 22 Marbella which are for delivery in December to the last bench. 

While Harrison rearranged the poinsettias inside the greenhouse, I set to work trying to assemble the large wreath for Cuddy’s, this turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated and will more than likely need some 3rd party adjustments. It also took up a majority of the day. While I plucked away at the wreath Harrison was busy making some ornaments to be used on the smaller wreaths, and turning cuttings from 4” pots in to stock baskets.
After lunch we did our interiorscape and planted some poinsettias into the planters out front of the bookstore to help advertise them in the greenhouse. We wanted to use some of our more unique cultivars like ‘Red Glitter’ and ‘Marbella’ but with the combination of sales and orders the unique cultivars are dwindling quickly. The rest of the day was spent battling the large wreath, making some stock baskets and tidying up.

                Sunday came and went with a moderate pace. We came in and opened more quickly than before having gotten used to the routine over the previous couple days. While Harrison spot watered anything that looked overly dry,  I spent the morning reorganizing some of the sale succulents and poinsettia standards and minis on the unmoving, perimeter bench. As previously mentioned, the ‘Red Glitter’ and ‘Marbella’ Poinsettias are lowering in numbers but we do still have quite a few of the interesting ‘Valentine’ Poinsettias, which look like a mix between a poinsettia and a rose bush. 

During Harrison’s reorganization over the weekend we were able to bring some of the ‘Valentine’ poinsettias closer to the front of the greenhouse in hopes that these special guys will get some more attention. Harrison and I took some time in the afternoon to move some of the cuttings from our germination station and put them into 4” pots to be used later for our stock baskets. After lunch we both made an attempt at putting together some wreaths which we will have available for sale in the greenhouse along with the others that are already complete.

                Overall it was a good weekend in the greenhouse and one of the last greenhouse weekend duties for our class this semester. We are beyond excited and proud to see our poinsettia crop selling as well as they have been so far and hope they continue to do so. Our class has put a lot of time, effort and most importantly love into these plants, and we are so excited to share them with you.