Weekend Blog - Mark and Ben

                March 14^th 2014. It was a brisk morning upon arrival of the greenhouse. We opened the greenhouse and checked each individual plant for any watering or culture that it may need. After taking care of all the juvenile plants we set out to go over the guidelines for the weekend with Professor Jeff. He informed us on the tasks that we will have to battle and the warned us about the dangers ahead. We geared up and set our hands on extremely rare seeds from around the globe. We were sure to get a demonstration on how to sow them, because a mistake could be detrimental for the collection. Once we sowed them all in we were sure to give them the water that they will need to sprout. With there being thousands of seeds this took us the majority of the day. We also organized the annual label draws, this rounding out our day. We swept up and whipped the floors clean then went home to rest up for the rest of the weekend.

 

 

                March 15^th 2014. The walk to the greenhouse was cloudy and it was sleeting snow. When opening the greenhouse everything was looking good. We watered the Hydrangeas and the other dry plants in greenhouse. Secondly we collected five pink Hydrangeas, five blue Hydrangeas, did pH and E.C readings on them. Once we got the results we put them on the appropriate charts. Next we mixed up a batch of 20-20-20 300ppm fertilizer for the portable Dosatron. After an early lunch we set up the Aqua mate and began our quest around the school. With over 35 plants on our list this was no small task. With a refill of water in the middle, the time flew by as we whizzed around the school. To round out the day we did general clean up and revised the bedding plant sheet.

 

 

 

                March 16, 2014. Brrrrr she was a cold morning, but we were warmed by the presence of J Row first thing in the morning. First thing we did was walk the crop a watered then cleaned some pots, before giving Miss Rowland a hand with some of her tasks. First we potted up a Fiddle Leaf Fig for a new arranged planter for T building quite the hassle due to having to make multiple trips from one end to the next end of the school, never the less a wonderful job. After lunch we helped Jess with another task of replacing a planter in the residence with a new arrangement. Now off to the pots in the outdoor storage, or what was now home and bathroom to rodents. Some pots were chewed up and urinated on, needless to say we gave them a nice cleaning before sorting them. Then our main focus was bringing this place back to a 100 percent with a big o'le clean.

 

 

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. 

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!

Sunday, March 09, 2014

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greenhouse Weekend Blog – Zachary and Kyle – February 28 – March 2, 2014

The day started off just like any other day in the harsh Canadian winter. I woke up to the sight of frost clinging to the windows, forming complex patterns in the dead winter night. Rubbing the excess sleep from my eyes, I slipped into my winter horticultural gear and traversed the icy path to the school, trying to shake the events of the night before from my memory. Entering the school an hour before schedule, I walked the barren halls, searching for the elusive security office to acquire the keys for the greenhouse area. I arrived at the greenhouse at 7:30, along with the arrival of my partner, Kyle. I saw him trying to open the greenhouse doors, but struggling in the cold. We waited for Jeff, the shivering of Kyle reminded me of the vibrating wand of seeds, shivering down the metal tube. Jeff arrived 20 minutes early, reminding us of the normal greenhouse procedures before diving into the more advanced information, such as the air compressed seed planter.  Our tasks were laid in front of us, with both of us having a different project, our time seemed more and more precious by the second. We began the greenhouse circle check, going up and down each row checking to see if they needed extra watering, or to see if watering spaghetti strings were plugged. After our thorough inspection, we began to use the seed distribution device, filling a flat with two different types of grasses, Stipa, and Lucius. After a time, we noticed the sun hung low in the sky, signifying our release into the world once again.

The sky seemed grim on morning of the second day as the tires smoothly drifted out of control in the empty parking lot. Stopping with a jerk, we regained our composure, and walked to the beginning of our new day. We loaded up the computer, and started PRIVA with no problems. With our trusty friend coffee, and the glorious sounds coming from the radio stations at our selection, we began the work. After the initial crop walk, to which we noticed no problems, we sat down and listed any chores we had to do for the weekend. Climbing a ladder was the trickiest situation we came across in that operation, as the chores came to mind rather easily. Cuttings were the main priority, and this job was tackled by Kyle as the other responsibilities were taken on by me. The grasses needed sorting, as some were dead in the pot, wasting water and precious space. I first took out all the completely dead plants, the ones with no vegetative growth at all, and whose root system was so weak that the slightest touch would cause them to flop over. The hardest part about the whole operation was the fact that the soil bucket would fill constantly. During this procedure, we welcomed our head program coordinator, and his guests from Newfoundland.  Somehow the humidity was at a stable 70 for what seemed like hours. After a few tries refreshing the program, we noticed that PRIVA wasn’t working at all. Resetting the program and the computer did nothing to rectify the situation. The greenhouse was filled with delightful banter about horticultural stories as we worked in the other room, the silence coming from the radio filled our minds. My time during this ordeal was mainly in the potting room: greasing the wheels on the cart, retyping the opening and closing sheets, and washing the dishes were the jobs I had while the greenhouse was being given the grand tour. As they paused the tour for lunch, the canine known only as BD became our responsibility and it seemed like she had an upset stomach as a yellow foamy film appeared all over the place. Washing the floor periodically became a normal task. As the main man came back, and took his canine friend, the greenhouse seemed almost empty, as we began our final clean up tasks of the day. Bidding the glass room goodbye, we set along the path home, smelling a little fouler.

The beginning of the third day was sunny and bright. A light snow fell, but not enough to give us pause, as we opened the doors at 7:30. We went right to the computer to check on PRIVA’s status, and it was still offline, giving us some worries. The periodic clicks of the control box showed us that it was still working, but just not letting us monitor its progress. Manual checks were instigated every half hour just to make sure nothing happens. Another puppy joined us this weekend, as the famous Jessica Rowand brought her young German Shepherd with her. The smell of puppy clings to the clothing I wear, I don’t know if I can get it off. While two of us went to water the plants throughout the school, one person was left in the greenhouse to watch all the living things that lay inside. Cleaning became the priority for the day, the general idea was to make the room look so clean that you wouldn’t mind sitting down and eating a meal on it. The shop vacuum was the main tool for the job, but it was also our demise after it caused the power to turn off. Flipping off all the mats, we turned back on the breaker, and while cleaning, steadily turned the mats back on to their original temperature. With the floors swept, vacuumed, and washed down, our final day at school came to a close. Putting our winter clothes back on, we left the warmth of our greenhouse, getting ready to come back in a few days’ time.

Weekend Blog- February 21^st,22^nd,23^rd

Emily Lougheed and Dylan Howlett

Friday: Friday was a good day. Emily spent some time with the hydrangea crop, testing for proper pH and EC readings. The hydrangeas had an average pH of 6.7 and an EC of 2.0 while the blue ones which very recently had an application of Aluminum Sulfate had a pH of 6.8 and an EC of 2.1. So far so good!  We also got the opportunity to use the seeding machine. Unfortunately it ended up being faster to seed by hand using the hand vibrator seeder. The seeding machine is less than perfect. We also started a tray of stock plant cuttings.

Saturday: Saturday was another eventful and productive day. It began with the walk of the crop in the morning. Some of the hydrangeas were looking a little thirsty. They were first to get a drink. Next we made cuttings of some of the stock plants to ensure a healthy supply of new plants for the spring. A list was made of our hanging basket stock plants too. Everything is becoming more organized in the greenhouse. We also examined the seeds being tested for germination rates and recorded the successes and failures.  We finished the day by consolidating the canna flats, cleaning some pots and a little housekeeping. We were lucky enough to have the company of a furry quadruped today.

Sunday:  Sunday began with sunshine. It’s still cold outside, but looking gorgeous. Today we planted the rare botanical seeds from the hardy plant society. Cross your fingers for high germination rates!  We also replaced tag labels in the cacti crop with steak labels so that metal tagging will be more easily done later on. We attended to the interior plants as well. It is quite the workout lugging R2-D2 (aquamate) throughout the entire school!  We organized the outdoor storage area. We may have moved a squirrel’s nest or two in the process. Everything looks great.  Lastly, we cleaned the greenhouse, erasing any trace we were ever here!

Weekend Blog – Jaimi and Johnny – February 14 – 16, 2014

Johnny and I (Jaimi) started our weekend practice on the romantic day of February 14^th.  Upon early arrival, we eagerly awaited the arrival of Horticultural Technician, Jeff Rowley, to be briefed on our tasks for the upcoming weekend.  After a quick look at the crop, we saw the Hydrangeas were in need of a drink, so we turned the irrigation on in the morning, as culturally recommended.  The crop is not receiving any fertilizer yet, however Johnny and I mixed up the 21-7-7 to be applied next week – calculations approved by Jeff, of course.  This crop will be available to the public with the arrival of spring, so come check them out!      

 

 

With sowing season upon us, many of our given tasks revolved around preparing for the large annual order to be completed by June.  After several hours of trying to calibrate the stubborn sowing machine, we concluded it would be more productive to do all of the sowing with the vibrating hand seeder, as tedious as this seems.  Ornamental Millet, Juncus, Nemesia and red bell peppers are just some of the seeds germinating at this moment.

 

We ended the day of romance by giving the first year Horticulture Technician students their first tour of the greenhouse, touching on the important topics of the Priva system, media, watering system and the greenhouse crops. 

 

 

Again we arrived early for our second day of work and divided up the tasks for the day. I (Johnny) began by starting to make cutting of stock plants in the greenhouse. While I kept busy, Jaimi worked on testing the germination of 60 different seeds. This was done by wrapping the seeds in wet paper towel and storing them in a chamber on bottom heat. The germination percentage is then calculated. Once I finished with all the cuttings I noticed that the greenhouse temperature was over the set temperature; indicating a problem with the Priva system. Upon this realization we contacted Jeff who, in cooperation with Mike Pascoe, program coordinator, was able set the Priva system straight.  Jaimi and I both ended the day by making new labels for the annual and succulent crops in the greenhouse.

 

 

Arriving even earlier on our last day, Johnny and I (Jaimi) finished up with any of the left over labeling from the previous day.  Once completed, I began to tackle the sowing schedule for the remainder of the seeds, which proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.  While I was busy with this, Johnny worked on potting up some succulents that are now available to the public in the Greenhouse.  The sale bench includes Jade Plant, Aloe vera, Euphorbia and other succulents.  Come check them out!

The rest of the day was spent culturing the greenhouse crop, which included a good watering as no one will be in on this holiday Monday,  and using our elbow grease to get the facility into Pascoe approved shape. 

Now it is time to head home after our first completed practical of this semester.  We hope everyone enjoys their long weekend and hope to see you in the greenhouse to check out the crop!       

 

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!

Morwyn and Dan's greenhouse weekend practical

Friday, February 7^th, 2014

The students arrived fresh faced and bushy tailed Friday morning, despite weather that would freeze the paws off a polar bear.  Dan and Morwyn retrieved the greenhouse keys from Fanshawe security and began with the day’s opening checklist, which included everything from facility inspection to analyzing hydrangea culture.  Jeff Rowley, resident horticulture technician and endlessly strong mentor, discussed the weekend’s various responsibilities and expectations, along with any tasks that could be accomplished if we found ourselves lacking things to do (this never happens).  After roughly an hour long debriefing, the students sauntered over to D building to retrieve a sleeve of petree dishes and paper filters for an experimental germination test.  The next undertaking was to prune and revive a somewhat sad looking Podocarpus that had undergone considerable environmental stress after being used in the 2014 Landscape Ontario Congress Trade Show.  While Morwyn was working on the plant, she noticed a sizeable but localized mealy bug infestation on the foliage.  Without a moment’s delay she ran to the chemical cabinet for the 50:50 isopropyl alcohol solution and generously doused the besieged plant with a fine spray.  Meanwhile, Lucas Michielsen arrived bearing gifts from Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy.  The students were instructed to take cuttings of the new plant material and attempt to propagate them in their new home.  After cooperatively hosing down the temporarily hospitalized Podocarpus, Dan and Morwyn began the painstakingly slow operation of separating bunches of Dichondra and dipping them into N.1 rooting hormone before plugging them in to flats filled with Pro Mix HP.  Number 1 rooting hormone is used on softwood and fleshy plants to promote root growth for fresh cuttings.  The same process was applied to the three other plant species that Lucas brought, which occupied most of the afternoon.  At some point, another horticulture technician student stopped by to deliver three enormous agave from Parkway Gardens, which were to be repotted and cleaned up before joining their plant siblings in the greenhouse.  All in all a productive day in the office!

                                  

 

Saturday, February 8^th, 2014

The first order of business Saturday morning was to assess the watering situation in the greenhouse.  Our hydrangeas were looking a little thirsty so the Dosatron was put into action; any pots missing drip lines were located and moved to accommodate the emitter spacing.  While the irrigation system did what it does best, Dan and Morwyn hand watered a few things and enjoyed the morning calm.  Next, the students began the prickly task of transplanting the donated agave from their horribly rootbound pots into larger clay vessels.  Equipped with thick gloves and trusted safety glasses, the students carefully cut away the plastic and released the agaves from their potbound prison.  Time flew by, with the blissful greenhouse quiet broken only by the intermittent hiss of the propagation chamber.  Happy in their stylishly comfortable clay pots, the agave were thoroughly inspected for scale and any other pests before being watered and placed on the bench.  After a well-deserved lunch break, we broke open the sleeve of petree dishes and embarked on Mike Pascoe’s latest germination experiment.   A diverse selection of seed was sown, ranging from basil and beans to gazanias and impatiens.  The paper filters were dampened and placed at the bottom of each petree dish to ensure a comfortably humid environment for the little guys.  After careful, meticulous seed sowing, the students moved on to the much anticipated organization and rearrangement of the cacti collection.  Knowing full well the job was too vast to finish in the few hours that were left, Dan and Morwyn laid out and documented which succulents required labels.  Unfortunately, the label maker was being a pain so tags had to be hand written.  A good start was made on the project, and the students left the greenhouse Saturday satisfied.

 

                      

   

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Last day of practical!  Morwyn was a little late due to inclement weather and traffic, but that didn’t stop Dan from spearheading the opening duties with vigor.  Around 9am, the duo plowed through the remaining cactus work and were delighted to be finished by lunch.  The cactus collection is now completely tidy, arranged by genus and family with largest plants on the top shelf and at the back of the bottom bench.  After lunch, the two collectively shifted a large fig at the back of the greenhouse out of the way of the emergency exit doors.  While back there, they noticed a staghorn fern sagging in its metal basket and decided to investigate.  One stepladder trip later, they were astonished and disgusted with what they saw.  Not only was the staghorn horribly underwatered and chlorotic, but it was infested with scale insect.  Thus, the students diligently and lovingly wiped the plant down with the same alcohol solution earlier implemented on Friday’s Podocarpus.  It was then promptly hosed down and given a long overdue hydrating before being returned to its spot at the back of the greenhouse.  Hopefully the scale stays away!  Realizing they were running out of time, Dan and Morwyn made the difficult decision to leave one of their tasks incomplete in order to give the facilities a most thorough clean (prioritizing how they thought Mike Pascoe would have wanted).  It took a little over an hour to bring the greenhouse back to its former, spotless glory, but it was undoubtedly worth it in the end.  The students were gleefully busy this weekend, and look forward to their landscape maintenance weekend practical at the end of April.  Stay tuned to more from the Spriet Family Greenhouse at Fanshawe College!