Floriculture Crop Production Lab

Former students, have a great summer.  Future students check back at the begining of the semester for more information.

Revised End of Semester Schedule:

April 2-9 Work on Virtual Field Trip Case Studies for presentation in lab on April (see guidelines above)

April 9-16 Read 3 articles on vegetative annuals, container gardens, and hanging baskets, take the quiz

April 16-23 Listen to (or read) 3 lectures on vegetative annuals, container gardens and hanging baskets with lecture notes, take the quiz.

April 23-30 Orchid Unit with Dr. Wang guest lecturing on April 23, take the quiz by April 30. 

The third exam is still scheduled for April 24.  It will cover Tagetes, Pelargonium, Vegetative Annuals, Container Gardens, and Hanging Baskets plus the previously covered materials.  Orchids will not be on this exam.  The Fianl Exam on May 5 will cover all of the previously covered material and Orchids.

We had another great lab this week.  I really don’t have anything to add to what we told you and did in class.  I do want to remind you to be checking on your seedlings every day and move them to your bench when they start to germinate.  Be sure you are checking to see if your plants need water every day.  I am watering our demonstration mums, azaleas, and Easter lilies everyday.  The geraniums are getting water about every other day.  The rest of the plants are less often than that.

 If you didn’t turn in your Crop Portfolio for a check please do.  This will help you get a better grade on it later by finding and addressing problems now.

YOUR MUMS ARE WILTING!

Chloe, Alison, and Becky get gold stars today.  Everyone else, your mums were in some degree of wilt this morning.  Some were only slightly droopy.   Sme were severly wilted.  All of the crops you are growing need to be watered before they wilt.  Under watering will cause fewer, smaller flowers, stunted growth and soluble salt damage to the leaves.  I watered all of the wilty mums for you this time but next time, unless you let me know that you need help, I will not save them for you. 

You still need to go check the rest of your plants ASAP.  I only watered the mums.  Chances are if they were dry enough to wilt other things need water also.  Please let your watering partner (you should have their contact info. by now) or me know if something comes up and you not able to get to the greenhouse to check your plants.

Another successful and hopefully enjoyable week in lab has passed.  Here are a few things you need to know from this week.

In lab this week you applied Gnatrol to your Easter lilies to control fungus gnat larvae.  The rate was 32oz/100gal.

Our EC readings on the mums were much better this week.  The leeching on Monday did it’s job.  We will continue with the same concentration of fertilizer and check the EC again next week in lab.

A couple of observant students noticed aphids on their Easter lilies on Wednesday.  Also there were quite a few thrips on at least one sticky card.  Because of this we sprayed everything but the ferns and chives on Friday.  A tank mix of Azatin and Decathlon was used.  Azatin was used at the rate of 16oz/100gal. It is an insect growth regulator and will control the nymph stages of aphids and the pupal and larvel stages of thrips.  Decthlon was also used at a rate of 1.9oz/100gal.  It is a synthetic pyrethroid that will control the nymph and adult stages of aphids, adult and larval stages of thrips, as well as the adult stages of fungus gnats.

 By popular demand the fertilizers and the crops they are used on are written on the whiteboard in the greenhouse.  Greenhouse A is the section where your bench is.  Greenhouse B is where you have been potting your plants.

On last thing.  TAMU Vista has an email feature.  It is only useful within Vista and does not forward to your NEO account.  Be sure you are checking this for communications from your instructors.  If you don’t know how to check it please stop by and see me for help.

If you have any questions about any of this information leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Here are just a few reminders and information from lab. 

Marathon was applied 2/4/08 at the following rate: 1/3 tsp./pot for the zonal geraniums, mums, and Easter lilies.  2/3 tsp/pot for the ivy geraniums.  Remember, Marathon is a granular systemic insecticide used to prevent the infestation by our most common greenhouse insects.  It is applied to the media surface and watered in.

Banrot was applied 2/4/08 at 8 oz./100 gal. to all geraniums, mums, Easter lilies, snapdragons, and ferns.  Banrot is a systemic fungicide drench that prevents infection from our most common root rot diseases.

Dr. Starman asked me to try to give you an idea of how often I am watering plants in the greenhouse to help guide you in your watering.  The Easter lilies are getting watered every day or sometimes every other day.  The snapdragons are getting watered once a week unless it is really sunny.  The ivy geraniums are getting watered a couple of times per week.  Everything else is every other day or sometimes every third day.  Remember this changes frequently with the weather and you should be checking your plants every day.

 Notice your snapdragons have been moved outside.  This will affect how often you water them so check them carefully.

We another great lab this week. Hopefully they will get a little bit shorter soon but thanks to all of you for staying until you are finished. 

 Our EC readings were quite high in lab on Wednesday.  I have since checked the injectors.  They are running fine.  I also rechecked the EC using a different method and it was on the high side but still within range.  I’m not sure what caused our high readings but the plants and roots look fine.  We will do readings every week so hopefully this week will be better.

 We will be making some chemical applications to your plants this week but I probably will wait until lab to tell you about them so I can explain them better.  Have a great week.  I’ll see you in lab Wednesday.

We had a great lab Wednesday and I can tell it is going to be a fun semester.  Thank you all for your hard work and good attitude in lab even though we ran a little long.  There are few things I need to tell you about that I forgot about on Wednesday.

Fertilizer - I failed to make it clear what fertilizers you should be using for which crop and where those fertilizers are located.  This is information you need for your records and for watering your plants.

All of the geraniums (zonal and ivy) should be fertiligated with the fertilizer by the door to greenhouse A (the one I demonstrated on).  This is 200ppm 15-16-17. 

The Easter Lilies should be fertigated with the fertilizer by the outside door to greenhouse B (the section where we potted the plants).  This is 200 ppm 15-0-15.  There is a watering can by the faucet that you can use to carry water to your plants.  Please be sure to return it so the next person can find it.

The Chrysanthemums were watered in with 300ppm 20-10-20.  We have since raised that to 400ppm 20-10-20.  Do not water your mums.  We will be taking care of that for you until they are on your bench in a couple of weeks.

When in doubt there is a label on the lid of each container that has the fertilizer, concentration, and crop written on it. If you ever have trouble with watering feel free to call my cell phone (the number is by the door between the greenhouse sections) or come by my office.

 When you are watering your plants be sure the water pressure isn’t too high.  If you are washing media out of the pots it is to high and you need to turn it down.  If you have already washed media out of your pots you need to add some more and water it.  Be sure to turn the water off at the faucet not at the watering wand.  The hose can break if left pressurized too long and that would make a mess.

Check the position of your sticky card.  It should be located just above the plants so that is will capture insects close to your plants.  Be sure to move it up as your plants grow so that it won’t get stuck to the plants.

 Be sure to trade contact information with you watering partner.  If you have forgotten who that is I have it in my office.

If you ever have questions feel free to come by my office any time.

This is THE place to find out what has been happening in the greenhouse.  There are times that the greenhouse staff must perform some of the cultural inputs on your plants.  This may be be because of timing (it can’t wait until lab next week) or safety (insecticide applications).  Since you still need to know what is happening for your Crop Portfolio, we will post the information here. 

This blog may also contain some instructions of things that YOU need to do to your plants between labs so check it every day if you can.

We hope this class will be fun and that you will learn everything you can about producing crops in the greenhouse.