Horticulture 429

Synopsis- In this weeks lab we took home our tomatoes, cosmos, alyssum, and basil. Two basil cells we were required to transplant into 4.5″ pots.

Pests- There were a total of 59 thrips and 21 fungus gnats. This meant an increase of 2 thrips.

Nutrition- We were not required to take EC/pH this week.

Growth- We continued measurements on our four crop portfolio plants. The ‘Tango Dark Red’ zonal geranium was measured at 16cm x 27cm with a 1cm increase in width, the ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium was measured at 24cm x 57cm with an increase by 1cm x 4cm, the ‘Miramar’ mum was measured at 23cm x 32cm with an increase of 2cm x 2cm, and finally the snapdragon was measured at 78cm x 33cm with an increase of 17cm in height.

 Cultural Treatments- We trimmed the Ipomoea from out of the center of the mixed container so that it want impede growth on the other plants. We thinned the peppers to 1 seedling per cell and the petunias to 3 seedlings per cell. The fertilizer stayed the same this week. The zinnias, ivy geranium, zonal geraniums, and snapdragons were all fertilized with  200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The ferns and mums are to be watered with di-inoized water.

Synopsis- This week we planted nothing new, but observed the growth that occured over spring break. All of the plants had grown several centimeters including all of the seedlings. The growth was very healthy and vigorous.

Pests- Now that it has gotten warmer outside more pests are emerging. My sticky card had a total of 57 thrips and 21 fungus gnats. The thrips incresed by 15 and the fungus gnats increased by 8.

Nutrition- This weeks EC/pH readings came from the ‘Tango’ zonal geranium and the ‘Roanoke’ mum. The zonal geranium had  an average EC of 2.8 and an average pH of 6.13. The mum had an average EC of 2.97 and an average pH of 6.

Growth- We continued measurements on our four crop portfolio plants. The ‘Tango Dark Red’ zonal geranium was measured at 16cm x 26cm with a 2cm decrease in width, the ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium was measured at 23cm x 53cm with an increase by 7cm x 5cm, the ‘Miramar’ mum was measured at 21cm x 30cm with an increase of 4cm x 2cm, and finally the snapdragon was measured at 61cm x 33cm with an increase of 19cm in height.

Cultural Treatments- All the mums had the center bud removed except one plant which had all but the center bud removed to compare methods when flowers are open. The Heliotrope in the mixed container garden was disbudded. The marigolds were thinned a second time if needed and B-nine was sprayed on them to reduce internode elongation for a more compact uniform crop. The other seedlings were again thinned with tomatoes, peppers, and cosmos thinned to 1 seedling per cell; basil and petunias thinned to 3 seedlings per cell; and the alyssum thinned to 5 seedlings per cell. The zinnias were disbudded a second time to allow further vegetative growth. We got to take home the Easter lilies, azaleas, and chives.  The zinnias, ivy geranium, zonal geraniums, and snapdragons were all fertilized with  200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The ferns are still to be watered with di-inoized water. Fertilization of the mums was terminated this week. They will be watered now with di-ionized water.  

Synopsis- In this weeks lab we planted Rudbeckia ‘Indian Summer’ and potted up a vegetative annual mixed container. The rudbeckia was planted in 1-qt nursery container with each student getting a total of four pots with one plug per pot. The mixed annuals were potted up in a 10″ decorative terracota colored pot. It contained one each of Ipomea ‘Margarita’, Calibachoa ‘Superbelss Tequila Sunrise’, Heliotropium ‘Nagano’, Angelonia ‘Angelface Blue’, and Coleus ‘Rustic Orange’. All the plants were potted using Sunshine #1 media.

Pests- There was an increase of 3 thrips and 1 fungus gnat so a total of 42 thirps and 13 fungus gnats.

Nutrition- This week I measured the EC/pH of the ‘Miramar’ mum and ‘Avendia’ geranium. The mum had an average EC of .8 and an average pH of 7.1. The geranium had an average EC of 1.1 and an average pH of 6.97. No corrective measures were taken.

Growth- We continued measurements on our four crop portfolio plants. The ‘Tango Dark Red’ zonal geranium was measured at 16cm x 25cm with a 2cm x 1cm increase, the ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium was measured at 16cm x 48cm with an increase by 1cm x 1cm, the ‘Miramar’ mum was measured at 17cm x 28cm with an increase of 1cm in height, and finally the snapdragon was measured at 42cm x 33cm with an increase of 8cm in height. The initial rudbeckia height and width is 6cm x 14cm.

Cultural Treatments- The zinnia were watered with 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The chives, ivy geranium, zonal geraniums, rudbeckia, and snapdragons were all changed to 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The Easter lily fertilizer was not changed. The ferns and azaleas are still to be watered with di-inoized water.  Another grid was tied onto the tomato cage to give added support to the tall snapdragons. Disbud all geraniums for the last time, remove any dead leaves on geraniums, remove the blind shoots from the azaleas, and measure the Easter lily buds to make sure that there is under 14days til flowering. My largest bud was measured at 13cm so it had only 3 days til it began opening.  Two pots are to be placed on my bench to receive regular light and two pots are to be place on the night interruption The zinnia were watered with 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The chives, ivy geranium, zonal geraniums, and snapdragons were all changed to 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The Easter lily fertilizer was not changed. The ferns and azaleas are still to be watered with di-inoized water.  bench. The seedlings were thinned to one plant per cell and placed on our regular bench.  

Synopsis- In this weeks lab we planted ‘Profusion White’ zinnia in four 5″ pots. Each pot had one zinnia plant. We were also given one seed flat to plant either ’Durango Tangerine’ or ‘Durango Bolero’ marigolds in. The choice of variety was up to the watering partners. I chose to plant ’ Durango Tangerine’ in my flat. We planted two seeds per cell to ensure atleast one of them germinated into a healthy plant. We were also given a second seed tray to plant various types of seeds that the instructors found while cleaning out the seed bin. There were six types of seeds which included tomato, cosmos, basil, petunia, ornamental pepper, and alyssum. The seeds were planted in one six pack cell within the flat. Each cell were planted with 2 to 3 seeds to ensure germination of a healthy plant.

Pests- There was one new fungus gnat and seven new thrips on my sticky card. I did not see any insects on my plants which is wonderful!

Nutrition- The EC and pH were measured this week for the ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium which had an average EC of 1.3 and an average pH of 6.5, and Easter lily which had an average EC of .56 and an average pH of 6.45. No changes were made to either crop.

Growth- The zinnia plugs were measured for an initial measurement to compare at harvesting time. The height x width are 3cm x 6cm. We continued measurements on our four crop portfolio plants. The ‘Tango Dark Red’ zonal geranium was measured at 14cm x 24cm with a 4cm x 3cm increase, the ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium was measured at 15cm x 47cm with an increase by 1cm in width, the ‘Miramar’ mum was measured at 16cm x 28cm with an increase of 2cm x 2cm, and finally the snapdragon was measured at 34cm x 33cm with an increase of 4cm in height. There was an decrease of 1cm in width on the snapdragons.

Cultural Treatments- The ivy and zonal geraniums had the buds and dead leaves removed if there were any. The azaleas had the blind shoots removed in anticipation of flowering. The snapdragons had another string grid tied on 3 inches above the second grid for added support. The sow seeds and the marigolds had the media watered before sowing of the seeds so that they were not uncovered once planted. Up until germination they will be misted during the week. The petunia, ornamental pepper, and alyssum seeds need to be left uncovered because of their high requirement of light for germination. All the newly planted seeds were watered with de-ionized water. The zinnia were watered with 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The chives, ivy geranium, zonal geraniums, and snapdragons were all changed to 200ppm 20-10-20 fertilizer. The Easter lily fertilizer was not changed. The ferns and azaleas are still to be watered with di-inoized water. 

Synopsis- In this weeks lab we again planted nothing new. We did however do some maintainence on our plants that will be discussed below.

Pests- This week I counted 3 new thrips and 8 new fungus gnats.  This gave a total of 23 thrips and 11 fungus gnats on the sticky card.

Nutrition- The Mums are fertigated with 400ppm 20-10-20. The ferns are fertigated with 200ppm 20-10-20. The Easter lilies are fertigated with 200ppm 15-0-15. The onion chives, zonal geraniums, snapdragons, and ivy geraniums are fertigated with 200ppm 15-16-17. The Azaleas are to receive no fertilizer.

Growth- We are required to take measurments for the four portfolio crops to turn in at the end of the semester. They are as follows with height x width: ‘Tango Red’ zonal geranium at 10cm x 21cm with a total increase of 2cm in width, ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium at 15cm x 46cm with an increase of 1cm x 4cm, ‘Miramar’ mum at 14cm x 26cm with an increase of 3cm x 2cm, and lastly snapdragon mix at 28cm x 32cm with an increase of 2cm in height and a decrease of 2cm in width. The decrease was probably due to the heavy rain fall received the day before lab.  I measured the EC and pH of the snapdragons and the ‘Boston Jr.’ ferns. The snapdragons had an average EC of  1.3 and a pH of 6.2. The ferns had an average EC of 1.5 and a pH of 6.

Cultural Treatments- We sprayed B-nine at 2500ppm onto the leaves of the mums to increase fullness. The ivy and zonal geraniums were sprayed with Florel at 350ppm. They also had any dead leaves and new flower buds removed. We tied a new string grid in the shape of an X inside of a square to aid in support as the plants continue to grow taller. Again we removed the blind shoots on the azaleas so that the flowers are not impeded when they begin to blossom.

Synopsis- Although we didn’t plant anything new we did get our azaleas in finally. We received three varieties each: ‘Prize’, ‘Scarlet’, and ‘Pink Angora’ or ‘Remeberance’.We attached hangers to the two hanging pots the ivy geraniums are planted in. I measured the visible bud for my Easter lily which was approximately 3cm long meaning it has 25 more days til it fully flowers at 21 degress Celsius.

Pests- There was an increase in pests by 23. There were three fungus gnats and 20 thrips on the sticky card.

Nutrition- The onion chives, zonal geraniums, snapdragons, and ivy geraniums are fertigated with 200ppm 15-16-17. The Mums are fertigated with 300ppm 20-10-20. The ferns are fertigated with 200ppm 20-10-20. The Easter lilies are fertigated with 200ppm 15-0-15. The Azaleas are to receive no fertilizer. EC and pH were taken of ‘Tango Red’ geranium, and ‘Roanoke’ mum. The geranium had an average EC of 1.86 and an average pH of 5.85. The mum had an average EC of 1.15 and an average pH of 6.35.

Growth- I measured the azaleas for an initial measurment to compare growth at harvest time. The width was 31.5cm and height was 21cm. We also measured the four plants for our portfolio assigments which are as follows for ‘Tango Red’ geranium was 10cm x 19cm with a 3cm increase in width, ‘Sophie Cascade’ Ivy Geranium was 14cm x 42cm with a 2cm x 2cm increase, ‘Miramar’ mum was 11cm x 24cm with a 3.5cm x 1cm increase, and lastly the snapdragons were 26cm x 34cm with a 11cm x 1cm increase.

Cultural Treatments- We moved the mums onto our regular bench to stop night interruption  treatments so that blooming will be initiated. We did a soft pinch on the main branch of the ivy geraniums to encourage branching. On the azaleas we removed all the blind shoots around the flower buds so that the flowers will not be covered up.  The Easter Lilies were sprenched with Gnatrol to kill the larva that dwell in the soil.  We also rearranged the spacing on our benches according to the diagram given to us. The ivy geraniums were spaced 24-inches from their centers, the zonal geraniums, mums, azaleas, and Easter lilies were spaced 12-inches from their centers, and the chives and ferns were spaced 6-inches from their centers.

Synopsis- In this weeks lab we planted onion chives into 4.5″ pots with Sunshine #1 media. Each of the four pots contained five plants total. We also reorganized our bench according to the demo bench laid out for us.

Pests- There were five new fungus gnats on the yellow sticky trap over my bench. This makes a total of six since the placement of the sticky trap. I saw no insects on my plants.

Nutrition- The onion chives are to be fertilized with 200ppm 15-16-17 fertilizer.  EC and pH measurments were taken for ‘Miramar’ mums and ‘Avendia’ geraniums. The ‘Miramar’ mums had an average pH reading of 5.65 and an EC reading that was an average of 5+. The EC was excessive so leaching will need to be applied to the mums to bring the EC back to normal levels. The ‘Avendia’ geraniums had an average pH of 6 and an average EC of 3.1. No corrective measures needed to be taken for the geraniums.

Growth- We took initial measurments for the onion chives which had a height of 14cm and a width of 27cm. We also took measurments on the four crops for our crop portfolio assignment. The four crops are written as height x width. They are as follows, ‘Tango Dark Red’ geranium at 10cm x 16cm with a 1cm increase in width, ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium at 12cm x 40cm with a 1cm x 4cm increase, ‘Miramar’ geranium at 7.5cm x 23cm with a decrease of 1.5cm in heigh, and lastly Snapdragon mix at 15cm x 33cm with a 7cm x 2cm increase.

Cultural Treatments- For this week the snapdragons needed a string grid tied on the first ring of the tomato cage to aid in support of the plants. The ivy and zonal geraniums had all buds and dead leaves removed to ensure large healthy final products. They were also sprayed with 350ppm Florel to help decrease flower buds and increase vegetative growth. The mums were pinched back 7nodes from the base of the plant excluding any nodes that were under the soil line. This ensures branching and fullness of the final product. Dead leaves were also removed to aid in growth and disease reduction. All plants, except the ferns and Easter lilies during the week, were watered with 200ppm 15-16-17 fertilizer. The ferns and Easter lilies were given clear water during the week.

Synopsis- In our second lab of the semester we potted up 4 cultivars of ferns, ‘Boston Junior’, ‘Emerald Vase’, ‘Southern Maidenhair’, and ‘Rosy Maidenhair’, in 5″ pots with one plug per pot and two pots per cultivar. We also potted up two 14″ pots with five cultivars of snapdragons, ‘Potomac Appleblossom’, ‘Cherry Rose’, ‘Early Orange’, ‘Early Pink’, and ‘Early Rose’ with two plugs each per pot.

The instructors also demonstrated Easter Lily leaf counting to see how many leaves must unfold for the Lily to be on track for flowering. To determine this you must count all the leaves yet to unfold and divide this number by the number of days until VB. You must also determine what rate the existing unfolded leaves unfolded per day. This can be solved by counting all the unfolded leaves and dividing that number by the number of days from emergence of first leaves to now. If the rate is lower than the number needed to unfold than precautionary measures need to be taken to ensure that plants are ready to bloom by Easter.

 Pests- This lab was the first lab that we observed our sticky cards for insects. There was only one insect observed on my card which happened to be a fungus gnat.

Nutrition- EC/pH readings were taken for the ‘Sophie Ivy Geranium’ and the ‘ Easter lily’. For the Easter Lily a total of three readings were taken for each pot. The average EC was 1.56 and the average pH was 5.73. Two readings were taken for the ivy geraniums. The average EC reading was 2.7 and the average pH was 6.5. No corrective actions were taken as of yet.

Growth- Each cultivar was measured for height x width to compare subsequent growth. Measurements for the ferns are as follows: ‘Boston Junior’  10cm x 15cm, ‘Emerald Case’ 11cm x 11cm, ‘Southern Maidenhair’ 8cm x 9cm, and ‘Rosy Maidenhair’ 4cm x 14cm. The snapdragon measurement is as follows with a combined measurment of each cultivar in one pot: 8cm x 31cm. 

Second measurements were taken for the plants we potted up last week. The Easter Lily had a measurment of 25cm x 23cm with an 8cm x 3cm increase in growth. The geranium cultivars ‘Tango’ had a measurement of 10cm x 15cm with a 4cm increase in width, while ‘Avendia’ had a measurement  of 13cm x 19cm with a 4cm increase in width. The Ivy geranium had a measurment of 11cm x 36cm with a 4cm increase in width. The two mum cultivars; ‘Roanoke’ had a measurement of 13cm x 27cm with a 2cm increase in width, while the ‘Miramar’ had a measurement of 10cm x 19cm with an increase of 2cm in height.

Cultural Treatments- We placed tomato cages over the two pots of snapdragons to help support the tall nature of the plants. We also disbudded and removed dead leaves all of the geraniums to increase growth.

Synopsis- In the first lab that we had we potted up several varieties of spring plants including ‘Roanoke’ and ‘Miramar” mums, ‘Tango Deep Red’ and ‘Avendia Mosaic Red’ geraniums, ‘Sophie Cascade’ ivy geranium, and Easter lillies. All plants were potted with ProMix BX potting media. Both varieties of mums were potted in 6″ azalea pots and angled out to provide a full, high quality product. The geranium ‘Tango Deep Red’ was potted into 5″ geranium pot because its a smaller variety, while the geranium ‘Avendia Mosaic Red’ was planted into a 6″ azalea pot. The ivy geranium “Sophie Cascade’ was planted into a hanging basket in a triangle inside of a triangle pattern.

Pests- For the first lab we were only required to remove the paper on our yellow sticky traps to expose the sticky substance for later observation for pests.

Nutrition- So far we watered the plants using the fertigation method where concentrated fertilizer is mechanically released into running water at the pre-determined concentration.

Growth- After potting up the plants we measured the height and width of each variety. After next weeks lab we should see our first growth increase, but for todays lab only beginning measurments were taken.

Cultural Treatments- No treatments have been applied yet.

Howdy my name is Ryan Kirk and I am a senior horticulture major. I am from Bennington, Nebraska but I finished up High School in Pleasanton, Texas. I have no real greenhouse experience outside of the few horticulture classes I have taken that have untilized the greenhouse. So far I am planning on going to grad school here at Texas A&M University and then after graduation do research work with plants.