Assignment 4
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.