Bumping Up #5

Beth, David, Sarah, John and Noelia came out to help today (yes, …. again!). We spent they day undoing all the preparations for hot summer weather (when is summer anyway?!) and the effects of the cool weather. Beth, Sarah and Noelia trimmed the potted plants, while John did the tree/shrubs. Fungal gnats are a real problem as irrigation was set for hotter weather and we had put up shade-cloth siding , which cut the air flow. So we sprayed them with neem oil for gnats, larvae and fungus. We then took those plants that failed, and saved potting soil mix to re-use; and finally separated pots to provide better aeration.
I lowered the times on misting table and potting irrigation table by about half. The weather forecast looks to warm up this coming weekend, but not that much. What we need to be careful for is hot dry winds The weather today was 64F when we started and partially overcast… perfect gardening weather.
David continued putting out plants and maintaining our outside irrigation. It really looks nice. Extending this area will be our next project.
The vegetative propagation went very well this year. Some important lessons learned were: 1) collect plant material same day, 2) do flats by single species, 3) bump up when that flat is ready. So our next set will be in the Feb 2011 time frame. We’ll break plant days into 2 sections: collection and flat preparation. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #4

Beth, David, Sarah, John and Noelia came out to help today. Noelia cared for the outside plants: trimming grass down and trimming and spraying rose. Beth cared for the plants inside the Nursery: trimming and spraying. The cool weather this summer seems to bring on fungal gnats and powdery mildew.
Sarah and John bumped up Juncus and Dudleya. John was official potting soil mixer. The new large cart, pictured, can hold a full bag of TOLN potting soil for mixing and easily moved up to potting area: total weight about 160 lbs.
I moved the irrigation for the outside Nursery plants to their own valve. David connected up the outside irrigation lines, and we can drain and test this week, after the valve changes sit for 24 hours for the glue to dry.
All in all it was a pretty morning. We have gone weeks without deer mice getting into our storage chests, which saves on damaged goods and general health. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #3

Beth, David, Drew, John, Noelia and Bob all came out and helped today. We finished bumping up of all of the herbaceous plant cuttings into 4” pots. There are still two flats of woodier cuttings, that will take longer. Today our total is around 700. Outside we have another 400. And over 100 tree/shrubs in 5 gallon containers.
Beth organized the folks to bump up the remaining monkey flower and bush sunflower. Then they bumped up lemonade berry to 5 gallon pots. And lastly they bumped up a few walnut and a sycamore tree to 5 gallon also.
Noelia worked on the temporary storage area irrigation by adding more sprinklers. David put together the framework irrigation to the outside plantings. Drew put up the shade cloth panel on the back side to cut the summer heat.
All in all it was a pretty day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #2

Beth, Sarah, Drew, Bob and David all helped today. Beth coordinated the bumping up of the cuttings with Bob and Sarah. Many of our flats we had a 100% success rate, and others much less.
David, still not over this bug, worked more on the outside plants, which look great. We’ve noodle out a plan, and OKed today by Ranger Barbara, to clear are around Nursery, have a Juvy crew put out mulch, then lay irrigation out, and plant. We’ll have a path through area to make working there easier.
Drew and I worked again on getting the mix right for a bag of TOLN potting soil (which is actually about 21 liquid gallons): 6 gallons water, 1/3 bag of 1oz mycorrhizae mix, and 1.5 cups Osmocote fertilizer. The new mixing wheel-barrel works really well.
Drew and I also expanded the pathway from 32” to a little over 40” to accommodate the new wheel-barrel. This is a more appropriate size for many Nursery carts.
It was a pleasantly overcast day. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Bumping Up #1

Beth, Sarah, Drew, Bob and for a while David all helped out today. Beth organized and worked with Sarah and Drew to bump up our first batch of cuttings we started in 4 months ago. Our original flats from training, with mixed species, were nothing to compare with our later flats in overall quality of cutting… we’re learning. Key was to get the various training flats with mixed species back into same-plant flats.
Bob helped me use the new wheeled cart which allows us to mix a full 30 gallon bag of TOLN potting soil and then wheel it over to the potting work area… cutting down people traffic. Also the cart allows us to mix 3 times the amount as before. Key is to get the right mix of water and potting soil… about 8 gallons.
Bob also helped me repair the temporary plant fenced area, which Beth reported full of rabbits last week. Find out a critter had chewed a hole on the back side of the plastic fence. The fence is now metal. A good thing we only tested with 1 flat (18 plants). Last week Noelia put together and installed a drip line irrigation for this area… very nice.
David was sick, but still was able to come by and tend to the plants on the outside of the Nursery. We’ll be putting irrigation lines on these plants. All the materials arrived in the past few days. (Click any pic to enlarge)

Clean Up Day #3

David, Beth, Noelia, John, Sarah, Drew and new-comer Bob (none pictured) all came to help out today. Noelia put the finishing touches on the irrigation for the “temporary” storage of plant flats, which she put together last week. This turned out very well and taps into one of our existing lines. We’re using micro-sprinklers in a test mode. Drew leveled “temporary” storage area and put in first stakes. Bob, John and Noelia wrapped up the staking the fencing. Bob moved 20 plus bags of TOLN potting soil, each weighing 75 pounds, over to the new storage area. He then cut and bent fencing stakes… a hard working guy.
Beth and Sarah fixed the tree/shrub structure fixings and put up south facing side for upcoming warm weather. In the same spirit they hung shade cloth siding on main structure. They then arm-wrestled the irrigation timer and checked all the micro-sprinklers in tree/shrub area. We then negotiated a plan for the upcoming plant bumping up.
John assembled the new tree pot cart and the new wheel-barrel for mixing potting soil. Neither fit on path to main structure, so this will need to be widened.
David tended to the ever-growing plants newly planted around the Nursery. We reviewed the irrigation setup for the outside watering too.

Clean Up Day #2

David, Beth, Noelia, John and new-comer Bob are pictured in new storage area. Noelia and Beth both got all the assorted pots into containers, which keeps them critter free, cleaner and easier to manage. John and David worked on clearing the 10x10yard area for planting and irrigation. Robert and Bob cleared new storage area and laid cloth.
We reviewed the number of new Nursery initiatives: new storage area, 10x10 yard area/year to irrigate/restore, an dpotting bench and hopper. We reviewed how we’d bump up new cuttings to size of pot and how to get this into a 1 gallon pot. (Click any pic to enlarge)