We might be noticing a slight increase in the presence of whiteflies.
The fungus gnats population seems to be pretty stable.
Average Plant Height : 19.04 cm
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Up at 9:30
Down at 15:45
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Red on bench 2 watered with Ca(No3) at 12:45
Floor watered at 15:00
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 25.57° at 16:04
Temperature Min: 17.57° at 23:50
Mean: 20.48°
Humidity Max: 69.9% at 01:10
Humidity Min: 34.7% at 13:57
Mean: 53.12%
Plants reported: 1186
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Up at 10:50 on the 16th, down at 18:10
Up at 9:10 on the 17th, down at 12:30
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Pinks and Whites on bench 3 watered with Mg at 11:00 on the 17th
Floor watered at 9:15 on the 17th
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 27.48° at 10:46 on the 16th, 24.23° on the 17th
Temperature Min: 17.22° at 3:41 on the 16th, 18.11° on the 17th
Mean: 21.70°on the 16th, 20.90° on the 17th
Humidity Max: 65.3% at 00:01 on the 16th, 67.9% on the 17th
Humidity Min: 39.5% at 10:47 on the 16th, 44.9% on the 17th
Mean: 53.53% on the 16th, 58.46% on the 17th
Alternating the two types of fertilizer we use is key to help our crop grow to it’s full potential.
To make sure we have healthy root growth and bushy plants, it’s important to regularly switch from our Calcium Nitrate formula to our Magnesium one to keep the nutrients intake as optimal as possible, especially as the plants are growing and the minerals initially contained in the media are not available anymore.
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Up at 9:15
Down at 15:00
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Red on bench 3 watered with Mg at 14:00
Floor watered at 9:20
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 31.61° at 15:51
Temperature Min: 17.41° at 5:13
Mean: 21.97°
Humidity Max: 66.1% at 00:01
Humidity Min: 36.3% at 15:55
Mean: 53.56%
Out of the 1200 plants the students have potted and maintained in the last month, a dozen have been lost, which equals to about 1% of the crop.
I am aware that one lost plant is a terrible fate that we would all rather avoid, and I also understand that we are still very far from the threshold of what is an acceptable and expected amount of loss on a production of that scale.
The students are showing a great amount of care for the plants, and it shows.
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Up at 9:40
Down at 15:00
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Floor watered at 8:30 and 13:50
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 30.7° at 16:05
Temperature Min: 17.51° at 5:35
Mean: 21.61°
Humidity Max: 69.6% at 00:47
Humidity Min: 37.7% at 16:05
Mean: 55.51%
Cultural Activity
We are fighting back the invading pests by releasing our first wave of beneficial insects.
Our first wave of predatory defenders consists of:
Stratiolaelaps scimitus, a small mite that roams the top layer of the soil and will help control the fungus gnats population by eating it’s pupae.
Dalotia coriaria is a rove beetle, generalist predator that eats all kinds of small insects and their eggs.
Encarsia formosa, a predatory parasitoid wasp that helps control the whitefly population by attacking and using their prey as a host for her egg.
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Up at 12:15
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Red on bench 2 watered with Mg at 12:15
Climate:
Weather : Overcast in the morning, Mixed in the afternoon
Temperature Max: 25.04° at 16:34
Temperature Min: 17.93° at 2:39
Mean: 20.74°
Humidity Max: 71.3% at 2:42
Humidity Min: 52.2% at 16:58
Mean: 64.10%
A small number of plants have been showing signs of leaf distortions. While there is no need for concern at this point, it interesting to note that these abnomalities can be caused by a variety of elements including insect damage, change in climate conditions or fertilization issues.
While we have seen a presence of whiteflies who can cause damage to the leaves, I suspect the cases of leaf distortion in our crop might be caused by a combination of increased light exposition after opening the shade curtains combined with periods of low humidity level in the greenhouse.
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Down
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Pink and White on bench 3 watered with Mg
Red on bench 3 spot watered with Mg
Climate:
Weather : Overcast with periods of rain
Temperature Max: 24.05° at 16:17
Temperature Min: 18.24° at 16:53
Mean: 20.86
Humidity Max: 71.4% at 22:58
Humidity Min: 54.9% at 14:40
Mean: 64.74%
Different cultivars of the same species tend to adapt to their environment differently.
Christmas Joy Red, Pink and White are all cultivars we successively grew in our greenhouse environment in the past.
It is interesting to observe that at this stage, while all the plants are showing good signs of growth, the Whites and Pinks seem to be growing especially well, when looking at the plants height and the size of the leaves.
Mean Height : 17.56cm
Greenhouse Action:
Heating Sept Point : Increased from 17° to 18°
Sidewalls:
Down
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Bench 2 spot watered with Mg
Floor watered 15:00
Climate:
Weather : Mixed
Temperature Max: 30.25° at 13:41
Temperature Min: 19.24° at 23:53
Mean: 22.73
Humidity Max: 72.6% at 6:07
Humidity Min: 43.3% at 13:41
Mean: 62.81%
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Opened from 9:05 to 14:00 on the 9th
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Bench 3 watered with Mg at 9:45 on the 9th
Floor watered at 12:15 and 13:55 on the 9th
Climate:
Weather : Mix on the 9th, Mostly cloudy on the 10th
Temperature Max: 32.65 at 14:46 on the 9th, 32.97 at 12:40 on the 10th
Temperature Min: 16.8 at 16:27 on the 9th, 17.46 at 5:00 on the 10th
Mean: 22.47 on the 9th, 22.99 on the 10th
Humidity Max: 65.3% at 23:53 on the 9th, 66% at 5:00 on the 10th
Humidity Min: 32.4% at 16:13 on the 9th, 35.9% at 12:41 on the 10th
Mean: 51.28% on the 9th, 53.74% on the 10th
It’s interesting to observe that some sections of the crops are being watered at different intervals compared to others. Some students are choosing to wait for the majority of their plants to be at level 2 before watering the entirety of them, others prefer doing spot watering on specific plants more frequently.
Balancing the plants water requirement can be challenging. Poinsettias originating from a dry and hot climate means they are adapted to a low amount of water, but they have a tendency to not recover well from being overly stressed. On the other hand, providing water too often means the plant might not push itself to grow bigger longer roots needed to increase it’s overall growing capabilities.
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Opened at 8:45, closed at 15:00
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
Bench 2 watered with Mg at 12:00
Floor watered at 8:45 and 15:00
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 31.55 at 16:06
Temperature Min: 16.57 at 5:38
Mean: 21.59
Humidity Max: 64.6% at 22:52
Humidity Min: 35.1% at 16:06
Mean: 53.2%
Greenhouse Action:
Sidewalls:
Down
Shade Curtains:
Opened at 100%
Irrigation:
No action
Climate:
Weather : Sunny
Temperature Max: 31.46 at 14:46
Temperature Min: 17.82 at 5:02
Mean : 22.17
Humidity Max : 71.1% at 00:45
Humidity Min: 35% at 14:42
Mean 57.86%