Annual Green Roof Maintenance

This winter, as with every year, we went up to our very own green roof on the Burdette Keeland Jr. Center near the College of Architecture and cut back the dead vegetation so that we can plant new seeds for next year. In previous years we have used a weed whacker, but the grass and flowers were too thick, so we had to use pruning shears. Surprisingly, there were also many bluebonnets still blooming out of season, thanks to an unusually warm winter.

Here's a rough comparison of the work we did on Friday, December 12. Since it was in the middle of finals, not many people turned up, but we still cut back over half of the beds. For the most part, we left bluebonnets unscathed but removed other flowers and grasses, cutting down as low as possible with the shears; any lower would have to be done manually.

Before

After

We stopped roughly at the ladder

We returned the next week (December 17) to finish work on the remaining beds. Early next year, we will overseed the beds with bluebonnets and a native Texas mix to ensure plenty of blooms!

Hilton Hydroponics Field Trip

This past Friday (11/21/14), we visited Dr. Jay Neal's aquaponics and mushroom lab in the UH Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management! Given that we no longer have any hydroponic setups in our greenhouse, seeing such a large system was very exciting and refreshing. For many of our members, it was their first time seeing such a setup; the last time we had seen aquaponics in action was a few years back at the HCC Northwest Campus.

The aquaponics system, based on a larger setup at the HCC Northwest (Katy) Campus, has two main parts - the growing area for fish, and the planting space. Dr. Neal has over 100 tilapia growing in a large tank, and he said he could easily fit more if desired.

The water from the fish tank, which contains waste excreted by the tilapia, is cycled into the water that the plants' roots bathe in. The fish waste contains nitrogenous compounds which serves as a natural fertilizer that the plants can uptake, and in doing so they clean the water, which is returned to the fish tank. The system works very well - the fish and plants help each other grow, and in turn, both can be harvested and eaten or sold.

So far, Dr. Neal has been running the aquaponics system as a proof of concept; he has no current plans to sell any of the produce from the setup. He's also trying out his hand in mushroom gardening, but when we toured his lab, he had only recently inoculated the mushroom spores, so there was no visible growth yet.

Future work could include growing hops or grapes for the beer and wine tasting classes that also occur in the Hilton. For now, we had a great time looking at Dr. Neal's existing setup and learning about aquaponics.

Updates

Lately, we've just been getting ready for winter. I set up the heater, closed all the vents and windows, and took down the shade cloth. This year, there was an unusual cold front that brought subfreezing temperatures to Houston briefly, but it'll be gone quite soon, and we'll be back to regular Houston winters.

In the meantime, we were featured in The Cougar, the university's newspaper! Daniel Perez came to our Friday meeting (11/7/14) and talked to us, asking about what we do and what we enjoy about the organization. Here's the article, scanned, so that you can read it in full.

Green roof visit

This past weekend, we went up to the green  roof for the first time in a few weeks; weather conditions were not favorable until recently. The green roof looked very much like an actual prairie; there were lots of grasses as well as some flowers and other ground cover plants.

Notice the storm clouds in the upper left

Thankfully it didn't rain while we were up there. In late fall or winter (November-January) we will go in and cut back everything and add some fertilizer, and then seed all beds. The native flower mix has worked well in the past, so it will probably be the main mix that we use, in addition to some other flowers.

Carnivorous Plants, revisited

Until this past plant sale (9/18/14), we never sold many carnivorous plants, save for the occasional Venus flytrap. But this time around, I was able to propagate a large number of Nepenthes ventrata (Asian pitcher plant or monkey cups) as well as a few Sarracenia "Cobra's Nest" (North American pitcher plant).

Every single carnivorous plant (CP) I brought for the sale was sold! We will definitely have more for our next sale, and I am working on propagating other species for the spring, such as sundews and Mexican butterworts. In the meantime, I'll take more cuttings of Nepenthes and continue leaf pullings for Venus flytraps.

Nepenthes ventrata for the Oct 22 sale!

Nepenthes ventrata, almost 2 years old

S. "Cobra's Nest"

A VFT with red coloration

Australian sundew

Mexican butterwort

If you have any questions about how to care for your CPs, I would recommend that you take a look at our care sheet (adapted from the care sheet at the Flytrap Store).

Scarifying and germinating seeds

To start the fall semester, I decided to purchase some interesting seeds online - dragon tree seeds. The fully grown tree is known for having blood-red resin in its trunk, which has a variety of uses. There are two main species of dragon trees that are harvested for this resin - Dracaena drago and Dracaena cinnabari. I could only find seeds for the former, which is native to the Canary Islands.

Unlike most seeds, dragon tree seeds have a very tough outer shell. This protects the seeds as they pass through birds' digestive tracts in their natural habitat, allowing them to be dispersed in various locations, but it also makes it more difficult for growers to germinate the seed. To break this coat and allow water into the seed, scarification is key. Scarification involves nicking or breaking the outer coat of seeds to speed up the germination process. Usually sandpaper is used, though knives can also work for larger seeds. I found that sandpaper worked fine for these relatively small seeds (~5mm in diameter). Scarification is also useful for other plants with tough seeds, such as bluebonnets.

Notice the dark orange outer coat and the exposed white surface of the seed

After scarifying all seeds, I placed them in a cup of water for about three days, changing the water periodically. After this time, you can see a single white root protruding from many of the seeds. This seed should be planted in well-draining soil with this root pointing down and covered with 0.25 inches of soil. I just planted mine, so I have no idea how long it takes to germinate when they have the single root, but most sources indicate 30 days for any growth to appear.

Help us Help You!

Today is a wonderful day to buy plants!

But before we do that, The Horticulture Society would like for each and every one of you to fill out a survey to help us cater to your wants and needs. 

We are planning our best year yet, and we cannot do it without your input! Below is the link to the survey and our email address (just in case you would like to give us more points on how to improve our plant sales and other events). 

Email: uhgreenhouse@gmail.com

Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RQD8KJ7