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Plant Growth Facility
The Plant Growth Facility (PGF) is a state-of-the-art facility built for research product development. It includes 49 controlled environment plant growth chambers/rooms and 28 greenhouse compartments attached to the main building by a fully enclosed corridor. Computer controlled systems continuously monitor environmental greenhouse and chamber conditions and alert PGF staff if conditions deviate from programmed parameters. The staff provides daily care of plants according to specified conditions so that researchers are able to focus more completely on their science and not on plant care.
DESCRIPTION |
RESEARCH TEAM |
FEES |
VIRTUAL TOUR
PGF base services provided are:
- Programming and monitoring of computer-controlled environments
- Watering 365 days a year
- Maintenance of proper soil fertility levels
- Pest scouting and control measures
- Adjusting and maintaining supplemental lighting and photoperiod control
- Greenhouse maintenance and routine sanitation
- Autoclaving of all plant material
- Setting up automated watering systems where appropriate
- Advise and assist with planting and repotting crops when time permits. Users must give advance notice. If the estimated time for one PGF staff member involvement is to be more that 1 hour, a week’s notice is required, and charges will be incurred (see below). Otherwise, 24 hour notice is sufficient if time is available.
Supplies are provided for the users’ potting needs.
These are kept in the potting area:
- Potting mixes, vermiculite, perlite, sand, Turface
- Special soil mixes for certain crops (upon request)
- Various sizes of square and round standard greenhouse plastic pots, trays, plug trays, cell inserts, and nursery containers
- Rooting hormone
- Carts for transport
- Small supply items such as bamboo stakes, twist ties, pruners, and pot labels
PGF services beyond base level.
These are services for which the user will be charged:
- Seed sowing in plugs or trays and transplanting of seedlings to pots
- Direct seed sowing in final pots
- Transferring to soil from tissue culture, and potting up of rooted cuttings
- Propagation of cuttings and potting of stake cuttings
- Moving plants from potting room to a growth area, or moving plants from one area to another, unless the change of location is initiated by the staff
- Maintenance of stock plants beyond the base care above (i.e.: leaf removal, pruning, repotting, restarting new cuttings, keeping records, etc.)
- Any crop specific record keeping and labeling
- Harvesting and cleaning of seed
- Pollinating and bagging of flowers
- Staking and pruning of plants that require support and size control for purposes of pest management and watering
Users should take an active role in monitoring their crops, including:
- Planning space needs and supply needs in advance. If supplies needed are not the standard ones kept on hand, a two week notice is required to obtain them. For these special request items, the user may be charged.
- Using the plant transfer record (PTR) system and tags when placing plants in facility
- Spacing plants properly to ensure air movement and access for watering, as determined by the staff
- Giving instructions and feedback to the greenhouse team
- Monitoring for insects and diseases (in addition to greenhouse team’s program)
- Keeping growth areas and work areas sanitary and orderly
- Notifying the manager when an experiment is terminated
- Removing all PTR tags before plant disposal; and either checking them out of the system, depositing in the designated bin, or handing to staff for check-out.
- Placing all plants for disposal in the red autoclave bags that are available in all areas. These bags will be collected daily by the PGF staff for autoclaving.
- Returning of used trays and large pots to the potting room for reuse
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