Merran and Ecolog:
Recycle the greenhouse or use it to raise organic vegetables, but don't use
it to "raise" the kinds of plants you describe. I started my "ecosystem
restoration" career in the mid-1950's, and with few exceptions (e.g., Larrea
tridentata and incredibly easy stuff like willows) I suffered failure after
failure in both raising native plants, cultivating them, and getting them to
survive in the wild. It took me fifteen years of failures to finally get it
through my head that I had to "unlearn" the agronomic and horticultural
paradigms I had learned in school and at the hands of "experts" like the
County (Agricultural) Agent and some professors (the exception was my
botany/ecology professor, who was an exceptional man). My first truly
successful ecosystem restoration project (I had been successful in
"revegetation," however) in 1972 launched me onto a course of investigation
into ecosystem processes that hasn't stopped (I retired at the turn of the
millennium, but I'm still learning--from others on Ecolog, and by trips
"into the field"). Almost all of the many projects that were informed by
that deviation from the conventional paradigm were self-sufficient from the
beginning and did not involve any "maintenance," and those which haven't
since been destroyed are still functioning ecosystems, forgotten and
indistinguishable from those in the region.
The basic "secret" is to understand that to artificially restore ecosystems
one has to mimic the conditions under which the species of concern conduct
their life cycles. So your instincts or common sense beat the hell out of
"the authorities." You are right in your assessment of the problems
introduced by the greenhouse, however well-intentioned it's builders were.
While I have "used" live plants in restoration projects, it is generally a
much more expensive and less effective procedure than site modification and
introducing the right propagules at the right time (according to Nature's
rules). There is no substitute for starting at square-one and progressing
through progressively rigorous testing and incorporating the results back
into the thought process. But the reckless "broadcasting" of "native seed"
can be expensive and ineffective too, while depriving the collection site of
a fraction of the seeds it needs to keep reproducing itself (this can be
significant or insignificant, given the circumstances of cases).
The details are endless, but the principles are the key to understanding how
to handle the details in every context. A greenhouse or any other
environment that does not mimic the plants' ideal environments at each stage
of their development is simply wrong on its face. I can't help further
without details.
Good luck!
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Merran" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 7:21 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Question about greenhouse management
Hi all,
I'm a first-time poster with a need for advice. I am working in the Utah
Rockies this summer doing revegetation and have been placed in charge of a
small greenhouse. It's 16x10 feet and all glass. The story is that this
greenhouse was slapped together by last summer's plant technician and
still
has some bugs, the largest one being that it overheats way too quickly.
We
have a misting fan (a floor fan with four nozzles and a rotating head) as
our cooling system, but it doesn't keep the temp below 80 F and even
worse,
it completely soaks the foliage. The plants are dripping wet all day long
and I'm starting to see damage such as rotting leaves. If I turn the
water
off and just use the fan the temp begins to skyrocket.
Here is our setup: we have four ceiling vents, an exhaust fan at one end
and two floor vents (louvers) at the opposite end. The louvers are at
ground level. The misting fan is at table height and stationed in front
of
the louvers. Aside from the ceiling vents, everything comes on at once
and
turns off at once. In other words, the louvers aren't open until the
misting fan comes on, etc. When using the misting fan, I close the
ceiling
vents. I do have shade cloth up but it's inside the greenhouse -- I could
put it on the outside, but unless that's going to significantly lower the
temp it would be a hassle because there is no current way to anchor it. I
wanted to take off the glass panels on the roof and have it be an open-air
greenhouse for the summer, but apparently the structure is too flimsy to
hold without the glass in place.
We are at 5500 ft elev and temperatures have been in the 70's and 80's,
but
it will be mid 90's in August. The plants that I am raising are used to
dry, sunny foothills and mountain brush communities and I would like to
raise them to be somewhat drought tolerant. I'm at my wits end and would
appreciate any suggestions!
Thank you,
Merran Owen
Biological Science Tech
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
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