Diary #3 what we do at Becky's Greenhouse?

planted for one month in this miracle house, Becky's Greenhouse 

     ​Good morning, quite the experience with the eclipse.  We didn’t try to see it but it sure was creepy out when it happened in the afternoon.  Hard to explain with the lower light level.

​Today we will have 4 of us planting.  My planters have been having health concerns for themselves or their other halves.  But I am hoping that they are getting answers about their health. We have been planting with a part crew, but today shall be good.  The weather will be warmer, sun will be out, but right now at 7:45 AM it is still cloudy. 
Here is an example of the planting sheet I give each of us to work from. 
 Dianthus ideal select raspberry
03/18/24 
Natural Beauty
500  one tray
Plant in 1204 trays
_____________trays
6-10” baskets with 5 in each
Date planted _________
By _____________
       Then we talked about where to place them in the greenhouse.  I am doing things a little differently this year.  We would use the tall racks to put trays of planted flats on as soon as they were planted but being on shelves on top of each other it created some shadows.  Now I am taking off the growing tables the planted flats we have done earlier and leaving them on the tall rack.  Seems to be working better.  At the bottom of the tall rack, I am putting succulents because the shade doesn’t seem to bother them.  In fact, they like it better.   I use the tall racks instead of putting the trays into the second greenhouse with heating and watering it is easier to have them in one greenhouse.  Now when it gets warmer out, I can push the racks outside for you to shop from.  Now pansies, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower are on them. 
     I have been doing this for 35 years but can always change things to make the growing easier and better.  It is my hours to move the plants, but it is easier to water and heat one greenhouse.  Larry says that we fill that one greenhosue 4 times with what we plant and move plants in and out on the long wagon racks.  The long wagons will go into the other greenhouse when it is too cold at night or bad weather during the day. 
     The picture is of the wave pansies that I planted one month ago.  I told you they would grow because the greenhouse is a miracle house.  The fun part of growing plants is watching them grow.
     We have a fertilizer injector that injectors fertilizer into the water.  We use 20-10-20 general-purpose water-soluble fertilizers.  I try to use that fertilizer every time I water. 
    A little about what we do before the greenhouse is open with plants for your gardening needs.  I am there every afternoon (Monday- Friday) if you want to come and get seed potatoes and onion sets.  Tomorrow I will talk about when you should plant the garden.  Soil temperature, moisture, and the right time to plant the vegetables. 
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365