Many agriculture students work in the greenhouse to take care of the variety of plants inside. They do this so FFA is able to sell them during the spring plant sale to fund the greenhouse supplies for the fall. The plants for the greenhouse are chosen very thoroughly to ensure that they can get a good sale for spring.
“We go by what consumers want a little bit, so your traditional petunias, calibrachoa, geraniums. Then I sit down with senior Blake Mertens, and we always just kinda go through and pick out the colors and other types of plants. He works in the greenhouse, he knows a lot of varieties that consumers want, so he’s a lot of help in that sense,” agriculture teacher Melissa Miller said.
After deciding what’s going to get planted, the next step is ordering and planting the plugs.
“Our first set of plugs came in the first week of January, and we had another batch the first week of February, then the last week of February, and the second week of March. We’ve had a lot of different batches of plugs. The reason we start in January is that we want plants to be blooming by the time we sell them. People want to see a flower on a plant, they’re more likely to buy it, and some plants just have a longer growing period,” Miller said.
Every plant is different, whether it’s the amount of nutrients they need, or whether there are certain environmental conditions needed; they all have a certain difficulty in caring for.
“I would say the tulips, I believe, are the hardest because they are the pickiest. You need to make sure they have the right amount of nutrients, the right amount of sun, and water; otherwise, they’ll just die and wilt,” junior Dylan Rose said.
Those who work in the greenhouse have distinct reasons for doing so, and different highlights regarding the work.
“I do this for my job, so it’s different when you’re doing it on your own than when you’re doing it with a team, as I do at Bloch’s Farm. Seeing different plants and how they grow, one-on-one with the plant, instead of multiple people touching the plant at the same time, you don’t see every single step,” senior Blake Mertens said. “It’s very interesting and fun to watch, especially when you’re taking pictures along the way to be able to see the growth. I would say that’s the most fun part, just being by yourself and working with the plants for that period of time. Plus, it’s relaxing.”
The plant sale for this spring is going to be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 9 at by the greenhouse.
“It’s also the city-wide rummage sale here in Berlin, stop by. Goes to a great cause,” Miller said.
