Reorganizing and Expanding the Nursery

It's been a busy several weeks of rolling infrastructure changes at the greenhouse. As plants grow and I add a greater variety there's always a need for more room and better organization. Over the Summer it seemed time to upgrade my digs by adding some nursery tables. Unfortunately lumber is expensive so I needed to find a low cost alternative to traditional tables.

 

Piecing together a low cost table

Much of the material used for these tables is "found" around the nursery which explains their ad hoc appearance. The dimensional lumber shown above was originally used to build hydroponic ponds which ended up being disassembled in this lower portion of the greenhouse.

 

Tables made with "Lettuce Rafts"

Adding plants to the tables was somehow satisfying

The white Styrofoam sheets are "lettuce rafts" which make nice, light weight table tops. Much of the infrastructure changes I make sadly involve removing what was installed for the hydroponic lettuce growing facility. It must have been an expensive operation with it's various pumps, filters, air-stones, miles of pvc and abs pipes, and even the sand / drain rock visible in this picture. It's a reminder to operate as lean as possible for as long as it makes sense.

Each of these tables will end up about 40+ feet in length.

 

Working in this nursery space can be taxing on sunny Summer days as the temperature regularly climbs to 100° F for several hours. Agaves and Aloes love it here and even Grevillea seem to thrive but some plants such as Salvia have a much harder time. I'm still experimenting with what can realistically be grown in this space.

 

 

Each table is wide enough to hold three trays as can be seen above with the "mud flats" growing a variety of sedum. Previously plants were low to the ground on palettes and as a result small plants or flats like the above would occasionally get damaged or knocked over.

 

Larger pots of Aloe kedongensis can rest safely on the new tables.

It's nice to get all of the same type of plant together in one spot. Plants have been somewhat haphazardly organized up until this point.

 

aloe vanbalenii

 

Aloe "Moon Glow"

Aloe wickensii

 

Agave ellemeetiana "Satina"

Aloe ferox

Partway though this table building exercise I started using the sturdy plastic crates shown below as their price couldn't be beat! - a dozen for $20!

 

After a month, table 16 goes is in place and is ready for use.

Ive swapped out the existing, green shade cloth, which I'm guessing offers about 80+ UV protection, for cloth that offers 40% UV protection. Some of the plants were becoming etiolated.

 

View from back of nursery

Stocked tables in the late afternoon sun

Starting on a new, side row by removing some pond liner

This strip will hold larger plants, some which are visible in the foreground. 

 

Adding a back-drop

For purely aesthetic reasons, I'm reusing the aqua colored shade cloth to create a north facing wall. I'm tired of looking at the hydroponic ruins. The black weed control fabric keeps me from trudging through the sand and spreading it everywhere - of course it also helps prevent weeds from growing which seem very happy in the sand. Potted plants left on the bare ground are also more vulnerable to pests and disease.

 

More deconstruction

Hard to tell in the above picture but I've shifted the larger plants to their new home and have started deconstructing their 20' long previous home. I've dedicated several hundred square feet to larger plants and made sure that access is easy with aisles that are a generous width.

Aloe vaombe

Aloe speciosa

Aloe alooides

Aloe rivierei just putting up a bloom stalk

Agave pedunculifera

Replaced the last of the pond liner at the front of this row

There are a few more changes in progress but hopefully this gives you a sense of what's been happening around the greenhouse lately. This was meant to be a temporary space but over the Summer it became clear that it's a much longer term home than I originally expected. It was a challenge making the most of the space with sweat equity and a modest investment.

Until next time - Happy Growing!

Update January 2024

Tables finally span the entire left side of the main aisle