Help Perpetuate the GreenScaper Consumer Lab

The GreenScaper Consumer Lab is now almost eight years old. It has been of invaluable help in compiling a wealth of applied research information about the maintenance of plants in buildings.

With ever-increasing growth now including hydroculture and hydroconversion research, the lab has come to dominate my time. Among other things, it prevents daily blogging. That is a loss in that these two public service websites continue to be the only known blogs on the subject of plants in buildings.

Rather than dispose of the plants privately, they have a potential benefit to society. The highest and best use is to donate the lab to an institution that will carry on the work and share it with the public. It could be the cornerstone for an Urban Center for the Study of Plants in Buildings.

The center would be an educational resource to train new teachers as well as teach young children about the science rather than mythology of plants in buildings. It could be the catalyst for them to pursue careers in bioscience or hydroponics or horticulture and floriculture.

An urban botanic garden would be an excellent choice to carry on the work because of the close connection to all elements of urban society. What better place is there to expand the science of plants in buildings than cities with a shortage of outdoor green space? No one should be excluded because of ability to pay or educational status.

The lab includes about 500 plants, 9 InterMetro type adjustable shelves, fluorescent lighting, tools, equipment, and a large collection of planters and plastic parts. Just as important as the tangible material is a computer database record of each plant’s history including daily water consumption. The donation also includes a negotiable period of free consulting time to train teachers.

There is a need for this lab. It should not be lost. It is of significant value to the field of plants in buildings and to society in general. Please pass this information on to anyone you know who might be interested in helping to save the lab by finding a new home for it.

There is no doubt in my mind that an Urban Center for the Study of Plants in Buildings would be of significant benefit to the citizens of every city in the US. Yes, it would require some modest funding, but more than that, all that's needed is a pool of open and enthusiastic minds.

Role Models

Do you recognize Julia and Chris? If you do, you're part of the more than 2.9 million viewers who watch America’s Test Kitchen. It's the most watched cooking show on public television and now a role model for this blog.

My dream is that someday there will be resources and professional educators to present a program like this for plants in buildings. Note the key words test, tester and most significant the word science in this website description.

America’s Test Kitchen, currently in its fifth season and the most-watched cooking show on public television, is filmed in the test kitchen of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, located just outside Boston. More than 2.9 million viewers watch each episode, and each episode features the editors, test cooks, equipment testers, science experts, and food tasters from the magazine’s staff.

If you’re a cook, you will likely enjoy this program. I really enjoy the rap and rapport between Julia and Chris along with the other chefs. I just discovered it and have already learned a lot. In the first program, I learned from their consumer testing lab that Glad freezer bags tested as the best for saving food. So, it’s goodbye to the more expensive slide lock bags I’ve been using.

If you’re a cook who would also like to have some plants in your kitchen, office, or family room, you will probably also enjoy this blog and get a lot out of it.

If you’re an outdoor gardener, who likes to play in the dirt you’ll probably not enjoy some of the things I have to say about outdoor gardener houseplant care practices. As I’ve said many times before, drench and drain watering of indoor plants is archaic and rather barbaric. It belongs outdoors in your backyard not inside your house.

If we had PBS programs like these that demonstrate modern scientific methods, the houseplant market would explode. I’ve seen houseplant programs on HGTV that were simply terrible. Amateur outdoor gardeners who have no professional experience with plants in buildings maintenance typically produce them. They’re part of what I call the uninformed and misinformed.

Simply Ming follows America’s Test Kitchen locally. Chef Ming Tsai is a talented and gracious presenter. He had Emeril Lagasse on as a guest today. What a culinary duo. I was taken aback at how gracious a host Ming was. He paid homage to Emeril without being obsequious and his sincerity was obvious. That is not easy to do.

There’s much to learn from Ming about presentation. He is truly an artist in the kitchen. I have no doubt that his talents would transfer to indoor plant presentation. One day we’ll find someone with his type of talent for the indoor plant market. Check him out if you haven’t already. He’s a neat guy.

Hydroconversion Continues

The first hydroconverted plant from my Greenscaper Consumer Lab was done in March, 2005. Since then, I've successfully hydroconverted well over 100 plants. There has been no loss of plants and those that have been converted are doing very well.

I'm now convinced that hydroconversion is a viable consumer option. Anyone can easily do it. We don't need to wait for growers in Florida and California to change their growing methods.

Expanded clay pellet media has become my favorite indoor plant potting material. The only reason for maintaining soil based plants in the Greenscaper Consumer Lab is for comparative testing. If not for that, I’d convert all plants to hydroculture using clay pellet media. It’s less messy, far more suitable for interior use and much simpler to use than soil media.

You can easily teach children how to maintain plants indoors with this method. Most important is the teaching of scientific methodology rather than the somewhat shamanistic-like methods typically found in houseplant books. In this digital age, poking your finger into a pot of soil is rather barbaric.

You can find a number of clay pellet brand names on the web. Hydroton, pictured here, is the most commonly available. LECA, Geolite, HydroKorrels and B'Cuzz Grow Rokz are other brand names. Most of the manufacturers are in Western Europe. I don’t know how many there are.

As with other gardening products such as fertilizers and potting mixes, there are lots of unproven claims for unique horticultural advantages for different brands. My professional opinion is that they most likely all perform the same. There are, however, some differences in appearance as you can see in these photos.

HydroKorrels look just like B’Cuzz Grow Rokz which is the brand I use. I much prefer the darker color and randomization of shapes and sizes. It looks more natural to my eyes, thus more suitable for decorative plants in buildings use.

I don’t care for the terra-cotta like color and the smooth uniform shapes of the Hydroton media. It looks manufactured rather than natural to my eye. Aesthetic quality of course makes little or no difference if you’re growing vegetables in a hydroponics setup.

I’ll share more of my observations in future posts along with some new ideas for decorative planters.