Researchers Guide to Using

the UCSC Research Greenhouses

Who to Contact

Jim Velzy, UCSC Greenhouse Director

Email:

Jim oversees the UCSC Greenhouses, allocates space in the greenhouses, growth chambers, and outdoor areas; seeks overview of projects, provides technical advice, authorizes key sign-outs, establishes policy, oversees safety and security, and does some preliminary research for special projects.

UCSC Research Greenhouse Manager

Email:

The greenhouse manager consults and assists in setting up experiments, is responsible for growing the plants, provides technical advice especially as it relates to growing plants, and maintains greenhouse equipment. He/she also provides updates on your projects status, help troubleshooting problems and information about growing conditions. He/she will assist you in transplanting, sowing seeds, moving plants, and using equipment.

Greenhouse Hours

Thimann Greenhouse: Monday - Friday, 9-3 (often open until 5pm). Locked entry for access outside of these times, you will need a key.

ISB, Sinsheimer, & CBB Greenhouses: Locked at all times. You will need a key to access.

What to Expect From Us / What Services We Provide

  • Growing space. We provide growing areas that fit the needs of your experiment.
  • Plant Care. We grow your plants; including watering, fertilizing, pest and disease control. This does not include care that is directly related to the data collected for your project.
  • Maintenance. We maintain the facilities and make sure all equipment is running properly.
  • Information/Consultation. We serve as a resource for plant related information such as how aspects of growing may fit into your experimental design, timing of propagation, what type of materials/species to use, what is feasible, etc.
  • Monitoring. We monitor your plants for any issues that may arise with specific focus on how conditions may affect your experiment.
  • Additional Help. Depending on available volunteers and worker hours, we are often able to provide help with sowing or transplanting, cleaning pots, collecting seed, etc.

Items We Provide

  • Containers: pots, flats, racks, etc. are provided by the greenhouse unless there is a very long term use, a one-time use, or it is not an item generally used by others.
  • Fertilizers and pesticides are generally provided by the greenhouse. Any that are special (dedicated) or part of an experiment, are to be provided by the researcher.
  • Potting Soil, our standard soil is Pro-mix HP:
  • Equipment: LICOR light meter with sensors which measure light in micromoles/m2 sec-1, klux (lux), W/m-2; a dissecting microscope for use in the facility; autoclave.

What Materials You Will Need to Provide

  • Labelling materials - We suggest you use industrial black sharpie on colored time tape or plastic labels for needs of less than 4 months and plastic labels marked with pencil for long term labeling. Small envelopes for seed collection, bags to use for pollination work, etc. are to be provided by the research labs. We have sources if you wish to order them.
  • Other items dedicated to your particular experiments such as forceps, probes, petri dishes, bleach, special soils, etc. If you need space to store these types of items in the greenhouse for frequent use, please let us know. We can provide a drawer or a small amount of storage space for you.

***** If you are conducting a small experiment with a limited budget, we may be able to

provide you with these materials depending on your needs

How To Request Space

  1. Get Space Request Form. Email Jim to obtain a space request form. We have recently started using google docs for this system. Please use the google docs page provided to you, no need to download and re-upload, the doc is specifically for you.
  2. Fill Out and Notify Us. Once you have finished filling out the space request form, please notify Jim and the greenhouse manager via email. Space will not be reserved until you do so.
  3. Space Reserved. We will notify you when we have reserved space and where you’re project will be located. Depending on where the space is, you may have to request keys.
  4. Schedule a Meeting. After we have reserved space for you, we require that you set up a meeting with us to discuss your project. This will help us get a better idea of your needs as well as help you work out any plant-related kinks in your project. If you have an established protocol for the plants in your experiment, please let us know. These may include instructions for seed treatments for germination, environmental parameters for the growth chambers, etc. There may be some factor in the experimental design that could be incompatible with the care we provide or there may be some technical information that will be useful to you before you complete your plans. The researcher should go back to the faculty sponsor to discuss any suggested changes before actually setting up the experiment.
  5. Begin Experiment. Let us know, preferably a week in advance, the exact date you will be starting your project.

What’s Expected of You / Tips For Success

  • Plan Ahead. We recommend that you request space as soon as you are able. We often have space requests submitted months in advance; there’s no such thing as too far in advance. Space tends to fill up quickly, especially in growth chambers and incubators.
  • Give Notice. After your space request has been accepted, please notify us when you’ll be starting a project, a week in advance would be ideal. This way we can set up your growing area and make sure all the supplies you need will be available. We treat the project start dates on space requests as tentative, as timelines change as projects get started. Also, please notify us when you will be stopping a project.
  • Communicate. There is a strong correlation between effective communication and successful projects. The more we know about you and your projects needs, the more we will be able to help you. We seriously welcome as many questions as you want to ask us, as many updates as you want to send us, and all the times you might want to meet. We want your project to succeed!
  • Monitoring your project. We try our best to keep close watch for any issues with your project (pests, disease, nutrition, watering) and equipment (lights, fans, humidity, temperature). But please notify us of any issues you see, as the more eyes on the project the better.
  • Altering Care for your project. If you want to discuss or alter the care the greenhouse staff is providing you will need to contact the greenhouse manager. He/she is the only person who can redirect greenhouse personnel regarding the care of your project. You may be able to coordinate with the greenhouse manager and post signs to help our workers to better understand what the needs are but the greenhouse manager must be involved with any changes to project care by greenhouse personnel.
  • Temporarily taking out plants. If you temporarily remove plants from their usual place (i.e. moving plants out of the chamber to take measurements on them in the lab), it is your responsibility to water them, if needed, when you put them back. We only water once in the day and we may miss them.
  • Organize. The neater and more organized your plants look, the better they will be watered and taken care of. It’s not intentional, it’s a psychological phenomenon. This includes: throwing out dead plants, trimming plants if needed, spacing them out so they have room to grow, making them easily reachable to water, etc.
  • Pest and Disease Mindfulness. Probably the biggest transporter of pests and diseases between projects are humans. Pests and diseases can be transported on clothes or bodies and be spread to other projects. As a precaution, we recommend brushing off your clothing and arms and washing your hands in between touching plants in different locations. Train anyone helping you with your project to do the same. Be aware of the pest and diseases that are around you so you can reduce the spread. This will increase the quality of your results and the results of others.
  • Clean. Please keep all lab and greenhouse areas clean and uncluttered. Other researchers use these areas and need space to do their work.
  • Storing materials. If you need to store materials in the greenhouse facilities, please ask us where to put stuff. All items/boxes/bins must be labeled with your name and your lab’s name. All unlabeled items will be repurposed or tossed.
  • Off site plants or soil. You must have any plant material brought in from outside of the premises visually inspected by us before it is placed in the facility. It may be quarantined as necessary. Please notify us if you are bringing soil and plant material from outside Santa Cruz County - it must be autoclaved at the end of the experiment to kill unwelcome seeds and soil pathogens.
  • Research. We leave experimental aspects of your project to you. We do not perform data gathering such as taking measurements.
  • Complicated Growing Procedures. We may ask you to perform some or all aspects of growing if your experiment requires complicated treatment (i.e. measured quantities of water).

Some Don’ts

  • Don’t turn on or off or program the growth chambers, incubators or make changes to equipment in the greenhouses. Only Jim or the greenhouse manager can change these settings.
  • Don’t move plants to different growing areas unless you have spoken with Jim or the greenhouse manager.
  • Don’t introduce any radioactive materials into the greenhouse facility.
  • Don’t enter greenhouses that have been treated with chemicals. We post re-entry signs that state when a location is safe to re enter.
  • Do not start projects on Fridays or weekends, unless prearranged with us. This is for the success of your experiment! Jim and the greenhouse manager do not work on the weekends, so we need some time to set up growing spaces, monitor equipment and train our workers how to care for your plants. This rule has evolved from witnessing experiments fail over the weekend, many times.

Pesticide/Fungicide/Chemical Applications

  • Spraying is usually done in the late afternoon (after 3 pm) and often on Fridays. Spraying at these times places re-entry hours through the night and into the weekends to allow researchers full access during the weekday hours. If there are critical times where access to your plants is mandatory, please let us know so we can plan sprays accordingly.
  • If you plan to do any applications yourself of chemicals, please consult with us in the planning stages of your project to develop safe protocols and to assure this is compatible with others using the facility.

And Finally…..

Welcome to the greenhouse! We know this may seem overwhelming, but we are here to help you navigate the growing side of plant research.