Science Spotlight: Greenhouse Cultivates Plants, Curiousity

Trickling water echoes softly through the glass room overflowing with a riot of lush green vegetation. In one corner, potted orchids perch alongside an old hot tub in which goldfish placidly float. A Norfolk Island pine towers to the sloping ceiling. The McCardell Bicentennial Hall greenhouse is a tropical oasis floating six floors up from the frozen mid-February ground.

The greenhouse, also known as the Brook Botany room, is divided into two rooms. The eastern room is the College’s plant conservatory, and houses plants from across the continents: banana, cacao, vanilla, coffee, Southwestern succulents and East Asian orchids. The west room is devoted to plant propagation and College-related research projects. Currently, it’s occupied by a host of parsnips and soybeans growing alongside plant clippings in various stages of development.

Patti Padua, the greenhouse curator, says that the conservatory is really “a museum of plants … I’ve been adding to it over the years, based on input from professors and my own preferences. I really enjoy economic botany, so I have lots of plants of economic importance.” This explains the choice of housing plants such as coffee, cacao and vanilla.

Padua has overseen greenhouse operations since she arrived at the greenhouse in April of 2004. She graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in plant and soil science. She worked for five years in the UVM greenhouse. She now owns the Cobble Creek Nursery in Monkton, Vt. with her husband, where she grows trees and shrubs.

As greenhouse curator, Padua’s job “is to make sure that the plants are all growing vigorously, and doing whatever that would entail. But I’m very part-time here. I probably only put in about eight hours a week. I’ve got all the plants on an every other day schedule. I have a student who waters on the weekends for me.”

Associate in Science Instruction in Biology Susan Desimone is growing wild and cultivated parsnips for an experiment in cell biology and genetics. The greenhouse recently salvaged her project.

“We have some plants for BIOL0145 growing in the green house and down in the lab too,” Desimone wrote. “We left some in the green house because we didn’t have space on our grow set downstairs and because Patti Padua does such a fantastic job, we thought they would do well.  Lucky thing for us, since we got a thrip infestation in the plants downstairs!” Thrips are small insects that are often considered pests.

Desimone’s parsnip project isn’t the only one using the greenhouse. The Solar Decathlon Project was using the space during  winter term to test out an automated watering system. A psychology student is currently using the greenhouse to study the effects of nature on student psyche.  Associate in Science Instruction in Environmental Studies Marc Lapin uses the greenhouse for his natural science and the environment class. “We have been using the greenhouse for two experiments, one regarding genetically modified (GMO) crops and the other regarding nitrogen-fixing bacteria,” wrote Lapin in an email. “Both experiments are related to our unit on agriculture.”

By all accounts, the greenhouse is thriving under Padua’s watchful eye. She attributes its success to the Integrated Pest Management strategy she employs. A brochure distributed by the UVM Entomology Research Laboratory states that “Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a way to control insect pests and diseases on crops by combining several complementary strategies such as sanitation, pest detection and biological control. Chemical pesticides may be used, but only when absolutely necessary.”
Padua adds, “I’m [currently] using green lacewing to control the long-tail mealie bug and aphids, which could be a potential problem in here if I let it get out of hand. When I took over, the greenhouse was inundated with bugs, but now I’ve got a healthy suppression of the population. Keep in mind, the goal isn’t eradication, simply management.”

The long-tail mealie bug has been a particular problem on some of the succulents, including one of Padua’s favorites, the Carrion flower.

“It’s a cacti, not much to look at. But when it does bloom, its blossom – maybe 8-10 inches across, red and very vein-y – smells like rotten meat.,” she said. “It uses the smell to attract pollinators. I never have a fly in the greenhouse, then when it blooms, the flies just swarm to it and the greenhouse stinks for a good week to 10 days. I put a sign up to warn people.”

Such specimens are kept for their curiosity factor more than anything.  “I like to take this room and make it a place for people to get excited about plants. There’s no plant science or botany major here, so it’s not necessarily people who are going to school for this. My real goal is to spark some interest in people or a passion [for plants].”