Putting their hard work on display, the Enviromental Horticulture Program at Santa Rosa Junior College held a plant sale May 5 during Day Under the Oaks at SRJC.

An SRJC student who only gave his first name, Scott studies horticulture and volunteered for the plant sale. He gave shoppers information on plants and guided them through their selection.

“We put a lot of work into them,” Scott said. “We are constantly trimming them, and making sure there are no bugs or disease.”

The program has a “U” shaped greenhouse, which houses the plants for both sale and growth. Certain sections that were not ready for sale were sanctioned off by informational stands about plants.

Inside the green house the plants are set on heated metal benches that promote root growth, with PVC sprayers above them for watering. The green house is automatically temperature monitored, with temperatures lying between 68 and 74 degrees depending on the season. There are also fans around the greenhouse that circulate air.

“We rotate the plants every now and then so they get different levels of air,” Scott said.

All of the plants begin their lives as small plugs, which are then planted in pots and nurtured into adulthood.

“We like to make them comfortable,” said P.J. Lococo, environmental horticulture program coordinator.

The plants for sale range from ferns to flowers to a few small trees.

“Some of these bigger ones take about two years to be ready for sale,” Lococo said, “but most of these smaller ones take about a year to grow. We try to have a plant sale about every month, but it really depends on how much help we have.”

All of the proceeds from the plant sales go to scholarships for students in the horticulture program, including students in garden design and landscape contracting, which can reach up to $675.

The plants’ prices ranged from $1.50 to $5. Anyone who missed this plant sale can catch others during the school year almost monthly, although Lococo said there probably wouldn’t be another sale until July.

For more information on the horticulture program please visit www.santarosa.edu/instruction/instructional_departments/agriculture/environmental-horticulture.php.

Or contact P.J. Lococo at [email protected].