Surviving spring

The south has a lot of idioms about being busy, many of which I won’t mention in mixed company. But I recall a clean one my great-grandfather said, “I’m busier than a stump-tailed bull in fly season.” I can’t think of anything much busier than a greenhouse crew in spring. I’ll have to cogitate on that for a bit and give it some southern flair.

In all seriousness, things get so chaotic during spring that sometimes important tasks are ignored for the sake of getting plants shifted up, sprayed or shipped.

But there are some things you don’t want to overlook.

Continue those morning stretches — you are doing that, right? If you lose someone to a back strain, you’re in worse shape than taking the 10 or 15 minutes needed to stretch.

Clean tools daily (even more than once a day in some cases). Skipping that step leads to disease problems and impacts your bottom line. Tool sanitizing should be done when moving from one cultivar or group of plants to another, or at the beginning of each workday. Retired Michigan State extension specialist Thomas Dudek suggests keeping two sets of tools on hand while pruning. That way, one set can be in the disinfectant while the other is in use. He also suggests sanitizing tools with a 10% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) solution, or 70% alcohol or hydrogen dioxide and quaternary ammonium compounds.

At the end of the day or week, have your team leaders ask their crews what the pain points were throughout their busy day. What can be tweaked to make things more efficient or to avoid major problems?

And don’t forget to praise your crews! And at the end of this wild and crazy season, reward them with a cookout or a field trip, maybe even some gift cards.

Have any spring stories to share? Email me your thoughts or post them on our Facebook page, @GreenhouseManagementMag.