Greenhouse staff are hard at work transplanting large plants from the pots they were grown in when the Conservatory collection was temporarily housed at the Ken Post Lab greenhouses into the planting bed in the Palm House at the new Conservatory.
The growing medium in the Palm House bed is a mix of coconut coir, biochar and Turface (a clay-based soil conditioner), and is designed to resist compaction over the long term. Soon, a path will be constructed through the center of the bed for easier access to plants near the center of the bed. But if you visit before the path is installed, please stay on the concrete path encircling the bed.
Here greenhouse staff and volunteers are planting a melinjo (Gnetum gnemon), a small to medium-size tree native to Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Various parts of the plant are used in traditional Indonesian cuisine.