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Tidewater Community College greenhouses are chock full of beautiful blooms, fresh vegetables, fragrant herbs and colorful hanging baskets for the horticulture program’s spring plant sale.

The event is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 25-27 at the Whitehurst building on the Chesapeake Campus, 1428 Cedar Rd.

“We are excited to be able to open our greenhouses to the community to showcase the crops grown by horticulture students,” said Andrea Tomlin, TCC horticulture professor and program lead. “We take a lot of pride in making sure the crops are quality grade, so students know what to expect when they are performing daily monitoring, cleaning, disbudding, fertigation and integrated pest management when running a greenhouse business and providing a service to the community.” 

All plants grown by TCC’s horticulture students begin as seeds, rooted cuttings or plugs. 

This year, greenhouse production students produced 18 different types of bedding plants, six distinct types of vegetables, seven types of herbs, as well as a variety of houseplants and some native perennials. 

Community members who come to shop will find geraniums, petunias, impatiens, vinca, verbena and others. An assortment of vegetables is available including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and zucchini. Healthy herbs round out the offerings with basil, cilantro, lemon balm and more. 

Every semester, horticulture students learn about crop production in the hands-on laboratories on the Chesapeake Campus. Three greenhouses protect plants and provide the growing setting in every season. Students focus on proper techniques for planting, fertilizing and documenting the growing season for each plant. 

“Our plants are given a lot of care,” said Tomlin. “Students learn how to correctly space, disbud, pinch and deadhead plants as needed to produce a prolific plant that will last all season. In addition, daily watering, fertigation and disease monitoring ensure a quality crop.” 

TCC’s greenhouses are located behind the Whitehurst building with the lab in room 2067. Plants cost between $1 and $25 and can be purchased with cash or checks only. For more information about the sale, email atomlin@tcc.edu or call 757-822-5090.