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Hera · 05-31-2013, 07:54 AM

Herbology Lesson Two

Though it's rather chilly outdoors, once you enter greenhouse seven, an enchanted tropical warmth washes over you and you may want to shed a layer of clothing, or two. In the centre of the greenhouse is a long oak table, with house coloured pots set up in a neat row along its length. Its a clear indication of what the lesson will entail. Professor Bentley sits on a stool at the far end of the table where she'll have a good view of everyone. Though, with her swollen belly, she looks rather uncomfortable on her seat...

The blackboard behind her reads:

SPOILER!!: Blackboard

Lesson Two

Herbology Plant Sale Preparation

Lesson Progression:

Gloves!
Collect Materials
Potting Umbrella Flower Seeds (edited post requirements)
Re-potting Fanged Geranium Seedlings
Potting Honking Daffodil Bulbs

OOC: The lesson has started. If you haven't done so already then please read through the Herbology Rules and Expectations and the SS Site Rules. All SS Board Rules apply. IC rule breaking will result in IC punishment, OOC rule breaking will result in OOC punishment.

Bazinga · 06-03-2013, 09:51 PM

SPOILER!!: notes

Now that the soil was in the house colored pot, Minerva turned to her list. Now it was time to take the seedling out. She chuckled thinking about the student garden and when she asked the difference between the two to Ethan. She knew she had to drive him crazy with her lack of knowledge at times with plants, but she did try.

Moving the pot with the seedling in it closer to her, Minerva gently tried to pull the seedling out of the pot. As she tried to remove it.. it wasn't moving. She was afraid of hurting it and wasn't sure how much she should try. Letting go she assessed the situation. Next she decided to scoop out the old soil around it to make it easier.

Then she remembered she was suppose to be massaging the bottom... oops hopefully Ethan nor Bentley didn't see her pulling at a seedling like she had been. Placing her hand at the bottom of the seedling, Minerva massaged the contents from the bottom.

Once the seedling was out she smiled, see she could do this.. Now setting it back down in the house colored pot, Min kept it upright as she added more potting soil to the pot. Making sure that the seedling was straight and that the soil was all around it, Minerva checked her notes for the next step.

lazykitty · 06-04-2013, 12:38 AM

It took awhile, but the little seedling finally came out of it's pot. Sky carefully brushed some of the hard, crumbly dry dirt from the plant's roots so that it could 'grab ahold' of the new soil before placing it in the green pot. Now it was time to fill in the rest of the pot. She sprinkled in more fertilizer before picking up her trowel once again and adding dirt. Just like she had with the seed, she stopped once there was a couple of inches between the dirt and the edge of the pot. There.

TakemetotheBurrow · 06-04-2013, 12:56 AM

Just a sprinkle of fertilizerrrrr makes the little seedlings growww.

And yes, she was totally humming to the tune of 'Spoon full of Sugar.' What? It was catchy, okay? Okay.

The blonde made sure her gloves were on securely cause icky reasons before grabbing some of the fertilizer and sprinkling it into her pot. She smiled a little when she was done, tilting her head to observe the seedling. It looked nice and snug which was good, right? Right.

Next it needed some water. "Aguamenti." The blonde made sure to control the flow of water and not make the soil too muddy cause that wouldn't be good. "Finite."

Grin.

"Looking good, little seedling."

Bazinga · 06-04-2013, 01:19 AM

SPOILER!!: notes

Now that she had placed the soil around the seedling, Minerva made sure to pat down the soil around the plant. She was afraid to pat down to much that she might end up smashing the seedling.

Being as careful as possible Min did the finishing touches on patting down to secure the seedling, once she felt it was right and straight she moved on to the fertilizer. Taking some of the stinky fertilizer into her gloved hand she sprinkled it around the seedling.

Then she pointed her wand " Aguamenti" She watched as the water slowly came out of her wand and she watered around the seedling. Making sure that the soil didn't get to wet, she ended the stream once it was done and marked off the rest of the sets.

lazykitty · 06-04-2013, 01:44 AM

Since the plant was now repotted, Sky was now patting the soil around the plant the make sure it was in there nice and snug. Snug? Okay. The next step then, was water the plant. Taking aim at the soil around the fanged geranium, she the Aguamenti fly again. But not too much. Just enough to wet the soil. Once that was done, she sprinkled some more soil on top, just to make it look better. There, done and caught up now.

emjay · 06-04-2013, 03:02 AM

Now that he had his pot full of soil and a bit of fertilizer on top, Ethan was ready for his Umbrella Flower seed. He smiled down at his seed and gently picked it up, cradling it in his hand. "Hello, little seed," he said cheerily as he set it down in his pot. "Putting you in your new home now where you can grow up big and strong.. and brighten someone's day with your flowers one day."

Once his seed was in the pot, he gently patted it down in the soil just a bit with his gloved hand. Humming a little tune, he picked up a handful of soil and sprinkled it on top, patting it down again gently. Almost finished..

DecemberMoon · 06-04-2013, 03:24 AM

She took the scoop from the soil next to her and dropped in a blanketing of it into her blue pot. The dark crumbles of earth spilled from the trowel in rich, lush clumps as they covered the vacant spaces around the seedling. The colors were nice together, she noticed as she leaned back from it briefly. Navy blue, deep brown, and lush green, she thought in approval.

She took her hands, rather small hands even when gloved, and lightly patted the soil in the pot. She knew plants were supposed to be snug in the dirt so that things like strong winds or curious animals couldn't knock them over as easily, so she nudged the dirt nearer to the seedling's stem and made sure it was secure enough to stand on its own in the new pot. There you go, little guy, she thought as she put the finished touches on the soil arrangement.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Hera · 06-04-2013, 03:40 AM

Progress, progress, progress... things were looking good. At this rate, they'd hopefully be able to make the school and the subject a small fortune. At least, enough to stop the repossessions, maybe even enough to buy back some materials. Wishful thinking? Perhaps.

Seren waddled around, a gloved hand cradling her bump as she examined the students' progress. She liked these activities best, when students were able to get their gloves dirty, it was good practice and definitely a worthwhile task.

Deciding it was perhaps time to start their last task, Seren summoned three small calico bags containing bulbs, and levitated them onto the table at intervals.
"Our last task for today, will be potting Honking Daffodil bulbs, and we will need to adjust our method once more." It was all about adjusting. Working with what you had and what was best for it.

Once she was sure she had the students' attention, she tapped the board and revealed their next instructions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard Notes

Lesson Two

Herbology Plant Sale Preparation
[x] Umbrella Flowers
[x] Fanged Geraniums
[x] Honking Daffodils

Planting Seeds
1. Prepare the pot by filling it 3/4 of the way with potting soil.
2. Add a sprinkle of fertiliser.
3. Drop in the seed.
4. Top with soil.
5. Water the soil (not to the point that it becomes muddy).

Re-potting Seedlings
1. Prepare the pot by filling it 3/4 of the way with potting soil.
2. Remove the seedling from its previous pot by gently massaging out the contents from the bottom of the pot.
3. Place in the pot and fill the potting soil around it.
4. Pat it down so it's secure, but not suffocated.
5. Add a sprinkle of fertiliser.
6. Water the soil (not to the point that it becomes muddy).

Potting Bulbs
1. Prepare the pot by filling it 1/2 of the way with potting soil.
2. Take the bulb and place it root down into the soil.
3. Fill the potting soil on top until it is covered. Bulb depths will vary depending on type. Honking Daffodils require approximately 10 cm below soil level.
4. Do not pat down the soil as this will restrict movement upon germination.
5. Add a sprinkle of fertiliser.
6. Water the soil (not to the point that it becomes muddy).

"With bulbs, it's important to do your research and find the depth that works best for the plant... however, when in doubt smaller bulbs are five centimetres and bigger bulbs are ten."

Taking a pot, Seren filled it halfway with soil, popped a bulb in and indicated on the side of the pot, how far she would fill it. "Have a go at that, and when you're finished you're welcome to clean your workspace and may be dismissed."

OOC: Last one! Again, 3 posts. I will leave the thread open for another 24 hours. Thanks everyone!

emjay · 06-04-2013, 03:49 AM

Still humming the little tune that had been stuck in his head since he had been playing the piano in the Room of Requirement that morning, Ethan pulled out his wand to water the soil for his little seed. And that meant another chance to practice his nonverbal spell and also to stop humming so he could concentrate on the charm.

He pointed his wand at the flower pot and focused on Aguamenti. He still got the slow trickle his nonverbal casting was producing, but that actually worked quite well for what he was doing. He wanted to be gentle. Once the soil was just wet enough, Ethan stopped the water and set the pot aside. So, was he doing another seed.. or was that it? Because Ethan was eager to do another.. next activity? Ok..

FearlessLeader19 · 06-04-2013, 03:57 AM

The last activity already? Jory wished this could go on for a while longer. Ah well. It had been fun while it lasted. He watched as Professor Bentley waddled around. She looked funny. But now he turned his attention to the Honking daffodil bulbs as she began to speak again. First things first. Copy down the adjusted instruction.

Now, let the planting begin! Jory grabbed another yellow pot used his trowel to scoop up potting soil into it until it was about 1/2 filled after which he leveled the soil. Taking a biggish Bulb, the badger set into the soil, root first. Now to cover with more soil.

DaniDiNardo · 06-04-2013, 04:03 AM

She didn't have to wait much longer for the Professor to move on again. This plant was just as interesting as the other but for a different reason. The last one would grow up to have FANGS and this would be loud! Seriously, they just needed to roll out something man-eating and this class would be perfect but this was the last task so she knew it wouldn't happen.

Alexa took the time to scribble these instructions down--GASP!!!

1/2?!?! Merlin's beeeeeard, what happened to the 3/4?!?!? It'd been what she was using the whole time and now the sudden change. She wasn't sure that she was ready for this. There wasn't even any time to question the 3/4 theory and now they were moving to only 1/2??? How did this even happen??

...

.......

Okay, okay this was the last one...maybe she could see pass this whole business of suddenly using less soil. WHAT WAAAAS THIS? 1/2, seriously???

She shook the thought out of her head and got the pot 1/2 filled. SIGH, it looked so weird.

FearlessLeader19 · 06-04-2013, 04:15 AM

Jory grabbed the trowel and scooped up another load of potting soil and threw it over the bulb. Then he added another load. And another. Until it was covered. He made an average of the bulb's depth, his finger marking the spot on the outside of the pot. "A few more scoops should do it.'' This bulb was a bigger one so 10 cm was required.

"That should do it,'' the seventh year said to himself. He was about to level off the soil but in the nick of time remembered something. He glanced back at the instructions. "Do not pat down the soil as this will restrict movement upon germination,'' he read. That was a close one!

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 04:27 AM

He was getting kind of awesome at Herbology, had Bentley noticed? She surely had. Yes. He started on repotting the Fanged Geranium seedlings next. He'd misunderstood some of the instructions earlier though, so West had no choice but to go get more things, namely pots, fertiliser, and refilling his bucket with soil. Enough for the rest of the lesson hopefully.

Right. West set himself up and scooped in potting soil in the new pot, three quarters of the way. Again he was trying not to spill it everywhere. He took one of the seedlings in its smaller pot and gently worked it free, then spent a moment gently massaging the root ball to loosen it.

DecemberMoon · 06-04-2013, 04:31 AM

And back to the undesirable part. She grimaced again at the collection of dung and sucked in a quick breath of air. At least it’s only a sprinkle again, she thought and reached her dragon hide gloves out for a pinch of it. It was really more like a squish of it though, since a pinch more made her think of something that stayed put in your fingers like salt or cloth or something. This dung though crumbled, smooshed, and drooped from her fingertips every time she tried to pick it up, so she hung her hand over the pot for a few long moments, still holding her breath, until the excess had escaped her grasp. When it finally had, she let it loose over the seedling’s contained and simultaneously released her breath.

She gingerly removed her gloves, careful not to touch any of the dirty spots, and sat them on the table. She pulled out her wand and cleaned the gloves for good measure. If she had to grab another plant, she didn’t want it to be with fertilizer fingers. "Scourgify,” she cast quietly and then turned her wand on the seedling. "Aguamenti,” she commanded and watched the water flow out onto the soil and dung. "Finite." Now hopefully the next plant would grow into something lovely and beautiful and not something dangerous.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Hearing that they were going to be potting the next plant now, Eliza sat her geranium out of the way and pulled a fresh blue pot close to her.

emjay · 06-04-2013, 04:41 AM

Ethan looked up as Professor Bentley gave them their next task and set of instructions. Re-potting Fanged Geranium seedlings.. that he could definitely handle. He began humming the tune in his head again as he brought the seedling a little closer to him, smiling dotingly upon it. What a strong and healthy little specimen. He knew this one was going to grow and flourish.. especially now that he'd be re-potting it in a bigger pot.

He grabbed one of the blue pots and began filling it with soil using his gloved hands. Once it was 3/4 full of soil, he picked up the seedling by its now too small pot. "Don't worry, little guy," he said after he stopped humming and began gently massaging the contents from the thin plastic of the bottom of the seedling pot. "You'll like your new home so much better.." He gently set the bundle of roots and soil into the prepared pot.

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 04:42 AM

Now that the rootball had been loosened, West carefully held the seedling in the centre of the pot with one hand, then used his trowel to scoop potting soil into the pot around it to secure the Fanged Geranium seedling in place. A few scoops later and there was plenty, not too high and built up a little more at the centre. Once it was in place and steady, he began patting it down to secure it.

The work went fast because he'd done it before, though West had to stop to adjust his gloves which had slipped down a little as he was working. There. All sorted. Ready to fertilise and water.

DaniDiNardo · 06-04-2013, 05:03 AM

The 1/2 thing was still bugging her. This one would be further down, further away from the light. What if it got lonely and scared and started crying? You'd never know because it'd be under the soil and she didn't know many people who'd stick their ear to the soil just to find out whether or not a plant was shedding some serious tears.

Probably the Professor would if she really thought about it.

Anyway, Lex had a bulb to stick into the soil. She placed it on top of the soil that was already there, making sure the root was facing down; it obviously made a difference if the Professor bothered to add it in with the rest of instructions. Afterwards she began throwing on the top soil until the pot was adequately filled and the bulb was no longer in sight.

Sigh.

It was actually kinda sad. Poor thing had to be 1/4 deeper than the others. It must have felt so left out of the 3/4 loop. Nothing she could do about that for now. Oh and she did NOT pat it down. Nope.

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 05:04 AM

West added a sprinkling of fertiliser to the top of the re-potted Fanged Geranium seedling pot, right where the soil around the base of the plant was and not, you know, ON the plant. It didn't take much for it to be enough either. Really was a sprinkle.

Last bit was to water it of course and West took his gloves off again to do it, putting them aside and picking his wand up. He point it at the pot and firmly spoke, "Aguamenti!" A nice trickle, controlled and steady, began flowing, not too hard since that'd bog the soil down and wash away the fertiliser. That was why a trickle was good. Once it looked enough and wasn't mucky, he stopped the spell. "Finite!"

Looking good. Just to check West touched the soil, but it was good perfectly damp but not muddy or soggy. Now to move onto bulbs.

DaniDiNardo · 06-04-2013, 05:20 AM

Despite this being her third plant to be fertilized, she found that she still had a good amount of fertilizer at her table. Did this mean she'd taken too much. Eeek! She'd have to put some back the moment she was done with this. The school couldn't afford for her to waste even a drop of this stuff. The less she wasted was the less they'd have to replace and the more likely she'd be able to keep at least some of the galleons from the sale.

Really she was just hoping they'd be able to keep all of it but she wouldn't get her hopes up. This wasn't CoMC afterall.

Lex sprinkled the fertilizer all over the soil like she'd done with the first two. AND HOW WOULD IT BENEFIT, IT WAS 1/4 FURTHER DOWN!!! Ugh, she'd need to sprinkle a bit more just in case but not too much more just in case that had some kind of negative effect.

"Aguamenti!"

She got enough water into it, monitoring it carefully the entire time because you know...don't want to drown the poor thing that was 1/4 FURTHER DOWN. Ahem. Yeah. "Finite!"

And now she was done this too. Awesome!

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 05:21 AM

For the last part they were doing bulbs? Oh Honking Daffodils, nice. West got another green pot and started scooping potting soil into it. Only halfway this time, not three quarters like earlier. West double checked there was enough and then put the soil aside for now.

Where were the bulbs? West looked around and then when he spotted them he picked one up and after examining the shape of it, turned it so that the root end was facing downward. It made sense but part of his mind wanted to do it the other way, so it was a good thing Bentley specified, he was sure he wasn't the only one.

He pressed it into the soil, root down, right in the centre of the pot. He also paused to check there was enough space for ten centimetres of soil to go on top. Yep. Looking good.

itsjustjesse · 06-04-2013, 05:27 AM

SPOILER!!: board

Mika had already added the soil to the flowerpot and now all she had to do was get the plant ready to be repotted yeah? So she carefully used her spade to remove the seedling from the flowerpot. Using her hands to gently massage the plant out of the obviously too-small pot. Massaging it out of the placed it into the soil and added more around it to secure it.

She glanced up at the boared and frowned. She still had to re-pot the Honking Daffodils. So she stood there and sighed as she added in the pinch of fertilizer.

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 05:31 AM

West began using his trowel to scoop some more soil into the green pot. He'd already made sure there was enough space for the ten centimetres, so it just meant he had to fill the pot and he was done. He did it scoop by scoop so that he wouldn't end up spilling potting mix everywhere. It wasn't too bad really, kind of a mindless task you didn't have to overthink. He looked up at the board again and noticing that he wasn't to pat the soil down this time, he instead put his trowel aside.

Next was fertiliser. Dragon dung. Gotta love the smell right? He tried not to breathe it in too much as he scooped a pinch of it up, wearing his gloves again of course.

itsjustjesse · 06-04-2013, 05:38 AM

Fertilizer had been added and now all she needed to do was to ad the water. So she readied her wand and pointed it at the ground. “Aquamenti” she let the first bit of the stream jut into the ground as if it clear off some of the water’s pressure. She didn’t want to drown the newly repotted plant now did she?

So she slowly, and carefully moved and positioned her wand so that the stream of water was aimed into the flowerpot. There, she smiled to herself as she cut off the stream. The soil wasn’t too wet – that was good. So she glanced around at the other students again and smiled. She was getting the hang of this potting and repotting plants business.

TeafortheSoul · 06-04-2013, 05:39 AM

West sprinkled the fertiliser judiciously on top of the uncompacted soil in the pot and then brushed the remains off his fingers. He took off his gloves again and picked up his wand. Third time's the charm for watering right?

"Aguamenti!" West pointed his wand at the soil and a gentle trickle of water began to come from his wand as he controlled the amount. He kept it flowing until there was enough and it wouldn't be muddy and then stopped it with a "Finite."

Satisfied that he was done, West started tidying his work area up and packing his things away.

itsjustjesse · 06-04-2013, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Potting Bulbs
1. Prepare the pot by filling it 1/2 of the way with potting soil.
2. Take the bulb and place it root down into the soil.
3. Fill the potting soil on top until it is covered. Bulb depths will vary depending on type. Honking Daffodils require approximately 10 cm below soil level.
4. Do not pat down the soil as this will restrict movement upon germination.
5. Add a sprinkle of fertiliser.
6. Water the soil (not to the point that it becomes muddy).

Honking Daffodils, right…that didn’t sound like something you would find in your average garden. Nope, not at all. Mika immediately skipped off to find opened the second bag of soil as she had already used her first allotment of it. Opening it she filled the flower pot until it was filled half way. There, that looked like half.

Taking the bulb she glanced at the board and frowned. Seriously – roots down had to be specified? Because didn’t that make sense? Yeah it sure did roots down sounded like a smart idea to her. So she carefully placed the bulb into the soil with its roots facing down. Using her finger as a measuring device she filled the pot with more of the soil so that the bulb was now ten centimeters below the soil’s surface. That was good.

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