Inside the brand new greenhouses and conservatory at SUNY Cobleskill students are provided hands-on experience no matter the weather. Completed in the fall of 2014, the greenhouses on campus provide an indoor growing space and living laboratory for students in any Plant Science Course. From ten feet tall tomato plants to flowering cacti there is always a large mix of vibrant plants growing in the SUNY Cobleskill greenhouses and conservatory.
Plant Conservatory
The Plant Conservatory is a 1,850 square foot glasshouse used as a living laboratory for many Plant Science courses. The conservatory features a variety of tropical and subtropical plants as well as plants common to the interior spaces of shopping malls, hotels, and offices. The environment is computer controlled with fog jets, shade curtain, and ventilation. Paths meander through the plant collection featuring orchids, palms, bromeliads, begonias, foliage plants, cacti, and succulents in the conservatory. In the winter months, the conservatory provides a green haven from the cold winter days.
The conservatory is located in the Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources and is open to the public during the following times:
School year: Monday - Friday, 8 am - 5 pm
Summer: Monday - Friday, 7 am - 3:30 pm
Greenhouses
With 8,500 square feet of growing space spread across four separate houses, there are always student and class projects growing in the greenhouses. The completely automated Argus computer system allows the greenhouse environments to be controlled with the push of a few buttons.
The SUNY Cobleskill Greenhouse is well known for growing hydroponic vegetables; particularly tomatoes that grow from September to July, with vines that will reach 40 feet long. As part of Plant Science courses, students also propagate and grow lettuce and microgreens hydroponically, as well as Christmas poinsettias, Easter Lilies, bonsai, perennials, annuals, turfgrass, succulents, and forages to name a few.
Plants are always changing as students are growing new crops for class projects. The Plant Science department holds a large plant sale on campus the first Saturday in May, open to the community, for selling plants that students have grown.