Growing into research

If you have a class on or near Washington Ave., you may have noticed the greenhouses that sit in front of the University Medical Plaza parking structure. Leslee Roberts, principal laboratory technician at the Insectory Building, said students have stopped by and asked what type of plants they grow and if they give any plants away.

"The answer is always no," Roberts said. "They wouldn't want them. The plants we have we infest with insects."

Roberts, a UK graduate, works in the entomology department and breeds mites, predator mites, a variety of aphids, and other insects. Their purpose is to destroy plants.

Her purpose is to develop plants resistant to pests. Roberts said she spends hours looking at tiny insects under a microscope and counting them.

The temperature in the greenhouses ranges from 75 degrees in the day to 65 degrees at night. Roberts said that her greenhouse "... is ancient" and has no cooling system, making the temperature climb to 100 degrees or more in the summer.

"Most of the plants are recycled," Roberts said.

After the plants are used for research, they are steam-sterilized before being discarded, Roberts said. The plants and soil are separated and placed in a trailer, where they are taken to the South Farm and placed in a sink-hole.

UK also has greenhouses located at the Agricultural Science Center and at the South Farm.

"Basically, the greenhouses are for research and teaching," Dwayne Ingram, chair of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture said. "Plants are not given away."

Ingram said that due to the emphasis on research, students rarely work in the greenhouses and there are no real tours.

The greenhouses are divided between different departments at UK and each has different activities, said Jack Buxton, director of undergraduate studies in horticulture at the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at UK.

Buxton's greenhouses are adjacent to the Veteran's Administration Hospital.

"We prefer not to have students walk through the greenhouses," Buxton said.

People could carry contaminates between the projects and destroy plants and research projects in the process, he said.

"Each facility maintains a different area of research," he said.

Buxton's department does varied research on fruits, flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs. His research involves irrigation systems and ways to produce plants and reduce the cost easily. He said that some plants are grown in the greenhouses, then taken to other places for additional research.

There are some long-term research projects being performed at UK, including genetic research, Buxton said.

"It may be 10 to 15 years before you would actually see results from the research that would be practical," he said.

Buxton said the College of Agricultural Experimentation provides an annual report for anyone interested in knowing more about the research projects at UK.