{"399451":{"#nid":"399451","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Growing an Office Garden","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESheyil Taylor has a plant for nearly every year she\u2019s been at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe business administrator for research in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) is known around the office as the \u201cplant lady.\u201d Taylor came to Tech in 2003 and worked for the Georgia Tech Research Institute and School of Biology before joining BME in 2006. Her green thumb has been with her in all those roles, as her 10 office plants will attest. She\u2019s even played a rescue role to coworkers\u2019 plants over the years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ETaylor recently shared some of her best advice for those looking to bring a little green into the white and gold of their office space.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat should people consider when choosing plants for their office?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EIf you don\u2019t plan to be very attentive, you need to choose your plants carefully. People buy plants because they look pretty, but a lot of times the ones with really nice colors require a lot of extra attention. The African violet is one that people like the look of, but there\u2019s a special way to water it and care for it. They require a lot of attention and maintenance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EOn the other hand, I have one in a pot in my office that I call a Florida philodendron, and that thing is wild. It\u2019s in a small clay pot, and it grows all over my shelves. It just keeps growing and growing. It doesn\u2019t need much attention.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice do you have for people who would like to have plants in their office?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EI like to fertilize them three or four times a year. I give them some type of plant food. Some people use eggshells either on the soil or mixed in. I also like to water them with rainwater. If you can collect rainwater and use that, I think it makes a big difference. To me, though, the most important thing is talking to them. You have to talk to your plants. They like it. They like attention. I talk to them when I\u2019m watering them, just like you\u2019d talk to an animal. I name my plants too.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EI also use sunlight lightbulbs in my office. It\u2019s a much more natural light, and if you have an office without much natural light, they\u2019re good for the plants and for you.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EYou also want to re-pot your plants occasionally, especially if they\u2019re getting too big for the pot. Some people do it very regularly, but I do it every few years. I like them to have a good, established root ball before I move them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWhen it comes to indoor plants, it\u2019s best to have a system for watering. I water mine every Friday. They get a nice big drink. Having a schedule is easier for you and for the plants.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere does your interest in plants came from?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EMy mother and my grandmother fostered my love of plants \u2014 even my great grandmother. It\u2019s just always been in our family. My great grandmother had a plant from the philodendron family called a split leaf. You can take pieces and grow more plants off of them, so everybody in our family got a piece of that plant, and it was kind of a family tradition. I still have plants that came from that one plant.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat should people be doing this time of year to get ready for outdoor gardening?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EBy the beginning of April, you want to have most of your seeds in the ground. It\u2019s been a wet spring, so the soil is nice and soft. I\u2019ve planted all the way into August, though, so if you haven\u2019t started, it\u2019s not too late.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EVegetables can be planted now, depending on what they are. People should be cleaning out their gardens, turning over the soil, putting nutrients or fertilizers in, and that type of thing. I\u2019m planting tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. Be careful not to over water your plants and vegetables. If they get too much water, the roots will rot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWhatever you do, make sure you enjoy it. It\u2019s a great time of year to be enjoying the weather outside and getting your hands dirty. Gardening is great for your soul.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/content.coe.gatech.edu\/coe-cares-staff-profiles-pam-morrison-and-sheyil-taylor\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis interview originally appeared in the April 2015 COE Cares! Newsletter.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Sheyil Taylor Shares her Secrets for Greening an Office Space"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESheyil Taylor shares her secrets for greening an office space.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Sheyil Taylor shares her secrets for greening an office space."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-04-27 10:54:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:08","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-04-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-04-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"399461":{"id":"399461","type":"image","title":"Spring 2015 Flower Planting","body":null,"created":"1449246371","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:26:11","changed":"1475895117","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:57","alt":"Spring 2015 Flower Planting","file":{"fid":"75760","name":"15c10303-p20-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10303-p20-009.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/15c10303-p20-009.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":643650,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/15c10303-p20-009.jpg?itok=mETO851N"}},"399471":{"id":"399471","type":"image","title":"Sheyil Taylor","body":null,"created":"1449246371","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:26:11","changed":"1475895117","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:57","alt":"Sheyil Taylor","file":{"fid":"75761","name":"sheyil.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sheyil.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sheyil.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":753713,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sheyil.jpg?itok=_xzMixbs"}}},"media_ids":["399461","399471"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"3423","name":"employees"},{"id":"48501","name":"gardening"},{"id":"3918","name":"profile"},{"id":"167018","name":"staff"},{"id":"4152","name":"whistle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.wright@coe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EBen Wright\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}