Policies | Research, Innovation & Impact

Pdf versions of the policies below can be easily printed from these files:

Training Requirements:

It is the responsibility of the assigned user to ensure that all personnel under their supervision are familiar with these policies. All principle investigators, staff and student workers are required to read this policy and pass a quiz with a score of at least 90% before swipe card access to the facility will be granted. Growth space will be periodically inspected by greenhouse staff and PI’s (or designated contact) notified of violations. Failure to rectify violations by the given deadline will result in greenhouse staff stepping in to fix the problem at a recharge rate of $50.00 per hour. Continual violations will result in loss of greenhouse/growth chamber space.

All persons using greenhouse or growth chamber space must be Worker Protection Standards trained. Contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to schedule a 30-minute appointment.

Use of Greenhouse Facilities and Sanitation

General Cleanliness - All users of the LSC PGF are expected to observe good housekeeping rules by returning equipment and unused supplies to proper storage areas and by cooperating in keeping the facilities clean and orderly. Sound sanitation practices are necessary to reduce, if not eliminate, disease and insect problems. Bench tops, floors and drains should be kept clean of plant/soil debris at all times. Brooms/dust pans are provided for daily use. Please contact the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) when you wish to use the power washer and he will place it in your greenhouse room. Reminder – any debris cleaned off of these areas must be autoclaved if you are growing transgenic plants in your space.
Tools/Containers - Use clean, sterile containers and tools. Avoid putting plant material, containers, or tools on the floor or other "contaminated" surface. The floor is not a desirable work area. All used pots and containers should cleaned/sterilized immediately and returned to proper storage areas.
Potting Media – Promix BX and Promix Plug and Germination mix are available on a recharge basis in the potting room. You will need to fill out the billing log sheet with DATE, PI and Promix USAGE AMOUNT (# of scoops or bags/bales) when you use this material. See Guidelines for Room 104 below for specific information regarding potting media. If you plan to use a significant amount of media at once for a large project, please let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know the approximate date and amount you’ll be using. If you must use media components such a perlite, vermiculite or turface in your research, only order the amount you will use quickly. There is not room for storage of these media in the potting room and storage of all media is strictly prohibited in greenhouses or growth chambers!
Hoses - All watering hoses should be stored off the aisle walkways, and breakers/nozzles must be kept off the ground. Do not drink from hoses!
Pests - Report all insect and disease problems to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator immediately so that their spread can be contained. All requests must be submitted in writing either by filling out provided form in the greenhouse hallway or by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. After the request is submitted, the room will be scouted closely to determine necessary action. If pesticide application is needed, it will be done Tues. or Thurs. evenings after 4:30 pm by trained greenhouse personnel only. A treated greenhouse will be posted and locked until the Restricted Entry Interval is expired. No early entry by greenhouse users is permitted. Arabidopsis rooms 602, 603 & 604 will be emptied for summer cleaning by July 1. It is strongly encouraged for other rooms to schedule a 2-4 week period in July that the greenhouse can be emptied, thoroughly cleaned and “cooked” out to help control pests. (See pesticide policy section for more detailed information.)
Storage - Do not use greenhouse space for storage of pots or other supplies. Do NOT order large quantities of supplies! You will have to store them in your lab! ALL items in the potting room must be labeled with the PI name.
Living material – No plant material, other than seed, should be brought into the LSC growth chambers, greenhouses or headhouse/potting room without prior approval by the Oversight Committee. Plants should not be moved from the growth chambers to greenhouses or greenhouses to growth chambers. Plants should not be moved from one greenhouse to another. Bringing plants from outside and moving plants between spaces only spreads pest problems and is prohibited.
Hazardous Materials - The greenhouse modules and growth chambers in the LSC PGF are considered laboratories. Environmental Health and Safety conducts inspections biannually. No food or drink is allowed inside the greenhouse or growth chamber units. Do not drink from hoses! ALL substances must be stored in a closed container and clearly labeled. This includes, DI wash bottles, fertilizers, etc. Culligan tanks must be secured to the wall.
Waste Disposal -

A “Plant & Soil” bin is located in each of the greenhouses and in the common area for disposal of unwanted plant and soil material. Pointed stakes and other sharp-edged objects should not be put in these bags. Keep the lid on this bin. Only autoclave bags should be used in this bin. A box of autoclave bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, labeled with lab name/greenhouse number, and placed next to the autoclave. The student assistant will autoclave and dispose of the waste. Put a new autoclave bag in the bin! Overfilled bags will be returned to the owner for splitting.
A “General Trash” bin is located in each of the greenhouses and in the common area for disposal of trash. Do not put plants and soil in these bins. Only black trash bags should be used in this bin. A box of black trash bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, and placed on the floor next to the bin for pick up. Put a new black trash bag in the bin!

Pots that will be reused must be cleaned immediately and returned to proper storage area.

Environmental Control

Greenhouse environmental control equipment (thermostats, vents, photoperiod shades, time clocks, environmental control system, etc.) shall be operated only by the LSC PGF Staff. These are not adjustable by the users.
Changes in the environmental conditions in individual greenhouse spaces should be requested in writing to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Malfunctions in the environmental control system in greenhouses should be reported to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Changes in the environmental conditions setup for growth chambers should be requested by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Malfunctions in growth chambers should be reported to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator.

Maintenance

Any problems with structure or non-dedicated-user equipment should be reported to PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator).
Maintenance of plants and equipment dedicated to individual projects is the responsibility of the greenhouse user.
Please be aware that the greenhouse staff, as well as the Campus Facilities employees, must have access to certain areas in your greenhouse for maintenance purposes.
1. The area in front of the exhaust fans must be kept clear so that Campus Facilities can get to the fans to service them.
2. The area directly below the pad system and around the sump needs to be kept clear so the greenhouse staff can get to them for weekly maintenance. Please do not leave anything on top of the sumps.
3. Do not store anything on top of or behind the fin tube heating. This area should NOT be used for drying samples.

Alteration of Facilities

Approval must be obtained from the LSC PGF Oversight Committee before any changes, deletions, or additions are made to the permanent facilities.

Experimental Hazards

The use of hazardous materials, organisms, or systems (e.g., radioactive materials, dangerous non-pesticide chemicals, UV lamps, pollutants, etc.) in greenhouse experiments must be approved by the LSC PGF Oversight Committee. A minimum of two weeks notice is required prior to the use of any such materials or systems in the greenhouse.
Rooms in which hazardous materials/conditions are present must be kept locked. The rooms must be labeled with appropriate warning signs. Emergency contacts and procedures must also be posted.

Shoes and Clothing

Appropriate footwear is required for greenhouse staff, users, and visitors. No open-toed shoes should be worn in the greenhouse

Nicotine

Smoking/vaping/chewing tobacco is absolutely prohibited in all areas of the LSC PGF. If you use tobacco, wash hands thoroughly before entering the facility to avoid bringing in viruses that may be contained in tobacco.

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

It is the responsibility of the greenhouse user to properly dispose of the plant material in a timely manner after project completion. The module must be returned to its original state when a user terminates occupancy.

PESTICIDE POLICY

All pesticides are to be applied by trained greenhouse personnel only, not by greenhouse users. This includes soaps, oils, etc.
Everyone who works in the greenhouses or growth chambers is required to go through initial and annual Worker Protection Training with the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will also go over the pesticide procedures with new hires during that initial training. If you hire new people, make sure they contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to set up a time to do this 30 minute training. For annual retraining, look for email announcement at the beginning of fall semester for large group trainings to attend
.It is up to you, the user, to keep an eye on your plants and submit a pesticide application request in writing to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator when you notice a problem. The best way to do that is to email the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) with your request and the specific location you are requesting treatment for. Once the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator receives a request, their crew scouts the room to confirm which specific pests are present and she will schedule the initial application. the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator does their best to get the room treated as soon as possible but depending on when she receives your request and the severity of the problems in all the rooms she receives requests for, it may not be sprayed immediately. For example, if you turn in a request at 3:00 on Tuesday it will probably not get treated until Thursday. Pesticides are only sprayed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after 4:30 pm so that you have time to get your work done during the day and the greenhouse will only be locked overnight. Warning signs will be posted on the door for the restricted entry interval during which time, the room will be locked. In the morning, they take down the signs and unlock the door. The green sign stating when and what was sprayed will be posted in the hallway for 30 days so you can go back and look to see what was done in your room. Beyond 30 days, you need to contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator for that information.
After the initial application, greenhouse staff continue to scout the room and do follow-up treatments as needed. As required by most pesticide labels, spray intervals are at a minimum 7-10 days apart.
If you are taking data or something that you have to have access to your greenhouse on certain Tuesday or Thursday evenings, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know so she knows they can’t spray those evenings. If for some reason there are plants that you do not want sprayed, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know that too, however, keep in mind that if the entire room is infested, she cannot get control of the pest if there are infested plants that she can’t spray.
Spray requests are good for 30 days. Usually in that time, with 1-3 sprays, greenhouse staff can get the pest population under control but will continue to scout and monitor that room for those 30 days. If another problem comes up a couple months later, you have to submit a new request.
Keep in mind that you should submit a request when you first notice a problem. If the plants are severely infested, it is much harder to control plus the chances are much greater that the pest can spread to neighboring rooms. On the other hand, if you see one thrips and turn in a request, if the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can’t find the thrips when she scouts, the room will not be sprayed. Most of her pesticides are contact pesticides so it doesn’t do any good to spray if the pest is not actually there. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will scout the room for the next couple of weeks and if she finds thrips she will begin treatments. There are also lots of restrictions on how many times per year that the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can spray certain pesticides so she has to be careful to make sure the pest problem is there before she can spray
Those of you who work in both growth chambers and greenhouses should always go to the growth chambers before you go to the greenhouses and never move plants from the greenhouse to the growth chamber room. It’s very easy to carry pests on plants or yourself from the greenhouses to the chambers. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator also recommends that you do not wear yellow clothing in greenhouses. Whiteflies are very attracted to yellow clothes and will land on you and be moved from one place to another.
The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator's crew can only apply pesticides in the greenhouses and in the growth chamber room in the basement. Any growth chambers located in labs are the responsibility of the lab personnel.
Cleanliness in your greenhouse can help to keep pest populations under control. Any build-up of media or plant debris on benches or on the floor are places that harbor pests. Stacks of pots being stored in the greenhouse can harbor pests. There are brooms in the hallway and the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator has a shop vac and power washer that can be checked out for use by emailing the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. If there is any time that a growth chamber or greenhouse can be emptied out and thoroughly cleaned it will help.
Please also keep in mind that when the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator's crew sprays a greenhouse or growth chamber, complete eradication is nearly impossible. There are just no pesticides that are relatively safe for people to handle that completely kill everything. Because most of them are contact sprays it’s just very hard to hit every tiny pest so they do the best they can to kill as many as possible.

Guidelines for Working in the LSC Potting Room (Rm 104)

The potting room is not a storage room and needs to stay that way if it is to remain functional. This means nothing is to be stored on the floors, tables, and around the sink area. Each lab has been assigned one storage shelf. A step ladder is located in the room to reach high shelves.
Pots and trays are no longer provided. Each lab should order their own potting supplies. The only thing that will be provided is potting media.
There are two large potting media bins in the potting room that will be kept full by the student assistant. One is filled with ProMix and the other is filled with Sunshine Mix. Please scoop out only what you need and log in what you take out in the logbook. Once potting media is removed from the bins, it should NEVER be put back, so only take what you need. NO WET SCOOPS IN THE BINS.Each lab has the option of keeping one 28-gallon gray square brute in the potting room for storage of potting media.
Dirty pots and flats should not be stored anywhere in the potting room (including assigned lab shelves) and will be removed if found.
Lab assistants can wash dirty flats and pots in the sink and dry them on the drying table. Bleach, soap, scrub brushes, paper towels will be stocked for this purpose. The sink area needs to be clear of all pots and flats unless the sink is being used for washing. Dirty pots and flats should not be left in the potting room unattended. Potting media needs to be brushed out of the pots/flats before washing, so the sink does not clog. Nothing should be left around the sink area. Clean and dried flats and pots need to be stacked and removed in a timely manner.
There are two shop vacs mounted on the wall. The hoses are long enough that you should not have to dismount them. One is for “DRY” and one is for “WET” and both are clearly marked. These will be cleaned out regularly by the student assistant. Please use these to clean up your mess. Please remount if dismounted for use and hang the cord up neatly after use.
Brooms and dustpans are also available for cleaning up after you are done. Please put them back where you found them.
A general trash can is available. In addition to general trash, please use this trash can to dispose of any “extra” and/or the small amounts of potting media that are typically spilled mixing soil.
No plants or seeds of any kind in the potting room.
Everything in 104 LSC should stay in 104 LSC. Do not take shop vacs, brooms, and other items from this location.
Please speak up and enforce these rules when working in the potting room.
Contact Dean Bergstrom (bergstromd@missouri.edu) with any questions, problems, complaints.

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC Rm 027)

The common area outside the growth chambers is not a storage room. This means nothing is to be stored on the floors and tables other than items needed for care of plants in the Conviron growth chambers (e.g., watering cans, fertilizer, etc.). Please label all items clearly with the lab name and number.
Dirty pots and flats should not be left anywhere in the common area outside the growth chambers.
Tables in the common area can be used for seed harvesting and transplanting plants. When you are through working, please vacuum the table and floor and wipe down the table. A dry vac is located in the common area for easy clean up of floors and tables. Brooms and dustpans are also available for cleaning up. Water bottles and paper towels are available for wiping down the tables. Please put all items back where you found them.
Two “Plant & Soil” bins are located in the common area for disposal of unwanted plant and soil material. Pointed stakes and other sharp-edged objects should not be put in these bags. Keep the lid on these bins. Only clear autoclave bags should be used in these bins. A box of autoclave bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the inserts in these bins – they are there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, and placed in the designated bin for pick up by the student assistant. Put a new autoclave bag in the bin!
Two “General Trash” bins are located in the common area for disposal of trash. Do not put plant and soil in these bins. Only black trash bags should be used in these bins. A box of black trash bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the inserts in these bins – they are there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, and placed on the floor next to the bin for pick up by the student assistant. Put a new black trash bag in the bin!
Everything in 027 LSC should stay in 027 LSC. Do not take shop vacs, brooms, and other items from this location.
Please speak up and enforce these rules when working in the common area.
Contact Dean Bergstrom (bergstromd@missouri.edu) with any questions, problems, complaints.

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC 5th Floor Greenhouses)

The common area/corridor outside the 5th floor greenhouses is not a storage room. Nothing should be stored in the corridor.
Dirty pots and flats should not be left in the corridor.
A “Plant & Soil” bin is located in each of the greenhouses for disposal of unwanted plant and soil material. Pointed stakes and other sharp-edged objects should not be put in these bins. Keep the lid on this bin. Only clear autoclave bags should be used in this bin. A box of autoclave bags is located in a marked box on the designated shelf next to the autoclave. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, labeled with lab name/greenhouse number and placed next to the autoclave. Put a new autoclave bag in the bin! The student assistant will autoclave and dispose of the waste. Overfilled bags will be returned to the owner for splitting.
A “General Trash” bin is located in each of the greenhouses for disposal of trash. Do not put plants and soil in these bins. Only black trash bags should be used in this bin. A box of black trash bags is located in a marked box on the designated shelf next to the autoclave. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, and placed on the floor outside your greenhouse door for pick up. Put a new black trash bag in the bin!
Everything in the corridor of the 5th floor greenhouses should stay in there. Do not take brooms, pens, autoclave tape, and other items from this location.
Please speak up and enforce these rules when working in the common area.
Contact Dean Bergstrom (bergstromd@missouri.edu) with any questions, problems, complaints.

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC 6th Floor Greenhouses)

The common area outside the 6th floor greenhouses is not a storage room. Anything stored in the corridor needs to be approved by the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator). Please label all items clearly with the lab name and number.
Dirty pots and flats should not be left anywhere in the common area outside the greenhouses.
Tables in the common area can be used for seed harvesting and transplanting plants. When you are through working, please vacuum the table and floor and wipe down the table. A dry vac is located in the common area for easy clean up of floors and tables. Brooms and dustpans are also available for cleaning up. Water bottles and paper towels are available for wiping down the tables. Please put all items back where you found them.
A “Plant & Soil” bin is located in each of the greenhouses and in the common area for disposal of unwanted plant and soil material. Pointed stakes and other sharp-edged objects should not be put in these bags. Keep the lid on this bin. Only clear autoclave bags should be used in this bin. A box of autoclave bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, labeled with lab name/greenhouse number, and placed outside the door of your greenhouse for pick up by the student assistant. Put a new autoclave bag in the bin! Overfilled bags will be returned to the owner for splitting.
- A “General Trash” bin is located in each of the greenhouses and in the common area for disposal of trash. Do not put plants and soil in these bins. Only black trash bags should be used in this bin. A box of black trash bags is located in a marked box on a designated shelf in the common area. Do not remove the insert in the bin – it is there to prevent overfilling of bags which are too heavy to handle by the student assistant. When the bag is filled to the top of the bin it should be removed, tied shut with a tie or some autoclave tape, and placed on the floor next to the bin for pick up. Put a new black trash bag in the bin!
  - Everything in the common area of the 6th floor greenhouses should stay in there. Do not take shop vacs, brooms, and other items from this location.
  - Please speak up and enforce these rules when working in the common area.
  - Contact Dean Bergstrom (bergstromd@missouri.edu) with any questions, problems, complaints.

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Adapted from the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules
Amendment Effective January 24, 2002 Federal Register, November 19, 2001 (66 FR 57970)
http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines/guidelines.html

General Plant Biosafety Levels: The principle purpose of plant containment is to avoid the unintentional transmission of a recombinant DNA-containing plant genome, including nuclear or organelle hereditary material of release or recombinant DNA-derived organisms associated with plants.

The containment principles are based on the recognition that the organisms that are used pose no health threat to humans or higher animals (unless deliberately modified for that purpose), and that the containment conditions minimize the possibility of an unanticipated deleterious effect on organisms and ecosystems outside of the experimental facility, e.g., the inadvertent spread of a serious pathogen from a greenhouse to a local agricultural crop on the unintentional introduction and establishment of an organism in a new ecosystem.

Facilities (BSL1-P)

The term “greenhouse” refers to a structure with walls, a roof, and a floor designed and used principally for growing plants in a controlled and protected environment. The walls and roof are usually constructed of transparent or translucent material to allow passage of sunlight for plant growth.

The term “greenhouse facility” includes the actual greenhouse rooms or compartments for growing plants, including all immediately contiguous hallways and head-house areas, which are considered part of the confinement area.

Physical Containment Levels: Biosafety Level 1 – Plants (BSL1-P)
Standard Practices (BSL1-P)

Greenhouse Access (BSL1-P)
Access to greenhouse shall be limited or restricted, at the discretion of the Bond LSC/Sears PGF Oversight Committee, when experiments are in progress.

Prior to entering the greenhouse, personnel shall be required to read and follow instructions on BSL1-P greenhouse practices and procedures. All procedures shall be performed in accordance with accepted greenhouse practices that are appropriate to the experimental organism.

Records (BSL1-P)
A record shall be kept of experiments currently in progress in the greenhouse facility.

Decontamination and Inactivation (BSL1-P)
Experimental organisms shall be rendered biologically inactive by appropriate methods before disposal outside of the greenhouse facility.

Control of Undesired Species and Motile Microorganism (BSL1-P)
A program shall be implemented to control undesired species (e.g., weed, rodent, or arthropod pests and pathogens) by methods appropriate to the organisms and in accordance with applicable state and Federal laws.

Arthropods and other motile microorganism shall be housed in appropriate cages. If microorganisms (e.g., flying arthropods and nematodes) are released within the greenhouse, precautions shall be taken to minimize escape from the greenhouse facility.

Concurrent Experiments Conducted in the Greenhouse (BSL1-P)
Experiments involving other organisms that require a containment level lower than BSL1-P may be conducted in the greenhouse concurrently with experiments that require BSL1-P containment, provided that all work is conducted in accordance with BSL1-P greenhouse practices.

Biological Containment Practices
Appropriate selection of the following biological containment practices may be used to meet the containment requirements for a given organism. The present list is not exhaustive; there may be other ways of preventing effective dissemination that could possibly lead to the establishment of the organism or its genetic material in the environment resulting in deleterious consequences to manage or natural ecosystems.

Effective dissemination of plants by pollen or seed can be prevented by one or more of the following procedures: (1) cover the reproductive structures to prevent pollen dissemination at flowering and seed dissemination at maturity; (2) remove reproductive structures by employing male-sterile strains, or harvest the plant material prior to the reproductive stage; (3) ensure that experimental plants flower at a time of year when cross-fertile plants are not flowering within the normal pollen dispersal range of the experimental plant; or (4) ensure that cross-fertile plants are not growing within the known pollen dispersal range of the experimental plant.

Training Requirements:

It is the responsibility of the assigned user to ensure that all personnel under their supervision are familiar with these policies. All principle investigators, staff and student workers are required to read this policy and pass a quiz with a score of at least 90% before swipe card access to the facility will be granted. Growth space will be periodically inspected by greenhouse staff, and PI’s (or designated contact) notified of violations. Failure to rectify violations by the given deadline will result in greenhouse staff stepping in to fix the problem at a recharge rate of $50.00 per hour. Continual violations will result in loss of greenhouse/growth chamber space.

All persons using greenhouse or growth chamber space must be Worker Protection Standards trained. Contact the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator to schedule a 30-minute appointment.

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

General Cleanliness - All users of the plant growth facilities are expected to observe good housekeeping rules by returning equipment and unused supplies to proper storage areas and by cooperating in keeping the facilities clean and orderly. Sound sanitation practices are necessary to reduce, if not eliminate, disease and insect problems. Bench tops, floors and drains should be kept clean of plant/soil debris at all times. Brooms/dust pans are provided for daily use. Please contact greenhouse personnel when you wish to use the power washer and they will place it in your greenhouse room. Reminder – any debris cleaned off of these areas must be autoclaved if you are growing transgenic plants in your space. There are brooms/dust pans and shop vacs stationed at several location throughout the facility….use them!
Tools/Containers - Use clean, sterile containers and tools. Avoid putting plant material, containers, or tools on the floor or other "contaminated" surface. The floor is not a desirable work area. All used pots and containers should cleaned/sterilized immediately and returned to assigned storage areas.
Potting Media –
Greenhouse Range A and B and Growth Chambers: Only soilless media is permitted. The use of premixed media is strongly encouraged and all media must be stored in sealed containers or tubs. Take care not to contaminate the sterilized media in tubs. Only use clean scoops, dustpans, and brushes on bench surfaces. Promix BX and Promix plug and germination mix is available on a recharge basis in the NORTH potting room.

To purchase potting media, you will need to fill out the billing log sheet with DATE, PI and Promix USAGE AMOUNT and TYPE when you use this material. Please indicate how many scoops or bales used. For questions about use of the Promix contact the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator. If you plan to use a significant amount of media at once for a large project, please let the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator know the approximate date and amount you’ll be using. If you must use media components such as perlite, vermiculite or turface in your research, only order the amount you will use quickly. There is not room for storage of these media in the potting room and storage of all media is strictly prohibited in greenhouses or growth chambers!

Greenhouse Range C: Both soilless potting media and field soil are permitted in this wing. You must use the SOUTH potting room if using field soil! Promix BX will be stocked in the south potting room and is available on a recharge basis.
If using field soil – there is a steam hook up location available if you wish to use sterilized media. Live field soil will also be permitted in the C wing only. There is also an area for temporary field soil storage outside the South entrance (near C Range).
Hoses - All watering hoses should be stored off the aisle walkways, and breakers/nozzles must be kept off the ground. Do not drink from hoses!
Pests - Report all insect and disease problems to the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator immediately so that their spread can be contained. All requests must be submitted in writing by email to the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator. After the request is submitted, the room will be scouted closely to determine necessary action. If pesticide application is needed, it will be done Tues. or Thurs. evenings after 4:30 pm by trained greenhouse personnel only. A treated greenhouse will be posted and locked until the Restricted Entry Interval is expired. No early entry by greenhouse users is permitted. It is strongly encouraged for you to schedule a 2-4 week period in July that the greenhouse can be emptied, thoroughly cleaned and “cooked” out to help control pests. (See pesticide policy section for more detailed information.)
Storage - Do not use greenhouse space for storage of pots or other supplies. Storage space is assigned based on growth space you are using. Storage space is limited so do NOT order large quantities of supplies! If you have not used it in a few years, throw it out! Storage shelves must be kept neat and clean! Only items intended for use in the East Campus Growth Facility may be stored here. Do not use this facility to store supplies for your lab or field research! All fertilizers and liquid materials must be in secondary containment.
Living material – No plant material, other than seed, should be brought into the East Campus growth chambers, greenhouses or headhouse/potting room without prior approval by the Oversight Committee. Plants should NEVER be moved from any other growth facility to the East Campus facility! Bringing plants into greenhouses/growth chambers from outside and moving plants between spaces only spreads pest problems and is prohibited. Seed material brought in from the field strictly for processing/storage should be taken directly to the drying room or the seed processing room and dealt with promptly. Make sure it is properly bagged to contain any possible insects during transport.
Hazardous Materials - The greenhouse modules and growth chambers in the East Campus facility are considered laboratories. Environmental Health and Safety conducts inspections biannually. No food or drink is allowed inside the greenhouse or growth chamber units. Do not drink from hoses! ALL substances must be stored in a closed container and clearly labeled. This includes, DI wash bottles, fertilizers, etc. Culligan tanks must be secured to the wall.
Potting Room use – Use the potting room for preparing media and filling pots. Seed should be sown in the greenhouse or growth chamber to avoid contaminating the unused promix with stray seed. Clean up all of your things immediately when you are done! The potting tables must be totally clear and clean. Do not put spilled media from the floor back into the unused media container. It may contain unwanted debris, diseases or insects! Any media that has been on the floor must be discarded. Media remaining from pot filling that has been in mixing table can be retained and saved if dry. Do not put media that has been moistened back into the bin! All carts should be vacuumed and cleaned after use.

The sink may be used for washing pots, however, you may not store dirty pots in the potting room for any period of time…you must wash them immediately. Brush any loose dirt out of the pots into the trash can to avoid clogging the drain. If you notice the water draining slowly, the soil trap may be full…contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator or Tracey for cleaning.

Cleaned pots may be stacked on the sink for a short time for drying. As soon as they are dry, they should be moved to the appropriate storage area.
Disposal of unwanted material – Greenhouse rooms are equipped with two trash cans. The grey plastic can (marked General Trash) is for collection of daily general trash (non-transgenic plant trimmings, disposable gloves, paper trash, the occasional dead, non-transgenic plant) and will be emptied twice weekly by greenhouse staff. Currently, MU is not keeping plant material waste separate from general trash so there is no need to separate trash at this point. Do NOT put transgenic material in this can!

**When a non-transgenic experiment is terminated, it is the responsibility of the user to take this unwanted material directly to the dumpsters at the north loading dock. It is recommended that you use a cart to move the plants directly to the dumpster. The trash cans are large and quite heavy when full, so I would not recommend filling it and then trying to dump it.

For transgenic material – the silver metal cans (marked Transgenic Waste) are for disposing of transgenic plant material. Material can be placed directly in the can without bagging. If you have heavy wet media please do not stuff the can so full that it is too heavy to lift. Greenhouse personnel will then collect the full cans, autoclave and dispose of it and put the can back in your room.

Growth Chambers and Seed Processing Rooms: There are a General Trash can and a Transgenic Waste can in both of these areas. Please pull the cans to your chamber or area you are working in, put your unwanted material in and then place the can back in the designated area. Greenhouse personnel will empty these as needed.

Environmental Control

Greenhouse and Growth Chamber environmental control equipment (thermostats, vents, photoperiod shades, time clocks, environmental control system, etc.) shall be operated only by the East Campus PGF Staff. These are not adjustable by the users.
Changes in the environmental conditions in individual greenhouse spaces should be requested by email to the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator. Malfunctions in the environmental control system in greenhouses can be reported to the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator. Changes in the environmental conditions setup for growth chambers should be requested by email to Tracey Mitchell. Malfunctions in growth chambers should be reported to Tracey 1st and then the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator if Tracey cannot be reached.

Maintenance

Any problems with structure or non-dedicated-user equipment should be reported to Tracey or the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator.
Maintenance of plants and equipment dedicated to individual projects is the responsibility of the greenhouse user.
Please be aware that the greenhouse staff, as well as the Campus Facilities employees, must have access to certain areas in your greenhouse for maintenance purposes.
- Exhaust fans. There needs to be at least a 3 ft space between the fan wall and your plants so that Campus Facilities can get to the fans to service them.
- Sumps and evaporative pads. There needs to be a 3 ft space between the pads and your plants and there needs to be at least a 2 ft space between the sump and your plants so the greenhouse staff can get to them for weekly maintenance. Please do not leave anything on top of the sumps. Do not store anything on top of or behind the fin tube heating. This area should NOT be used for drying samples.

Alteration of Facilities

Approval must be obtained from the Greenhouse Oversight Committee before any changes, deletions, or additions are made to the permanent facilities.

Experimental Hazards

The use of hazardous materials, organisms, or systems (e.g., radioactive materials, dangerous non-pesticide chemicals, UV lamps, pollutants, etc.) in greenhouse experiments must be approved by the Greenhouse Oversight Committee. A minimum of two weeks notice is required prior to the use of any such materials or systems in the greenhouse.
Rooms in which hazardous materials/conditions are present must be kept locked. The rooms must be labeled with appropriate warning signs. Emergency contacts and procedures must also be posted.

Shoes and Clothing

Appropriate footwear is required for greenhouse staff, users, and visitors. No open-toed shoes should be worn in the greenhouse.

Nicotine

Smoking/vaping/chewing tobacco is absolutely prohibited in all areas of the East Campus PGF. If you use tobacco, wash hands thoroughly before entering the facility to avoid bringing in viruses that may be contained in tobacco.

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

All pesticides are to be applied by trained greenhouse personnel only, not by greenhouse users. This includes soaps, oils, etc.
Everyone who works in the greenhouses or growth chambers is required to go through initial and then annual Worker Protection Training with the Plant Growth Faciltity. Coordinator. The Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator will also go over the pesticide procedures with new hires as part of this training. If you hire new people, make sure they contact the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator to set up a time to do this 30-minute training. For annual retraining, look for email announcement at the beginning of fall semester for large group trainings to attend.
It is up to you, the user, to keep an eye on your plants and submit a pesticide application request in writing to the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator when you notice a problem. The best way to do that is to email your request and the specific location you are requesting treatment for. Once the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator receives a request, their crew scouts the room to confirm which specific pests are present and she will schedule the initial application. the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator does their best to get the room treated as soon as possible but depending on when she receives your request and the severity of the problems in all the rooms she receives requests for, it may not be sprayed immediately. For example, if you turn in a request at 3:00 on Tuesday it will probably not get treated until Thursday. Pesticides are only sprayed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after 4:30 pm so that you have time to get your work done during the day and the greenhouse will only be locked overnight. Warning signs will be posted on the door for the restricted entry interval during which time, the room will be locked. In the morning, they take down the signs and unlock the door. The green sign stating when and what was sprayed will be posted in the hallway for 30 days so you can go back and look to see what was done in your room. Beyond 30 days, you need to contact the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator for that information.
After the initial application, greenhouse staff continue to scout the room and do follow-up treatments as needed. As required by most pesticide labels, spray intervals are at a minimum 7-10 days apart.
If you are taking data or something that you must have access to your greenhouse on certain Tuesday or Thursday evenings, you need to let the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator know so she knows they can’t spray those evenings. If for some reason there are plants that you do not want sprayed, you need to let the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator know that too, however, keep in mind that if the entire room is infested, she cannot get control of the pest if there are infested plants that she can’t spray.
Spray requests are good for 30 days. Usually in that time, with 1-3 sprays, greenhouse staff can get the pest population under control but will continue to scout and monitor that room for those 30 days. If another problem comes up a couple months later, you must submit a new request.
Keep in mind that you should submit a request when you first notice a problem. If the plants are severely infested, it is much harder to control plus the chances are much greater that the pest can spread to neighboring rooms. On the other hand, if you see one thrips and turn in a request, if the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator can’t find the thrips when she scouts, the room will not be sprayed. Most of their pesticides are contact pesticides so it doesn’t do any good to spray if the pest is not actually there. The Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator will scout the room for the next couple of weeks and if she finds thrips she will begin treatments. There are also lots of restrictions on how many times per year that the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator can spray certain pesticides so she must be careful to make sure the pest problem is there before she can spray.
Those of you who work in both growth chambers and greenhouses should always go to the growth chambers before you go to the greenhouses and never move plants from the greenhouse to the growth chamber room. It’s very easy to carry pests on plants or yourself from the greenhouses to the chambers. If you have plants at multiple facilities do your work at the East Campus facility 1st and then go to the other facilities and do not return to the East Campus facility until after you have showered/changed clothing. The Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator also recommends that you do not wear yellow clothing in greenhouses. Whiteflies are very attracted to yellow clothes and will land on you and be moved from one place to another.
Cleanliness in your greenhouse can help to keep pest populations under control. Any build-up of media or plant debris on benches or on the floor are places that harbor pests. Stacks of pots being stored in the greenhouse can harbor pests. There are brooms and shop vacs, throughout the facility and a power washer that can be checked out for use by emailing the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator or Tracey. If there is any time that a growth chamber or greenhouse can be emptied out, thoroughly cleaned and left vacant of plants for a week or two it will help control pests.
Please also keep in mind that when the Plant Growth Faciltity Coordinator's crew sprays a greenhouse or growth chamber, complete eradication is nearly impossible. There are just no pesticides that are relatively safe for people to handle that completely kill everything. Because most of them are contact sprays it’s just very hard to hit every tiny pest so they do the best they can to kill as many as possible.

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Facilities (BSL1-P)

Physical Containment Levels: Biosafety Level 1 – Plants (BSL1-P)
Standard Practices (BSL1-P)

Greenhouse Access (BSL1-P) Access to greenhouse shall be limited or restricted, at the discretion of the Plant Growth Facility Oversight Committee, when experiments are in progress.

Records (BSL1-P) A record shall be kept of experiments currently in progress in the greenhouse facility.

Decontamination and Inactivation (BSL1-P) Experimental organisms shall be rendered biologically inactive by appropriate methods before disposal outside of the greenhouse facility.

Control of Undesired Species and Motile Microorganism (BSL1-P) A program shall be implemented to control undesired species (e.g., weed, rodent, or arthropod pests and pathogens) by methods appropriate to the organisms and in accordance with applicable state and Federal laws.

Concurrent Experiments Conducted in the Greenhouse (BSL1-P) Experiments involving other organisms that require a containment level lower than BSL1-P may be conducted in the greenhouse concurrently with experiments that require BSL1-P containment, provided that all work is conducted in accordance with BSL1-P greenhouse practices.

Biological Containment Practices

Appropriate selection of the following biological containment practices may be used to meet the containment requirements for a given organism. The present list is not exhaustive; there may be other ways of preventing effective dissemination that could possibly lead to the establishment of the organism or its genetic material in the environment resulting in deleterious consequences to manage or natural ecosystems.

Training Requirements

All persons using greenhouse or growth chamber space must be Worker Protection Standards trained. Contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to schedule a 30-minute appointment.

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

General Cleanliness - All users of the Sears PGF are expected to observe good housekeeping rules by returning equipment and unused supplies to proper storage areas and by cooperating in keeping the facilities clean and orderly. Sound sanitation practices are necessary to reduce, if not eliminate, disease and insect problems. Bench tops, floors and drains should be kept clean of plant/soil debris at all times. Brooms/dust pans and shop vacs are provided for daily use. Please contact the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) when you wish to use the power washer and he will place it in your greenhouse room. Reminder – any debris cleaned off of these areas must be autoclaved if you are growing transgenic plants in your space.
Tools/Containers - Use clean, sterile containers and tools. Avoid putting plant material, containers, or tools on the floor or other "contaminated" surface. The floor is not a desirable work area. All used pots and containers should cleaned/sterilized immediately and returned to assigned storage areas.
Potting Media - No soil will be allowed, only use Promix provided. The use of premixed media is strongly encouraged and all media must be stored in sealed containers or tubs. Take care not to contaminate the sterilized media in tubs. Only use clean scoops, dustpans, and brushes on bench surfaces. Promix is available on a recharge basis in the potting room. You will need to fill out the billing log sheet with DATE, PI and Promix USAGE AMOUNT when you use this material. Please indicate how many scoops or bales used. For questions about use of the Promix contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. If you plan to use a significant amount of media at once for a large project, please let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know the approximate date and amount you’ll be using. If you must use media components such a perlite, vermiculite or turface in your research, only order the amount you will use quickly. There is not room for storage of these media in the potting room and storage of all media is strictly prohibited in greenhouses or growth chambers!
Hoses - All watering hoses should be stored off the aisle walkways, and breakers/nozzles must be kept off the ground. Do not drink from hoses!
Pests - Report all insect and disease problems to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator immediately so that their spread can be contained. All requests must be submitted in writing either by filling out provided form in the greenhouse hallway or by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. After the request is submitted, the room will be scouted closely to determine necessary action. If pesticide application is needed, it will be done Tues. or Thurs. evenings after 4:30 pm by trained greenhouse personnel only. A treated greenhouse will be posted and locked until the Restricted Entry Interval is expired. No early entry by greenhouse users is permitted. It is strongly encouraged for other rooms to schedule a 2-4 week period in July that the greenhouse can be emptied, thoroughly cleaned and “cooked” out to help control pests. (See pesticide policy section for more detailed information.)
Storage - Do not use greenhouse space for storage of pots or other supplies. Storage space downstairs is limited so do NOT order large quantities of supplies! If you have not used it in a few years, throw it out! ALL items on shelves in the potting room must be labeled with the PI name! Storage cages must be kept neat and clean! Only items intended for use in the Sears Plant Growth Facility may be stored here. Do not use this facility to store supplies for your lab or field research!
Living material – No plant material, other than seed, should be brought into the Sears growth chambers, greenhouses or headhouse/potting room without prior approval by the Oversight Committee. Plants should not be moved from the growth chambers to greenhouses or greenhouses to growth chambers. Plants should not be moved from one greenhouse to another. Bringing plants from outside and moving plants between spaces only spreads pest problems and is prohibited. Seed material brought in from the field strictly for processing/storage should be taken directly to the drying room or the seed processing room and dealt with promptly. Make sure it is properly bagged to contain any possible insects during transport.
Hazardous Materials - The greenhouse modules and growth chambers in the Sears PGF are considered laboratories. Environmental Health and Safety conducts inspections biannually. No food or drink is allowed inside the greenhouse or growth chamber units. Do not drink from hoses! ALL substances must be stored in a closed container and clearly labeled. This includes, DI wash bottles, fertilizers, etc. Culligan tanks must be secured to the wall.
Potting Room use – Use the potting room for preparing media and filling pots. Seed should be sown in the greenhouse or growth chamber to avoid contaminating the unused promix with stray seed. Clean up all of your things immediately when you are done!. The potting tables must be totally clear and clean. Do not put spilled media from the floor back into the unused media container. It may contain unwanted debris, diseases or insects! Any media that has been on the floor or work table must be discarded. Media remaining from pot filling that has been in mixing table can be retained and saved. Do not put media that has been moistened back in the storage bin. Only wet up what you know you will use! All carts should be vacuumed and cleaned.
The sink may be used for washing pots, however, you may not store dirty pots in the potting room for any period of time…you must wash them immediately. Brush any loose dirt out of the pots into the trash can to avoid clogging the drain. If you notice the water draining slowly, the soil trap may be full…contact the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) for cleaning.
Cleaned pots may be stacked on the sink for a short time for drying. As soon as they are dry, they should be moved to the appropriate storage area.
Disposal of unwanted material – Greenhouse rooms are equipped with two trash cans on dollies. ONE of these (marked General Trash) is for collection of daily general trash (non-transgenic plant trimmings, disposable gloves, paper trash, the occasional dead, non-transgenic plant) and will be emptied twice weekly by greenhouse staff. Currently, MU is not keeping plant material waste separate from general trash so there is no need to separate trash at this point. Do NOT put transgenic material in this can!

**When a non-transgenic experiment is terminated, it is the responsibility of the user to take this unwanted material directly to the dumpsters at the northeast corner of the building. It is recommended that you use a cart to move the plants directly to the dumpster. The trash cans are large and quite heavy when full, so I would not recommend filling it and then trying to dump it.

For transgenic material – it is the responsibility of the user to properly bag the transgenic material that is unwanted. Greenhouse personnel will then collect the bagged material, autoclave and dispose of it.

Greenhouses:

Gather unwanted transgenic material in autoclave bags. Do not overstuff the bags! Overstuffed bags that are too heavy to handle will be returned to the user for splitting.
Tie the bag shut or secure with a twist tie
Place the tied bag in the trash can marked “Transgenic Only” in your greenhouse
Additional autoclave bags are available in the designated area in the hallway.

Growth Chambers:

Gather unwanted transgenic material in autoclave bags. Do not overstuff the bags! Overstuffed bags that are too heavy to handle will be returned to the user for splitting.
Tie the bag shut or secure with a twist tie
Write your lab name or growth chamber number on the autoclave bag
Place the bag in the designated bin in the growth chamber room
Additional autoclave bags are available in the designated area in the growth chamber room.

Seed Rooms:

Gather unwanted transgenic material in autoclave bags. Do not overstuff the bags!
Tie the bag shut or secure with a twist tie
Place the bag in the designated bin in the seed sorting room.
Additional bags are available in the designated location in the seed sorting room.

(Greenhouse personnel will NOT be handling unwanted material coming from the Plant Transformation Core Facility lab…that remains the responsibility of the lab personnel.)

Environmental Control

Greenhouse environmental control equipment (thermostats, vents, photoperiod shades, time clocks, environmental control system, etc.) shall be operated only by the Sears PGF Staff. These are not adjustable by users.
Changes in the environmental conditions in individual greenhouse spaces should be requested by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Malfunctions in the environmental control system in greenhouses can be reported to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Changes in the environmental conditions setup for growth chambers should be requested by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Malfunctions in growth chambers should be reported to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator.

Maintenance

Any problems with structure or non-dedicated-user equipment should be reported to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator.
Maintenance of plants and equipment dedicated to individual projects is the responsibility of the greenhouse user.
Please be aware that the greenhouse staff, as well as the Campus Facilities employees, must have access to certain areas in your greenhouse for maintenance purposes.
- Exhaust fans. There needs to be at least a 3 ft space between the south wall and your plants so that Campus Facilities can get to the fans to service them.
- Sumps and evaporative pads. There needs to be a 3 ft space between the pads and your plants and there needs to be at least a 2 ft space between the sump and your plants so the greenhouse staff can get to them for weekly maintenance. Please do not leave anything on top of the sumps. Do not store anything on top of or behind the fin tube heating. This area should NOT be used for drying samples.

Alteration of Facilities

Approval must be obtained from the Sears PGF Oversight Committee before any changes, deletions, or additions are made to the permanent facilities.

Experimental Hazards

The use of hazardous materials, organisms, or systems (e.g., radioactive materials, dangerous non-pesticide chemicals, UV lamps, pollutants, etc.) in greenhouse experiments must be approved by the Sears PGF Oversight Committee. A minimum of two weeks notice is required prior to the use of any such materials or systems in the greenhouse.
Rooms in which hazardous materials/conditions are present must be kept locked. The rooms must be labeled with appropriate warning signs. Emergency contacts and procedures must also be posted.

Shoes and Clothing

Appropriate footwear is required for greenhouse staff, users, and visitors. No open-toed shoes should be worn in the greenhouse.

Nicotine

Smoking/vaping/chewing tobacco is absolutely prohibited in all areas of the Sears PGF. If you use tobacco, wash hands thoroughly before entering the facility to avoid bringing in viruses that may be contained in tobacco..

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

All pesticides are to be applied by trained greenhouse personnel only, not by greenhouse users. This includes soaps, oils, etc.
Everyone who works in the greenhouses or growth chambers is required to go through initial and annual Worker Protection Training with the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will also go over the pesticide procedures with new hires during that initial training. If you hire new people, make sure they contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to set up a time to do this 30-minute training. For annual retraining, look for email announcement at the beginning of fall semester for large group trainings to attend.
It is up to you, the user, to keep an eye on your plants and submit a pesticide application request in writing to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator when you notice a problem. The best way to do that is to email the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator with your request and the specific location you are requesting treatment for. Once the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator receives a request, their crew scouts the room to confirm which specific pests are present and she will schedule the initial application. the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator does their best to get the room treated as soon as possible but depending on when she receives your request and the severity of the problems in all the rooms she receives requests for, it may not be sprayed immediately. For example, if you turn in a request at 3:00 on Tuesday it will probably not get treated until Thursday. Pesticides are only sprayed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after 4:30 pm so that you have time to get your work done during the day and the greenhouse will only be locked overnight. Warning signs will be posted on the door for the restricted entry interval during which time, the room will be locked. In the morning, they take down the signs and unlock the door. The green sign stating when and what was sprayed will be posted in the hallway for 30 days so you can go back and look to see what was done in your room. Beyond 30 days, you need to contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator for that information.
After the initial application, greenhouse staff continue to scout the room and do follow-up treatments as needed. As required by most pesticide labels, spray intervals are at a minimum 7-10 days apart.
If you are taking data or something that you must have access to your greenhouse on certain Tuesday or Thursday evenings, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know so she knows they can’t spray those evenings. If for some reason there are plants that you do not want sprayed, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know that too, however, keep in mind that if the entire room is infested, she cannot get control of the pest if there are infested plants that she can’t spray.
Spray requests are good for 30 days. Usually in that time, with 1-3 sprays, greenhouse staff can get the pest population under control but will continue to scout and monitor that room for those 30 days. If another problem comes up a couple months later, you have to submit a new request.
Keep in mind that you should submit a request when you first notice a problem. If the plants are severely infested, it is much harder to control plus the chances are much greater that the pest can spread to neighboring rooms. On the other hand, if you see one thrips and turn in a request, if the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can’t find the thrips when she scouts, the room will not be sprayed. Most of their pesticides are contact pesticides so it doesn’t do any good to spray if the pest is not actually there. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will scout the room for the next couple of weeks and if she finds thrips she will begin treatments. There are also lots of restrictions on how many times per year that the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can spray certain pesticides so she must be careful to make sure the pest problem is there before she can spray.
Those of you who work in both growth chambers and greenhouses should always go to the growth chambers before you go to the greenhouses and never move plants from the greenhouse to the growth chamber room. It’s very easy to carry pests on plants or yourself from the greenhouses to the chambers. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator also recommends that you do not wear yellow clothing in greenhouses. Whiteflies are very attracted to yellow clothes and will land on you and be moved from one place to another.
The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator's crew can only apply pesticides in the greenhouses and in the growth chamber room in the basement. Any growth chambers located in labs are the responsibility of the lab personnel.
Cleanliness in your greenhouse can help to keep pest populations under control. Any build-up of media or plant debris on benches or on the floor are places that harbor pests. Stacks of pots being stored in the greenhouse can harbor pests. There are brooms in the hallway and the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator has a shop vac and power washer that can be checked out for use by emailing the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. If there is any time that a growth chamber or greenhouse can be emptied out and thoroughly cleaned it will help.
Please also keep in mind that when the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator's crew sprays a greenhouse or growth chamber, complete eradication is nearly impossible. There are just no pesticides that are relatively safe for people to handle that completely kill everything. Because most of them are contact sprays it’s just very hard to hit every tiny pest so they do the best they can to kill as many as possible.

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Facilities (BSL1-P)

Physical Containment Levels: Biosafety Level 1 – Plants (BSL1-P)

Standard Practices (BSL1-P)

Greenhouse Access (BSL1-P)
Access to greenhouse shall be limited or restricted, at the discretion of the Bond LSC/Sears PGF Oversight Committee, when experiments are in progress.

Records (BSL1-P)
A record shall be kept of experiments currently in progress in the greenhouse facility.

Decontamination and Inactivation (BSL1-P)
Experimental organisms shall be rendered biologically inactive by appropriate methods before disposal outside of the greenhouse facility.

Training Requirements

It is the responsibility of the assigned user to ensure that all personnel under their supervision are familiar with these policies. All principle investigators, staff and student workers are required to read this policy and pass a quiz with a score of at least 90% before keys will be issued for access to the facility. Growth space will be periodically inspected by greenhouse staff and PI’s (or designated contact) notified of violations. Failure to rectify violations by the given deadline will result in greenhouse staff stepping in to fix the problem at a recharge rate of $25.00 per hour. Continual violations will result in loss of greenhouse space.

All persons using greenhouse or growth chamber space must be Worker Protection Standards trained. Contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to schedule a 30 minute appointment.

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

General Cleanliness - All users of the Ashland Road PGF are expected to observe good housekeeping rules by returning equipment and unused supplies to proper storage areas and by cooperating in keeping the facilities clean and orderly. Sound sanitation practices are necessary to reduce, if not eliminate, disease and insect problems. Bench tops and floors should be kept clean of plant/soil debris at all times. Brooms/dust pans are provided for daily use. Take every precaution to avoid getting potting media or plant debris on the gravel floors. This is the only method of drainage in the greenhouse and if the gravel get’s clogged with debris it will impede drainage.
Tools/Containers - Use clean, sterile containers and tools. Avoid putting plant material, containers, or tools on the floor or other "contaminated" surface. The floor is not a desirable work area. All used pots and containers should cleaned/sterilized immediately and returned to assigned storage areas.
Potting Media - The use of premixed media is strongly encouraged. It is the responsibility of the individual user to obtain their own potting media. Keep in mind storage space is non-existent, therefore all media must be stored in your greenhouse space so only order quantities you will use quickly! You can obtain Promix locally from McConnels Plantland located at the Midway Exit on I-70 phone: 445-5415. Other brands or individual media components can be ordered through Hummerts. (Please give advance notice of a pending delivery to the Ashland Road greenhouses by contacting the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator). All opened bags of media must be stored in sealed containers or tubs. Take care not to contaminate the sterilized media in tubs. Only use clean scoops, dustpans, and brushes on bench surfaces.
Field Soil/Sand: If your research requires field soil or sand, it is highly recommended that you steam sterilize the media before using it. There is a steam wagon you can use at the Ashland Road facility. Contact the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) for directions on how to operate the system. You must sign up to use the steam wagon on the chalkboard in greenhouse 20. A stock pile of standard field soil is available for use at the facility. A soil mixer is also available for use for blending media. Sign up to use the mixer on the chalkboard in greenhouse 20.
Hoses - All watering hoses should be stored off the aisle walkways, and breakers/nozzles must be kept off the ground. Do not drink from hoses!
Pests - Report all insect and disease problems to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator immediately so that their spread can be contained. All requests must be submitted in writing either by filling out provided form in the greenhouse 20 hallway or by email to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. After the request is submitted, the room will be scouted closely to determine necessary action. If pesticide application is needed, it will be done Tues. or Thurs. evenings after 4:30 pm by trained greenhouse personnel only. A treated greenhouse will be posted and locked until the Restricted Entry Interval is expired. No early entry by greenhouse users is permitted. It is strongly encouraged for you to schedule a 2 week period in July that the greenhouse can be emptied, thoroughly cleaned and “cooked” out to help control pests. (See pesticide policy section for more detailed information.)
Storage – There is no central storage space at the Ashland Road PGF therefore storage of media, fertilizers and containers is allowed in your greenhouse room at this facility. HOWEVER, Keep in mind that all items stored need to be clean, organized and not blocking door or isle access. Do not block access to exhaust fans or the cooling pads. Please do NOT order large quantities of supplies! Only items intended for use in the Ashland Road Plant Growth Facility may be stored here. Do not use this facility to store supplies for your lab or field research! Smaller items such as fertilizer and labels should be kept in secondary waterproof tubs. Absolutely no supplies should be stored in the greenhouse hallways!!!! The only items in the hallway should be common use equipment such as trashcans, carts and wheelbarrows. Do not store any supplies outside of the greenhouse facility. Temporary storage of media piles near the soil mixer may be allowed with prior approval from the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. These piles may not remain for longer than 2 weeks and may not block any parking spaces.
Living material – Bringing in live plant material is permitted at this facility, however, please make every effort to confirm that there are no pests on the plants before bringing them in! If you need help scouting something contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. Moving plants between greenhouse spaces is highly discouraged as it will spread pest problems quickly.
Hazardous Materials - The greenhouses in the Ashland Road PGF are considered laboratories. Environmental Health and Safety conducts inspections biannually. No food or drink is allowed inside the greenhouse or growth chamber units. Do not drink from hoses! ALL substances must be stored in a closed container and clearly labeled.This includes, DI wash bottles, fertilizers, etc. Culligan tanks must be secured to the wall.
Potting Table/Sink use – There is one potting table in the hallway of greenhouse 19 that may be used for preparing media and filling pots. Clean up all of your things immediately when you are done so that the table is available for others to use.
There is a sink in the hallway of greenhouse 18 that may be used for washing pots, however, you must get prior permission from the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to use the sink due to the difficulty in cleaning the soil trap. Brush any loose dirt out of the pots into the trash can to avoid clogging the drain. If you notice the water draining slowly, the soil trap may be full…contact the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator) for cleaning. You may not store dirty pots in hallway for any period of time…Cleaned pots may be stacked on the sink for a short time for drying. As soon as they are dry, they should be moved to the appropriate storage area. Please do not use the sink in the hallway of greenhouse 19 or greenhouse 20 for washing pots as there is no soil trap on those sinks!
Disposal of unwanted material –Several trashcans are located in the greenhouse hallways. These are for collection of daily general trash (plant trimmings, disposable gloves, paper trash, the occasional dead plant) and will be emptied twice weekly by greenhouse staff. Currently, MU is not keeping plant material waste separate from general trash so there is no need to separate trash at this point.

When an experiment is terminated, it is the responsibility of the user to take this unwanted material directly to the dumpsters at the south entrance of greenhouse 21. Please do not pile all the hallway cans full!

If you are inoculating plants with insects, pathogens or nematodes you must first autoclave the material before disposing of it!

The autoclave is located in the hallway of greenhouse 21. Please sign up to use the equipment on the chalkboard in the hallway of greenhouse 20.

Autoclaving steps:

Gather material in autoclave bags. Do not overfill – they get heavy!
Tie bag shut and label with your PI name and greenhouse room number
Take to autoclave in greenhouse 21 and immediately autoclave the material
1. Get operation instructions from the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator.
2. Sign your name, date and time on the autoclave log so we know who’s material is in the autoclave at all times
3. If the autoclave is currently in use, plan to come back in a few hours to put your items in.
As soon as cycle has completed, remove your material.
Environmental Health and Safety requires autoclaved bags then be placed inside a black trash bag.
Take immediately to the dumpster
Make sure the bottom of the autoclave and drain screen are cleaned after use

Environmental Control

Greenhouse thermostats and HID light time clocks may be adjusted as needed by the individual users. If you need assistance in this matter, contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator.
A high/lo thermometer is provided in each greenhouse. It is up to the user to read and reset this thermometer if you wish to have that data. Please leave the thermometer facing north near the center of the room at bench height to get accurate readings.

Maintenance

Any problems with structure or non-dedicated-user equipment should be reported to the PGFC (Plant Growth Facility Coordinator).
Maintenance of plants and equipment dedicated to individual projects is the responsibility of the greenhouse user.
Please be aware that the greenhouse staff, as well as the Campus Facilities employees, must have access to certain areas in your greenhouse for maintenance purposes. Please make sure the area near the exhaust fans and the evaporative cooling pads is clear so the greenhouse staff can get to them for weekly maintenance. Do not store anything on top of or behind the fin tube heating. This area should NOT be used for drying samples.

Alteration of Facilities

Approval must be obtained from the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator before any changes, deletions, or additions are made to the permanent facilities.

Experimental Hazards

The use of hazardous materials, organisms, or systems (e.g., radioactive materials, dangerous non-pesticide chemicals, UV lamps, pollutants, etc.) in greenhouse experiments must be approved by the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. A minimum of two weeks notice is required prior to the use of any such materials or systems in the greenhouse.
Rooms in which hazardous materials/conditions are present must be kept locked. The rooms must be labeled with appropriate warning signs. Emergency contacts and procedures must also be posted. Insects must be contained in appropriate cages or tents.

Transgenic Plant Research

All PI’s using transgenic plants in their research must submit an application for approval to the campus Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). IBC will evaluate the containment level designation for the proposed research. Information regarding IBC and plant research can be found at http://ehs.missouri.edu/bio/ibc/ibc-transgenicplants.html
Projects determined by IBC to be exempt under NIH Guidelines may be grown at Ashland Road without any additional containment precautions. NOTE: Although some projects may qualify as exempt from the NIH Guidelines (USDA & FDA approved), all projects that involve the Environmental Release of Transgenic Plants and Seeds must register by completing an IBC Application. Research projects will be assessed by the IBC on an individual basis. PI’s growing commercially released transgenic plants in the greenhouse must still complete the IBC application to confirm the exempt status.
Projects requiring Biosafety level 1 containment may be grown at Ashland Road with additional containment precautions.

All entrances to the facility must remain locked to restrict access of the general public (including room door, main entrance doors and garage doors)
Project information must be submitted to the greenhouse coordinator for posting at the location. This will include primary and secondary contact name and phone number, rDNA number, and a general description of the project in layman’s terms.
PI’s shall keep a record of experiments currently in progress in the greenhouse facility.
Transgenic material must be marked to distinguish it from non-transgenic material. Precautions should be taken to separate transgenic and non-transgenic plants to avoid inadvertent cross pollination.
Procedures that prevent the dissemination of genetic material by pollen or seed should be implemented. Examples include:
- cover or remove flower and seed heads to prevent pollen and seed dispersal
- Harvest plant material prior to sexual maturity
- Use male sterile lines
- Ensure that experimental plants flower at a time of year when cross-fertile plants are not flowering within the normal pollen dispersal range of the experimental plant
- Ensure that cross-fertile plants are not within the pollen dispersal range of the experimental plant.
All transgenic material must be rendered biologically inactive (autoclaved) before disposal.

The PI is ultimately responsible for the research project and for ensuring compliance with biosafety standards.
Projects requiring Biosafety Level 2 or higher cannot be grown at Ashland Road Greenhouse Complex.

Shoes and Clothing

Appropriate footwear is required for greenhouse staff, users, and visitors. No open-toed shoes should be worn in the greenhouse.

Severe Weather Procedures

In case of severe weather, move out of the greenhouse complex to a more stable building on campus to wait out the storm. If you are caught off guard and time is critical, go to the Fire station to the west of the Ashland Road Facility.

Smoking

Smoking is absolutely prohibited in all areas of the Ashland Road PGF. If you use tobacco, wash hands thoroughly before entering the facility to avoid bringing in viruses that may be contained in tobacco.

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

All pesticides are to be applied by trained greenhouse personnel only, not by greenhouse users. This includes soaps, oils, etc.
Everyone who works in the greenhouses or growth chambers is required to go through Worker Protection Training with the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will also go over the pesticide procedures with you then. If you hire new people, make sure they contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator to set up a time to do this training. It only takes about 30 minutes at the most.
It is up to you, the user, to keep an eye on your plants and submit a pesticide application request in writing to the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator when you notice a problem. The best way to do that is to email the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator with your request and the specific location you are requesting treatment for. Once the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator receives a request, her crew scouts the room to confirm which specific pests are present and she will schedule the initial application. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator does her best to get the room treated as soon as possible but depending on when she receives your request and the severity of the problems in all the rooms she receives requests for, it may not be sprayed immediately. For example, if you turn in a request at 3:00 on Tuesday it will probably not get treated until Thursday. Pesticides are only sprayed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after 4:30 pm so that you have time to get your work done during the day and the greenhouse will only be locked overnight. Warning signs will be posted on the door for the restricted entry interval during which time, the room will be locked. In the morning, they take down the signs and unlock the door. The green sign stating when and what was sprayed will be posted in the hallway for 30 days so you can go back and look to see what was done in your room. Beyond 30 days, you need to contact the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator for that information.
After the initial application, they continue to scout the room and do follow-up treatments as needed. As required by most pesticide labels, spray intervals are at a minimum 7-10 days apart.
If you are taking data or something that you have to have access to your greenhouse on certain Tuesday or Thursday evenings, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know so she knows they can’t spray those evenings. If for some reason there are plants that you do not want sprayed, you need to let the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator know that too, however, keep in mind that if the entire room is infested, she cannot get control of the pest if there are infested plants that she can’t spray.
Spray requests are good for 30 days. Usually in that time, with 1-3 sprays, she can get the pest population under control. And they will continue to scout and monitor that room for those 30 days. If another problem comes up a couple months later, you have to submit a new request.
Keep in mind that you should submit a request when you first notice a problem. If the plants are severely infested, it is much harder to control plus the chances are much greater that the pest can spread to neighboring rooms. On the other hand, if you see one thrips and turn in a request, if the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can’t find the thrips when she scouts, the room will not be sprayed. Most of her pesticides are contact pesticides so it doesn’t do any good to spray if the pest is not actually there. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator will scout the room for the next couple of weeks and if she finds thrips she will begin treatments. There are also lots of restrictions on how many times per year that the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator can spray certain pesticides so she has to be careful to make sure the pest problem is there before she can spray.
Those of you who work in both growth chambers and greenhouses should always go to the growth chambers before you go to the greenhouses and never move plants from the greenhouse to the growth chamber room. It’s very easy to carry pests on plants or yourself from the greenhouses to the chambers. The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator also recommends that you do not wear yellow clothing in greenhouses. Whiteflies are very attracted to yellow clothes and will land on you and be moved from one place to another.
The Plant Growth Facility Coordinator's crew can only apply pesticides in the greenhouses and in the growth chambers at the greenhouse facility. Any growth chambers located in labs in other buildings are the responsibility of the lab personnel.
Cleanliness in your greenhouse can help to keep pest populations under control. Any build-up of media or plant debris on benches or on the floor are places that harbor pests. Stacks of pots being stored in the greenhouse can harbor pests. There are brooms in the hallway and the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator has a shop vac and power washer that can be checked out for use by emailing the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator. If there is any time that a growth chamber or greenhouse can be emptied out and thoroughly cleaned it will help.
Please also keep in mind that when the Plant Growth Facility Coordinator's crew sprays a greenhouse or growth chamber, complete eradication is nearly impossible. There are just no pesticides that are relatively safe for people to handle that completely kill everything. Because most of them are contact sprays it’s just very hard to hit every tiny pest so they do the best they can to kill as many as possible.

Training Requirements:

Use of Greenhouse Facilities and Sanitation

Environmental Control

Maintenance

Alteration of Facilities

Experimental Hazards

Shoes and Clothing

Nicotine

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

Guidelines for Working in the LSC Potting Room (Rm 104)

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC Rm 027)

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC 5th Floor Greenhouses)

Guidelines for Common Area Use (LSC 6th Floor Greenhouses)

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Training Requirements:

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

Environmental Control

Maintenance

Alteration of Facilities

Experimental Hazards

Shoes and Clothing

Nicotine

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Facilities (BSL1-P)

Physical Containment Levels: Biosafety Level 1 – Plants (BSL1-P)Standard Practices (BSL1-P)

Training Requirements

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

Environmental Control

Maintenance

Alteration of Facilities

Experimental Hazards

Shoes and Clothing

Nicotine

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FOR RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH INVOLVING PLANTS

Training Requirements

Use of Facilities and Sanitation

Environmental Control

Maintenance

Alteration of Facilities

Experimental Hazards

Transgenic Plant Research

Shoes and Clothing

Severe Weather Procedures

Smoking

Termination of Occupancy after Project Completion

PESTICIDE POLICY

Physical Containment Levels: Biosafety Level 1 – Plants (BSL1-P)
Standard Practices (BSL1-P)