Salt Lake airport greenhouse adds color for holiday travelers
Salt Lake City International Airport sits on about 9,400 acres just west of downtown, and on its massive grounds is a facility located about a five-minute vehicle ride from Terminal 1, through a short underpass beyond a couple of commercial airline hangars away from the main runways.
The nondescript building is a fully operational, climate-controlled greenhouse used to grow the airport’s own holiday poinsettias. The building's property includes 3,000 square feet of interior growing area as well as 3,575 square feet of outside growing area.
“We order plugs — an extremely small plant — put them in soil and grow them up to fully mature plants,” said David Tingey, senior roads and grounds supervisor at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Seedlings arrive in August, he explained, then a three person crew works daily watering them and caring for damaged plants while they are in the terminal area.
"This can be challenging due to the fact that these are live plants and too much or too little water can kill them," he said.
Tingey also happens to be colorblind, and he's unable to see the vibrant hues of the 1,500 poinsettias, which come in a variety of bright colors, including pink, lavender, yellow, white, orange and traditional red.
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