How does the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the NAS of Ukraine manage to preserve tropical and subtropical plants in conditions of frost and unstable heat supply? About the daily work of the greenhouses, emergency solutions, and winter challenges was told in an interview by the head of the department of tropical and subtropical plants, Doctor of Biological Sciences Roman Ivannikov.
The greenhouse complex of the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the NAS of Ukraine is completely dependent on the city’s heat supply networks. During periods of emergency heat and electricity outages, employees are forced to respond promptly, combining available technical capabilities with temporary solutions to maintain the minimally acceptable temperature regime.
According to Roman Ivannikov, reserve systems such as generators, heat pumps, and wood stoves are used in the stock greenhouses. At the same time, exhibition greenhouses remain the most vulnerable due to the large volumes of air, as their heating by alternative means is limited.
During the most difficult periods, the temperature in some rooms dropped to zero and even below zero. To reduce the risk of losses, collections were maximally dispersed among different greenhouses, some exhibitions were temporarily conserved, and botanical garden staff took night shifts to monitor the condition of the plants.
The soil-based exhibitions of azaleas and camellias, as well as some tropical fruit crops, suffered the most from the cold. At the same time, specialists emphasize that the impact of low temperatures on many plants is delayed, so the final consequences of this winter can only be assessed in the spring.
Today, the botanical garden preserves one of the largest state collections of tropical and subtropical plants in Ukraine, numbering over four thousand species. Its preservation is not only a matter of maintaining exhibitions but also an important component of scientific, breeding, and educational work, which the institution’s team continues even under conditions of war.