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- Author or Editor: Dewayne Ingram x
Trees were grown for 2 years as a function of three container volumes (10, 27, and 57 liter) the first year and six shifting treatments (10 liter both years, 10 to 27 liter, 10 to 57 liter, 27 liter both years, 27 to 57 liter, or 57 liter both years) the second year when containers were spaced 120 cm on center, Height and caliper were greatest for magnolias grown in 27- or 57-liter containers both years. Caliper was greater for trees shifted from 10-liter containers to the larger container volumes compared to trees grown in 10-liter containers both years, Trees grown in 10-liter containers both years tended to have few roots growing in the outer 4 cm at the eastern, southern, and western exposures in the grow medium, During the second year, high air and growth medium temperatures may have been primary limiting factors to carbon assimilation during June and August. Using large container volumes to increase carbon assimilation and tree growth may be even more important when daily maximum air temperatures are lower during late spring or early fall compared to midsummer.
Growth of Magnolia grandiflora Hort. `St. Mary' (southern magnolia) trees in containers spaced 120 cm on center was studied for 2 years. During the 1st year, trees were grown in container volumes of 10, 27, or 57 liter. At the start of the second growing season, trees were transplanted according to six container shifting treatments [10-liter containers (LC) both years, 10 to 27LC, 10 to 57LC, 27LC both years, 27 to 57LC, or 57LC both years]. The mean maximum temperature at the center location was 4.8 and 6.3C lower for the 57LC than for the 27 and 10LC, respectively. Height and caliper, measured at the end of 2 years, were” greatest for magnolias grown continuously in 27 or 57LC. Caliper was greater for trees shifted from 10LC to the larger containers compared with trees grown in 10LC both years. Trees grown in 10LC both years tended to have fewer roots growing in tbe outer 4 cm of the growing medium at the eastern, southern, and western exposures. During June and August of the 2nd year, high air and growth medium temperatures may have been limiting factors to carbon assimilation. Maintenance of adequate carbon assimilation fluxes and tree growth, when container walls are exposed to solar radiation, may require increasing the container volume. This procedure may be more important when daily maximum air temperatures are lower during late spring or early fall than in midsummer, because low solar angles insolate part of the container surface.
The components for two production systems for young foliage plants in 72-count propagation trays were analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA) procedures. The systems differed by greenhouse type, bench size and arrangement, rainwater capture, and irrigation/fertilization methods. System A was modeled as a gutter-connected, rounded-arch greenhouse without a ridge vent and covered with double-layer polyethylene, and the plants were fertigated through sprinklers on stationary benches. System B was modeled as a more modern gutter-connected, Dutch-style greenhouse using natural ventilation, and moveable, ebb-flood production tables. Inventories of input products, equipment use, and labor were generated from the protocols for those scenarios and a LCA was conducted to determine impacts on the respective greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and the subsequent carbon footprint (CF) of foliage plants at the farm gate. CF is expressed in global warming potential for a 100-year period (GWP) in units of kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (kg CO2e). The GWP of the 72-count trays were calculated as 4.225 and 2.276 kg CO2e with variable costs of $25.251 and $24.857 for trays of foliage plants grown using Systems A and B, respectively. The GWP of most inputs and processes were similar between the two systems. Generally, the more modern greenhouse in System B was more efficient in terms of space use for production, heating and cooling, fertilization, and water use. While overhead costs were not measured, these differences in efficiency would also help to offset any increases in overhead costs per square foot associated with higher-cost, more modern greenhouse facilities. Thus, growers should consider the gains in efficiency and their influences on CF, variable costs (and overhead costs) when making future decisions regarding investment in greenhouse structures.
Three scenarios for production of Buxus microphylla var. japonica [(Mull. Arg.) Rehder & E.H. Wilson] ‘Green Beauty’ marketed in a no. 3 container on the west coast of the United States were modeled based on grower interviews and best management practices. Life cycle inventories (LCIs) of input products, equipment use, and labor were developed from the protocols for those scenarios and a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine impact of individual components on the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and the subsequent carbon footprint (CF) of the product at the nursery gate and in the landscape. CF is expressed in global warming potential (GWP) for a 100-year period in units of kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (kg CO2e). The GWP of the plant from Scenario A (propagation to no. 1 to 3 container) was 2.198 kg CO2e with variable costs of $4.043. Scenario B (propagation to field to no. 3 container) would result in a GWP of 1.717 kg CO2e with variable costs of $2.880 and take a year longer in production than the other two models. The GWP of Scenario C (propagation to no. 1 to no. 2 to no. 3 containers) would be 3.364 kg CO2e with variable costs of $5.733. Containers, transplants/transplanting, irrigation, and fertilization input products and associated activities accounted for the greatest portion of GHG and variable costs in each scenario. Pruning, assembling/load trucks, pesticides, and chlorination were other important components to variable costs of each scenario but had little impact on GWP. Otherwise, the major contributors to GWP are also major contributors to cost.
A model production system for a 15.2-cm poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) in the north Atlantic region of the United States was developed through grower interviews and best management practices and analyzed using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The model system involved direct sticking of unrooted cuttings. The propagation phase was 4 weeks, followed by 9 weeks of irrigation using a boom system and 4 weeks of flood-floor irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), for the plant was calculated as 0.474 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2e), with a variable cost of $1.030. Major contributors to the GWP were the substrate and filling pots, fertilization, the container, irrigation, and overhead electricity. The major contributors to variable costs were the unrooted cuttings and labor to prepare and stick ($0.471). Furthermore, the substrate and filling containers and irrigation were notable contributors. Material inputs accounted for 0.304 kg CO2e, whereas equipment use was estimated to be 0.163 kg CO2e, which comprised 64.2% and 35.8% of total GWP, respectively. Material inputs accounted for $0.665 (64.6%) of variable costs, whereas labor accounted for 19.6% of variable costs for this model. Water use per plant was 77.2 L with boom irrigation for the 9 weeks during production spacing (32.8 plant/m2) and represented 64% of the total water use. LCA was an effective tool for analyzing the components of a model system of greenhouse-grown, flowering, potted plants. Information gained from this study can be used by growers considering system alterations to improve efficiency.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to analyze the production system components of a 20-cm Chrysanthemum grown for the fall market in the north Atlanta region of the United States. The model system consisted of 2 weeks of mist in a greenhouse followed by 9 weeks on an outdoor gravel bed equipped with drip irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), was calculated as 0.555 kg CO2e and the variable costs incurred during the modeled production system (from rooting purchased cuttings to loading the truck for shipment) totaled $0.846. Use of plastics was important in terms of GWP and variable costs with the container contributing 26.7% of the GWP of the product and 12.2% of the variable costs. The substrate accounted for 44.8% of the GWP in this model but only 12.1% of the variable costs. Consumptive water use during misting was determined to be 3.9 L per plant whereas water use during outdoor production was 34.8 L. Because propagation is handled in various ways by Chrysanthemum growers, the potential impact of alternative propagation scenarios on GWP and variable costs, including the purchase of plugs, was also examined.
Understanding carbon footprint (CF) terminology and the science underlying its determination is important to minimizing the negative impacts of new product development and assessing positive or negative cradle-to-grave life-cycle impacts. Life cycle assessment has been used to characterize representative field-grown and container-grown landscape plants. The dominant contributor to the CF and variable costs of field-grown trees is equipment use, or more specifically, the combustion of fossil fuels. Most of that impact is at harvest when heavy equipment is used to dig and move individual trees. Transport of these trees to customers and the subsequent transplant in the landscape are also carbon-intensive activities. Field-grown shrubs are typically dug by hand and have much smaller CFs than trees. Plastics are the major contributor to CF of container-grown plants. Greenhouse heating also can be impactful on the CF of plants depending on the location of the greenhouse or nursery and the length and season(s) of production. Knowing the input products and activities that contribute most toward CF and costs during plant production allows nursery and greenhouse managers to consider protocol modifications that are most impactful on profit potential and environmental impact. Marketers of landscape plants need information about the economic and environmental life-cycle benefits of these products, as they market to environmentally conscious consumers.
A solid-state, electronic controller was designed and built to maintain de“sired root-zone temperatures in specially designed root heating tubes. The controller uses a thermistor feedback mechanism to an operational amplifier circuit. The tubes were constructed from 7.5-cm-diameter metal pipe, electrical heating tape, a rubber coating, and pipe insulation. Each controller can maintain treatment temperatures in 16 tubes; four tubes at each of four temperatures. Temperatures can be maintained from ambient to 50C with a precision at 35 of ± 0.9C within and between tubes.
Short-term effects of root-zone temperatures (RZT) of 28, 33, 38, and 43C for 6 hours daily on container-grown Musa spp. (AAA) `Grande Naine' and Ixora chinensis L. `Maui' were determined under greenhouse and growth room conditions. Diurnal fluctuation of leaf carbon assimilation (LCA) was altered by treatments. In the growth room at 43C, the maximum LCA occurred about midday for banana, but not until afternoon in ixora. LCA was highest (0.53 mg CO2/m2 per sec) in banana with a 33C RZT under greenhouse conditions, while it was equally high (0.74 mg CO2/m2 per sec) at 33 and 38C in a growth room. In ixora, 33C induced the highest LCA (0.40 mg CO2/m2 per sec) in the greenhouse at 1200 hr, but there were no apparent differences in midday LCA between plants with RZT of 28, 33, and 38C in the growth room. Effects of RZT and environment on the daily fluctuations of gaseous exchange processes raise questions about using measurements at only one time during the day to separate treatment effects.
Freezing tolerance and the lethal freezing temperature were determined for detached leaves of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) by either electrolyte leakage or visual appearance of browning. Leaves from field-grown trees of `Gainesville', `Booth8', and `Winter Mexican' in both Gainesville and Homestead, Fla., were evaluated. All cultivars in both locations survived ice formation in their tissue. Leaf tissue had a temperature limit (lethal freeze temperature) at and below which the tissue died. The lethal freezing temperature varied from -5.1 to -9.3C, depending on time of year and location. The lethal freeze temperature for a cultivar decreased over the fall and winter as temperatures decreased. Leaves of `Booth-8' and Winter Mexican' decreased 2.5 and 1.5C, respectively, in Homestead from 13 Nov. 1982 to 5 Feb. 1983. The plants growing at the lower temperature location (Gainesville) had lower lethal freeze temperatures. Leaves of `Gainesville' had a lethal freeze temperature of - 9.3C from trees at Gainesville and - 7.8C from trees at Homestead.