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- Author or Editor: Barbara J. Williams x
- HortScience x
Abstract
Three hundred and one Extension professionals (88.3% response), working in home horticulture educational programs in the United States in 1984, indicated their greatest areas of inservice education needs in program delivery are: 1) increasing expertise in the various subject matter areas, 2) developing skills in plant disorder diagnosis, 3) managing information files for rapid retrieval and dissemination, and 4) developing and implementing innovative programs. Subject matter areas where respondents have the greatest training need are: 1) pest identification and control, 2) diagnosis of plant disorders, 3) weed identification, 4) home fruit production, 5) information on recommended cultivars, and 6) ornamental plant identification. Home vegetable gardening ranked 1st in respondent perception of importance and perception of proficiency needed for job performance.
Abstract
A container growing medium of 2 peat : 1 perlite (v/v) was limed with 0, 0.9, 1.8, 2.7, 3.6, 5.4, 7.2, and 9.0 kg·m–3 dolomite. Media were irrigated with water, providing alkalinity equivalent to 0, 38, and 371 mg·liter–1 CaCO3. Samples were incubated at 25° ± 3°C and pH determined at days 2, 5, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 84. Irrigating with even moderately alkaline water over three months increased pH substantially above levels resulting from dolomite amendments alone.
Fertilizer costs and increased awareness of non-point source pollution run-off amplify the pressures on farm economics. Intensive farming operations provided the impetus for our study using effluent from anaerobic thermophilically digested poultry litter as a potential fertilizer. Five fertilizer treatments were used: unfertilized control, pelletized municipal sludge, commercial crop specific products, 1x digested solids and 2x digested solids. All four applications of fertilizer were equalized for nitrogen based on commercial product recommendations. Beds treated with 2x solids accumulated higher percentage of organic matter over the 5-year period. A statistically significant increase in phosphorus was found in the solids beds in 2003. Beds with 2x solids showed statistical significance for Mg, Zn and Cu. Fertilizer trials included blueberries, tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet corn. Potato fresh weight was not significantly different in 2002 or 2003, but was in 2001. Tomato fruit number was not significantly different in 2001 or 2003, but was in 2002. Tomato fresh weight for 2x solids was not significantly different from the commercial or pelletized sludge treatments in 2002 and 2003 suggesting that tomato may discriminate between treatments. Commercial and pelletized sludge fertilizers were statistically better for sweet corn fresh ear weight and number of ears in 2002 and 2003. Blueberry yields were not significantly different between treatments for any year. As this is a perennial crop, it may be several years before a significant difference is observed. While not a total solution, our research shows the effectiveness of digested poultry litter as part of a nutrient management program; making livestock residuals a nutrient resource which offers the potential for organic use.