Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 10 of 10 items for :
- Author or Editor: Ellen T. Paparozzi x
- HortTechnology x
As a floriculturist, when I first decided to grow strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa) in the greenhouse, I thought it would be a snap. After all, I could practice what I preach to my classes in that I would use all the sustainable growing tricks from floriculture, create a production time line and it would be ready, set grow. However, moving a field-grown summer crop into a greenhouse as a winter crop was not the same as moving a winter greenhouse-grown crop outside for the summer. Not only were the plants typically grown in lush field soil, but also the fertilizer recommendations were not directly translatable (i.e., parts per million nitrogen). The pesticides used were not licensed for greenhouses and of course, there were no clues as to schedules of what to do when. Finally, there were the mystery problems that occurred. With high gas prices and the interest in local food production, it seems probable that over the next 5 to 10 years, more and more fruit, vegetables and even nut plants will be moved into greenhouse and high tunnel production. The purpose of this article is to identify the kinds of information needed to make a “smooth” transition from field to greenhouse for alternative crops, like strawberries, grown during nontraditional seasons.
Universities continue to cut budgets and reduce faculty. Such cuts occurred at the Univ. of Nebraska in 1986-87. To ensure that floral design courses would continue to be taught, despite reduction in teaching appointments, an industry-university teaching partnership was proposed. While the teaching relationship started out as a team approach, it successfully evolved into a-strong partnership that permitted growth on the part of the industry instructor, and movement into a strictly supervisory role for the faculty partner. Thus, the overall goal of keeping floral design courses as an integral part of the floriculture curriculum was met without using extensive amounts of faculty time.
Chat rooms and their use in everyday life are becoming increasingly common, and the technology may be a useful tool to link students with experts of a given subject material and each other. In our shared course Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Management, we experimented with using a chat room to link students with experts in the field of plant nutrition. Our main goal was to enhance the learning experience of the students by providing them with access to national and international plant nutrition researchers. Web CT was used to create and conduct the chat rooms and a chat etiquette evolved to prevent crosstalk and control the flow of the discussions. Positive outcomes of the chat room use included exposure of students to the technology and beneficial interaction between students and experts. Negative aspects of chat room use included the time involved to coordinate the overall effort and train experts to use the technology; the slow pace of some chats; effective grading; and the superficial coverage of some topics. We are developing modifications for future sessions to allow subjects to be explored in more depth and to improve networking between students and experts.
`Dark Red Annette Hegg' poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch) were grown in a 1 peat : 1 perlite : 1 vermiculite medium using a pinched production schedule with varying N and S fertilizer application rates. Fifty-six treatments consisting of eight N levels (100 to 275 mg·L−1 in 25-mg·L−1 increments) and seven S levels (0 to 75 mg·L−1 in 12.5-mg·L−1 increments) were supplied. Other required nutrients were supplied at commercial recommendations for all treatments. Foliage of each plant was evaluated quantitatively by chromometer readings every 3 weeks. Marketability was determined by sensory evaluations from commercial producers, retailers, and consumers. Results indicated distinct color differences (hue, chroma, value) between S levels of 0 and 12.5 mg·L−1 and a slight difference between S at 12.5 and 25 mg·L−1. The foliage of plants receiving 0 S was lighter, more vivid, and more yellow-green in color. As N levels increased, there was a linear response; foliage became more green, darker, and more dull. Commerical and consumer evaluators rated plants that received S at 0 or 12.5 mg·L−1 at all N levels and plants receiving N at 100 mg L−1 as unmarketable. This research indicates that `Annette Hegg' poinsettia requires S at a minimum of 25 mg·L−1 and N at a minimum of 125 mg·L−1 for commercial acceptance, and commercial N application rates may be greatly reduced when adequate S is supplied.
We examined all articles in volume 139 and the first issue of volume 140 of the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science (JASHS) for statistical problems. Slightly fewer than half appeared to have problems. This is consistent with what has been found for other biological journals. Problems ranged from inappropriate analyses and statistical procedures to insufficient (or complete lack of) information on how the analyses were performed. A common problem arose from taking many measurements from the same plant, which leads to correlated test results, ignored when declaring significance at P = 0.05 for each test. In this case, experiment-wise error control is lacking. We believe that many of these problems could and should have been caught in the writing or review process; i.e., identifying them did not require an extensive statistics background. This suggests that authors and reviewers have not absorbed nor kept current with many of the statistical basics needed for understanding their own data, for conducting proper statistical analyses, and for communicating their results. For a variety of reasons, graduate training in statistics for horticulture majors appears inadequate; we suggest that researchers in this field actively seek out opportunities to improve and update their statistical knowledge throughout their careers and engage a statistician as a collaborator early when unfamiliar methods are needed to design or analyze a research study. In addition, the ASHS, which publishes three journals, should assist authors, reviewers, and editors by recognizing and supporting the need for continuing education in quantitative literacy.
This universally accessible, Web-based decision case presents the challenge of determining the cause of foliar chlorosis in a crop of dicentra (Dicentra spectabilis) being forced as a cut flower for Valentine's Day sales. The case study serves as a tool to promote the development of diagnostic skills for production dilemmas, including nutritional disorders, disease problems, and evaluation of the appropriateness of cultural practices. Cut dicentra is a minor crop and standard production practices are not well established. Solving this case requires that students research production protocol, as well as nutritional and pest problems, and determine whether they have enough information to recommend a solution. In this case study, a grower at Flint's Flower Farm must determine the cause of foliar chlorosis that is slowly appearing on about half the plants of her cut dicentra crop. The condition could be related to a number of possible problems, including a nutritional disorder, disease infection, or production practices. Resources are provided to aid students in gathering background information. Data accumulated by the grower are presented to allow students to eliminate unlikely solutions logically. The solution, which is unique to this crop, is provided along with detailed objectives and discussion points in teaching notes. This case study is complex in nature and is intended for use with advanced students in upper-level undergraduate courses of floriculture production, nutrient management, and plant pathology who have been previously exposed to the diagnostic process.