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An integrated approach to weed control in nursery containers is crucial if herbicide applications during the growing season are to be reduced. This experiment, conducted in 2002 and 2003 in Urbana, Ill., evaluated rice hulls, leaf-waste pellets, and pine bark as herbicide carriers for the preemergence herbicides oryzalin at 2 lb/acre a.i. and diuron at 1 lb/acre a.i. The efficacy of the treatments in controlling annual weeds and the phytotoxic effects of the treatments on the woody plant species were evaluated in separate completely randomized designs. For the efficacy experiment, no ornamental plants were present and containers were each seeded with a mixture of 1:1:1 (by volume) of annual bluegrass (Poa annua), common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), and shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) immediately after treatment applications. For the phytotoxicity experiment, ‘Goldflame’ spirea (Spiraea japonica), ‘Hetz Midget’ american arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), and ‘Snowmound’ nippon spirea (Spiraea nipponica) were evaluated. No weed seeds were sown in the phytotoxicity containers. Treatments for both experiments included spray applications of herbicides with water or with one of the organic mulches as a carrier or one of the mulches alone. Evaluations were done 45 and 120 days after treatment (DAT) in both years. The organic carriers with herbicide sprays gave efficacy visual ratings equivalent to water as a carrier for both herbicides. Phytotoxicity was not observed in the spirea species in either year. For ‘Hetz Midget’ american arborvitae in 2002, diuron with water had the highest visual phytotoxicity rating. Diuron phytotoxicity on the ‘Hetz Midget’ american arborvitae was alleviated when diuron was applied with any of the three mulches as a carrier. Pine bark treatments increased plant biomass for ‘Goldflame’ spirea in 2003, 45 DAT. At 120 DAT in 2002, pine bark gave increased plant biomass as compared with no organic mulch treatments for ‘Goldflame’ spirea. The study was conducted to ascertain whether the use of organic mulches as carriers could reduce phytotoxic effects of a herbicide on container-grown woody ornamentals, improve crop plant biomass, and act as a herbicide carrier for container-grown woody ornamentals.

Methyl bromide (MB) has been widely used in California cut-flower production for effective control of a broad range of soil pests, including plant pathogens and weeds. However, MB is an ozone-depleting substance, and its availability to growers is limited according to the Montreal Protocol guidelines. Steam has been suggested as a nonchemical option for preplant soil disinfestation. Five trials were conducted in protected greenhouse structure or open-field cut-flower nurseries in Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties to evaluate the effect of steam application, alone or in combination with solarization, on soilborne plant pathogen populations, weed densities, and crop growth. Several steam application methods were used including steam blanket, spike-hose, buried drip irrigation lines, or drain tile, and these varied among trials. Calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) nursery trials initiated in 2007 and 2008 showed that steam alone or with solarization was similar to or more effective than MB:chloropicrin (MBPic), applied via drip lines, in controlling weeds and Verticillium dahliae at 6-inch depth. Trials conducted in Spring and Fall 2009 in an oriental hybrid lily (Lilium sp.) nursery showed that, 112 days after steam treatment (DAT) in the spring, the steam (spike-hose) treatment had fewer Fusarium oxysporum propagules than the MB treatment. Lily plant growth in the steam-treated plots was similar to MB-treated plots and taller than in control plots. In the fall trial, fewer lily plants emerged by 44 DAT in the untreated control than in steam- and MB-treated plots and steam was not as effective as MB in reducing Pythium populations. In the 2010 sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and bupleurum (Bupleurum griffithii) trial, all steam treatments reduced Pythium and Phytophthora cactorum survival compared with the untreated control plots, whereas weed densities were reduced only in the spike-hose steam-treated plots. These trial studies showed that steam appeared as effective as MB in suppressing pathogens and weeds and improving crop growth in cut-flower nurseries. However, additional information on fuel consumption, treatment time efficiency, and long-term effects of steam treatment on soil health are needed before steam can be recommended as a viable alternative to MB in California cut-flower nurseries.

Strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa) are one of the major high-value crops in North America. There is increasing interest in commercial strawberry production for local markets in Virginia and surrounding states, but information on the performance of newer cultivars is extremely limited. We tested 10 commercially available June-bearing cultivars [Benicia, Camarosa, Camino Real, Chandler, Strawberry Festival, Flavorfest, FL Radiance, Treasure, Sweet Charlie, and Winterstar™ (FL 05-107)] and two day-neutral cultivars (Albion and San Andreas) for their spring and summer fruiting capacity in Virginia production systems in a randomized, replicated study, at three on-farm locations. Data were collected on vegetative growth, yield performance, fruit quality, sweetness, and fruit diameter. Cultivars with the highest total yields averaged across all three locations were Benicia, Camino Real, Chandler, and Camarosa. ‘Camino Real’ had the highest marketable yield at all three locations, not significantly different from ‘Chandler’, and ‘Benicia’ and ‘Camarosa’ had the highest marketable yield at two of the three locations. ‘Flavorfest’ and ‘Sweet Charlie’ had the highest total soluble solids concentration for the harvest season. Overall, for all locations, ‘Benicia’ and ‘Camino Real’ had the largest fruit diameter, and ‘Strawberry Festival’ had the smallest fruit diameter.

Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) production practices followed by growers in the United States vary by region. Understanding the challenges, needs, and opportunities in each region is essential to guide research, policy, and marketing strategies for the strawberry industry across the country, and to enable the development of general and region-specific educational and production tools. This review divided the United States into eight distinct geographic regions and an indoor controlled or protected environment production system. Current production systems, markets, cultivars, trends, and future directions for each region are discussed. A common trend across all regions is the increasing use of protected culture strawberry production with both day-neutral and short-day cultivars for season extension to meet consumer demand for year-round availability. All regions experience challenges with pests and obtaining adequate harvest labor. Increasing consumer demand for berries, climate change-induced weather variability, high pesticide use, labor and immigration policies, and land availability impact regional production, thus facilitating the adoption of new technologies such as robotics and network communications to assist with strawberry harvesting in open-field production and production under controlled-environment agriculture and protected culture.