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Seaweed extract has been reported to have various beneficial effects on many crops. A study was conducted in 1989 and 1990 to evaluate the effects of Response 9-9-7, a seaweed extract fortified with NPK, on yield of staked tomatoes and cucumbers. Plants were sprayed to the runoff weekly, biweekly, every 3 weeks and every 4 weeks with 1:500, 1:250, 1:150 and 1:125 v/v Response/water respectively. Results indicate that spring tomatoes sprayed with Response 9-9-7 at all rates outyielded the check which was sprayed with plain water. However, the only significant difference was obtained when tomatoes were sprayed with 1:150 Response/water in 1989 and 1:500 in 1990. Response/water at 1:500 rate significantly increased the quality and marketable yield of cucumber in both years. Response 9-9-7 had no effect on yield of tomatoes grown in the summer under heat stress.
Red-fleshed watermelons contain lycopene, a compound that has health functional properties. Watermelon intake may be restricted for individuals who have diabetes or those who limit carbohydrate intake. Recently, a low-sugar watermelon (<6% soluble solids content) was developed using traditional plant breeding techniques. Low-sugar and a commercial variety of watermelon (9% SSC) were washed, cut in half and red flesh was removed and cut into cubes. Low and high levels of artificial sweetener were added to the low-sugar watermelon. Students at a Native American school (grades 1 through 12) and adults at a Native American Feeding Center were asked to rate how much they liked or disliked the watermelon using a seven-point hedonic scale. Lycopene and other carotenoids were analyzed from samples using established methods. Artificially sweetened melons were rated as acceptable as commercial control melons for taste. Lycopene and total carotenoid levels were similar among the treatments. These results show that artificially sweetened low-sugar watermelons were acceptable to Native American consumer groups.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) double-cropped with tomato (Lycoperscum esculentum Mill.) and staked with the double-cropping system needed less than half the man-hours to stake than the standard system. Tomato rods and tomato plants were not removed which could result in further cost reduction. Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethly) glycine] was used to kill all the vegetation at a cost of $45-$50/acre. Double-cropped cucumber produced comparable yields of high quality fruits to cucumber staked by the standard system. The standard system produced more No. 2 fruits resulting in more marketable yield. The 2 systems produced an equal percentage of culls or rots. In-row spacing of 22.5 or 30 cm appeared to be the best choice when cucumber was staked by the double-cropping system. The side of the row where cucumber was planted did not affect the yield significantly. However, planting cucumber on both sides gave the highest yield. It appears that there was enough residual fertilizer left over after tomatoes to produce the cucumber crop.
Abstract
In field experiments conducted during 2 years, substantial yield increases were obtained with vertically trained (staked) cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L.) over vining plants (unstaked). The marketable yield was doubled in some instances, and fruit rot was reduced significantly. More female flowers set and developed into marketable fruits on vertically trained plants than on vining plants. The fresh weight, length, and width of the leaves on the main stem of the staked plants prior to the first harvest were also greater than on unstaked plants. The staked plant fresh weight prior to the first harvest and after the last harvest was significantly greater than that of unstaked plants, but both had the same number of female flowers. Reducing within- row plant spacing from 30 to 15 cm significantly increased yield. Weekly foliar fertilization with 1.5N-0.4P-0.6K (kg·ha−1) for 8 weeks did not increase yield.
Abstract
In the article “Increased Yield in Slicing Cucumbers with Vertical Training of Plants and Reduced Plant Spacing”, by H.Y. Hanna, A.J. Adams, and R.N. Story (HortScience 22:32–34, April 1987), in Table 1, the significance of G8M in 1983 should be at the 5% level by F test. The correct table in printed below.
Landscape plantings have been designed traditionally using aesthetic criteria with minimal consideration given to water requirements. The primary objective of this research was to develop quantitative information on water use of plant communities conventionally used in urban landscapes. Pots of Photinia × Fraseri (photinia Fraseri), Lagerstroemia indica 'Carolina Beauty' (crape myrtle), or Ligustrum japonicum (wax leaf ligustrum) were transplanted from 3.8 l into 75.7 l pots with either Stenotaphrum secundatum 'Texas Common' (St. Augustinegrass), Cynodon dactylon × C. transvallensis 'Tiffway' (bermudagrass), Trachelospermum asiaticum (Asiatic jasmine), or left with bare soil. Whole community water use was measured gravimetrically. In addition, sap flow rates were recorded for shrub species with stem flow gauges. Sap flow measurements were correlated to whole community water use recorded during the same time intervals. Whole community water use differed due to the groundcover component; bermudagrass, Asiatic jasmine, and bare soil communities used less water than St. Augustinegrass communities. Differences were also noted in stomatal conductance and leaf water potential among the species.
Abstract
A computer system consisting of several programs and files, developed for management of information generated in all phases of a dry, edible bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) breeding program, is described. The interactive system both produces field books and prints labels for field stakes and planting and harvesting bags.
Vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum consisting of a mixture of roots of coast redwood [Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don)], soil, and spores of Glomus mosseae (Nicol. and Gerd.) Gerdemann and Trappe was tested for viability and efficacy following storage for 4 or 8 weeks at 4, 9, 15, or 24C and moisture contents of 0%, 6%, 12%, or 17%. Storage regimes did not have any effect on the number of spores of Glomus mosseae recovered after storage. However, germinability of the spores decreased from 35% before storage to 10% to 31% during storage, especially under typical ambient room conditions (17% moisture at 24C). Maximum colonization of coast redwood, sierra redwood [Sequoiadendrom giganteum (Lindl.) Buchh.], and incense cedar (Libocedrous decurrens Torr.) was achieved after inoculation with 1 inoculum: 1 potting mix dilution (w/w). However, plant fresh weight was highest following inoculation with a 1 inoculum: 5 potting mix dilution (w/w). Dried inoculum was effective when stored at 24C, or below 10C when moist.