Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 6 of 6 items for
- Author or Editor: Becky R. Hughes* x
Four winter-hardy strawberry selections and three cultivars where planted in northern Ontario in 2003 in a split-split plot trial where half the rows were mulched and half were left uncovered for the winter. Within each split plot, half the rows were sprayed for tarnished plant bugs and half were not. Yield and tarnish plant bug damage data was collected for two picking years. Two selections maintained their yields in the unmulched plots compared to the mulched plots. Yield for one of these selections was higher in the unmulched plots the first picking year and equal to the mulched plots in the second year. The remaining cultivars and selections produced less when not mulched for the winter. Except for the two selections that maintained their yields in the unmulched plots, plots where straw was applied for the winter had less tarnish plant bug damage. When the plots were sprayed for tarnish plant bugs, damage was reduced for most but not all selections and cultivars.
Micropropagation of strawberries is an extremely effective tool to rid strawberry plants of Colletotrichum infections. The continued health of these plants depends on a vigorous sanitation program throughout the nursery system in North America. Propagating healthy strawberry plants requires a series of steps: plants are micropropagated, virus-tested, screened for fungal and bacterial pathogens, and finally grown under strict guidelines for two growing seasons in propagator's fields. In the propagator's fields, the plants are inspected for visual symptoms of diseases and checked for trueness-to-type. This paper reviews the protocols used to develop specific pathogen-tested strawberry plants in Ontario and, where appropriate, discusses alternate techniques.
Abstract
Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. cvs. White Marble and Improved Mefo were rooted and grown in cell paks for 34 days under ambient light plus: photoperiodic incandescent night-break lighting 2μE (m−2s−1); 64 μE m−2s−1 high pressure sodium (HPS) dusk to dawn lighting; or 126 μE m−2s−1 HPS dusk to dawn lighting. Container-grown chrysanthemums were fertilized with either 200 ppm N, 86 ppm P and 166 ppm K or 300 ppm N, 129 ppm P and 249 ppm K with every irrigation. After 34 long days these plants were transplanted into raised beds, immediately given short day conditions, and treated as a normal commercial crop. The container-grown treatments were compared to each other and to a bench-grown control which received a total of 48 long days. Supplemental HPS lighting increased the net assimilation rate (NAR), plant dry weight, and height of ‘White Marble’ chrysanthemums after 4 weeks. Increased fertility increased NAR and dry weight in the supplemental light treatment but not in the ambient light treatment. Results were less obvious for “Improved Mefo’. The container-grown treatments were ready for harvest 14 to 22 days before the controls. In both cultivars the high light-high fertility treatment was superior to the other container-grown treatments. The ‘White Marble’ high light-high fertility treatment produced higher quality chrysanthemums than the control, while the same ‘Improved Mefo’ treatment produced chrysanthemums slightly inferior to the control.
Abstract
Leaflet length and width were used to calculate leaflet area, leaf area and total leaf area per plant for 3-year-old American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius L. grown in growth chambers. On the basis of correlation and regression analyses the product of leaflet length and width (LW) was chosen as the independent variable, but leaflet width squared (W2) also proved satisfactory. Although leaflet shape varied somewhat with position, one regression equation was found suitable. Assuming that the Y-intercept was equal to zero had little effect on the coefficient of determination (R2) or the standard error of estimation so the following equations were chosen to determine leaflet, leaf and total leaf area, respectively: A = 0.66 LW (R2 = 98.92%, ± 0.75 cm2); A = Σ0.67 LW (R2 = 98.36%, ± 2.49 cm2); A = Σ0 .67 LW (R2 = 97.36%, ± 7.83 cm2). The relationship between leaflet LW and total leaf area per plant was used to determine leaf area per plant and LAI for commercial ginseng crops 1, 2, 3, and 4 years old.
Abstract
Supplemental high pressure sodium (HPS) night lighting during propagation increased early growth and rooting of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. cv. White Marble cuttings planted in October, and early growth only in cuttings planted in January. The results depended on the ambient light conditions and the level of supplemental HPS irradiance. Flower quality was enhanced by the supplemental light treatments only in the October plantings. Improving ambient light conditions as the crop developed apparently compensated for poor light conditions during the rooting period of the January planting.
In vitro rooting and subsequent greenhouse survival of `Autumn Britten', `Boyne', `Comet',`Nova' and `Qualicum' raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) plantlets were compared following four weeks on a rooting medium with and without activated charcoal, and with 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0 milligrams per litre IBA. The addition of charcoal significantly increased the percentage of plantlets that produced roots in vitro for the hard-to-root cultivars. Percent rooting in vitro was highest with the three lower levels of IBA. Root number was influenced only by the cultivar, while root diameter and length were affected by all the factors investigated. Greenhouse survival was affected by the cultivar, the presence or absence of charcoal and the IBA level in the in vitro rooting medium, with significant interactions. Provided charcoal was present in the rooting medium, the level of IBA didn`t alter survival. The addition of charcoal to the rooting medium improved greenhouse survival of the three hardest-to-root cultivars. Plug plant stem length; internode length and dry weight were increased by the presence of charcoal in the in vitro rooting medium for all but the easiest to establish cultivar. Chemical names used: 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA).