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Carrots (Daucus carota L. var sativus) in the midwestern United States are generally raised commercially on sandy-loam or muck soils. Some smaller growers may not have the luxury of an ideal soil type, so raised beds are often recommended to improve taproot growth. To determine specific yield and shape responses of carrots to raised-bed culture in heavy soil, three hybrids (‘Cupar’, ‘Envy’, and ‘Naval’) were grown in 2019 and 2020 on raised or flat beds in clay-loam soil. In addition, two seeding rates (high or low) were incorporated into the split-split plot design. ‘Cupar’ was larger and less misshapen than the other hybrids, but total marketable yields were similar among all three. ‘Naval’ was the most cylindrical. High seeding rate generally resulted in more numerous but smaller marketable roots and no change in total marketable weight. Raised beds caused a 10.6% increase in total marketable weight by allowing more marketable roots classified as “short” (between 76 and 127 mm long, diameter >25 mm) to grow to lengths more than 127 mm long. The average taproot cylindricity was increased and diameter decreased by growing on raised beds. Soil penetration resistance at 7.6 cm was correlated with many of the measured responses.
Shading has been used to produce high-quality lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in locations where production conditions are not optimal for this cool-season crop. To learn what additional benefits shading provides if heat-tolerant cultivars are used and to understand the effects of shading on growth, sensory quality, chemical content, and transcriptome profile on heat-tolerant lettuce, we grew two romaine lettuce cultivars with and without shading using 50% black shadecloth in 2018 and 2019. Shading reduced plant leaf temperatures, lettuce head fresh weights, glucose and total sugars content, and sweetness, but not bitterness, whereas it increased lettuce chlorophyll b content compared with unshaded controls. Transcriptome analyses identified genes predominantly involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis, photosynthesis, and carbohydrate metabolism as upregulated in unshaded controls compared with shaded treatments. For the tested cultivars, which were bred to withstand high growing temperatures, it may be preferable to grow them under unshaded conditions to avoid increased infrastructure costs and obtain lettuce deemed sweeter than if shaded.
A new garden chrysanthemum with a shrub plant habit is released as a descendent of a cross involving two hexaploid species: Chrysanthemum weyrichii (Maxim.) Tzvelv. (female) × C. ×grandiflorum Tzvelv. (male). Chrysanthemum ×hybridum Anderson MN 98-89-7 [U.S. Plant Patent (PP) 14,495] is a vigorously growing shrub chrysanthemum for garden culture, exhibiting extreme hybrid vigor. Single daisy reddish-purple flowers cover the foliage in the fall, numbering >3000 on second-year plants. This selection displays excellent winterhardiness in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Z3b+ (–34.4 to –37.2 °C) as well as frost-tolerant flowers. In its second and subsequent years of growth after planting, MN 98-89-7 grows into a fall flowering (August–October), herbaceous shrub ranging in plant height from 61.0 to 91.4 cm with a diameter of 76.2 to 152.4 cm. Its spherical plant shape is achieved naturally with self-pinching, creating a highly manicured appearance; it also attracts honey bees and butterflies as pollinators. MN 98-89-7 is a vegetative product and this unnamed selection is being released for germplasm purposes as well as for potential licensing and naming.
Mammoth™ ‘Twilight Pink Daisy’ (U.S. Plant Patent 14,455; Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights Certificate No. 4192) is an interspecific garden chrysanthemum cultivar, Chrysanthemum ×hybridum Anderson (= Dendranthema ×hybrida Anderson) with common names of hardy mum, chrysanthemum, and garden mum. It is a new and distinct form of shrub-type garden mums in the Mammoth™ series with rosy-pink ray florets, a dark “eye” color in the center of the disc florets, frost-tolerant flower petals, and self-pinching growth. This cultivar is a butterfly attractant in the garden. Mammoth™ ‘Twilight Pink Daisy’ is a winter-hardy herbaceous perennial in USDA Z3b–Z9 (Southeast)/Zone 10 (West) with its cushion growth form displaying extreme hybrid vigor, increasing in plant height from 0.46 m in its first year to a shrub of 0.76 to 1.22 m in the second year and thereafter with greater than 3000 leaves/plant. Flowering is prolific, covering the entire plant at full flowering with as many as greater than 3500 flowers in the second year. Chemical abbreviations: ethanol (EtOH), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA).