Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 10 of 44 items for
- Author or Editor: Dennis R. Decoteau* x
The Teaching Portfolio is a factual description of a professor's strengths and accomplishments. It includes documents and materials that collectively suggest the scope and quality of a professor's teaching performance. The Teaching Portfolio is a living, breathing document that changes over time. Items in a Teaching Portfolio include a statement of teaching responsibilities, description of steps to improve teaching, instructional innovations, student and teaching evaluations, awards and honors, and a record of students who have succeeded. I will discuss the steps taken at Clemson University to use the Teaching Portfolio.
The influence of leaf removal and decapitation (removal of apical bud and top two nodes) of determinate tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill cv. Mountain Pride) plants on canopy development was investigated. Leaf removal and decapitation influenced subsequent leaf development and distribution, and early fruiting of greenhouse-grown tomato plants. `Removal of young axillary leaves increased the size of main (true) leaves in the middle and upper nodes, increased the number of nodes, and increased the number of early fruit produced. Removal of main leaves reduced axillary leaf development at nodes 5 and 9. Decapitation increased axillary leaf development in the middle and upper nodes and delayed early fruit production. These results suggest that cultural practices of tomatoes that remove leaves or apical buds to influence fruiting also affect canopy leaf development and distribution.
The influence of polyethylene (plastic) mulch surface color (white versus black) on leaf area distribution of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was investigated in simulated planting beds at two sampling periods: an early sampling with relatively young plants that had been in the mulch treatment for 22 days and a late sampling with relatively mature plants that had been in the mulch treatments for 50 days. At the early sampling period, tomato plants grown with white mulch had more axillary leaves than plants in the black mulch, resulting in a greater axillary:main leaf area ratio for the plants with white mulch. Leaf area for total leaves (main + axillary) and plant biomass was unaffected by mulch surface color at the early sampling period. Tomato plants grown in black mulch at the early sampling period had significantly more area of main leaves partitioned to node 3, whereas plants grown in white mulch had more area of main leaves in nodes 8 and 9. Plants grown in the white mulch treatment had significantly more axillary leaf area at nodes 1, 2, and 3, whereas plants in black mulch had more axillary leaf area at node 6. At the later sampling period, most of the leaf area from both mulch treatments was recorded in the axillary leaves and there was no effect of mulch surface color on the amount of total leaf area partitioned to main, axillary, or total leaves; to the amount of biomass of the measured top growth; or to the nodal distribution of leaf area among main leaves or axillary leaves. Tomato plants in white mulch had significantly more fruit on plants at the later sampling period than plants in the black mulch. Mulch surface color also affected the plant light environment and soil temperatures. These results suggest that the polyethylene mulch surface color can induce changes in the plant microclimate and affect leaf area distribution of young tomato plants (as recorded at the early sampling) and fruiting of relatively more mature plants (as recorded at the later sampling).
A one-credit course, Writing in Horticulture, was developed and taught to graduate students in the Dept. of Horticulture at Clemson Univ. The course focused on discussion and explanation of the philosophies and methods of writing in the horticulture field. Discussions included a review of writing mechanics, types of writing and audiences, examples of exemplary writings, editing and reviewing, and examples and methods of professional correspondence. Real-life writing experiences were emphasized. Hands-on activities included writing and reviewing peer manuscripts and grant proposals. Three original written works were completed by the end of the semester: 1) a popular press article, 2) a grant proposal (maximum three pages long), and 3) an abstract for a manuscript published previously in a scientific journal.
Abstract
Demonstrations and evaluations of plastic mulch, trickle irrigation, and row cover effects on vegetable crops are primarily conducted in the field (1, 2). However, field evaluations of these procedures during the summer months are often not available for observation by grower groups that traditionally meet during the winter and spring months, or by students in plant production courses taught during the spring or fall semester. This report describes a plant bed system in a greenhouse that could be used for demonstrating plastic mulch, trickle irrigation, and row cover effects on selected vegetable crops regardless of season.
Southernpea and sweet corn can be intercropped effectively. When simultaneously planted, sweet corn appears to be the dominant crop in the mixture, with intercropped southernpea producing a supplemental yield to intercropped sweet corn. Increasing intercrop plant densities increased the amount of sweet corn yield and reduced the amount of southernpea yield. The reduction in light intercepted by southernpea and sweet corn in the intercrop situation probably contributed to the reduction in yield by these component crops as compared to the yield of these crops as monocrops. The total system LER (LERsouthernpea + LERsweetcorn) for the high-population intercropping system, where plant densities for each crop were comparable to the densities of these crops as monocrops, was 1.26. This suggests that intercropping southernpea and sweet corn at this density gave a yield advantage of 26%, or that 26% more land planted in equal proportion of each component crop would be required to produce the same yield as the intercrop. A N application rate of 125 lb/acre (140 kg·ha-1) was optimum for intercropped sweet corn, and there was no advantage of a 2-week delayed planting of sweet corn in this intercrop system.
The effect of planting density on yield and pod distribution of cayenne pepper (Capsicun annuum var. annuum L. cv. Carolina Cayenne) was investigated in a two year study. In 1988, planting density was adjusted by altering the in-row spacing of single row beds, while in 1989 planting density was adjusted by altering both in-row spacing and number of rows per bed. In-row spacings evaluated in 1988 were 60, 45, 30, and 15 cm, while in-row spacings of 60, 30, and 15 cm in single and double rows were evaluated in 1989. In 1988, pepper plants grown in the highest density (15 cm in-row spacing) produced less fruit per plant, but more fruit per hectare than those grown in lower densities. In 1989, greatest yields per hectare were recorded with either 15 cm in-row spacings with single rows per bed or 30 cm in-row spacings with double rows per bed, In general, greater percentages of fruits were located in the upper part of the plant canopy when planted in higher plant densities.
Similarities exist between the effects of phytochrome and cytokinins on plant growth and development (e.g., chloroplast development, amaranthin synthesis, seed germination). It is unclear, however, if and how these two systems interact. The coaction between phytochrome and cytokinins was investigated by using Nicotiana plumbaginifolia plants transformed with the isopentenyl transferase (ipt) cytokinin gene and treated with end-of-day (EOD) red (R) and far-red (FR) light. The ipt gene was under control of either a constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus promoter (35S-plants) or an inducible, heat shock promoter (HS-plants). When treated with EOD FR light, whole plants were characterized by decreased chlorophyll concentrations and increased fresh weights. When treated with EOD R light, 35S-plants contained high concentrations of zeatin riboside (ZR) compared to plants treated with EOD FR light. When treated with EOD FR light, HS-plants contained high concentrations of ZR compared to plants treated with EOD R light. Both cytokinin responses were photoreversible. The reasons for the differences between the 35S- and HS-plant responses are not known. Results appear to implicate interactions between phytochrome and cytokinins in plant growth and development.
End-of-day (EOD) red (R) or far-red (FR) light treatments were used to study phytochrome-regulated growth and dry matter distribution in 2-week-old watermelon plants. Plants were exposed to low-intensity R or FR light for 15 min at the end of photoperiod for 9 consecutive days. End-of-day FR increased the petiole elongation in the first two leaves, which was accompanied by higher dry matter partitioning to the petioles after 3 days of treatments. However, total plant dry mass (above ground) in FR-treated plants increased significantly after 6 days of treatments. This indicates EOD FR regulated dry matter compensation among plant parts at the early stages of EOD light treatments, allowing plants to better adapt to the environment. Net CO2 assimilation rate in the second leaf of FR-treated plants also increased. Phytochrome involvement in these processes is suggested, since growth and dry matter distribution patterns were reversible when plants were treated with FR immediately followed by R.