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Abstract
Sensitive analytical techniques such as gas chromatography or combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, detect not only plant hormones, but chemical contaminants as well. Thorough cleaning of solvents and chromatographic materials used for extracting plants as well as identification of the contaminants present will assist in resolving the contaminants from hormones present in the same extract.
Various rates of Wilthin were applied at full bloom to limbs carrying 150 to 250 flowers to study their activity on blossom thinning of `Loadel' peaches. Wilthin applied at 0.75% and 1.0% significantly reduced fruit set to 29% and 30%, respectively, while the control produced 94%. The effectiveness of the 0.75% rate was dramatic, but it is interesting to note that the 1.0% rate did not lead to excessive thinning nor phytotoxicity on foliage or fruit. More extensive studies need to be done to fully determine the potential of this material. However, these results suggest that further testing of Wilthin on a larger scale is warranted.
Three irrigation treatments (none, drip, and sprinkler) and eight rowcover treatments were evaluated for their capacity to provide freeze protection for strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) in a split-plot factorial field experiment. The period under study included 20 freeze events, two events with minima of -9.5C and -10.0C. With no freeze protection, up to 93% of the flowers were damaged by freezes. Among sprinkler-irrigated plants, an average of only 10% flowers were damaged due to the freezes. Heavy-weight rowcovers (polyethylene blanket and polypropylene, 30 and 50 g·m-2, respectively) protected strawberry flowers as well as sprinkler irrigation to -4.4C. Early yield (December-January) from unprotected plants was negligible. Early yields from plants protected with a 3.2-mm polyethylene blanket or a 50 g·m-2 polypropylene cover were equal to yields obtained with sprinkler-protected plants. Combinations of sprinkler and certain rowcover treatments provided for better fruit production than either treatment alone. Drip irrigation alone provided no protection from freezes. All strawberry plants recovered from freeze damage and total-season yields were similar with all irrigation methods and rowcovers.
As a result of the increasing popularity of fine-leafed zoysiagrasses on golf courses, a 2-year field study was conducted to assess ‘Diamond’ zoysiagrass [Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.] putting green performance at The Cliff’s Communities Turfgrass Research Facility in Marietta, SC. Factors included four nitrogen (N) fertility rates and two trinexapac-ethyl (TE) regimes. Foliar applications of 0, 4.9, 9.8, and 14.7 kg·ha−1 N were made once weekly for 7 and 15 weeks in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Trinexapac-ethyl was tank-mixed and applied weekly for 7 weeks during July to August at 0 or 0.017 kg a.i./ha totaling 0.120 kg a.i./ha for both growing seasons. Putting green performance was measured by assessing turf quality (TQ), ball roll distance (BRD), surface firmness (SF), leaf tissue nutrient concentrations, and thatch accumulation. Turfgrasses receiving 4.9 kg N/ha weekly exhibited acceptable TQ and greater SF and BRD than plots receiving 14.7 kg N/ha weekly on all rating dates in 2010 before seasonal dormancy. Trinexapac-ethyl reduced clipping yield by 15% to 43% and influenced BRD, SF, and tissue nutrient concentration across the 2-year study. Surface firmness decreased as total N input increased during the 2010 growing season and is presumably the result of an increase in leaf tissue causing a cushioned putting surface. Linear regression of thatch accumulation and SF were analyzed and found to be significant at four rating dates in 2010 indicating that as thatch organic matter increased, SF decreased. Nitrogen input for ‘Diamond’ zoysiagrass putting greens grown in the transition zone should begin at 73.5 kg·ha−1/year with supplemental N applications applied as needed.
Abstract
At last year's W-130 Regional Project meeting in Penticton, B.C., Edward L. Proebsting, Jr., chairman of the meeting, requested that we communicate our interest and discussion in the Oct. 1985 Viewpoint article by Lang, Early, Arroyave, Darnell, Martin, and Stutte concerning dormancy terminology (HortScience 20:809–812).
Intensive selection to improve vase life was performed on a sample population of Gerber ×hybrida Hort. from a broad source of germplasm. Progeny of a 5 × 5 diallel cross yielded estimates of narrow sense heritability (h2 = 0.28) and broad sense heritability (H2 = 0.28) for vase life based on a mean of 1.96 measurements per plant. Additive gene action is postulated to control this character since the difference between total genotypic variance and additive genetic variance components was small. Repeatability (r = 0.57) based on a single measurement per plant was moderately high. Heritability estimates were also determined based on 1, 2, 3, 5, and ∞ measurements per plant. Heritability ranged from 22% to 39%.