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  • Author or Editor: Paul Dean x
  • Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science x
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Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge cv. Paraguayan-22) growing under newly planted peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] trees severely stunted the trees. Neither supplemental fertilizer nor irrigating with two 3.8-liters·hour-1 emitters per tree eliminated tree stunting emitters were controlled by an automatic tensiometer set to maintain 3 kpa at a depth of 0.5 m under a tree in bahiagrass. Preplant fumigation with ethylene dibromide at 100 liters·ha-1 increased tree growth, but not tree survival. Fenamiphos, a nematicide, applied under the trees each spring and fall at a rate of 11 kg-ha -1 had no positive effect on tree survival, tree growth, or nematode populations. Bahiagrass tended to suppress populations of Meloidogyne spp. under the trees., Meloidogyne spp. were the only nematodes present that had mean populations > 65 per 150 cm3 of soil. Leaf concentrations of several elements differed between trees growing in bahiagrass sod and in. bare ground treated with herbicides. Leaf Ca was low for all treatments in spite of a soil pH near 6.5 and adequate soil Ca. The severe stunting of trees grown in bahiagrass, irrespective of the other treatments, demonstrated that bahiagrass should not be grown under newly planted trees. The low populations of parasitic nematodes in bahiagrass showed that bahiagrass has potential as a preplant biological control of nematodes harmful to peach trees. Chemical name used: ethyl 3-methy1-4-(methylthio) phenyl (1-methylethyl) phosphoramidate (fenamiphos).

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Soilless root media have little capacity to retain PO4 or K, and this contributes to leaching of these nutrients during greenhouse crop production. The objective of this research was to evaluate the suitability of precharged alumina as a sole source of PO4 and K during greenhouse production of potted chrysanthemum [Dendranthema ×grandiflora Kitam. (syn. Chrysanthemum ×morifolium Ramat.)]. Phosphate and K adsorption and desorption curves were created at 25 °C for two particle sizes (0.5 to 0.9 and 1.8 to 3.2 mm) of alumina (Al2O3; acid-washed and unwashed), and a medium of 7 peat: 3 perlite (v/v) using solutions of KH2 PO4 (P at 0 to 20,000 mg.L-1). Based on these curves, 1.8 to 3.2 mm, unwashed alumina was selected for use in the studies. Precharged alumina was tested in two greenhouse studies at 10% and 30% (v/v) of a peat-perlite medium used to produce `Sunny Mandalay' chrysanthemum. Phosphate, K, and pH were determined on unaltered root medium solutions collected throughout the 10-week cropping cycle, and foliar analyses were conducted on tissue collected at the middle and end of the cycle. Potassium release was adequate to meet chrysanthemum demand for 4 weeks, but inadequate for the remainder of the production cycle. Precharged alumina retained and released PO4 at sustained concentrations (P at <2 mg·L-1) over the course of a 10-week cropping cycle. Growth of plants receiving PO4 from precharged alumina was not significantly different from the controls receiving liquid fertilizer (P at 46.5 mg·L-1) at each watering when precharged alumina comprised 30% of the medium, and only slightly less when precharged alumina comprised 10% of the medium. A phosphorus budget showed that while 36% (103 mg) of the applied PO4-P was lost in the leachate of the controls, only 0.1% (2 mg) was lost from plants produced with alumina-P. This research demonstrates that in a soilless medium with physical properties similar to standard commercial mixes, low but adequate PO4 concentrations can be achieved and sustained using current production practices.

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Abstract

Symptoms for 7 nutrient deficiencies were established for elatior begonia ‘Schwabenland Red’ (Begonia X hiemalis Fotsch.). These are summarized in the form of a key as follows:

a. Chlorosis is a dominant symptom.

b. Chlorosis interveinal.

c. Interveinal chlorosis on older leaves followed by light tan necrotic spots within chlorotic areas which expand until leaf dies........................................................................................................................Mg

cc. Interveinal chlorosis on younger leaves.....................................................................................................Fe

bb. Chlorosis not interveinal.

c. Lower leaves uniformly yellow then purplish yellow and finally necrotic.................i.....................N

cc. Margins of canopy leaves yellow, then murky green-brown, and finally necrotic; all symptoms spread toward the leaf center......................................................................................................................Ca

aa. Chlorosis not a dominant symptom.

b. Necrosis begins along the margin of lower leaves and progresses inward....................................................K

bb. Plants stunted but normal green..........................................................................................................................P

bbb. Rust color, striations and cracks develop on young leaf petioles and peduncles perpendicular to their axes; internodes shortened and lateral shoots prolific; young leaves brittle crinkled around rust color spots which turn necrotic; chlorosis and necrosis spreading inward from the margin of young leaves...B

Open Access

Abstract

Optimum N and K rates were established for ‘Schwabenland Red’ Rieger begonia for weekly fertilization and for application with each watering. Weekly application of 400 ppm N or more and 150 ppm or less resulted in undesirable plant size reduction regardless of K level; 200 ppm was marginal and 250 and 300 ppm N were best. Weekly applications of 60 to 200 ppm K were best and equal when applied with 250 ppm N while levels of 250 ppm K and greater caused smaller final plant size. The best rates of N for application with each watering were 100 and 150 ppm; 75 ppm and lower and 200 ppm and higher had deleterious effects. K levels from 50 to 125 ppm were best for application with every watering while levels of 150 ppm and greater were undesirable.

Open Access

Abstract

Analysis of deficiency symptoms and foliar analyses of canopy leaves (youngest leaves 5 cm of wider) of Rieger elatior begonias (Begonia X hiemalis Fotsch cv. Schwabenland Red) indicated that the minimum critical levels for K, Mg, and B lie in the ranges of 0.93 to 0.95%, 0.22 to 0.25%, and 13.0 to 14.0 ppm, respectively.

Open Access

The effect of ethylene on tuber sprout growth and quality in potato (Solanum tuberosum L. `Russet Burbank') was tested in laboratory and commercial studies for 6 and 3 years, respectively, in comparison with untreated (laboratory study) and CIPC-treated tubers (laboratory and commercial studies). In both studies, ethylene was applied continuously at 166 μmol·m-3 for at least 25 weeks, beginning in early December (laboratory study) or early December to early January (commercial study). In the laboratory study, ethylene delayed the appearance of sprouts for 5 to 15 weeks, compared with untreated tubers. In the ethylene-treated tubers in both studies, sprouts appeared on many eyes but most of them remained very small (<5 mm long). Longer sprouts (>5 mm) appeared after 15 weeks but did not exceed 12 and 59 mm in the laboratory and commercial studies, respectively. Sprouts on ethylene-treated tubers were more easily detached up to 6 weeks after ethylene treatment ended, compared with untreated tubers. In both studies, ethylene treatment was not associated with decay, disorder or internal sprouting problems. In both studies, the Agtron fry color [or U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) color grade] of ethylene-treated tubers was darker than CIPC-treated tubers at almost all sampling times. Continuous exposure to ethylene was an effective sprout control agent but it produced a darker fry color, compared with CIPC-treated potatoes.

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Gibberellins (GAs) are phytohormones that regulate plant height and flowering time in plants. Plants with reduced GA or disrupted in GA signaling exhibit a dwarf phenotype. DELLA proteins are transcriptional repressors that attenuate GA-mediated promotion of plant growth. Alleles in which the eponymous DELLA motif in these proteins is disrupted result in constitutive repression of GA signaling and a dominantly inherited dwarf phenotype. We found that the dwarf Helianthus annuus (sunflower) cultivar Sunspot is hyposensitive to GA3 as compared with the tall cultivar Mammoth Grey. Sequencing of the HaDella1 gene indicates that ‘Sunspot’ has a single nucleotide polymorphism resulting in a missense mutation in the DELLA motif as compared with ‘Mammoth Grey’ and the reference sequence. Helianthus annuus has five genes encoding DELLA proteins, including HaDella1. We propose that the DELLA motif alteration in the HaDella1 gene results in a dominant mutation in ‘Sunspot’ and is the cause of its dwarf phenotype.

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