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- Author or Editor: Richard J. McAvoy* x
Lilium longiflorum Thunb. cv. Ace grown without plant growth regulators and plants drenched with 0.5 mg a.i. ancymidol per pot following shoot emergence were compared to plants growing in a medium containing uniconazole-impregnated amendments. Uniconazole was applied at rates of 0.18, 0.018, and 0.0018 mg a.i. per pot using either impregnated rockwool (RW) or copolymer acrylamide acrylate (CA). Two other treatment groups received a uniconazole drench at potting (0.018 or 0.0018 mg a.i. per pot). Impregnated CA resulted in undesirably short lilies (i.e., plants <1.5 times the height of the pot) when 0.18 mg uniconazole per pot was incorporated into the medium; effective height control was obtained with CA at 0.018 mg/pot; no height control was observed at 0.0018 mg/pot. Similarly, final height of lilies grown in medium containing uniconazole-impregnated RW decreased as the rate of uniconazole increased. Pre-emergence potting medium drenches with uniconazole (0.018 and 0.0018 mg a.i. per pot) did not significantly affect lily growth and flowering. Ancymidol drench was less effective at retarding stem length and plant height than medium incorporation of 0.18 mg uniconazole. Flowering was not significantly affected by any treatment. Chemical names used: a-cyclopropyl-a-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-5-pyriimidine methanol(ancymidol);B-[(4-cyclophenyl)methyl]-a-(1,1-dimethylethyl)1 H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol(paclobutrazol);(E)-(p-chloro-phenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-1-penten-3-ol(uniconazole).
Root-zone and plant canopy temperatures were continuously monitored as a poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex JSI.) crop was grown in the greenhouse under warm day/cool night [(+) DT-NT] or cool day/warm night [(-) DT-NT] temperature regimes. Day temperatures were imposed from 0900 to 1700 hr. Light levels photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) and outside ambient air temperatures were also monitored. Temperature differences between the root-zone and plant canopy microenvironments were most extreme during the night-to-day and day-to-night temperature transition periods. The temperature difference between the plant canopy and the root zone following temperature transition periods had been previously identified as a critical factor affecting stem elongation. Overall poinsettia height was consistently shorter under the (-) DT-NT than under the (+) DT-NT environment.
`Rose Grenadine' and `Buckaroo' garden chrysanthemums [Dendranthema ×grandiflorum (Ramat.) Kitamura] were produced in 15-cm pots in the greenhouse and fertilized with either 550 or 1000 ml of a 15 mol·m-3 N solution at each irrigation. The nutrient solution applied to half the pots contained a wetting agent (WA), and the remaining pots received no WA. Core samples were removed at 15-cm increments to a depth of 90 cm from the soil beneath the pots. The average leaching fraction (LF) from pots receiving a WA was 0.29 but was 0.26 from pots receiving no WA. However, WA did not affect the leachate NO3-N concentration or the total NO3-N deposited on the soil beneath; these were most influenced by LF. After week 2, NO3-N concentration in the upper 15 cm soil layer was 3.4 times higher with a high LF than with a low LF (30 and 8.8 g·m-3 respectively). At week 10, the NO3-N concentration in the 30 to 45 cm soil layer averaged 71.9 g·m-3 under the high LF and 35.5 g·m-3 under the low LF. Total N and NO3-N in the potting medium was higher in the low LF pots than the high LF pots, while NO3-N was higher in the medium of pots irrigated without WA than with WA. Final plant shoot mass was higher in pots irrigated to a high LF or without WA than in pots irrigated to a low LF or with WA.
Chrysanthemums, cultivars Red Grenadine and Buckaroo, were produced in 15 cm pots in the greenhouse and fertilized with a 210 mg/l N solution at a volume of either 550 ml or 1000 ml. The nutrient solution applied to half the pots contained a wetting agent (AquaGro L), the remaining pots received no wetting agent. Soil core samples were removed, at 15 cm increments to a depth of 90 cm, from the soil profile underlying each treatment group. Leachate samples were collected and the volume and NO3-N content determined. Final and mid-term plant dry weight were determined, and the tissues (leaves and flowers) were analyzed for NO3-N and total nitrogen content. The leachate fraction (LF) from pots receiving a wetting agent (WA) was greater (p<0.05) than from pots receiving no WA (29.1% vs 26.4% respectively). However, WA did not greatly affect the amount of NO3-N in container effluent or the total NO3-N deposited on the soil underlying the crop; these were most influenced by LF. NO3-N content in the upper 15cm soil zone under pots irrigated to a high LF was higher than under the low LF pots after two weeks and by week 10 (end of the study) significant differences were measured in the 30-45 cm soil zone. At final harvest, significant differences in plant dry weight, potting medium NO3-N, and plant total N content were observed in response to both LF and WA treatments.
Poinsettias, Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. cvs Lilo and Diva Starlight, were exposed to either warm day-cool night or cool day-warm night greenhouse temperature regimes. Day time temperatures were imposed between 900 to 1600 HR. Within each temperature regime, poinsettias were grown single stem or pinched and drenched with either 0.04 or 0.08 mg a.i. uniconazole per 1.6 1 pot or grown as untreated controls. Light levels (PAR) and potting medium and plant canopy temperatures were continuously monitored.
Over the course of the study, the day-night temperature differential (DIF), in the plant canopy, averaged 4.2C in the warm day regime and -1.4C in the cool day regime. The average daily temperature was lower (16.9C) in the warm day regime than in the cool day regime (18.7C).
DIF treatment significantly affected final leaf area, leaf and total plant dry weight, leaf area ratio and specific leaf weight, The DIF treatment by cultivar interaction was significant for final poinsettia leaf area, stem, leaf and total plant dry weight, break number and average break length. Uniconazole significantly affected final plant height, stem and total plant dry weight, break number, average break length and specific leaf weight. Uniconazole by DIF treatment effects were not significant,
Silica sprays (Na2SiO3 or SiO2·nH2O) markedly reduced the incidence and severity of bract necrosis (BN) of Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. cv. Supjibi Red compared to plants not sprayed with silica. BN has been associated with low Ca concentrations or high K: Ca ratios in tissues of bract margins. Silica had no effect on Ca or K concentrations in bract margin tissues, and BN was not associated with the macro- or micronutrient composition of bract margin tissues. Sixteen days after initial anthesis, nontreated and deionized-water-sprayed poinsettias developed a higher incidence of BN than did plants sprayed with Na2SiO3 or CaCl2. However, sprays of 3.56, 5.34, and 7.12 mm Na2SiO3 were as effective as 9.98 mm CaCl2 sprays in protecting against BN of `Supjibi Red' and `Angelika White' bracts for up to 30 days after initial anthesis. `Supjibi Red' developed a higher incidence of bract necrosis than did `Angelika White', but both cultivars showed a similar response to the treatments and similar symptoms of necrosis. In both cultivars, initial symptoms appeared as small necrotic lesions on bracts at the looped ends of lateral veins that displayed a closed-vein pattern after the plants reached initial anthesis.
Forty-two poinsettia cultivars were grown as a 15-cm single-plant pinched crop at 21/16.5°C (day/night) temperatures during Fall 1995 with standard commercial practices for irrigating, fertilizing, and pest control. On 7 Dec., 156 consumers rated the cultivars for their overall appeal. On 11 Dec., color coordinate (CIELAB) readings for bracts and leaves were taken with a Minolta 200b colorimeter. The colorimeter was set to illuminate C and has a 8-mm aperture. Bracts and leaves were placed on a white tile background for colorimetric readings. In 1996, a similar evaluation was conducted with 55 poinsettia cultivars. Using the L-value of leaves as a criterion, cultivars were separated into medium green-leafed and dark green-leafed groupings. For bracts among the red types, hue angle values were used to separate cultivars into cool red types (hue angle ≈20–22°) and warm red types (hue angle ≈24–25°). Based on the 1995 study, cultivars within the cool red bracts and dark green foliage group—those that were darker, duller red (lower L and chroma)—were less attractive (lower consumer ratings) than lighter, more-vivid red cultivars. For cultivars within the cool red bracts and medium green foliage group, consumers preferred the darker duller red cultivars. Perhaps dark foliage gives a more pleasing contrast with the more vivid cool reds than does the medium green foliage. In general, consumers rated red cultivars hire than non-red cultivars.
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex. Klotzch) cultivars vary widely in susceptibility to bract necrosis, a disorder that has been associated with localized calcium deficiency. When `Supjibi Red' (SR) poinsettia shoots were grafted on `SR' stocks, a higher incidence of bract necrosis was observed (26.4% of bracts) 28 days after initial anthesis than on corresponding `SR' shoots grafted on `Annette Hegg Dark Red' (AH) stocks (13.8% of bracts). `AH' shoots developed few bract necrosis symptoms, regardless of rootstock. Calcium (Ca) concentrations were higher in whole bracts of `AH' than of `SR', but were unaffected by rootstock. In a second study, `SR' shoots were grafted on a double rootstock of one `AH' and one 'SR' to determine if removing either rootstock, at the start of flower initiation or at anthesis, affected bract necrosis. At 28 days after initial anthesis, `SR' scions on only `AH' roots from the beginning of flower initiation, or on `AH' roots from time of initial anthesis, had less bract necrosis (12.3% and 14.9%, respectively), than `SR' scions grafted on only `SR' roots from the onset of the study (24.2%). At harvest (36 days after anthesis), Ca concentrations in bract margin tissues were highest on `SR' shoots grafted to `SR' roots throughout the study [0.17% of dry mass (DM)], and lowest on shoots grafted to only `AH' from the time of flower initiation (0.15% of DM) or from time of initial anthesis (0.14% of DM). There was no significant correlation between Ca concentrations in bract margin tissue and bract necrosis. A single spray of benzyladenine to bracts, after bract necrosis symptoms first began to appear (at initial anthesis), totally arrested the further development of bract necrosis for up to 34 days. Similar treatment with daminozide increased the incidence of bract necrosis. This evidence suggests a new concept of bract necrosis etiology that includes a role for endogenous hormones. Chemical names used: N,N, dimethylaminosuccinamic acid (daminozide), N 6-benzylaminopurine (benzyladenine).
`Angelika White' poinsettias (Euphoria pulcherrima Willd.ex. Klotzch) were grown hydroponically with modified Hoagland's solution concentrations of 2 or 8 mS·cm-1. The 8-mS·cm–1 rate was imposed by proportionate increases in Ca(NO3)2, KNO3, and MgSO4. Water use, whole plant fresh mass, and pan evaporation were measured gravimetrically twice weekly over a 2-week period beginning 12 Oct. 1995. Poinsettia leaf water loss (g H2O/dm2 of estimated leaf area per day) was 0.30 and 0.22 times pan evaporation (g H2O/dm2 of pan area per day) for the plants in the 2 and 8 mS·cm–1 solutions, respectively (a 25% reduction in water loss for plants in the 8 mS·cm–1 solution), as compared to plants in the 2 mS·cm–1 solution. At initial anthesis, a reciprocal transfer of plants between the 2 and 8 mS·cm–1 solutions was used to investigate the time when plants were sensitive to high soluble salts for bract necrosis. Other plants were maintained throughout the experiment in the 2 and 8 mS·cm–1 solutions. On 15 Jan. 1996, plants were harvested and total lamina surface of leaves and bracts, number of necrotic bracts, and dry mass of leaves, bracts, stems, and roots were recorded. The results indicated that exposure to high soluble salts (8 mS·cm–1) prior to anthesis significantly increased the percent incidence of bract necrosis and decreased root growth. The smaller the root dry mass as a percent of total plant dry mass the greater the incidence of bract necrosis (Y = 0.0972X2 – 3.78X + 38.7, r 2 = 0.69).
Easter lilies, Lilium longiflorum Thumb. cv Nellie White, were grown in a commercial pine bark-based medium (25% by vol.), amended with 0.5 g Acrylamide Acrylate Gel (AAG) per 1.6 liter pot. Lilies were grown in media drenched with ancymidol, at 0, 0.25, 0.375 or 0.5mg a.i.pot-1 following shoot emergence, or grown in media containing ancymidol impregnated AAG at 0, 0.25, 0.375 or 0.5mg a.i.pot-1. AAG applied ancymidol treatments resulted in a significant linear decrease in both lily stem and internode length as the rate of ancymidol increased. Drench applied ancymidol had no affect on stem or internode length. Stem and internode lengths of drench treated lilies were not significantly shorter than lilies not exposed to ancymidol. Bud length, leaf and bud number, and days to anthesis were not affected (P≤0.05) by any treatment. Ancymidol activity in the top, middle and bottom strata of medium filled containers, and in the leachate from these containers, was measured using a lettuce hypocotyl length bioassay. Ancymidol activity was uniformly distributed throughout the bark medium when applied in AAG. With this treatment, 10-15% of the ancymidol activity was detected in the leachate. When ancymidol was applied as a drench, over 95% of the activity was detected in the top two strata, with 70% in the upper most stratum and the rest in the leachate.