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- Author or Editor: Robert J. Dufault x
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Short productive lifespan is a major problem with asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), whether harvested in the spring or forced in late summer in coastal South Carolina. A modification of the Taiwanese system of mother stalk (MS) culture might enhance asparagus longevity and yield. The objective of this research was to determine if modified MS culture improved plant survival and yields in spring or summer-forced harvests compared with conventional spring clear-cut (CC) harvesting or with nonconventional summer-forced CC harvesting. `Jersey Giant' asparagus was harvested for 3 years (1994-96) using the following harvest systems: 1) spring CC (normal emergence in February in this location); 2) spring MS followed by summer MS (mow fern down on 1 Aug. and establish new mothers); 3) spring MS only; 4) summer CC only (mow fern on 1 Aug. and harvest); and 5) summer MS only. All systems were harvested for ≈7 weeks. All MS plots produced 40 mother stalks per 12-m row length each year before harvesting began. All mother stalks were trellised and tied to prevent lodging. Three-year total yields (kg·ha-1) and stand reduction (%) for nonharvested controls, spring CC harvesting, spring MS culture, spring MS combined with summer MS, summer CC, and summer MS were: 0 and 54%, 1621 and 96%, 779 and 99%, 1949 and 86%, 4001 and 58%, 3945 and 58%, respectively. All spring harvesting systems failed because by midsummer, aged fern, harvest pressures, and, apparently, higher rates of crown respiration reduced crown carbohydrate reserves. Yearly repetition of these stresses ultimately killed the spring-harvested plants. The MS culture did not ameliorate stand loss by significantly increasing carbohydrate reserves. Yields of summer-forced asparagus were consistently acceptable because aged ferns were removed at about the time they apparently became inefficient photosynthetically. After termination of the summer harvest season and with recovery in the following spring, ample carbohydrates were produced well before summer forcing began again in August the following year. Therefore, plant longevity was better sustained by summer forcing than by traditional spring harvesting.
The purpose of this 5-year study was to investigate the effects of different cutting pressures (3, 6, 9, or 12 spears/plant) on aspargus harvested in spring or forced in July or August. `UC 157 F1' seedlings were transplanted in 1987 and clear-cut harvested1 from 1989 to 1993. Forcing plots were not spring-harvested, but allowed to produce fern in spring. Summer spear production was forced by mowing all fern and stalks at ground level on the 1st day of each forcing month. Harvested spears were graded and harvesting ended if either 1) 80% of the plants within each plot reached cutting pressure treatment levels or 2) 30 harvests had elapsed: Yields in 1989 were highest and equivalent for the following: spring-harvested at 9 to 12 spears/plant, July-forced at 12 spears/plant, or August-forced at 9 spears/plant. In 1991, forcing in July at 12 spears/plant yielded more than harvesting in spring or August at all cutting pressures. In 1993, August forcing at 9 to 12 spears/plant produced the highest yields with significantly lower yields from July forcing at all cutting pressures. The 1993 spring yields were very poor due to plant death. Stand losses from 1988 to 1993 were 60%, 40%, and 30% in spring, July and August plots, respectively. Cumulative yields over the 5-year-period were greatest and equivalent for July forcing at 12 spears/plant and August forcing at 9 to 12 spears/plant.
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of cutting pressures on fern and crown growth of spring- and summer-harvested asparagus (Asparagus officinalis). Two-year-old `UC 157 F1' asparagus seedlings, grown outdoors in 57-liter pots, were harvested for the first time in spring (Mar. 1988) or summer (July 1988) at cutting pressures of three, six, nine, or 12 spears/plant. Fern was mowed to encourage spear emergence in summer. Cutting pressures had no effect on spear diameter in either season. Summer harvesting required 52% less time to complete than spring harvesting. Fern of spring-harvested plants lived 63 days longer than fern emerging after summer harvests; cutting pressure had no effect on fern lifespan. By Nov. 1988, crown quality and growth, harvest times, and storage root carbohydrates were similar among all cutting pressures; however, carbohydrate content was higher in summer-harvested than spring-harvested crowns. Crowns were cold-stored during Winter 1988 and planted in the field in Spring 1989. Plants harvested in Summer 1988 produced 21% more fern in Summer 1989 than those harvested in Spring 1988. Fern production in 1989 was similar for all cutting pressures.
Pretransplant nutritional conditioning (PNC) is defined as select fertilization practices used during greenhouse transplant propagation, condition or predispose the seedlings to tolerate and recover from transplant shock in the field and promote earliness. PNC differs from standard greenhouse fertility practices in many ways. Each crop may require a unique, prescribed NPK PNC regime, rather than “one size fits all” approach. PNC regimes are chosen for crops based on long-term yield superiority in the field and not on the visual appeal of transplants to the human eye. Conditioned seedlings are not hardened with nutrient withdrawal. Research has accumulated over recent years providing new insights to PNC. This will be condensed and reviewed to point out the “pros and cons” of PNC. Possible constraints to commercialization and needs for future research will be discussed.
Abstract
‘Utah 52-70R’ celery (Apium graveolens L.) seedlings were fertilized weekly with solutions containing N, P, and Κ to determine the nutrient needs required to produce high quality transplants. As Ν rate increased from 10 to 250 ppm, shoot number, seedling diameter and height, leaf area/seedling, shoot and root dry weight/seedling, and dry weight/shoot increased in 52-day-old seedlings. As P rate increased from 5 to 125 ppm, seedling diameter, height, shoot dry weight/shoot, and leaf area increased, but root dry weight and shoot number were not affected. Nitrogen interacted with P for all growth variables measured. Increasing P rates from 5 to 125 ppm significantly increased shoot number, diameter, height, and shoot and root dry weights only in combination with Ν rates of at least 250 ppm; however, dry weight/shoot, leaf area, and root to shoot dry weight ratios increased with P rates used in conjunction with at least 50 ppm N. Potassium rates from 10 to 250 ppm affected neither the growth variables nor did they interact with P or N. Therefore, to grow high-quality celery transplants, nutrient solutions should contain at least 250N–125P–10K (ppm) if a ver-miculite-peat-perlite medium low in N, P, and Κ is used.
Abstract
‘Southern Comet’ broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. Group Italica) was grown in a NP deficient soilless medium in 15-liter pots for 45 days in a greenhouse averaging 21°C during the growth period. Fertilizer treatments were split-applied and consisted of factorial combinations of 1.9, 3.7, 5.6 g N (total) per pot from urea and 0.07, 0.14, and 0.21 g P (total) per pot from monocalcium phosphate. Potassium from KCl was split-applied at a constant rate of 1.6 g K (total) per pot. Increasing N rate increased head fresh weight, stem diameter, floret total chlorophyll, root and top dry weight (stem, petiole, leaf, and head), plant height, and head quality, and decreased days to heading and to harvest. Increasing P rates increased floret total chlorophyll, height, and root dry weight to a lesser degree than N. For quality broccoli production in the greenhouse, 5.6 g N, 0.21 g P, and 1.6 g K per 15 liter pot were required.
Abstract
‘Utah 52-70R’ celery (Apium graveolens L.) seedlings were grown in a N- and P-deficient soilless medium amended with N and P slow-release fertilizers (Osmocote) in greenhouses maintained at either 21° to 32°C (warm house) or 14° to 24° (cool house). Generally, as N rate increased from 1.25 to 10 g N/kg of medium, plant stands, chlorophyll, shoot number, plant height, leaf area, and shoot and root dry weights increased; but, from 10 to 20 g N/kg of medium, these variables decreased. As P rates increased from 2.5 to 10.0 g·kg−1 of medium, only chlorophyll content decreased linearly. Temperatures in the warm house generally reduced celery growth compared to the cool house. At the experiment's termination, it was determined that as N and P rates increased, media conductivity, nitrate-N, and phosphorus levels increased, but pH decreased. A N rate of 1.25 and 2.5 g P/kg of medium was adequate to produce quality celery transplants in a cool house.
Cantaloupe seedlings may be repeatedly exposed in the field soon after transplanting to temperatures alternating between almost freezing and optimal temperatures. In the first year of a 2-year study, `Athena' cantaloupe seedlings were exposed in walk-in coolers to temperatures cycling from 2 °C for 3, 6, and 9 hours daily to 25 °C for the rest of the 24-h period. Cold stress was repeated for 1, 3, 6, and 9 days before field planting. In the second year, transplants were exposed to 2 °C for 3, 6, and 9 hours for 3, 6, and 9 days before field transplanting. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term effect of early season cold temperature exposure on seedling growth, earliness, yield and quality by simulating the cold/warm alternations possible in the field in coolers. Cold-stressed transplants were planted in the field after all risk of ambient cold stress was negligible. In both years, exposure to cycling cold temperatures generally did not effect total productivity and fruit quality, although seedling growth characteristics were reduced in response to longer cold-stress treatments. In the second year, early yield was reduced by exposure to increasing hours of cold stress, but this was not significant in the first year. Therefore, cold temperature stresses occurring in the field at transplanting have negligible effect on yield potential of `Athena' cantaloupe.
Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Matsum. & Nakai.] seedlings may be repeatedly exposed to temperatures alternating between almost freezing and optimum soon after field transplanting. `Carnival', `Crimson Sweet', `Millionaire' and `Crimson Trio' watermelon transplants were exposed to cold temperature stress at 2 ± 1 °C in a walk-in cooler and then to 29 ± 5 °C in a greenhouse immediately before field planting to simulate temperature alternations that may occur after field transplanting. Cold-stressed transplants were field planted after all risk of ambient cold stress passed. In 1998, transplants were exposed to 2 °C from 9 hours to 54 hours, and in 1999 from 9 to 81 hours. Early yields of all cultivars, except Carnival, significantly decreased with increasing hours of cold stress in both years. Total yields of `Carnival' decreased linearly in both years with a 10% yield reduction occurring from 14 to 15 hours of cold stress. `Crimson Sweet' yields were reduced in 1999 only, with 16 hours of cold stress reducing yield 10%.