Ornamental container crops in the Pacific Northwest are grown primarily in Douglas fir [ Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco] bark (DFB). Similar to pine ( Pinus taeda L .) bark in the southeast United States, DFB comprises the highest portion
The nursery industry is an expanding sector in agriculture that requires intensive use of water and fertilizer to produce salable crops. Many nursery growers rely on bark-based soilless substrates as the primary component of their growing media
container at 2-cm intervals using simulation models based on moisture characteristic curves of a 3 bark:1 sand (by vol.) substrate. The predicted gradient had a 37% (110 mL) increase in substrate moisture content from the top (32% CC) to bottom (69% CC) of a
. (2001) and Michalak et al. (2015) concluded that P runoff from agricultural operations is a primary contributor to eutrophication in the United States. Substrates used in containerized nursery crop production predominantly comprise pine bark ( Pinus
temperature interferes with phenology comes from the common orchard practice of painting stems to protect them from disease ( Karels and Boonstra, 2003 ; Sheppard et al., 2016 ). White bark is also naturally displayed in species of Betula , Fraxinus , and
Abstract
NO3-N concentrations in 35-year-old ‘Hamlin’ orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) and ‘Marsh’ grapefruit (C. paradisi Macf.) trees on rough lemon (C. limon Burm. f.) rootstock were highest in the feeder roots (212-962 ppm), followed by the leaves (160-300 ppm) and trunk wood (0-304 ppm). Only in 3 of 10 orange trees and in 1 of 10 grapefruit trees was NO3-N detected in the bark. Nitrate-N concentration in the leaves and the wood and the percentage of NO3-N in total N in the wood were higher in orange than in grapefruit trees.
; Lopez and Runkle, 2005 ). Commercial production of Phalaenopsis is usually in a bark-based potting media that allows for good aeration and drainage ( Griesbach, 2002 ). In the home environment, proper irrigation is the largest challenge to maintaining
Surfactants increase wettability of pine bark and may be required in coarse substrates to enhance lateral movement of water and reduce infiltration rate through a container ( Bilderback, 1993 ). Cid-Ballarin et al. (1998) hypothesized that
improving plant growth and reducing labor. Although the primary use of mulches in the horticulture industry is in the landscape, they can serve as herbicide carriers in container production. Oryzalin-treated douglas fir bark increased weed control by a
that covers ≈186,000 ha with over 7000 operations accounting for $4 billion of annual cash receipts ( USDA, 2004 ). The majority (73%) of crops produced by the U.S. nursery industry are grown in containers with inert softwood barks as the substrate