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The nursery industry in Florida relies entirely on peat as a major component in potting soil. Escalating peat costs are a major concern, so alternative media are attractive in Florida. The objectives of the project were to study the feasibility of using food waste compost (FWC) to replace peat in different annual ornamental crops. The experiments were conducted in Spring 2004 at the University of Florida/SWFREC Immokalee, Fla. The crops basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), marigold (Calendulaofficinalis L.), and periwinkle (Vincarosea L.) were grown in mixes of FWC. The treatments were: 1) 100% FWC; 2) 60% FWC, 25% vermiculite, 15% perlite; 3) 30% FWC, 30% peat, 25% vermiculite, 15% perlite; and 4) 0% FWC, 60% peat, 25% vermiculite, 15% perlite, by volume. Basil `U.H' was direct seeded; marigold and periwinkle were transplanted (5 cm tall) in pots (2 inches). All treatments received 4 g per pot of Osmocote (19-6-12) for 4 months. Percentage of basil germination and biomass were higher in mixes with 60% and 30% FWC as compared with 100% FWC and the control. Lower basil biomass in the control media was due to high weed biomass grown in the peat control media. There were no differences in biomass and number of flowers per plant among marigold treatments. But, periwinkle dry biomass and number of flowers per plant were higher in the control and 30% FWC than in 60% and 100% FWC, indicating a negative effect of FWC in periwinkle. It can be concluded that FWC may become a viable alternative to replace peat in basil and marigold when included in potting mixes between 30% and 60% by volume, but a negative effect was reported in periwinkle production.
Many agronomic and horticultural studies on nutrient uptake and use-efficiency have indicated, in general, that agricultural crops are poor competitors for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in soil-based systems, with estimates of overall nutrient efficiency being less than 50% for N and 10% for P. Low efficiencies are due to losses from leaching, runoff, gaseous emissions and soil fixation, but uptake efficiency is also affected by rate and timing (i.e. seasonal effects) of applications. Controlled-release fertilizers (CRF's) have been promoted as a technology that can slowly release nutrients; the release rate is most often a function of prill coating and temperature. There are few data in the ornamental literature that have directly compared the total uptake efficiency of CRF's to soluble fertilizer sources. From 1999-2002, we collected three annual N and P budgetary datasets, comparing two species (Rhododendron cv. azalea and Ilex cornuta cv.`China Girl') with different growth rates and hence nutrient requirements. Plant N and P uptake efficiencies were usually less than 20% of the total applied, but all datasets included a significant soluble fertilization component. In 2003, a new study with Ilex cornuta cv.`China Girl' was initiated, where nutrients were supplied only from two CRF sources, as we want to determine whether this technology can significantly increase nutrient uptake efficiency at similar rates. A preliminary analysis of the data indicate that total N and P uptake efficiencies between different CRF sources were similar, but leaching losses between sources varied during the growing season. It appears that the primary determinant of uptake efficiency is not source material or timing, but the overall rate of nutrient application.
Commercially acceptable growth rates of woody ornamental nursery stock can be achieved using managed allowed deficits, i.e., deficit irrigations, of 20% to 40% plant-available water (PAW) before initiating irrigation ( Beeson, 2006 ; Welsh and
racemosa L. Moench (Liliaceae/Ruscaceae/Asparagaceae family), commonly called Alexandrian laurel or poet’s laurel, the single species in the genus Dana e. Alexandrian laurel is a perennial evergreen shrub. Grown as ornamental plants, this species has a
The genus Primula L. comprises ≈500 species mainly native to temperate and mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere, whereas 300 of them are distributed in China ( Hu and Kelso, 1996 ). Many species of Primula are ideal ornamental plants
Abstract
Foliage of 57 species of tropical ornamental plants was harvested and placed under a controlled indoor environment to determine its postharvest life. Foliage was placed in deionized water, pulsed for 4 hr with 2 mm silver thiosulfate, and then transferred to deionized water, pulsed for 4 hr with 800 mg·liter-1 8-hydroxyquinoline citrate (8-HQC) and 20 g·liter-1 sucrose and then transferred to deionized water, or held in 200 mg·liter-1, 8-HQC and 20 g·liter-1 sucrose for the duration of the experiment. Foliage of 40 species lasted longer than 20 days and 28 species lasted 30 days or more in deionized water alone. Pulsing or holding foliage in preservative solutions lengthened postharvest life over that in deionized water for 12 species, but deionized water alone was as good as or better than other solutions for 46 species.
Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are commonly used for ornamental plant production ( Whipker, 2013 ). Among PGRs, triazoles are one of the most popular and effective chemicals for compact ornamental plant production ( Arnold, 1998 ; Jiao et al., 1986
Abstract
Viterra hydrogel at rates of 0, 1.75, or 2.50 kg·m−3 was tested for the production of three tropical ornamental plant species in two or all of the three media. These were a commercial peat-lite medium (SUN), a medium consisting of equal volumes of peatmoss, bark, and sand (PBS), and a mix containing equal volumes of peatmoss and bark (PB). Codiaeum was grown in SUN and PBS, Dieffenbachia was produced in all three media, and Hibiscus was planted in SUN and PB. Codiaeum variegatum (L.) Blume ‘Norma’ and Dieffenbachia ‘Camille’ grew more and required a longer time to reach initial wilting when grown in SUN than PBS. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. ‘Brilliant Red’ had similar growth in SUN and PB. In general, hydrogel had no beneficial effect on plant growth in a greenhouse. Hydrogel extended the time required to reach initial wilting of C. variegatum by 3 days (from 24 to 27 days), but had no effect on Dieffenbachia. Leachate from PBS had higher pH and lower electrical conductance (EC) than that from SUN. Hydrogel had no effect on leachate pH, but decreased EC of the leachate for C. variegatum used at the 2.5 kg·m−3 rate and for H. rosa-sinensis at both rates.
The New Crop Program at the Univ. of Georgia has introduced about a dozen crops new to the floriculture and ornamental plant industry. None of the selections arose from controlled crosses or traditional plant breeding, but were due to discovery, natural plant mutation, and plant donations from interested individuals. All successful introductions benefitted from feedback from the industry, evaluation, research, and promotion of the taxa. No marketing was done by the university. Less than 10% of plants trialed were introduced to the industry, and not all introductions were equally satisfactory. The keys to new crop introduction are feedback from the industry, an industry willing to experiment with new material and to be as highly selective as possible in choosing the crops to be introduced. The disadvantages and benefits of establishing a New Crop Program will be discussed.
. Garden managers are left with unsightly patches of dead plants or bare soil. Identifying ornamental plants with resistance to white mold would allow growers to avoid disease problems in beds known to be infested with S. sclerotiorum . Over 400 plant