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Two new southern highbush blueberry cultivars, `Dixieblue' and `Gupton', will provide growers with new blueberry cultivars having excellent fruit quality that ripen relatively early in the season, during the profitable early fresh-market window. Berries of `Dixieblue' are light blue, medium in size, and their flat shape makes them most attractive. `Gupton' is very productive and berry quality is also excellent. The performance of these cultivars represent an improvement over most currently available southern highbush blueberry cultivars due to 1) their durability and performance on both upland and sandy soils endemic to the Gulf Coast and 2) consistent production of high quality fruit that will meet the demand for early ripening fresh-market blueberries. The new rabbiteye blueberry cultivar, `DeSoto', represents an improvement over currently available rabbiteye blueberry cultivars for late-season production. `DeSoto' produces medium-to-large fruit having excellent color, flavor, and firmness Plants of `DeSoto' are productive, vigorous but semi-dwarf, upright and spreading. It's semi-dwarf growth habit, which is unique among currently grown rabbiteye blueberries, results in bushes that attain a maximum height of about 2 meters upon maturity, reducing the necessity of top-pruning that is required for all other cultivars. `DeSoto' blooms two to three weeks later than early-to-mid season cultivars such as `Climax' and `Tifblue', providing insurance against late-spring freezes. Similarly, its fruit mature 21 to 14 days or more, respectively after these same cultivars. `DeSoto' will provide niche market blueberry growers with a new cultivar having productivity, plant vigor, fruit quality, and very late ripening period that will extend their marketing season. The new evergreen ornamental blueberry, `Native Blue', is low growing, compact and finely branched with small glaucous leaves, traits that are quite typical of V. darowii. `Native Blue' has beautiful foliage that changes color in different seasons. Mature leaves are darker green while newer growth exhibits a light pinkish hue that changes to a bluish green. Other desirable characteristics of `Native Blue' are its dwarf growth habit, hardy and vigorous growth, and its capacity for a high level of fruit production that serves as an attractant to birds and other wildlife. `Native Blue' will provide southeastern U.S. nurserymen, landscapers, and homeowners with a novel and beautiful new ornamental shrub that will complement plantings of azaleas, camellias, crepe myrtles, etc.
located at 39.8° N latitude and 74.5° W longitude. New Jersey has a moderate climate, with cold winters and warm, humid summers. Chatsworth’s average midsummer high (July) is 30.5 °C; the average wintertime low (January) is –5.0 °C. The planting was made
unrelated to plant morphology or bolting, and the genes controlling this resistance could be introgressed into new genotypes with romaine plant architecture. Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) is a diploid (2n = 2 x = 18) autogamous species, and cultivars are
An appropriate blend of growing media components increases water holding capacity and reduces irrigation frequency. Synthetic commercial materials, referred to as hydrogels, have remarkable hydrating properties, but can add significantly (about 15%) to the cost of growing media. The literature generally states that the physical characteristics of hydrogels, such as polyacrylamide (PAM), are altered by the presence of divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+). Few studies, however, have simultaneously investigated plant growth and development and media characteristics on a daily basis throughout plant production. Thus, the mechanisms explaining the reported beneficial and/or detrimental effects from PAM incorporation remain hidden. In this study, canopy ground cover of two species [pansy (Viola ×wittrockiana Gams) and new guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri Bull)] was measured daily, from transplanting to marketable size, using digital imaging to determine growth differences of plants grown in media containing different amounts of PAM. Media water content was determined with time-domain reflectance probes every 10 minutes in media treatments. Total number of irrigation events, time between irrigation events, root development after 4 and 8 weeks of growth, flower number, flower longevity, and dry masses of the shoot were also measured. Scanning electron microscopy revealed significant structural differences in hydrated PAM depending on water quality. The pansy canopy coverage was significantly greater with hydrogels, and root growth early in production was enhanced with PAM. No such effect was observed for new guinea impatiens. Total flower numbers and flower longevity of new guinea impatiens decreased with increasing amount of PAM (16.7% or higher) in the media. PAM incorporation reduced the need for irrigation early in production for both species, but by the end of production, those new guinea impatiens plants were smaller (less shoot dry mass) and required irrigation as often as plants grown without PAM. This effect coincided with reduced media volume, air capacity, and total porosity in PAM-containing media. Theoretical analysis of the potential benefits from hydrogels confirms the potential benefit early in production with little to no benefit later in production and in post-production. These data will assist growers in determining if the benefits derived from the use of PAM justify the added cost of medium.
in millimeters. Adhesion is the force required to break the sweetpotato sprouts before it is swallowed, and it is in units of N. Adhesion = Hardness × Cohesiveness. Chewiness is used to describe the characteristics of solid test samples, defined as
morphological characteristics such as stomata density and leaf curvature influence infection of P. belbahrii in different Ocimum species, and if so, could be effective visual markers for screening in plant breeding. The large morphological variations in the
The NE-183 project was established in 1993 and the first trial planted in 1995 with the objective of evaluating new apple cultivars for horticultural, pest and disease resistance, and qualitative characteristics. Arkansas (AR) is the southernmost location for the initial planting. The following cultivars are in AR trial: `Arlet', `Braeburn', `Cameo', `Creston', `Enterprise', `Fortune', `Fuji', `Gala Supreme', `Ginger Gold', `GoldCrisp', `Golden Delicious', `Golden Supreme', `Goldrush', `Honeycrisp', `NY75414-1', `Orin', `Pristine', `Sansa', `Shizuka', `Suncrisp', `Sunrise', and `Yataka'. Bloom of `Braeburn', `Yataka', `Orin', `Gold Supreme', `Fortune', and `Enterprise' were early and may be exposed to annual spring frosts. The following cultivars ripened in July or August and may be too early for southern markets: `Pristine', `Sunrise', `Sansa', `Ginger Gold', `Arlet', `Honeycrisp', `Golden Supreme', and `Orin'. The following cultivars were very precocious and had yields >7.5 kg/tree in the third growing season: `Fuji', `Enterprise', `Creston', `Golden Delicious', `Ginger Gold', `Suncrisp', and `Goldrush'.
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has generated V. ashei and V. constablaei derivatives to provide late-flowering, earlyripening rabbiteye germplasm for the southern U.S.; however, this germplasm has also performed well in New Jersey, and could potentially provide northern-adapted rabbiteye types. When combined, these germplasms complement each other in many respects. Crosses with varying percentages of V. constablaei germplasm ranging from 100% to 0%, in 25% increments, were evaluated for mid-winter cold-hardiness using a detached twig assay. Hybrids with 50% or more V. constablaei germplasm were hardy to –25° C or lower. Further backcrosses to V. ashei resulted in dramatic segregation for hardiness, but still yielded some progeny as hardy as typical northern highbush. Assays of rabbiteye cultivars have been recently completed to enhance the ability to generate cold-hardy hybrids. Recombination and selection have begun to yield hybrids improved for critical commercial characteristics, and further rapid progress is expected.
`Golden Hills' is a new female pistachio cultivar with improved performance characteristics compared to the standard female cultivar Kerman. `Golden Hills' produces a greater yield and higher percentage of split, edible nuts than `Kerman' while maintaining a similar low percentage of loose shells and kernels. Harvest date is 2–4 weeks earlier than `Kerman', which will permit growers to extend their harvest period and better utilize their harvesting equipment and personnel. Earlier harvest may reduce disease in the northern production areas of California by permitting an earlier harvest before fall rains, as well as reducing navel orangeworm infestations. The cultivar requires less chilling than `Kerman', which improves uniformity of foliation, bloom, nut set, nut fill, and uniformity of nut maturity at harvest in years with insufficient chilling for `Kerman'. Based on all of our evaluations, this cultivar appears to be an exceptional producer and has the potential to increase grower profits by more than 40%.
Pumpkin and squash (Cucurbita L. spp.) are important cucurbit crops and are grown in almost all arable regions of the world. The three economically important species, Cucurbita pepo L., Cucurbita moschata Duchesne, and Cucurbita maxima Duchesne are highly polymorphic in fruit characteristics, inspiring much research into their inheritance. A comprehensive list of genes for Cucurbita was last published more than a decade ago. This new gene list for pumpkin and squash includes descriptions of gene interactions and the genetic background of the parents that had been used for crossing to allow easy confirmation of previous work and provide a sound foundation for further investigation. This gene list includes 79 loci for phenotypic/morphological traits and 48 polymorphic allozyme loci. Linkage and mapping are discussed.