Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Evaluating Wood Fiber Soilless Substrates For Effects On Plant Performance And Nutrient Management In Container Crops, Crysta Harris
Evaluating Wood Fiber Soilless Substrates For Effects On Plant Performance And Nutrient Management In Container Crops, Crysta Harris
Master's Theses and Capstones
Sphagnum peat moss is the most commonly used soilless substrate component to produce containerized greenhouse bedding plants. Perlite is often blended with peat to achieve desirable physical properties. Increasing transportation costs and occasional shortages of peat and perlite have increased the need for alternative substrate components. Wood fiber materials produced from the extensive secondary processing of pine wood chips are a potential partial alternative to peat and perlite. Incorporating wood materials into soilless substrates may result in nitrogen immobilization, increasing the amount of fertilizer nitrogen needed during production. Wood materials also have a naturally higher pH compared to peat, requiring …
Effect Of Cultivar And Substrate On The Efficacy Of Biopesticides To Suppress Pythium On Greenhouse Crops, Liza May Degenring
Effect Of Cultivar And Substrate On The Efficacy Of Biopesticides To Suppress Pythium On Greenhouse Crops, Liza May Degenring
Master's Theses and Capstones
Oomycetes, such as Pythium, are soil-borne plant pathogens that can cause significant losses in greenhouse crop production due to their swimming zoospores and wide host range. Additionally, the increasing use of substrates that lack microbial diversity in greenhouse production creates a “biological vacuum” that can reduce the substrate’s capacity to resist microbial invasion by soil-borne diseases. The lack of competition by a natural microbial community and the environmental conditions of greenhouse production creates an ideal situation for the use of biopesticides. Biopesticides are commercial products that use beneficial microorganisms (biocontrol agents) to suppress disease and promote plant health. Greenhouse producers …
Connecting Composting And Greenhouses: An Energy Capture And Usage Model, Dena M. Hoffman
Connecting Composting And Greenhouses: An Energy Capture And Usage Model, Dena M. Hoffman
Honors Theses and Capstones
At the Organic Dairy Research Farm in Lee, New Hampshire, the practice of aerated static composting is researched for potential heat capture. In early 2019, an Excel model was created to illustrate the ability of greenhouses to retain heat during a cold month of January and the total energy balance for each day. This model shows that an average greenhouse, based on the dimensions of the greenhouse at Kingman Farm, requires an additional, external heat source to supplement its heating needs. By adding the heat generated by the aerated static composting pile to the greenhouse in the Excel model, the …