Education Commons^™

Ec89-724 Irrigation Scheduling Using Tensiometers In Sandy Soils, William L. Kranz, Thomas Dorn, Dean E. Eisenhauer

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Monitoring soil moisture is fundamental to determining how much irrigation water should be applied and when the soil is able to store the amount of water to be applied. Establishing when and how much water should be applied is often referred to as irrigation scheduling.

This extension circular discusses soil moisture terms; what is a tensiometer, its installation and use; and worksheet.

G87-836 Coldframes And Hotbeds, Dale T. Lindgren

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Coldframes and hotbeds can help the home gardener in many ways. This NebGuide explains uses, construction, and management.

Hotbeds and coldframes are mini-greenhouses in that both use solar energy and sunlight. Coldframes and hotbeds can help the home gardener start, grow and maintain plant material and the commercial grower propagate and display plant material.

The main difference between hotbeds and coldframes is that hotbeds have a supplemental heat source. This supplemental heat source may be organic, such as manure, or non-organic, such as an electric heating cable. Construction can be simple and inexpensive or quite sophisticated. Hotbed/coldframe size can vary.

Ec86-1548 Common Insect Pests Of Trees In The Great Plains, Mary Ellen Dix, Judith E. Pasek, Mark O. Harrell, Frederick P. Baxendale

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication was developed by entomologists on the Pest Management Task Force of the Great Plains Agricultural Council Forestry Committee to provide the public and professionals with information needed to identify and manage common insect pests of trees in the Great Plains. It is designed for those with no formal training in entomology and is not intended to summarize everything known about a particular insect.

G86-810 Garden Compost (Revised February 1993), Don Steinegger, Donald E. Janssen

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide discusses the advantages of compost, the compost heap, ingredients, uses and instructions for making compost.

Compost is a mixture of partially decomposed plant material and other organic wastes. It is used in the garden to amend soil and fertilize plants.

G85-762 Soybean Yield Loss Due To Hail Damage, Charles A. Shapiro, T.A. Peterson, A.D. Flowerday

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide discusses the methods used by the hail insurance industry to assess yield loss due to hail damage in soybeans. A hailstorm can cause yield losses in soybeans ranging from slight to total destruction of the crop. Extensive research has been conducted to accurately predict the effects of hail damage on soybean yields. Results from these studies are used by hail insurance companies to assess yield losses and consequent adjustment made to clients. The information in this NebGuide should be valuable to producers facing replant decisions, and may also be useful in cases of insect damage. Yield loss predictions …

G84-698 Selecting A Ground Cover (Revised July 1999), Anne Streich, Don Steinegger

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide describes how to evaluate a site for ground cover and the characteristics of the most common ground cover species grown in Nebraska.

Ground covers are low-growing plants used in landscaping for mulching or covering the soil. They are typically low growing but may range in height from just inches to over 4 feet tall. Ground covers differ in color, texture and form and can be herbaceous, woody, succulent or grassy. Some have attractive flowers, while others are grown only for their foliage.

Selecting the best species for a site is important to its success as a ground cover. …

G84-725 Measuring Harvest Loss Of Dry Edible Beans, John A. Smith

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide describes how to measure losses before, during and after harvest operations, so that problems can be corrected and losses reduced. Harvesting dry edible beans in Nebraska normally includes three separate field operations--cutting, rodding or windrowing, and combining--over a period of three to seven days. The success of these operations is very dependent on equipment selection and adjustment, weather and field conditions, and operator skill.

G84-697 Ground Covers: Their Establishment And Maintenance (Revised June 1992), Don Steinegger, Luann Finke

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide describes how to plant and maintain ground covers to take advantage of their low-maintenance features.

Ground covers are low-growing plants, usually less than 12 inches tall, that spread to form dense mats which bind and hold the soil in place. Many also have a season of effective bloom. Turfgrass is the most common ground cover. However, sites that are less suitable for turfgrass, such as slopes, steep banks, and shaded areas, can often grow other ground covers successfully.

A well-established ground cover generally requires less maintenance than the typical turfgrass lawn. Ground covers are not totally maintenance-free, nor …

G83-648 Wild Proso Millet (Revised April 1992), Robert G. Wilson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide describes wild proso millet and its life cycle and provides recommendations for control.

Wild proso millet (Panicum millaceum L.) is one of the fastest spreading weeds in the corn belt. In the early 1970s, wild proso millet was found in a few isolated corn fields in Wisconsin. By 1987 wild proso millet had infested over one million acres in Wisconsin, had infested most of the southern corn-growing counties in Minnesota, and was present in Iowa, North and South Dakota, Illinois, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.

In Nebraska, wild proso millet was found first in a small area in …

Ec81-1869 Guide To The Identification Of Physiological Disorders Of Landscape Plants, John E. Watkins, Donald H. Steinegger

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Physiological disorders are plant diseases caused by non-living agents. Other terms for this group of disorders are abiotic diseases or noninfectious diseases.

Physiological disorders are often confused with pathogen-caused diseases but they do not spread from plant to plant as do diseases caused by living organisms. Landscape plants are often exposed to toxic materials, mechanical damage, nutritional stress, homeowner neglect and other stress factors in the urban environment.

This 4-color extension publication highlights the following physiological disorders of landscape plants: sun scald, drought, lightning injury, winter injury, root girdling, iron chlorosis, salt injury, herbicide injury and air pollution.

Ec81-1870 Guide To The Identification Of Diseases Of Shrubs, John E. Watkins

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This 4-color extension circular identifies the following diseases of shrubs in the home garden and landscape disease series: rose mosaics (rose mosaic virus and rose yellow mosaic virus), rose rust, fire blight, powdery mildew, crown gall, scab, iron chlorosis, honesuckle leaf blight, and phomopsis twig blight.

Ec81-1240 Vegetable Gardening In Nebraska, Dale T. Lindgren, Laurie Hodges, Don Steinegger, Ralph E. Neild

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Nebraskans are increasing their consumption of fresh vegetables — as appetizers, salads, side dishes, and snacks. Fresh vegetables are an integral part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. Although Nebraska's climate and soil are well-suited for many vegetables, most are supplied from out of the state, even during summer. Growing fresh vegetables can provide higher nutrition and flavor at less expense than buying fresh produce at the grocery store. A garden also can be a source of personal enjoyment and satisfaction.

This extension circular helps the gardener decide when, where, and how to plant and maintain a vegetable garden.

G81-552 Effects Of Weather On Corn Planting And Seedling Establishment, Ralph E. Neild

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Corn planting usually begins when the average daily temperature first rises 55°F and the soil becomes sufficiently warm enough to initiate germination and sustain seedling growth. This may be as early as the middle of March in central Texas 700 miles south of Nebraska or as late as the middle of May in central South Dakota. Corn may be planted as early as the first week of April in southeast Nebraska and continue into the first week of June. Most of the corn, however, is planted between May 4 and May 21.

Corn planted early when the temperature is cool …

Ec79-1206 Roses, Donald H. Steinegger, Frederick P. Baxendale, John E. Watkins, Amy Greving

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Roses are one of the most versatile and exciting plant groups to use in landscape compositions. There are rose cultivars (varieties) adapted for almost any garden site or landscape purpose, including formal beds and perennial borders, arbors, trellises, hedges, ground covers, steep banks, edging, accent, specimen plants, and as patio or tub plants.

The most common rose types are hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, and climbers. More people are becoming familiar with the so-called "old fashioned" or shrub roses. Many of these are well-adapted to Nebraska and to water-conserving landscapes.

G79-471 Choosing Corn Hybrids, Lenis Alton Nelson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication explains what factors to consider and compare when selecting a corn hybrid and how to obtain recent hybrid test data. One of the most important decisions a corn producer makes is choosing the hybrid seed. Hundreds of hybrid names and numbers are advertised and offered for sale. Selecting the few that offer the greatest yield and profit potential requires time, effort, and study. This should be a continuous process for a corn grower because important information on new or established hybrids may be encountered at any time.

G79-428 Spring Flowering Bulbs, Don Steinegger, Anne Streich, Donald E. Janssen

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Selecting, planting, caring for, harvesting and forcing spring flowering bulbs are discussed in this publication.

Spring flowering bulbs may be used to provide early season color in your garden while other plants are slowly developing. When the bulbs have finished blooming, the dying foliage can be hidden by the developing growth of other flowers and shrubs in the bed. Spring flowering bulbs offer an early start to a full season of color in your garden.

You can choose from hundreds of spring flowering bulbs that produce plants varying in flower color, form and height. Among the most popular are tulip, …

G77-353 Garden Chrysanthemums, Dale T. Lindgren

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Site selection, soil preparation, planting and care of chrysanthemums are covered here.

Chrysanthemums (mums) are one of the most popular plants for late summer and fall flower gardens in Nebraska. Flower colors include white, yellow, orange, bronze, red, purple and pink. Mums can be classified by several methods, according to flower form and size and plant growth characteristics.

G74-190 Geraniums (Pelargonium) (Revised December 2002), Dale T. Lindgren, Kim Todd, Loren J. Giesler

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Geraniums are a popular indoor and outdoor plant. This NebGuide describes how to care for them, including overwintering and treating for diseases.

There are two different groups of plants known as geraniums. The showy, flowering geraniums, normally grown as indoor and outdoor plants in Nebraska, are members of the genus 'Pelargonium.' They are subtropical in origin and are treated as annuals in Nebraska, since they do not overwinter outdoors.

Members of the genus 'Geranium,' which are winter hardy outdoor plants, are usually called the 'hardy geraniums' or cranebills. They are good additions to the perennial landscape border. Hardy geraniums are …

G74-113 A Quick Test For Atrazine Carryover (Revised March 1989), Alex Martin, R.N. Stougaard, Patrick J. Shea

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

How can you tell if you have atrazine carryover in your fields? Plants grown in soil samples can tell.

Residues of atrazine may remain in the soil and affect some susceptible crops the next year. Crops most often affected include soybeans, field beans, sugarbeets, alfalfa, oats, wheat and many broadleaf horticultural crops.

Attempts to predict the extent of carryover and damage to sensitive crops the year following atrazine use have been only partially successful. The rate of atrazine disappearance and, therefore, the amount remaining the next year, is affected by soil texture, pH and organic matter content, as well as …

G73-61 Pale Striped Flea Beetle In Sugarbeets And Beans (Revised March 1979), Arthur F. Hagen

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Only small areas of western Nebraska appear to be troubled by this insect at present, but it appears to be infesting larger areas of sugarbeets each year.

This publication discusses the life history, damage and control of the pale striped flea beetle in sugarbeets and beans.

G72-25 Pruning Ornamental Plants (Revised August 1987), R.D. Uhlinger

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

March through May is the best time for pruning lawn trees, junipers, and flowering shrubs. Leaves are gone from the deciduous plants so we can see the branching structure and determine where cuts should be made. Healing occurs most rapidly when growth is starting in the spring, so wounds caused by pruning are quickly healed.

This NebGuide discusses when and how is the best time for pruning plants and the methods and tools to be used to complete the project.

Rb246 Trees And Shrubs For Noise Abatement, David I. Cook, David F. Van Haverbeke

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Excessive noise is a form of environmental pollution. The continual increase in the community noise level during the past two decades indicates a future noise problem comparable to the current air pollution problem of our large industrial centers.

Trees and other forms of vegetation are known to have some effect on the transmission of sound but precise information on their use as noise screens is rather meager. In this study, we attempted to derive accurate, useful information for the above purpose, and to add to knowledge about outdoor sound propagation. Actual plantings of trees and shrubs in the form of …

Fifty Years Of Achievement In Agricultural Investigation, R. T. Prescott

Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station: Historical Circulars

In Nebraska, a hustling frontier state in 1887, the legislature hesitated not at all in taking advantage of the provisions of the Hatch Act, and now that fifty years have elapsed since the Station was founded, seventy-five years since the Land Grant College Act was passed and the U. S. Department of Agriculture established, and almost twenty-five years since the Agricultural Extension Service was added, it seems worth while to present a general summary of achievement within the state. The main object will be to show some of the important things that have been learned through the investigations of the …