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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Forest Industry Byproducts Improve Soil Quality And Increase Pepper Growth In Three Soils Infested With Phythophthora Blight, Xiaojun Zhao
Forest Industry Byproducts Improve Soil Quality And Increase Pepper Growth In Three Soils Infested With Phythophthora Blight, Xiaojun Zhao
Open Access Theses
Phytophthora blight is a serious threat to the Midwest vegetable industry, because the oomycete pathogen responsible for this disease, Phytophthora capsici, has a wide host range, can spread quickly in fields, and produces resilient oospores that can survive in soil for years. Phytophthora capsici has become resistant to commonly used fungicides and resistant crop varieties are rare. Amending soil with complex organic substrates has potential to improve soil quality and suppress soil-borne pathogens including P. capsici. Indiana has a significant forest industry with many residual products that could be used as locally available amendments to meet this goal. …
Mapping And Analyzing Energy Use And Efficiency In A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container, Rachel E. Sparks
Mapping And Analyzing Energy Use And Efficiency In A Modified Hydroponic Shipping Container, Rachel E. Sparks
Open Access Theses
In urban centers today, vertical farming is becoming a popular alternative to conventional agriculture in an effort to increase local food production and improve urban food security by growing crops using hydroponic methods in controlled environment spaces. More specifically, one vertical method involves growing crops inside refurbished shipping containers, or a “farm-in-a-box” concept, which offers a flexible, mobile, and scalable means of year-round food production in a variety of climates. Despite benefits of producing food locally, some of the concerns associated with these vertical farming systems include high energy consumption from climate control and electric lighting systems as well as …
Manipulating Air And Root-Zone Temperature For Energy-Efficient Floriculture Crop Production, Madeline W. Olberg
Manipulating Air And Root-Zone Temperature For Energy-Efficient Floriculture Crop Production, Madeline W. Olberg
Open Access Theses
Given the high energy costs for greenhouse floriculture production, growers are constantly searching for more energy-efficient methods of production. For example, some growers will lower greenhouse air temperature set points or grow crops in unheated high tunnels (HTs) or outdoors in order to minimize or eliminate heating costs. Unfortunately, development can be delayed and morphology can be altered if the mean daily air temperature (MDT) is reduced. We proposed that reducing MDT in combination with root-zone heating (RZH) could be an energy-efficient method for producing high-quality floriculture crops without significant delays. Unheated HT and unprotected outdoor production are very low-cost …
Defining Management Strategies To Maximize Net Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Retention In Turfgrass Systems, Quincy D. Law
Defining Management Strategies To Maximize Net Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Retention In Turfgrass Systems, Quincy D. Law
Open Access Theses
Soil carbon (C) sequestration has been proposed as a method to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2 ). Managed turf areas are both a source and a sink for greenhouse gases (GHGs) including CO 2 , methane (CH4 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O), among others. Management practices, including turfgrass selection and mowing, influence the amount of C and N stored in the soil, as well as the direct and indirect GHG emissions. Thus, the objective of this research was to determine how turfgrass selection (both species and cultivar) and mowing practices (such as frequency and grass clipping management) influence the …
Using Energy-Efficient Technologies To Produce Bedding Plants And Microgreens In Protected And Controlled Environments, Joshua R. Gerovac
Using Energy-Efficient Technologies To Produce Bedding Plants And Microgreens In Protected And Controlled Environments, Joshua R. Gerovac
Open Access Theses
Gerovac, Joshua R. M.S., Purdue University, December 2014. Using Energy-Efficient Technologies to Produce Bedding Plants and Microgreens in Protected and Controlled Environments. Major Professor: Roberto G. Lopez. Production of bedding plants in commercial greenhouses (GHs) located in northern latitudes begins in late winter and continues through late spring when low outdoor temperatures generally necessitate active heating to maintain temperatures suitable for growth and development. Meanwhile, year-round production of microgreens using multi-layer systems requires sole-source (SS) photosynthetic lighting for production. Energy used to provide active heating in commercial GHs or SS lighting in multi-layer systems is second only to labor as …
Biochar And Vermicompost Amendments In Vegetable Cropping Systems: Impacts On Soil Quality, Soil-Borne Pathogens And Crop Productivity, Nathan Lee Shoaf
Biochar And Vermicompost Amendments In Vegetable Cropping Systems: Impacts On Soil Quality, Soil-Borne Pathogens And Crop Productivity, Nathan Lee Shoaf
Open Access Theses
Amending soils with biochar and vermicompost has the potential to provide multiple benefits for specialty crops including pathogen suppression and increased crop productivity. Oomycete pathogens such as Phytophthora capsici can devastate crop fields and they are difficult to control presenting significant management challenges for Midwestern growers. Soils amended with a microbially-inoculated softwood biochar increased carrot root growth relative to the control and corn stover biochar in 2011, while the corn stover biochar also increased carrot root growth relative to the control, but only in two varieties. Neither biochar treatment influenced carrot growth in 2012. In greenhouse trials, vermicompost amendments provided …