Horticulture Commons^™

Bio-Based Sprayable Mulch For Weed Control In Row Crop Systems, Camila Chiaranda Rodrigues

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Improving current crop productivity levels requires transformative advancements in management, engineering, and science. One of the main challenges is the increasing difficulty of weed management due to herbicide-resistant weeds. There is a growing need for alternative weed management methods to reduce pesticide use and improve environmental safety. An emerging technology that is being developed is spray-on films which could help address these challenges. Spray-on films are liquid solutions that after spraying on the soil will dry and form a physical barrier. The overall objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a chicken feather bio-based sprayable mulch film …

Assessing The Above- And Belowground Productivity Of Fall-Planted Cover Crop Cultivars In Nebraska's Diverse Ecoregions, Bridget Mckinley

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cover crops (CC) provide essential ecosystem services including soil conservation, nutrient cycling, and weed suppression, through the accumulation of aboveground (AGB) and belowground (BGB) biomass. While AGB has been widely studied, BGB contributions, particularly root development and distribution, remain less understood. This study evaluated fall-planted CC across three Nebraska ecoregions, assessing AGB productivity, BGB biomass, and correlations between ground cover, plant height, and AGB.

Thirty treatments, including grasses, legumes, brassicas, and mixtures, were evaluated over two fall growing seasons (2022–2023 and 2023–2024) at three UNL research centers in northeast, west central, and west Nebraska. AGB was highest at west site …

European Wasp: Declared Pest, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The European wasp is one of the worst wasps in the world — harmful to people, outdoor lifestyles, and horticultural and agricultural industries. Early detection of wasp activity is critical to prevent the wasp establishing in Western Australia (WA). This is achieved via collaboration between residents, businesses, industry, and government.

Comparison The Impact Of Co2 And Uvb On Moringa Peregrina And Moringa Oleifera Growth Under Open Top Chamber, Omar Mohammed Alshehhi

Theses

Climate change has had a tremendous impact on ecosystems, with an apparent connection between farming methods and environmental change. Climate change has a substantial effect on both abiotic and biotic factors that affect crop plants. The increasing number of abiotic stressors has highlighted the impact of global warming on plant productivity. This study compared and evaluated the abiotic stress resistance of two Moringa species (Moringa oleifera and Moringa peregrina) to UV radiation, increased CO₂ levels, and their combined effects. The evaluation mainly focused on key morphological features, including plant height (cm) and fresh and dry weights, to assess …

Evaluation Of Wood Fibers Derived From Different Tree Species And Processing Methods On Crop Growth And Microbial Activity In Soilless Substrates, Amanda Mizell

LSU Master's Theses

Soilless culture use is expanding as arable land and viable fumigants have decreased in availability. This has subsequently increased the demand for soilless substrates for container crop production. The primary component in most soilless substrates is Sphagnum peat moss, which is considered unsustainable due to the extensive time it takes to produce and the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere during harvesting. Research into viable peat moss amendments to reduce reliance on this relatively non-renewable material has become a necessity. The most promising amendment that has been accepted in the horticulture industry as a viable amendment is …

Compost Comparison In High Tunnels, Elizabeth Maynard, Marian Rodriguez-Soto, Rebecca Koetz

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Compost is frequently used in market garden production systems, both in the field and in high tunnels. This trial was conducted in northern Indiana to evaluate four composts for use in high tunnel tomato production, with primary emphasis on their value as sources of macronutrients. The results reported here document effects of the composts on tomato yield, leaf tissue nutrient concentrations, and soil nutrients at the end of one growing season.

Forage Crops Interseeded In Pumpkins, Elizabeth Maynard, Rebecca Koetz, Marian Rodriguez-Soto

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Pumpkins are grown on more than one-third of Indiana vegetable farms. There is increasing interest in producing grassfed livestock for local sales and integrating livestock into annual cropping systems. Cattle are known to eat unharvested pumpkins that remain in the field after harvest, and success in undersowing cover crops in pumpkins has been reported in the literature and by producers. This trial in northern Indiana evaluated the performance of different forage cover crops in a market pumpkin system. Results showed there is potential for interplanting forage crops or winter cover crops between pumpkin rows in July or August. When planted …

Exploring The Interconnectivity Between Soilless Substrate Hydraulic Properties And Plant Root Morphology, Kristopher S. Criscione

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Horticultural container production heavily relies upon porous soilless substrates to mass produce specialty crops. Soilless substrates are responsible for continuously maintaining optimal water, mineral nutrients, and air balances to promote healthy root growth and support productive shoot yield (foliage or fruit). Increasing evidence of substrate research continues to highlight the strong relationships associated with root development and substrate physiochemical properties. Despite the importance of the root system for overall plant health, most horticultural research to-date has focused on shoot development. Research tends to report total root biomass as the primary root-growth metric; however, this results in several developmental features becoming …

Identification And Characterization Of Resistance To Meloidogyne Enterolobii And M. Incognita In Sweetpotato Genotypes, David M. Galo Espinal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Root-knot nematodes (RKN), Meloidogyne spp., are significant agricultural pests that cause severe economic losses on a wide range of agricultural crops worldwide, including sweetpotato. The economic viability of the sweetpotato industry in the United States is threatened by Meloidogyne enterolobii, which reproduces on sweetpotato cultivars resistant to other RKN species. To address this issue, 69 sweetpotato genotypes were evaluated to identify sources of resistance to M. enterolobii (Me) and M. incognita (Mi). Results showed that twenty-six genotypes were highly resistant to Me and eleven were resistant to Mi, with three genotypes showing resistance to …

Shade, Height Of Cut, And Plant Growth Regulator Effects On Bermudagrass And Zoysiagrass Putting Greens, Thomas E. Walton, John Mccalla, Douglas E. Karcher, W. J. Hutchens, Ambika Chandra, Michael D. Richardson

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Warm-season turfgrasses, especially hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers × Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt-Davy), continue to be widely used on golf course putting greens in tropical and subtropical climates globally and are also gaining popularity in the transition zone region of the United States. Hybrid bermudagrass produces a high-quality putting green surface; however, it has relatively poor shade and cold tolerance. Recently, fine-textured zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) cultivars have been released and may be another potential option for golf course putting greens, especially since zoysiagrass is generally considered more shade tolerant than bermudagrass. “Lazer (DALZ 1308)” zoysiagrass (Zoysia …

A Home Dyer's Garden, Part Iii: Dyeing With Japanese Indigo, Wesley Crump, Toree Park, Elizabeth Cohen

All Current Publications

Dyeing with Japanese indigo grown in the home garden can be an exciting and satisfying way to incorporate gardening into more aspects of your life and create unique products for yourself and others. This resource provides information to those who would like to experience the process from growing the plant until the final dyed project and those who would like to purchase the pigment and use it for dyeing. After preparing the fabric, there are many ways to dye with indigo. Two well-established methods, accessible and achievable for the beginning dyer, are included.

A Home Dyer's Garden, Part Ii: Extracting Pigment From Japanese Indigo, Wesley Crump, Toree Park, Elizabeth Cohen

All Current Publications

Several indigo dyeing methods use powdered pigment. This fact sheet outlines a simple, inexpensive method of extracting the pigment from plants. For information on growing Japanese indigo or dyeing with plant and pigment, see the other fact sheets in the Utah State University (USU) Extension series A Home Dyer’s Garden, including Part I: Growing Japanese Indigo and Part III: Dyeing With Japanese Indigo.

A Home Dyer's Garden, Part I: Growing Japanese Indigo, Wesley Crump, Toree Park, Elizabeth Cohen

All Current Publications

Japanese indigo is an annual plant with numerous varieties. Most varieties thrive in the temperate environments found in much of Utah but may exhibit stress in intense heat. This is the first of three fact sheets in the A Home Dyer's Garden series on dyeing with Japanese indigo. It covers how to grow Japanese indigo. Soil preparation, planting and spacing, water, fertilizer, insects and diseases, and harvesting are discussed.

Effect Of In-Row Spacing On Weed Suppression And Yield Of ‘Covington’ And ‘Monaco’ Sweetpotato, Emmanuel G. Cooper, Stephen L. Meyers, Katherine Jennings, Ashley Adair, Kevin D. Gibson, William G. Johnson

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Organic sweetpotato growers have limited effective weed management options, and most rely on in-season between-row cultivation and hand weeding, which are time consuming, are costly, and deteriorate soil quality. Studies were conducted at the Samuel G. Meigs Horticulture Research Farm, Lafayette, IN, and at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center, Vincennes, IN, in 2022 and 2023 to determine the effects of in-row plant spacing and cultivar selection on weed suppression and organic sweetpotato yield. The experiment was a split-split plot design, with in-row spacings of 20, 30, and 40 cm as the main plot factor, weeding frequency (critical weed-free period and …

Twas Facilitates Gene-Scale Trait Genetic Dissection Through Gene Expression, Structural Variations, And Alternative Splicing In Soybean, Delin Li, Qi Wang, Yu Tian, Xiangguang Lyv, Hao Zhang, Huilong Hong, Huawei Gao, Yan-Fei Li, Chaosen Zhao, Jiajun Wang, Ruizhen Wang, Jinliang Yang, Bin Liu, Patrick S. Schnable, James C. Schnable, Ying-Hui Li, Li-Juan Qiu

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identifies trait-associated loci, but identifying the causal genes can be a bottleneck, due in part to slow decay of linkage disequilibrium (LD). A transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) addresses this issue by identifying gene expression–phenotype associations or integrating gene expression quantitative trait loci with GWAS results. Here, we used self-pollinated soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) as a model to evaluate the application of TWAS to the genetic dissection of traits in plant species with slow LD decay. We generated RNA sequencing data for a soybean diversity panel and identified the genetic expression regulation of 29 …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Wildlife Monitoring Using Bioacoustics, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

All Current Publications

Animals use sounds to communicate with each other, just like humans. Humans can listen in on animals by using a bioacoustic monitoring device, a passive device that quietly records surrounding sounds. Bioacoustic monitoring devices blend in with the environment, allowing us to know what types of animals appear when we’re gone. The device collects and stores data and allows us to visualize, analyze, and identify animals from the sounds they make.

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Using Weather Stations, Jake Sanders, Daniel Findlay, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik, Kaitlin Campbell

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides an overview of how weather stations work and the steps to set up your own weather station. To help monitor the water conditions, wind speeds, and temperatures that can impact your plants, we suggest adding a weather station to your garden area or greenhouse.

Growth Of Passionflower (Passiflora Incarnata) On A Green Roof Using Commercial Fertilizer Vs. Natural Compost, Siobhan Day, Corinne Parker, Carmyn Harrison, Lauren York

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Tennessee’s state wildflower, is valued for its ecological role as a pollinator plant and its historical significance to the Cherokee, making it an ideal candidate for green roofs that support biodiversity and urban sustainability. This study examined the feasibility of growing passionflower on a green roof and tested whether commercial fertilizer (Miracle-Gro) or natural compost would lead to greater growth compared to no fertilizer. Twelve plants were divided equally into three treatment groups: control, Miracle-Gro, and compost, with growth measurements taken weekly from September to November. Results suggest that passionflowers treated with Miracle-Gro achieved the most growth, …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Composting, Larry Krissek, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information about composting, such as what compost is, how to compost, and the benefits of composting in your garden.

Strategic Light Use Efficiency Optimization Of Hydroponic Lettuce Exposed To Different Photosynthetic Photon Flux Densities, Peyton Lou Palsha, Marc W, Van Iersel, Ryan W. Dickson, Lynne Seymour, Kuan Qin, Rhuanito Saranz Ferrarezi

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Light use efficiency characterizes the ability of a crop to convert radiation into biomass. Determining optimum cultivar-specific photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) values from sole-source lighting can be used to optimize leaf expansion, maximize biomass, and shorten the production period. This study evaluated the growth of hydroponic lettuce (Lactuca sativa) ‘Rex’ cultivated under different PPFD levels using sole-source lighting. At lower PPFD levels of 201 to 292 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹, the plant projected canopy size (PCS) and specific leaf area increased to enhance light capture by 36.2% as compared to higher PPFD levels (333 and 413 µmol·m^{−2 …}

Blackbird, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The introduced common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a pest in eastern Australia. It damages commercial fruit crops and may compete with native birds. The species is prohibited in Western Australia and individuals found here are destroyed.

The Western Australian Organism List (WAOL) contains information on the area(s) in which this pest is declared and the control and keeping categories to which it has been assigned in Western Australia (WA). For more information, see our website at dpird.wa.gov.au.

Parkway Pocket Garden Maintenance Booklet, Plaster Creek Stewards

Print Materials

Parkway pocket gardens are designed for areas between the sidewalk and street, but without a basin and curb-cut. By replacing lawn in parkways with native plants, it can soak up rainwater that falls on the gardens, provide habitat and a food source for pollinators and birds, and increase biodiversity in your neighborhood. This maintenance guide covers the Michigan native plants that may be found in a parkway pocket garden, maintenance recommendations, and weeds you may encounter.

Nebline, October 2024

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Super Fair Showcases 4-H’ers Learning Experiences

10 Money-$aving Grocery $hopping Hacks You Need to Try, Alyssa Havlovic

Recipe of the Month: Air Fryer Pork and Apple Burgers, Alyssa Havlovic

Growing Woody Floral Plants in the Home Garden, Sarah Browning

Garden Guie: Things to Do This Month, Mary Jane Frogge

Highboy Cover Crop Interseeding Project, John Nelson

Car Seat Safety for Your Family, Hayley Jackson-Perez

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Lorene Bartos

Join 4-H

4-H Livestock Scholarship Recipients

State 4-H Horse Expo Top Results

Lancaster County Volunteers Receive Statewide 4-H Awards

4-H Announcements

Super Fair 4-H/FFA Top Results

State Fair 4-H …

Summer- And Fall-Planted Cover Crops Across Nebraska: Assessing Performance Using Aerial Imagery And Evaluating Short-Term Soil Impacts, Grace Emperatriz Pacheco Jiron

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cover crops are widely recognized for improving soil health and promoting sustainability in agricultural systems. Despite the increasing use of monitoring tools like aerial imagery, their application in evaluating summer-planted cover crops in the Great Plains remains limited, hindering effective management strategies. Fall-planted cover crops provide long-term environmental benefits, including enhanced soil quality and erosion control; however, understanding their short-term effects on soil properties is crucial for encouraging adoption. This study assessed summer- and fall-planted cover crops across Nebraska, integrating aerial imagery and soil health analyses.

Over two years, fifteen summer-planted monocultures and five mixtures were evaluated for establishment, biomass …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Using Trail Cameras, Kaitlin Campbell, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Rita Hagevik

All Current Publications

Trail cameras (also called game or wildlife cameras) have been used for decades to document wildlife for personal use, education, and scientific use (documenting distributions of animals worldwide for conservation). Using a trail camera can allow us to see the biodiversity around us. Trail cameras are often used to help conserve and monitor wildlife populations. You can participate in these efforts too!

Effect Of S-Metolachlor And Flumioxazin Herbicides On Sweetpotato Treated With And Without Activated Charcoal Applied Through Transplant Water, Colton D. Blankenship, Katherine M. Jennings, David W. Monks, Stephen L. Meyers, David L. Jordan, Jonathan R. Schultheis, David H. Suchoff, Levi D. Moore, Stephen J. Ippolito

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Flumioxazin and S-metolachlor are widely used in conventional sweetpotato production in North Carolina and other states; however, some growers have recently expressed concerns about potential effects of these herbicides on sweetpotato yield and quality. Previous research indicates that activated charcoal has the potential to reduce herbicide injury. Field studies were conducted in 2021 and 2022 to determine whether flumioxazin applied preplant and S-metolachlor applied before and after transplanting negatively affect sweetpotato yield and quality when activated charcoal is applied with transplant water. The studies evaluated five herbicide treatments and two activated charcoal treatments. Herbicide treatments included two flumioxazin rates, one …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Beneficial Biological Control Insects, Kaitlin Campbell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

All Current Publications

On small scales, like school and home gardens, encouraging biological control agents can be highly effective, reducing the need for insecticides that harm the environment, humans, and beneficial insects. This fact sheet provides information on using beneficial insects in your garden and offers a field guide to identify them.

Policies And Programs For Water-Wise Residential Landscaping In Utah, Charlotte Clark, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Water-wise landscaping is the practice of using plants in a landscape that are adapted to local conditions and only need small amounts of water. Converting yards to water-wise landscaping conserves water and is a climate adaptation action residents can take to benefit Utah as temperatures rise and drought becomes more common. Many policies and programs in Utah help residents use water conscientiously and make changes. This fact sheet provides information regarding current and future water-wise landscaping policies and programs in Utah.

Fifteen Years Of Findings: Advancements In Spring Dead Spot Research From 2009 To 2024, W. J. Hutchens, J. K. Anders, E. L. Butler, J. P. Kerns, D. S. Mccall, G. L. Miller, N. R. Walker

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spring dead spot (Ophiosphaerella spp.; SDS) is one of the most detrimental diseases to warm-season turfgrasses, particularly bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.), growing in climates where cold temperatures induce dormancy. The pathogen can infect the crowns, stolons, rhizomes, and roots of bermudagrass most of the year, but infection in the fall predisposes the turf to winter injury and plant death. Symptoms typically appear the following spring, making management of SDS challenging. Moreover, the biology, epidemiology, and management of SDS are not fully understood. Ample research has been conducted on SDS which was thoroughly summarized before 2009 by Tredway et al. …

Dissecting The Genetic Architecture Of Sunflower Disc Diameter Using Genome-Wide Association Study, Yavuz Delen, Ravi V. Mural, Semra Palali-Delen, Gen Xu, James C. Schnable, Ismail M. Dweikat, Jinliang Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plays an essential role in meeting the demand for edible oil worldwide. The yield of sunflower seeds encompasses several component traits, including the disc diameter. Over three consecutive years, 2019, 2020, and 2022, we assessed phenotypic variation in disc diameter across a diverse set of sunflower accessions (N = 342) in replicated field trials. Upon aggregating the phenotypic data from multiple years, we estimated the broad sense heritability (H²) of the disc diameter trait to be 0.88. A subset of N = 274 accessions was genotyped by using the tunable genotyping-by-sequencing (tGBS) method, …