Horticulture Commons^™

A History Of Zinnias: Flower For The Ages, Eric Grissell

Purdue University Press Book Previews

A History of Zinnias brings forward the fascinating adventure of zinnias and the spirit of civilization. With colorful illustrations, this book is a cultural and horticultural history documenting the development of garden zinnias—one of the top ten garden annuals grown in the United States today.

The deep and exciting history of garden zinnias pieces together a tale involving Aztecs, Spanish conquistadors, people of faith, people of medicine, explorers, scientists, writers, botanists, painters, and gardeners. The trail leads from the halls of Moctezuma to a cliff-diving prime minister; from Handel, Mozart, and Rossini to Gilbert and Sullivan; from a little-known confession …

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2019, F. Bourland, A. Beach, E. Brown, C. Kennedy, L. Martin, B. Robertson

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). Entries in the 2019 Arkansas Cotton Variety Test …

Evaluation Of ‘Mortgage Lifter’ Tomato For High Tunnel Production, Lewis Jett

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

The ‘Mortgage Lifter’ tomato has historical roots in West Virginia and central Appalachia. The strain which is most often associated with West Virginia is the ‘Radiator Charlie Mortgage Lifter’ which is a red to pink beefsteak slicing tomato (Figure 1). In 2018, several heritage tomato varieties were evaluated within high tunnels in West Virginia. High Tunnels significantly improved yield and quality of all varieties, and ‘Mortgage Lifter’ had marketable yields comparable to hybrid tomato cultivars. Wholesale marketing high tunnel tomatoes is usually not profitable but concentrating on unique, heritage varieties with high flavor for direct marketing is the best strategy …

The State Of Sustainable Agriculture And Agroecology Research And Impacts: A Survey Of U.S. Scientists, Marcia Delonge, Tali Robbins, Andrea Basche, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A growing body of research suggests that although sustainable agriculture, particularly agroecology, can address challenges such as those related to climate change, ecosystem services, food insecurity, and farmer livelihoods, the transition to such systems remains limited. To gain insight into the state of U.S. sustainable agriculture and agroecology, we developed a 28-question mixed-method survey that was administered to scientists in these fields. Respondents (N=168) represented diverse locations, institutions, and career stages. They offered varied definitions of sustainable agriculture, with 40% considering economic and social well-being to be core components. Respondents identified the amount and duration of public research funding as …

Burial And Compaction Of Sandy Soils To Prevent Emergence Of Adult Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) At The Soil Surface, David F. Cook, Robert A. Deyl, Jeremy B. Lindsey, Mario F. D'Antuono, Don Telfer, Ian R. Mcpharlin

Horticulture Research Articles

Stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans L.) remain a significant pest affecting livestock and rural communities on the Swan Coastal Plain around Perth, Western Australia. Vegetable crop residues remaining after harvest enable stable fly development. Left untreated they can produce from several hundred to >1,000 stable fly/m2 of post-harvest residues. We studied the effect of burial and compaction of sandy soils on adult emergence of stable fly and house fly (Musca domestica L.) (Diptera: Muscidae). Adults of both fly species can move up through 50 cm of loose, dry sand, however at depths greater than 60 cm, emergence rapidly declines …

The Bacterial Soft Rot Pathogens, Pectobacterium Carotovorum And P. Atrosepticum, Respond To Different Classes Of Virulence-Inducing Host Chemical Signals, Paul A. Agyemang, Md Niamul Kabir, Caleb M. Kersey, C. Korsi Dumenyo

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Soft rot bacteria of the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera are Gram-negative phytopathogens that produce and secrete plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDE), the actions of which lead to rotting and decay of their hosts in the field and in storage. Host chemical signals are among the factors that induce the bacteria into extracellular enzyme production and virulence. A class of compounds (Class I) made up of intermediate products of cell wall (pectin) degradation induce exoenzyme synthesis through KdgR, a global negative regulator of exoenzyme production. While the KdgR− mutant of P. carotovorum is no longer inducible by Class I inducers, we …

2019 Seedless Pickling Cucumber Variety Trial, Ben Phillips

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

A pickling cucumber variety trial was planted at the Saginaw Valley Research and Extension Center (43.399097, -83.694497, Frankenmuth, Michigan). Bejo (BJ), Nunhems (NU), and Rijk Zwaan (RZ) seed companies donated parthenocarpic (seedless) varieties.

Nebline, February 2020

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

High-Quality Early Child Care Is Important to Children and Communities

Taking Part is Your Civic Duty

Sweet Ideas Without Added Sugar

Berry Fun

Recipes of the Month

Pesticide Applicator Trainings

Growing Nut Trees Seminar, Feb. 20

Landlord/Tenant Cash Rent Workshop, Feb. 3

ProHort Lawn & Landscape Update

Southeast Nebraska Soil Health Conference, March 3

Backyard Bird Feeding Tips

Positive Change on Environmental Issues

What Do the Three Arrows of Recycling Mean?

2020 Flower All-America Selections

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Lincoln Littles Early Childhood Education Initiative

Lincoln Early Childhood Conference

HEART OF 4-H

Meet 2019–2020 4-H Teen Council …

Restoring The Fire–Grazing Interaction Promotes Tree–Grass Coexistence By Controlling Woody Encroachment, Jane F. Capozzelli, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski, Walter H. Schacht

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Woody encroachment can convert grasslands and savannas to shrublands and woodlands, so understanding the processes which regulate woody encroachment is necessary to conserve or restore these ecosystems.We hypothesized that recreating the fire–grazing interaction would limit woody encroachment because focal grazing increases fuel accumulation on unburned areas and increases browsing on emergent woody plants in burned areas. This study was conducted in the Grand River Grasslands of Iowa and Missouri (USA) on 11 sites (15.4–35.0 ha). Each site was assigned to one treatment: patch-burn-graze (n = 4), with spatially discrete prescribed fires and free access by cattle (the fire–grazing interaction); graze-andburn …

Combination Of Biological And Chemical Soil Tests Best Predict Maize Nitrogen Response, M. D. Mcdaniel, Daniel T. Walters, L. G. Bundy, Xiaofei Li, Rhae A. Drijber, John E. Sawyer, Michael J. Castellano, C. A.M. Laboski, Peter C. Scharf

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soil tests can help optimize nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates, thereby improving farmer profitability and environmental performance. In US Midwest maize (Zea mays) production, however, most soil N tests have limited accuracy to predict N fertilizer requirements. Here we tested the individual and combined ability of 30 soil tests (12 rapid N extractions, seven biological carbon or N tests, six long-term incubation kinetic parameters, and five other routine soil tests), as well as environmental and management data, to predict maize response to N fertilizer across 56 site-years in the US Midwest. Out of 30 soil tests, and across all …

Soybean Response To Water: Trait Identification And Prediction, Shawn Jenkins

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

The rising demand for soybean [Glycine Max (L.) Merrill] taken in consideration with current climatic trends accentuates the importance of improving soybean seed yield response per unit water (WP). To further our understanding of the quantitative WP trait, a multi-omic approach was implemented for improved trait identification and predictive modeling opportunities. Through the evaluation of two recombinant inbred line populations jointly totaling 439 lines subjected to contrasting irrigation treatments, informative agronomic, phenomic, and genomic associations were identified. Across both populations, relationships were identified between lodging at maturity (r = -0.58, H = 0.86), canopy to air temperature differential …

Enhancing Hybrid Prediction In Pearl Millet Using Genomic And/Or Multi- Environment Phenotypic Information Of Inbreds, Diego Jarquin, Reka Howard, Zhikai Liang, Shashi K. Gupta, James C. Schnable, Jose Crossa

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genomic selection (GS) is an emerging methodology that helps select superior lines among experimental cultivars in plant breeding programs. It offers the opportunity to increase the productivity of cultivars by delivering increased genetic gains and reducing the breeding cycles. This methodology requires inexpensive and sufficiently dense marker information to be successful, and with whole genome sequencing, it has become an important tool in many crops. The recent assembly of the pearl millet genome has made it possible to employ GS models to improve the selection procedure in pearl millet breeding programs. Here, three GS models were implemented and compared using …

Soil Health On A Small-Scale Sustainable Vegetable Farm In South Louisiana, Allison Guidroz

LSU Master's Theses

One of the biggest challenges facing the world today is the need to provide nutritious food to an ever-growing population in a way that does not compromise the ecosystem services of the soil that are necessary for life. The evidence for widespread degradation of the soil has been a major contributor in the increased interest in soil health. Most of the research in soil health has focused on field crops, which has led to a gap in the research of soil health on vegetable cropping systems. This objective of this study was to analyze the health of the soil on …

Long-Term Ecological Research In Southern Brazil Grasslands: Effects Of Grazing Exclusion And Deferred Grazing On Plant And Arthropod Communities, Pedro M.A. Ferreira, Bianca O. Andrade, Luciana R. Podgaiski, Amanda C. Dias, Valerio D. Pillar, Gerhard E. Overbeck, Milton De S. Mendonca Jr., Ilsi I. Boldrini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grazing exclusion may lead to biodiversity loss and homogenization of naturally heterogeneous and species-rich grassland ecosystems, and these effects may cascade to higher trophic levels and ecosystem properties. Although grazing exclusion has been studied elsewhere, the consequences of alleviating the disturbance regime in grassland ecosystems remain unclear. In this paper, we present results of the first five years of an experiment in native grasslands of southern Brazil. Using a randomized block experimental design, we examined the effects of three grazing treatments on plant and arthropod communities: (i) deferred grazing (i.e., intermittent grazing), (ii) grazing exclusion and (iii) a control under …

Methods For Management Of Soilborne Diseases In Crop Production, Milan Panth, Samuel C. Hassler, Fulya Baysal-Gurel

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The significant problems caused by soilborne pathogens in crop production worldwide include reduced crop performance, decreased yield, and higher production costs. In many parts of the world, methyl bromide was extensively used to control these pathogens before the implementation of the Montreal Protocol—a global agreement to protect the ozone layer. The threats of soilborne disease epidemics in crop production, high cost of chemical fungicides and development of fungicide resistance, climate change, new disease outbreaks and increasing concerns regarding environmental as well as soil health are becoming increasingly evident. These necessitate the use of integrated soilborne disease management strategies for crop …

2019 Standard-Size And Personal-Size Triploid Watermelon Variety Evaluation In Indiana, Wenjing Guan, Dennis Nowaskie, Thomas D H Haseman, Dan Egel

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Indiana is one of the major watermelon production states in the U.S. Forty standard-size seedless watermelon varieties and 17 personal-size varieties were evaluated in southwest Indiana in 2019. Yield and quality information of the varieties were discussed.

Editorial: New Insights Into Mechanisms Of Epigenetic Modifiers In Plant Growth And Development, Ming Luo, Gabino Ríos, Tomasz Jacek Sarnowski, Shoudong Zhang, Nitin Mantri, Jean-Benoit Charron, Marc Libault

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In eukaryotic cells, chromatin, a highly dynamic nucleoprotein complex, plays a critical role in controlling gene expression notably by regulating the interaction between transcription factors and regulatory elements. The structure of the chromatin is determined by epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin remodeling. A growing body of evidence indicates that epigenetic regulations are involved in plant adaptation to environmental stresses, and in plant development, including flowering control, fruit and root development, as well as seed maturation and germination. Furthermore, epigenetic mechanisms have the potential to stabilize cell identity and maintain tissue organization. Hence, epigenetic diversity is now …

Yield And Quality In Purple-Grained Wheat Isogenic Lines, Alexey Morgounov, Yasar Karaduman, Beyhan Akin, Sinan Aydogan, Peter Stephen Baenziger, Madhav Bhatta, Vladimir Chudinov, Susanne Dreisigacker, Velu Govindan, Safure Güler, Carlos Guzman, Ajit Nehe, Rachana Poudel, Devin J. Rose, Elena Gordeeva, Vladimir Shamanin, Kemal Subasi, Yuriy Zelenskiy, Elena Khlestkina

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Breeding programs for purple wheat are underway in many countries but there is a lack of information on the effects of Pp (purple pericarp) genes on agronomic and quality traits in variable environments and along the product chain (grain-flour-bread). This study was based on unique material: two pairs of isogenic lines in a spring wheat cv. Saratovskaya-29 (S29) background differing only in Pp genes and grain color. In 2017, seven experiments were conducted in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey with a focus on genotype and environment interaction and, in 2018, one experiment in Turkey with a focus on grain, flour, and …

The Land Variational Ensemble Data Assimilation Framework: Lavendar V1.0.0, Ewan Pinnington, Tristan Quaife, Amos Lawless, Karina Williams, Tim Arkebauer, David Scoby

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The Land Variational Ensemble Data Assimilation Framework (LAVENDAR) implements the method of fourdimensional ensemble variational (4D-En-Var) data assimilation (DA) for land surface models. Four-dimensional ensemble variational data assimilation negates the often costly calculation of a model adjoint required by traditional variational techniques (such as 4D-Var) for optimizing parameters or state variables over a time window of observations. In this paper we present the first application of LAVENDAR, implementing the framework with the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model. We show that the system can recover seven parameters controlling crop behaviour in a set of twin experiments. We …

Adaptive Capacity In Ecosystems, David G. Angeler, Hannah Fried-Petersen, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond Garmestani, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr, H.E. Birgé, W. Chuang, V. M. Donovan, T. Eason, C.P. Roberts, S.M. Sundstrom, C.L. Wonkka

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding the adaptive capacity of ecosystems to cope with change is crucial to management. However, unclear and often confusing definitions of adaptive capacity make application of this concept difficult. In this paper, we revisit definitions of adaptive capacity and operationalize the concept. We define adaptive capacity as the latent potential of an ecosystem to alter resilience in response to change. We present testable hypotheses to evaluate complementary attributes of adaptive capacity that may help further clarify the components and relevance of the concept. Adaptive sampling, inference and modeling can reduce key uncertainties incrementally over time and increase learning about adaptive …

Characterization Of The Transcriptional Divergence Between The Subspecies Of Cultivated Rice (Oryza Sativa), Malachy T. Campbell, Qian Du, Kan Li, Sandeep Sharma, Chi Zhang, Harkamal Walia

Agronomy & Horticulture -- Faculty Publications

Background: Cultivated rice consists of two subspecies, Indica and Japonica, that exhibit well-characterized differences at the morphological and genetic levels. However, the differences between these subspecies at the transcriptome level remains largely unexamined. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of transcriptome divergence and cis-regulatory variation within rice using transcriptome data from 91 accessions from a rice diversity panel (RDP1).

Results: The transcriptomes of the two subspecies of rice are highly divergent. Japonica have significantly lower expression and genetic diversity relative to Indica, which is likely a consequence of a population bottleneck during Japonica domestication. We leveraged high-density genotypic data and …

Carnarvon Plantation Industry Production Statistics 2019, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Horticulture research reports

The Carnarvon Horticulture District is located along the fertile delta of the Gascoyne River. This irrigated area is one of the most productive in Western Australia for horticulture, producing a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops including but not limited to bananas, table grapes, mangoes, melons, tomatoes, capsicums & green beans. The majority of Carnarvon's vegetable production occurs during the winter months where sunlight & temperature in Carnarvon is favourable for vegetable production.

This report shows detailed statistics for the horticultural produce of Carnarvon in 2019.

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 21 2020, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Nebline, January 2020

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

2019 Extension Highlights

Benefit to People

Extension’s Volunteers Worth Over $800,000

Resilience Makes Nebraska Strong

35,312 Youth Engaged in 4-H Programs

Find Tips and Recipes Easier at food.unl.edu

Recipe of the Month

UNL Food Processing Center Offers Assistance to Small Food Business Start-ups

Pesticide Applicator 2020 Training Dates

Successful Farmer Series Starts Jan. 10

Landlord/Tenant Cash Rent Workshop, Feb. 3

Soil Health Conference, March 3

Upcoming Green Industry Conferences

Extension’s 2020 Master Gardener Trainings, Two Sites Available

Garden Guide Things to Do This Month

Childcare Professionals — Considering Outdoor Play in Winter?

Upcoming Early Childhood Trainings

Heart of 4-H Volunteer …

Dicamba Retention In Commercial Sprayers Following Triple Rinse Cleanout Procedures, And Soybean Response To Contamination Concentrations, Frances B. Browne, Xiao Li, Katilyn J. Price, Jianping Wang, Yi Wang, Greg R. Kruger, Jeff Golus, Gabrielle De Castro Macedo, Bruno C. Vieira, Tyler Sandlin

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The commercial launch of dicamba‐tolerant (DT) crops has resulted in increased dicamba usage and a high number of dicamba off‐target movement complaints on sensitive soybeans (Glycine max L.). Dicamba is a synthetic auxin and low dosages as 0.028 g ae ha−1 can induce injury on sensitive soybean. Tank contamination has been identified as one of the sources for unintended sensitive crop exposure. The labels of new dicamba formulations require a triple rinse cleanout procedure following applications. Cleanout efficacy might vary based on the sprayer type and procedure followed. This study was performed to quantify dicamba retention in commercial sprayers and …

Improving On Modis Mcd64a1 Burned Area Estimates In Grassland Systems: A Case Study In Kansas Flint Hills Tall Grass Prairie, Rheinhardt Scholtz, Jayson Prentice, Yao Tang, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Uncertainty in satellite-derived burned area estimates are especially high in grassland systems, which are some of the most frequently burned ecosystems in the world. In this study, we compare differences in predicted burned area estimates for a region with the highest fire activity in North America, the Flint Hills of Kansas, USA, using the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) MCD64A1 burned area product and a customization of the MODIS MCD64A1 product using a major ground-truthing effort by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE-MODIS customization). Local-scale ground-truthing and the KDHE-MODIS product suggests MODIS burned area estimates under predicted fire …

A Comparison Of Media To Determine Optimal Growth In Aquaponics, Rachel L. Fogle, Andrea Nagy, Allison Bernard, Jordan Brown, Samantha Delvalle-Trinh, James Shuler

Harrisburg University Presidential Research Grants

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Faculty And Managing Editors, Beth Kegley, Gail Halleck

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Letter From Division Of Agriculture Communications, Fred Miller

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.