HortsciencePub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17230-23
Amy Fulcher, Alicia L. Rihn, Laura A. Warner, A. LeBude, Susan Schexnayder, J. Altland, Natalie Bumgarner, S. C. Marble, Lloyd Nackley, Marco Palma, Margarita Velandia, Heping Zhu, Hao Gan, James S. Owen
{"title":"Overcoming the Nursery Industry Labor Shortage: A Survey of Strategies to Adapt to a Reduced Workforce and Automation and Mechanization Technology Adoption Levels","authors":"Amy Fulcher, Alicia L. Rihn, Laura A. Warner, A. LeBude, Susan Schexnayder, J. Altland, Natalie Bumgarner, S. C. Marble, Lloyd Nackley, Marco Palma, Margarita Velandia, Heping Zhu, Hao Gan, James S. Owen","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17230-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17230-23","url":null,"abstract":"US nurseries are experiencing a workforce shortage that is expected to intensify. A mixed-mode survey of decision-makers representing the US nursery industry was conducted in 2021. The survey assessed practices used in 2020 to elicit a better understanding of nursery approaches to the challenges presented by persistent labor scarcity. We compare our results with survey data collected ∼15 years earlier at container nurseries. Survey responses revealed that nurseries were undertaking strategies that aimed to improve production efficiency, better recruit and retain employees, and secure other sources of labor to overcome this shortage. Specifically, more than 65% of surveyed US nurseries increased worker wages, and more than 55% of respondents adopted automation to address the labor shortage. Strategies in use by ≥23% of respondents may limit future growth or jeopardize long-term nursery survival. These include diversifying tasks of current employees, reducing production of labor-intensive plants, or delaying expansion plans. Survey results suggested that production tasks excluding irrigation were on average 31% automated or mechanized at container nurseries, an increase from 16% during the prior survey. Field nurseries were 35% automated or mechanized in 2020. Newly developed or yet-to-be developed automated and mechanized technology (AMT) that decision-makers perceive as being helpful were reported. This article explores linkages between nursery characteristics and AMT adoption and highlights research and extension programming initiatives that are needed to help growers make informed decisions regarding adopting automation.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"11 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138609696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17395-23
N. Kelly, E. Runkle
{"title":"Ultraviolet A and Blue Light Transiently Regulate Total Phenolic and Anthocyanin Concentrations in Indoor-grown Red-leaf Lettuce","authors":"N. Kelly, E. Runkle","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17395-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17395-23","url":null,"abstract":"In controlled environments, supplementing a light spectrum with ultraviolet A (UVA; 315–399 nm) or blue (B; 400–499 nm) light increases the concentrations of phenolic compounds that can increase quality attributes, such as leaf pigmentation and nutritional quality of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). However, B light and sometimes UVA light can inhibit leaf expansion and biomass accumulation when continuously applied, whereas applying it only at the end of the production cycle can increase lettuce quality with little to no effect on crop yield. Our objective was to quantify the persistency of periodic supplemental UVA or B light and compare end-of-production with continuously applied supplemental light during indoor lettuce production on quality attributes and biomass accumulation. We hypothesized that supplemental UVA or B light would be more effective later, rather than earlier, during production with increasing lettuce quality attributes. We grew ‘Rouxai’ red-leaf lettuce hydroponically at an air temperature of 23 °C under 75 μmol⋅m−2⋅s−1 of red (peak = 664 nm) plus 75 μmol⋅m−2⋅s−1 of warm-white light provided by light-emitting diodes. The supplemental lighting treatments consisted of adding 30 μmol⋅m−2⋅s−1 of UVA (peak= 386 nm) or B (peak = 449 nm) light during the seedling phase (P1; days 4–12), growth phase (P2; days 12–20), finishing phase (P3; days 20–28), or the entire time (ET; days 4–28). Supplemental UVA or B light applied at any individual phase did not inhibit biomass accumulation, whereas enriched B light during the entire production period inhibited fresh mass compared with no supplemental light. Additionally, supplemental UVA or B light during P3 or ET similarly increased total phenolic and anthocyanin concentrations. Finally, applying UVA or B light during P1 or P2 had no residual effect on mature plant growth or quality at harvest. We concluded that the end of the production cycle is the optimal time to apply supplemental UVA or B light to improve lettuce coloration and phenolic content, that earlier application elicits transient responses, and that continuous application improves lettuce quality but inhibits biomass accumulation. Finally, there are potential energy savings by using end-of-production supplemental light compared with continuous application of the same spectrum.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"27 1‐2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138626268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17393-23
William E. Friedman, M. Dosmann, Tiffany B. Enzenbacher
{"title":"Cercis canadensis ‘Arnold Banner’: A Periclinal Chimera of Eastern Redbud with Prominent Nectar Guides","authors":"William E. Friedman, M. Dosmann, Tiffany B. Enzenbacher","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17393-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17393-23","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":" 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138618463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci16963-22
M. McMillan, Karen Williams, Kimberly Moore, Samira Daroub, John E. Erickson, Stanley Kostka, Michael Fidanza
{"title":"Evaluation of a Method to Induce Hydrophobicity on Sand","authors":"M. McMillan, Karen Williams, Kimberly Moore, Samira Daroub, John E. Erickson, Stanley Kostka, Michael Fidanza","doi":"10.21273/hortsci16963-22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci16963-22","url":null,"abstract":"Methods to evaluate soil water repellency (SWR) require extensive studies on field soils and are subject to the heterogeneity of SWR throughout the soil profile as well as plant/soil interactions. The objectives of this study were to develop a synthetic method to create hydrophobic sand, and to determine if that hydrophobic sand would affect the establishment of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L. Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy, cv. Tifeagle) sprigs. Two techniques were developed to render sand hydrophobic: soap:sand method (hydrophobic sand; HSS) and sand:peat method (hydrophobic sand and read sedge peat; HSP). Both HSS and HSP remained severely hydrophobic at 0 cm depth for only 7 d, and at the 1- to 6-cm depth for 77 continuous days, as determined by water drop penetration time. Bermudagrass establishment, root growth, or shoot growth in two greenhouse experiments with four root zone substrates–HSS, HSP, WSAND (wettable sand), and WSP (wettable sand and reed sedge peat)—were not consistent. In conclusion, both HSS and HSP were shown to be safe and effective methods to synthetically produce hydrophobic sand for potential use in laboratory research, but further evaluation is needed to determine the feasibility of using HSS and HSP for turfgrass growth evaluations.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"51 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138622466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17363-23
Steven J Knapp, Glenn S. Cole, Dominique D. A. Pincot, Cindy M. López, Omar A. Gonzalez-Benitez, Randi A. Famula
{"title":"‘UC Eclipse’, a Summer Plant-adapted Photoperiod-insensitive Strawberry Cultivar","authors":"Steven J Knapp, Glenn S. Cole, Dominique D. A. Pincot, Cindy M. López, Omar A. Gonzalez-Benitez, Randi A. Famula","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17363-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17363-23","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"2 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138626453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-11-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17370-23
Yelderem Akhoundnejad, Seyhmus Baran
{"title":"Boosting Drought Resistance in Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) with the Aid of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Key Phytohormones","authors":"Yelderem Akhoundnejad, Seyhmus Baran","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17370-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17370-23","url":null,"abstract":"Drought is a primary abiotic stressor that markedly impairs pepper growth and quality. This study aimed to investigate the effects of foliar applications of phytohormones, including salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and root application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), on severe and moderate drought stress of 38-day-old ‘Anemon F1’ pepper plants. The results showed that drought stress led to a considerable decrease in plant growth parameters, nutrient uptake, leaf water content, and chlorophyll content, and it increased leaf temperature, phenolic and flavonoid contents, and antioxidant enzyme activity. Nevertheless, the combined application of AMF with SA and JA demonstrated substantial synergistic effects, resulting in a notable improvement in the ability to alleviate the detrimental impacts of drought stress. Furthermore, the combined application of AMF and phytohormones exhibited a stronger effect on drought stress compared with the individual application of AMF or phytohormones alone. The application of AMF+SA and AMF+JA not only improves the availability of essential nutrients but also leads to an increase in fresh shoot weight, relative water content, leaf area, and chlorophyll and antioxidant capacity. Consequently, the combined application of SA and JA with mycorrhiza emerged as a promising treatment for enhancing pepper growth under drought-stress conditions. The positive results observed in pepper cultivation through the combined use of phytohormones and mycorrhizae in regions with limited water availability emphasize the importance of investigating the effectiveness of similar approaches in other agricultural crops.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"244 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135011813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HortsciencePub Date : 2023-11-01DOI: 10.21273/hortsci17248-23
Che Deer, Bruce L. Dunn, Bizhen Hu, Carla Goad, Daniel E. Shoup
{"title":"Grafted and Nongrafted ‘Cherokee Purple’ Tomato Performance in Aquaponic and Hydroponic Greenhouse Production in Oklahoma","authors":"Che Deer, Bruce L. Dunn, Bizhen Hu, Carla Goad, Daniel E. Shoup","doi":"10.21273/hortsci17248-23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci17248-23","url":null,"abstract":"‘Cherokee Purple’ tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants are a highly sought-after heirloom cultivar in the United States but are low yielding and highly susceptible to soil-borne pathogens, and may benefit from being grafted. Soilless systems such as aquaponics and hydroponics help increase yield, mitigate disease, and serve as an alternative to field production. The objective of this study was to evaluate a grafting combination of ‘Cherokee Purple’ × ‘Maxifort’ and nongrafted controls in 1.85-m 2 media grow beds with hydroponic and aquaponic systems using copper nose bluegill in a greenhouse. Grafting increased stem diameter, leaf count, stem height, flower count, and bud count compared with nongrafted plants. In aquaponics, grafting increased the phosphorus uptake over nongrafted plants grown in the aquaponic system. Grafting resulted in greater fresh (49.2%) and dry (40.0%) shoot biomass, and fresh (33.3%) and dry (42.8%) root biomass. Grafting also increased the uptake of copper and sulfur in the aquaponic systems. The hydroponic systems resulted in greater leaf count, soil plant analysis development, stem height, shoot biomass, and greater boron, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and manganese levels than aquaponic systems. Total fruit number and weight were greater in hydroponic systems than in aquaponic systems by 35.4% and 30.4%, respectively, but fruit splitting was a problem in both. Aquaponics resulted in greater root fresh weight than hydroponics. The nutrients zinc and copper increased with the use of aquaponic systems over hydroponic systems. This research suggests that the type of system can affect growth and nutrient uptake, and ‘Cherokee Purple’ should not be used in a soilless system because of excessive fruit splitting, leading to unmarketable fruit and low yield, unless environmental conditions can be managed during the heat of the summer.","PeriodicalId":13140,"journal":{"name":"Hortscience","volume":"62 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135012572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}