Browse Horticulture Stories - Page 74

739 results found for Horticulture
Snow coats leaves in March 2009 in Athens, Ga. CAES News
Protect plants
Don’t box up those old Christmas tree lights just yet. Along with old blankets, quilts and cardboard boxes, they could be the key to keeping tender plants from freezing this winter.
CAES News
Landscape Update
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will hold the 2010 landscape updates and trainings January 15 and February 26 in Perry. The trainings will cover weed and insect control, soil compaction and thatch, small engine maintenance, cost management and pesticide recertification credits.
Horticulture graduate student Jongyun Kim checks on a plant's soil moisture sensor in UGA horticulture professor Marc van Iersel's greenhouse. CAES News
Save water, save money
Many ornamental nursery growers test to see if their plants need water by sticking a finger in the soil to see if it’s dry. Or, they just water them whether they need it or not. University of Georgia horticulturists have found a better way, one that requires less water, less fertilizer, less money and fewer dirty fingers.
Calceolaria, or pocketbook plant, gets its name from the shape of its flowers. While it grows wild in Chile, the best place to find it in the U.S. is in a florist's shop. CAES News
Give plants
UGA horticulturist Paul Thomas likes to give flowering plants as gifts. A deep basket filled with a few pots of colored calla lilies or a basket with a cluster of cyclamen topped with white or silver grass “makes a stunning gift,” he said.
This is a ornamental pepper plant, pulled off of Bugwood 11/12/09. CAES News
From nasty to poisonous
University of Georgia horticulturalist Paul Thomas can’t think of any common gift plants that are necessarily poisonous -- most of the poisonous plants are those cut for Christmas decorations. He can, however, think of one that will light a child’s or pet’s mouth on fire.
An early-maturing pecan variety called Pawnee is harvested in an orchard in Crisp County, Georgia. CAES News
Pecans 'on'
A pecan-loving disease enjoyed Georgia’s wet summer weather and is now blamed for cutting what was expected to be a large crop, says a University of Georgia pecan specialist. But farmers still expect to have an “on” year.
Orange Bulldog is an improved pumpkin variety developed from germplasm collected in the jungles of South America with greater levels of resistance to viruses than conventional pumpkins. Those original seeds yielded a long flat pumpkin, not one that lends itself to jack-o'-lanterns. So, George Boyhan, Gerald Krewer and retired UGA horticulturist Darbie Granberry made improved selections for adaptation to Georgia conditions. Orange Bulldog made its debut in 2004. Orange Bulldog consistently produced yields of 13,000 to 20,000 pound per acre in north and South Georgia. Photo George Boyhan holding immature pumpkin taken October 2009. CAES News
Orange Bulldog
Heading to a local pumpkin patch to pick the season’s best is a time-honored fall family activity. Thanks to University of Georgia researchers, a better, Georgia-specific pumpkin is available for carving or baking.
CAES News
Plant doctors
Mother Nature has blessed Georgia with an abundance of rain over the past month, leaving most areas drought-free. But all that moisture mixed with warm spring temperatures creates a perfect environment for landscape diseases.
CAES News
Organic learning
Sales of organic foods have exploded, moving the industry from a niche market to a nationwide phenomenon. In 1989, organic foods accounted for $1.25 billion in U.S. sales. By 2005, that number had jumped to $14 billion. This booming industry needs a steady stream of skilled, educated workers like Erica Mehan.