Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs Target Audience:The target audiences reached by efforts during this reporting period include but the following. Commercial producers of ornamental and edible food crops in hydroponic and soilless substrate culture systems. Production can be in greenhouses, high tunnels, indoor vertical farms, and other types of protected and controlled-environment agriculture. Members of the scientific community conducting applied research for protected and controlled-environment agriculture. Members may include researchers, professors, technical staff, post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students, and other members of universities and/or research institutes. Allied horticulture companies associated with crop production in protected and controlled environments. These include manufacturers and suppliers of electric lighting technologies, soilless substrates, fertilizers, agrichemicals, various plastic products, greenhouses, high tunnels, vertical farming units, and plant breeders. University students enrolled in coursework related to horticulture and crop production in protected and controlled environments. Courses include Greenhouse Management and Operation as well as Introduction to Hydroponic and Soilless Food Crop Production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from this project have been published in HortTechnology, a peer-reviewed journal within the American Society for Horticultural Sciences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting cycle, we plan to publish the remaining data sets on evaluating wood fiber as a soilless substrate component, which were collected during previous years. We plan to start projects on quantifying nutrient and water uptake for hydroponic leafy greens, and also on optimizing small fruit production in soilless substrates, focusing on evaluating long-cane techniques for blackberry and raspberry.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
A new shallow aggregate ebb-and-flood (SAEF) culture system was evaluated with lettuce and basil and shown to be comparable to standard hydroponic systems such as nutrient film technique (NFT) and deep water culture (DWC). Nutrient and water supply in the SAEF system can be easier to manage compared to NFT and DWC hydroponic systems, therefore reducing the complexity and cost of fertilizer management during production. The SAEF system is particularly practical for ornamental container crop producers using ebb-and-flood irrigation, where ebb-and-flood irrigation systems can easily be modified to SAEF systems for the transition to food crop production. Several greenhouse growers in the United States and in the Caribbean islands have adopted the SAEF system as a means to transition into growing hydroponic leafy greens and herbs.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Dickson, R.W., and B.E. Jackson. Growing Substrates. Ball Redbook. Meister Publishing.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Doty, S., R.W. Dickson, and M.R. Evans. 2020. Effects of culture system and transplant practices on soilless basil production. HortTechnology. DOI: 10.21273/HORTTECH04635-20
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Xiong, H., A. Shi, and R.W. Dickson. 2020. Effects of low temperature and low light on the physiology of tomato seedlings. American Journal of Plant Sciences. DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2020.112013
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Dickson, Ryan W., J.B. Ebba, P.R. Fisher, and C.N. Harris. In press. Fertilizer and Plant Growth Regulator Strategies for Improving Consumer Performance of Container-grown Petunia. HortTechnology.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Doty, S., R.W. Dickson, and M.R. Evans. Culture system and transplant practices influence basil production. Master's Thesis. University of Arkansas
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Progress 03/19/19 to 09/30/19
Outputs Target Audience:Target audiences for 2019 included the following: Growers, staff, and business owners working at commercial greenhouses and controlled-environment horticultural operations, particularly bedding plants and edible food crop operations. Technical service specialists, sales representatives, and customer support staff working for allied horticulture industries, including companies manufacturing and selling soilless substrates, fertilizers, plastic trays and pots, greenhouse and related construction services, and plant genetics. Students enrolled in ACCEPtS courses and at the University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, Oklahoma State University. (ACCEPtS = the Alliance for Cooperative Course Exchange in Plant Sciences) Research, teaching, and extension faculty at land-grant universities collaborating on research and teaching activities in areas of horticulture and controlled-environment agriculture. Efforts of this project during 2019 included the following: Published research-based information on managing plant nutrition and soilless substrates in national trade magazines and through online extension services, with outreach targeted towards industry and academic audiences. Published research results in scientific peer-reviewed American Society for Horticultural Science journals targeted towards academic audiences. Instructed an online Greenhouse Management course and laboratory for students enrolled in ACCEPtS courses, targeting students at the University of Arkansas, Louisiana State Univeristy, Mississippi State University, and Oklahoma State University. Presented on hydroponic nutrient management, results on soilless substrate nutrient/pH research, and water quality research at national professional society meetings (American Society for Horticulltural Science and National Floriculture Forum) and international grower adn academic audiences (Canadian Greenhouse Conference). Currently writing book chapter on soilless substrates for the Ball Redbook with Dr. Brian Jackson at North Carolina State University. The Ball Redbook has been the premier commercial grower crop production publication for over 100 years. Collaborating with faculty and administration at the University of Arkansas on construction of a new greenhouse range. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Project results were used to provide stakeholders updated fertilizer and watering guidelines and management strategies for growers through several educational channels. Results were presented to national stakeholder audiences in the form of research updates and webinars through e-GRO (electronic grower resources online), a national online greenhouse extension platform, as well as grower articles for popular trade magazines such as GrowerTalks and Greenhouse Product News. Project results were also included in manuscripts being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal for applied horticulture such as HortTechnology or HortScience. Future channels will include workshops such as the Horticulture Industry Show and the Arkansas Green Industry Conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue working with wood products in soilless substrates, but also move more into strategies to improve water and nutrient management in closed hydroponic systems. Projects in this area will focus on designing hydroponic nutrient refill solutions, evaluating the potential to manage nutrient solution levels by electrical conductivity versus nitrogen concentration, and predicting optimal periods to replenish the hydroponic nutrient solution with a fresh nutrient supply.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
The greenhouse and nursery industry is a large and rapidly changing sector of agriculture in Arkansas. The introduction of new wood fiber growing media and the demand requires growers to adjust their fertilizer and irrigation strategies. In addition, there is ever increasing need to reduce fresh water use as well as capture and reuse irrigation water used in agriculture to decrease economic and environmental costs. This project proposes to investigate fertilizer, irrigation, and growing media factors that influence plant nutrient uptake and water use efficiency in greenhouse and controlled-environment production. Anticipated impacts and outcomes include updated fertilizer and irrigation best management practices, guidelines for producing crops in new wood fiber growing media, and decreased nutrient and water runoff to the environment. Objective 2. To reduce fresh water use and evaluate alternative fertilizers and growing substrates for the production of greenhouse crops. Greenhouse and laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate peat substrate amended with three types of pine wood fiber at 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60% (by volume) for effects on substrate physical properties, nitrogen immobilization potential, and plant growth and performance with container-grown petunia. Pine wood fiber was sourced from North American sourthern loblolly pine, Scots pine, and European white pine species. For comparison, additional treatments consisted of common substrate amendments including perlite, vermiculite, coconut coir, hammer-milled pine wood chips, pine bark, and rice hulls. Measured physical properties included dry bulk density, air and water porosity, and particle size distribution using techniques standardized at North Carollina State University substrates laboratory, lead by Dr. Brian Jackson. Nitrogen immobilization was measured using a standardized VDLUFA method from the German Association of Agricultural Sciences. Results indicated that substrate amendment type and percent amendment interacted in effect on all physical properties. Overall, increasing the proportion of wood fiber in the substrate had less than a 10% effect on bulk density and porosity, with no effects on nitrogen immobilization. In the greenhouse study, and with the exception of petunia grown in 60% rice hulls, all plants had the same growth rates, flower number per plant, and chlorophyll concentration in leaves. Rice hulls at 60% held very little water, and therefore chronic drought stress influenced performance. We concluded that amending wood fiber into peat substrates had little impact on plant performance as well as fertilization and irrigation practices. We recommend to growers incorporating wood fiber at between 20% and 40% of the total substrate volume, however, our data suggest that 60% may also be acceptable under certain cultural conditions. Objective 3. To train growers and students to utilize emerging controlled environment agriculture technologies. Our team met with two commerical greenhouse operations in Van Buren, AR, to conduct training on including wood fiber and managing wood products into their growing substrates. Both growers have invested significantly in use of wood products in substrates, and training included strategies to manage irrigation and fertilizer nutrients and minimize potential for nitrogen immobilization.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ebba, J. Evaluating residual fertilizer strategies and plant growth regulators for potential to improve post-production performance of container crops. Master's Thesis. University of New Hampshire.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
G�mez, Celina, Christopher J. Currey, Ryan W. Dickson, Hye-Ji Kim, Ricardo Hern�ndez, Nadia C. Sabeh, Rosa E. Raudales et al. "Controlled Environment Food Production for Urban Agriculture." HortScience 54, no. 9 (2019): 1448-1458.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. W., & Fisher, P. R. (2019). Quantifying the Acidic and Basic Effects of Vegetable and Herb Species in Peat-based Substrate and Hydroponics. HortScience, 54(6), 1093-1100.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Harris, C.W., Dickson, R.W., Fisher, P.R., Jackson, B.E., Poleatewich, A.N. Evaluating peat substrate amended with wood fiber for effects on nitrogen immobilization and plant growth with container grown petunia. HortTechnology. In press.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. Avoid tip burn in hydroponic lettuce. e-GRO Edible Alert. March 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. Overview of pH and electrical conductivity meters. GrowerTalks. January 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. Magnesium or micronutrient deficiency in basil? Dont be fooled. e-GRO Edible Alert. May 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. and R. Raudales. Avoiding ammonium toxicity. GrowerTalks. January 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Dickson, R. and R. Raudales. Trays too dry? GrowerTalks. January 2019.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Harris, C. Evaluating wood fiber substrates for effects on nitrogen immobilization, pH, and root zone nutrient concentrations in container-grown petunia. Master's Thesis. University of New Hampshire.
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