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A Win-Win: U-Pick Pumpkin Farms Recycle Urban Leaves

Tuesday, 23 December 2008 08:41

Pumpkin size, quality improved using municipal leaf mulch

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Americans love pumpkins. The growing popularity of rural fall festivals, grade school farm tours, and "u-pick" pumpkin farms has resulted in an increase in consumer demand for pumpkins throughout the country. A critical challenge for pumpkin farmers promoting entertainment agriculture, or "agritourism", is maintaining fields that are weed-free, attractive, and safe for consumers. To keep up with the increasing popularity of pick-your-own pumpkin operations, farmers are constantly seeking ways to produce marketable pumpkins while maintaining u-pick fields that are enticing for consumers, even during inclement autumn weather.

Houseplants Increase Quality of Life for Retirement Community Residents

Tuesday, 24 February 2009 10:22

Caring for plants increases physical and emotional health

LAS VEGAS, NV—As the U.S. population ages, the number of citizens moving from their own homes to assisted living or long-term-care facilities is increasing dramatically. These numbers are expected to continue rising. By 2030, the population aged 65 years and older is expected to double to more than 71 million. Quality of life becomes an important issue for older adults who will reside in retirement facilities.

Vidalia Onions: Alternative to Hand-transplanting Proven Effective

Tuesday, 23 December 2008 09:11

Direct seeding can save money for onion producers

STATESBORO, GA—Growers in southeastern Georgia have the perfect combination of climate and soil to produce some of the world's best onions: the famous Vidalia sweet onions. Prized for their mild taste and sweetness, Vidalia onions are shipped throughout North America for use in recipes and relishes.

Onion producers in the Vidalia region have traditionally used transplants to produce dry bulb onions. Transplants are grown on farms in high-density plantings, then pulled and transplanted to their final spacing. The delicate nature of Vidalia onions requires that they be transplanted and harvested by hand. In fact, the entire Vidalia onion crop of 12,000 to 14,000 acres is hand-transplanted over an 8- to 9-week period.

Biodegradable Mulch Films on the Horizon

Tuesday, 24 February 2009 10:46

Eco-friendly alternatives to plastic mulch films prove effective in tomato production

EAST LANSING, MI—In 1999, more than 30 million acres of agricultural land worldwide were covered with plastic mulch, and those numbers have been increasing significantly since then. With the recent trend toward "going green", researchers are seeking environmentally friendlier alternatives to conventional plastic mulch.

Plastic mulch can provide earlier crop maturity, higher yields, increased quality, improved disease and insect resistance, and more efficient water and fertilizer use, but carries a high cost financially and environmentally when it comes to removing the estimated one million tons of mulch film used internationally each year.

New Use for Human Hair

Tuesday, 23 December 2008 10:51

Human hair waste provides nutrients to container plants

VERONA, MS—Agricultural crop production relies on composted waste materials and byproducts, such as animal manure, municipal solid waste composts, and sewage sludge, as a necessary nutrient source. Studies have shown that human hair, a readily available waste generated from barbershops and hair salons, combined with additional compost, is an additional nutrient source for crops. Although human hair has become commercially available to crop producers in the past couple years, it has not been proven to be an exclusive source of nutrients in greenhouse container production.

Flowering Plants Speed Post-surgery Recovery

Tuesday, 23 December 2008 10:55

The perfect gift for hospital patients

MANHATTAN, KS—Contact with nature has long been suspected to increase positive feelings, reduce stress, and provide distraction from the pain associated with recovery from surgery. Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery.

A recent study by Seong-Hyun Park and Richard H. Mattson, researchers from the Department of Horticulture, Recreation and Forestry at Kansas State University, provides strong evidence that contact with plants is directly beneficial to a hospital patient’s health. Using various medical and psychological measurements, the study set out to evaluate if plants in hospital rooms have therapeutic influences.