Sustainable Nursery Production

Gliricidia sepium is considered one of the commonly used multipurpose legume shade trees in Ghana. Different pruning regimes affect the nutrient content as the amount of biomass produced by many multipurpose trees. In this study, the aboveground biomass (both fresh and dry matter) production and nitrogen content in Gliricidia sepium under different pruning regimes (4, 8 and 12 weeks) was studied. The study was carried out in the demonstration farm of Department of Agroforestry in the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources-KNUST. A total of nine (9) Gliricidia trees were selected. The pruning frequencies were assigned to the selected trees, after an initial pruning of 1.2m from the ground. The data collected include; new fresh weight, dry weight and nitrogen content at the various pruning time. Also, the amount of nitrogen (N) in the new biomass was estimated at each pruning time. The result shows that the aboveground biomass production increased from 4 weeks to 12 weeks regime. Overall nitrogen concentration increased from 2.61% to 3.58% upon reducing the pruning frequency from 4 to 12 weeks, and total nitrogen content was much higher in 12 weeks (36.01g) than in the other pruning frequencies, due to biomass production been larger. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential of Gliricidia biomass as a source of N and green manure for both agricultural and agroforestry purposes. Hence pruning regime of Gliricidia should be considered in managing it for nutrient and manure purposes.

During geological history, the emergence of plants on earth has led to the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere and oceans into innumerable inorganic and organic compounds on land and in water. Forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle. In the recent past, carbon has gained a lot of attention as a greenhouse gas, as it has potential to influence the climate pattern of the world. Since 1850, humans have released approximately 480 Gt of CO 2 into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning and land use changes. Anthropogenic activities like industrialization, deforestation, forest degradation and burning of fossil fuel, has caused an increase in the level of carbon in the atmosphere and disrupted the global carbon cycle. However, nature has its own mechanism of sequestering and storing the carbon in its "reservoirs" or "sinks''. The carbon sequestered or stored on the forest trees are mostly referred to as the biomass of the tree or forest. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified five carbon pools of the terrestrial ecosystem involving biomass, namely the aboveground biomass, below-ground biomass, litter, woody debris and soil organic matter. Among all the carbon pools, the above-ground biomass constitutes the major portion of the carbon pool. Difficulties in collecting field data of belowground biomass, has lead to biomass estimation based on aboveground biomass. Estimations of forest carbon stocks are based upon the estimation of forest biomass. Forest's carbon stocks are generally not measured directly; however, many authors assume the carbon concentration of tree parts to be 50% or 45% of the dry biomass. An attempt was made to review and summarize various methods and studies that were carried out to estimate the above and below ground biomass of the forest.

La maggior parte delle specie vegetali non ha semplici radici, ma micorrize La maggior parte delle specie vegetali non ha semplici radici, ma micorrize. Le micorrize (dal greco: mykes = fungo; rhiza = radice) sono la simbiosi mutualistica tra una pianta e un fungo. Esistono diversi tipi di micorriza: le ectomicorrize (ad esempio i tartufi), di interesse nelle specie forestali, e le micorrize arbuscolari, presenti nell'80% delle specie di interesse agrario. Solo poche specie quali le brassicacee (es: i cavoli) e le chenopodiadiacee (es: gli spinaci) non sono capaci di formare tale simbiosi. Le micorrize si rinvengono pressappoco in tutte le tipologie di ambienti. Sono state ritrovate nei deserti, nelle foreste pluviali, negli

"Imparting Skill in Indian Greenhouse Horticulture"
Intensive 5- Day Workshop in Controlled Environment Horticulture - with emphasis on Hydroponics is being conducted at Dharwad, Karnataka, India. Workshop 16th July to 20th July 2018. The workshop will be conducted by Mr Tony Bundock from Australia, who has decades of experience in Controlled Environment Horticulture among other subjects. He is also a Director on the panel of the famous institution Protected Cropping Australia and reigning Secretary of the Hydroponics Farmers Federation of .. continue reading
Highlights
Training conducted by Tony Bundock, Genesis Horticulture, Melbourne, Australia
Training Venue is an Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence
Soilless Cultivation with Climate Control Techniques

Gliricidia sepium is considered one of the commonly used multipurpose legume shade trees in Ghana. Different pruning regimes affect the nutrient content as the amount of biomass produced by many multipurpose trees. In this study, the aboveground biomass (both fresh and dry matter) production and nitrogen content in Gliricidia sepium under different pruning regimes (4, 8 and 12 weeks) was studied. The study was carried out in the demonstration farm of Department of Agroforestry in the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources-KNUST. A total of nine (9) Gliricidia trees were selected. The pruning frequencies were assigned to the selected trees, after an initial pruning of 1.2m from the ground. The data collected include; new fresh weight, dry weight and nitrogen content at the various pruning time. Also, the amount of nitrogen (N) in the new biomass was estimated at each pruning time. The result shows that the aboveground biomass production increased from 4 weeks to 12 weeks regime. Overall nitrogen concentration increased from 2.61% to 3.58% upon reducing the pruning frequency from 4 to 12 weeks, and total nitrogen content was much higher in 12 weeks (36.01g) than in the other pruning frequencies, due to biomass production been larger. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential of Gliricidia biomass as a source of N and green manure for both agricultural and agroforestry purposes. Hence pruning regime of Gliricidia should be considered in managing it for nutrient and manure purposes.

Substrate material used for the purpose of growing ornamental plants in the Great Plains is generally shipped a significant distance,
primarily from the Southeastern United States. Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana; ERC) chips have been identified as a possible
alternative to pine bark (PB) for nursery substrates. Landscape establishment of Ulmus parvifolia ‘Emer II’ (elm), Rosa ‘Radtkopink’
(rose), Ilex glabra ‘Compacta’ (holly), Miscanthus sinensis ‘Little Kitten’ (maiden grass), Gaillardia ×grandiflora (blanket flower),
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ (sedum), Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ (hosta), and Hemerocallis ‘Charles Johnston’ (daylily) plants were grown
in three substrate mixes. Substrate mixes were composed of 80:20 PB:sand (PBS), 40:40:20 PB:ERC:sand (PBERCS) or 80:20
ERC:sand (ERCS) (by vol). The study was split into production and landscape phases. During the production phase, pH and EC were
among the parameters measured. For both phases of the study, growth index (GI), SPAD, caliper and shoot- and root dry weight were
measured. At the end of the production phase, differences in growth were observed in elm, holly, and maiden grass where substrates
containing PB or a mixture of PB:ERC resulted in greater growth over a primarily ERC-based substrate. Sedum also exhibited growth
differences, with plants growing larger in ERCS as a production substrate. At the conclusion of the landscape establishment phase,
there were no observed differences in growth for tested species with the exception of holly and hosta which grew best if produced
in PBS and/or PBERCS prior to transplanting based on shoot- and root dry weights as well as GI on most evaluation dates. The
majority of species in this study overcame any growth shortages present at the end of production within the first growing season in
the landscape. Therefore, ERC is a viable substrate option for producing and planting many nursery crops, though it is advisable for
each nursery to evaluate their particular crops for production in alternative substrates.

Camden Park estate is reprinting and installing new plant labels on its rich Garden Shrubbery collection. This is no small thing - that garden dating from c.1820; supporting a major export & commercial nursery until the 1850s, which supplied Australia, NZ and beyond. Updating and checking current botanical names (a labyrinth), adding Aboriginal or indigenous names (a most stretching exercise to find, even), and dates of introduction to C.P.; or of plants getting 'to the West' - all this - while more a compilation and sharing of research and publications of others; putting it in one place; and on single plant labels makes the garden far more interesting to visit - one can learn lots, quickly.

In  this  study,  the  temperate  climate  fruit  species nursery  enterprises  have  been  analyzed from  a  technical  point  of  view.  The  data  were  obtained  from  50  temperate  fruit  species  nursery enterprises by survey method in Isparta during 2012 production period. The main nursery method uses the  classical  production  methods  which  adversely  affect  the  development  and  competitiveness  of
production in Turkey nurseries. The data obtained from this study shows that fruit nursery enterprisesin the region use modern production techniques. Another major problem is finding seedlings breeding material. The seed materials were not produced by the nursery enterprises and are provided through imports. This situation makes the nursery sector outward-bound.

Specie Rilievo effettuato Rif. bibliografico Senza micorriza Con micorriza Melone % piante sane a 18 giorni dal trapianto 18 58 Tullio et al., 2007 % piante piantine ingiallite, avvizzite o morte a 18 giorni dal trapianto 82 42 Cetriolo Produzione in g a 9 settimane di crescita di piante in serra inoculate con il patogeno Fusarium oxisporum 5,5 11,0 Jun-Li et al., 2010 Melone Produzione in t/ha, non inoculato o inoculato con inoculo naturale riprodotto e reinoculato al suolo 20 42 Ortas, 2009 Anguria 18 38 Cetriolo 12 29 Peperone 20 39 Melone Produzione in t/ha, non inoculato o inoculato con inoculo artificiale 20 48 Anguria 18 24 Cetriolo 12 24 Peperone 20 35

Stem cuttings of Thuja 'Green Giant' and Ulmus parvifolia 'Emerald Prairie' were rooted in a series of substrates containing increasing concentrations of eastern redcedar chips as well as a standard propagation substrate. As expected, cuttings of Thuja 'Green Giant' rooted well in the standard mix. Cuttings rooted as well in the 0% and 25% redcedar amended substrates (≥ 91% rooting) with decreasing rooting as redcedar content increased. Stem cuttings of Ulmus parvifolia 'Emerald Prairie' did not root as well as anticipated and rooting was negatively affected by the increasing redcedar content in the substrates. With both species, root number and root dry weight was not impacted by the increasing redcedar concentration. Results suggest redcedar may be an acceptable peat moss replacement for species that root relatively easily.

Residual chipping material, also called clean chip residual (CCR), has
potential use as a growth substrate in the nursery and greenhouse horticultural industries. A survey was conducted in the southeastern United States among companies conducting harvesting operations on pine (Pinus sp.) plantations for the production of pulpwood in the forest industry. Fourteen operators in four states (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida) were visited to evaluate the on-site status of residual material. Sample analysis of CCR revealed that it was composed of 37.7% wood (range, 14.2% to 50.5%), 36.6% bark (range, 16.1% to 68.5%), 8.8% needles (range, 0.1% to 19.2%), and 16.9% indistinguishable (fine) particles (range, 7.5% to 31%). pH ranged from 4.3 to 5.5 for all locations and electrical conductivity
(EC) averaged 0.24 mmho/cm. Most nutrients were in acceptable ranges for plant growth with the exception of three sites above recommended levels for iron and four sites for manganese. Survey participants estimated that 27.5% of the harvest site biomass was composed of CCR. Some harvesters were able to sell CCR as fuelwood to pulp mills, while others did not recover the residual material and left it on the forest floor (44.3% total site biomass). Operations in this survey included typical pine plantation chipping and grinding operations (harvesters), woodyards (lumber,
fuelwood, etc.), and operations processing mixed material (salvage from trees damaged in hurricanes or mixed tree species cleared from a site that was not under management as a plantation). Residual material varied depending on the plantation age, species composition, site quality, and natural actions such as fire. Average tree age was 11.5 years (range, 8 to 15 years), while average tree stand height was 37.0 ft (range, 25 to 50 ft) and average diameter at breast height (DBH) was 5.9 inches (range, 4 to 7 inches). Residual material on site was either sold immediately (28.6%), left on site for 1 to 3 months (28.6%), left on site for up to 2 years (7.1%), or not
collected/sold (35.7%). Several loggers were interested in making CCR available to horticultural industries. Adequate resources are available to horticultural industries, rendering the use of CCR in ornamental plant production a viable option.