scholarly journals Pine Pole and Post Peelings Have Potential as Blueberry Growing Media and Soil Amendment

HortScience ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 562D-562c
Author(s):  
Gerard Krewer ◽  
John Ruter ◽  
D. Scott NeSmith ◽  
James Clark ◽  
Tony Otts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Nitrogen Deficiency ◽  
Growth Index ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Pine Bark ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Fence Post ◽  
Highbush Blueberries ◽  
Southern Highbush

Growing southern highbush blueberries in milled pine bark beds ≈15 cm deep has become a popular fruit production system in Georgia and Florida. One of the primary limiting economic factors in this system is the cost of the growing media, which can exceed $10,000 U.S. per ha. In an effort to discover low-cost substitutes for milled pine bark, available waste or low-cost organic materials were screened for there suitability as growing media for southern highbush blueberries. Cotton gin waste, pecan shells, hardwood “flume” dirt, milled composted urban yard waste, composted urban tree trimmings, pine telephone pole peelings, and pine fence post peelings were evaluated. Only pine derived materials had a suitable pH (<5.3). Fresh pine telephone pole peelings (≈25% bark to 75% elongated fibers of cambial wood) and pine fence post peelings (≈75% bark to 25% elongated fibers of cambial wood) were evaluated for several seasons in containers and field trials. The growth index of blueberries in these materials was slightly less or equal to milled pine bark. Surprisingly, nitrogen deficiency was slight or not a problem. The results indicate that pine pole and post peelings may offer an excellent, low-cost substitute for milled pine bark for blueberry production.

scholarly journals PINE BARK, RICE HULLS, AND OTHER INEXPENSIVE MEDIA FOR GREENHOUSE TOMATO PRODUCTION IN THE SOUTH

HortScience ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 733d-733
Author(s):  
Richard G. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Waste Product ◽  
Pine Bark ◽  
Peat Moss ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Rice Hulls ◽  
Greenhouse Tomato ◽  
Wool Yield ◽  
Rock Wool

Successful greenhouse tomato businesses are able to keep production and quality high while maintaining reasonable cost controls. One way of controlling costs is to use growing media that are locally available in good supply, and therefore of low cost. In Mississippi. as in other states in the southeast, pine bark is an available byproduct resource from the forestry industry; fines (<=95mm diameter) can be used as a growing medium following composting. Rice hulls are a readily available waste product from rice mills, especially in the Mississippi Delta region; these are suitable after being crushed and composted. In comparison to plants grown in rock wool, yield from plants in pine bark fines, rice hulls, or sand were higher, while quality was not significantly different in the l-crop/year system. In a spring crop, yield and quality were higher from plants in pine bark, rice hulls, and rock wool than from those grown in sand. On a per plant basis, cost for the rock wool system, perlite system (pre-bagged), perlite (bulk), peat moss, sand, composted rice hulls, and pine bark lines are $1.50, $1.00, $0.35, $0.60, $0.24, $0.22 and $0.17, respectively. Pine bark and rice hulls are good choices for growing media for greenhouse tomatoes in areas where they are available.

scholarly journals Development and evaluation of operational performance of macaw fruits semi-mechanized harvester by means mechanical vibrations principle

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 497
Author(s):  
Christina Maria de Freitas Grupioni ◽  
Fábio Lúcio Santos ◽  
Haroldo Carlos Fernandes ◽  
Domingos Sarvio Magalhães Valente ◽  
Francisco De Assis de Carvalho Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Vibration Signal ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Mechanical Vibrations ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Method Integration ◽  
Fuel Industry ◽  
Aided Design

Macaw (Acrocomia aculeata) is a product of Brazilian socio-biodiversity and is an excellent source of oil for the cosmetics, food and fuel industry. One of the technical bottlenecks of macaw fruit production is the manual harvesting with rudimentary tools and the extractive system, which has a very large dependence on labor. The objective of this work was to develop the informational and conceptual design of a semi-mechanized harvesting system that can be used in adverse conditions of relief, also directed to the needs of family farmers. In this work the concept of a low cost macaw harvester is proposed, which works by the principle of mechanical vibrations, and is able to work efficiently in planted and natural plantations. From an adaptation of the Pahl and Beitz method for the development of machine designs, and the use of the evolution prototyping method, integration prototypes were constructed, which underwent a preliminary field test. Some modifications were made in portable coffee breakers, which constituted changes in the vibration signal generation system that were transmitted to macaw fruits at the head / plant interface. Only one of the built prototypes was considered effective and suitable for subsequent performance (product under patent registration). For the detailed design, CAD (Computer Aided Design) techniques were employed. Later, it was possible to observe the validation of efficiency of the macaw fruit harvest by the principle of mechanical vibrations. Under field conditions, field trials demonstrated that the average harvest efficiency for the proposed model with vibrating rods was 97.4% and the average harvesting capacity was 566.91 kg h-1.

scholarly journals (374) Fertilization of Southern Highbush Blueberries on Pine Bark Beds

HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 1059B-1059
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Williamson ◽  
E. Paul Miller
Keyword(s):  
Block Design ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Pine Bark ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Liquid Fertilizer ◽  
Canopy Volume ◽  
Highbush Blueberries ◽  
Southern Highbush ◽  
Fertilizer Rates

Bearing `Misty' and `Star' southern highbush blueberries were grown on pine bark beds and fertilized at three rates using granular and liquid fertilizers with a 3–1–2 (1N–0.83K–0.88P) ratio. Granular fertilizer was applied 8 times per year at 4-week intervals beginning in April and continuing through October. Liquid fertilizer was applied with low volume irrigation 16 times per year at 2-week intervals during the same period. During the growing season, irrigation was applied at 2- to 3-day intervals in the absence of rain. A 2 cultivar × 2 fertilizer type × 3 fertilizer rate factorial arrangement of treatments was replicated 8 times in a randomized complete-block design. All fruits were harvested from single-plant plots at 3- to 4-day intervals. Canopy volume was not affected by fertilizer type, but fruit yield was slightly greater for granular than for liquid fertilizer treatments. In 2003, fruit yield of 2.5-year-old `Misty' and `Star' plants increased with increasing fertilizer rates up to the highest rate tested (50 g N/plant/year). Similarly, in 2004, fruit yields increased with increasing fertilizer rates up to the highest rate (81 g N/plant/year). Root distribution was limited to the 12-cm-deep layer of pine bark with very few roots penetrating into the underlying soil. The positive growth responses of blueberry plants to high fertilizer rates in pine bark beds suggests that soluble fertilizer was leached through the pine bark layer into the soil below the root zone. More frequent, lighter applications of soluble fertilizers, use of slow-release or controlled-release fertilizers, and careful irrigation management may improve fertilizer use efficiency of blueberry plantings on pine bark beds.

Otta Seals and Gravseals as Low-Cost Surfacing Alternatives for Low-Volume Roads: Experiences in South Africa

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 338-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Oloo ◽  
Rob Lindsay ◽  
Sam Mothilal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
To Come

The geology of the northeastern part of the province of KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa, is predominantly alluvial with vast deposits of sands. Suitable gravel sources are hard to come by, which results in high graveling and regraveling costs brought about by long haul distances and accelerated gravel loss. Most gravel roads carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day of which less than 10% are heavy vehicles. The high cost of regraveling has led to consideration of upgrading such roads to surfaced standard, even though traffic volumes do not justify upgrading. Traditional chip seals are expensive and cannot be economically justified on roads that carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day. The KwaZulu–Natal Department of Transport is actively involved in efforts to identify cost-effective alternative surfacing products for low-volume roads. Field trials were conducted with Otta seals and Gravseals, which have been used successfully in other countries, as low-cost surfacing products for low-volume roads. The Otta seal is formed by placing graded aggregates on a relatively thick film of soft binder that, because of traffic and rolling, works its way through the aggregates. Gravseal consists of a special semipriming rubberized binder that is covered by a graded aggregate. Both Otta seals and Gravseals provide relatively flexible bituminous surfaces suitable for low-volume roads. Cost savings are derived mainly from the broad aggregate specifications, which allow for the use of marginal materials.

scholarly journals Hobbit: Providing Fall Detection and Prevention for the Elderly in the Real World

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Bajones ◽  
David Fischinger ◽  
Astrid Weiss ◽  
Daniel Wolf ◽  
Markus Vincze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Fall Detection ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Emergency Situations

We present the robot developed within the Hobbit project, a socially assistive service robot aiming at the challenge of enabling prolonged independent living of elderly people in their own homes. We present the second prototype (Hobbit PT2) in terms of hardware and functionality improvements following first user studies. Our main contribution lies within the description of all components developed within the Hobbit project, leading to autonomous operation of 371 days during field trials in Austria, Greece, and Sweden. In these field trials, we studied how 18 elderly users (aged 75 years and older) lived with the autonomously interacting service robot over multiple weeks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a multifunctional, low-cost service robot equipped with a manipulator was studied and evaluated for several weeks under real-world conditions. We show that Hobbit’s adaptive approach towards the user increasingly eased the interaction between the users and Hobbit. We provide lessons learned regarding the need for adaptive behavior coordination, support during emergency situations, and clear communication of robotic actions and their consequences for fellow researchers who are developing an autonomous, low-cost service robot designed to interact with their users in domestic contexts. Our trials show the necessity to move out into actual user homes, as only there can we encounter issues such as misinterpretation of actions during unscripted human-robot interaction.

scholarly journals Impacts of Hurricane Damage on Southern Highbush Blueberries

EDIS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (5) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Doug Phillips ◽  
Jeffrey Williamson ◽  
Philip Harmon
Keyword(s):  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Best Management ◽  
Hurricane Damage ◽  
Highbush Blueberries ◽  
Southern Highbush

Florida has been affected by eight hurricanes since 2000. This new 3-page publication discusses the types of hurricane damage that occur in blueberry production operations, the impacts of these damages, and some recommendations on best management practices in the aftermath of a storm. Written by Douglas A. Phillips, Jeffrey G. Williamson, and Philip F. Harmon and published by the UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1342

scholarly journals Low cost, high performance ultrafiltration membranes from glass fiber-PTFE–graphene composites

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Khan ◽  
Sonia Biccai ◽  
Conor S. Boland ◽  
Jonathan N. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Glass Fibre ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Graphene Nanosheets ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Composite Membranes ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Ultrafiltration Membranes ◽  
Alumina Membranes ◽  
Fibre Membrane

AbstractThe development of low-cost ultrafiltration membranes with relatively high flow rate and selectivity is an important goal which could improve access to clean water in the developing world. Here we demonstrate a method to infuse mixtures of graphene nanosheets and Teflon nanoparticles into ultra-cheap glass fibre membranes. Annealing the resultant composites leads to coalescence of the Teflon, resulting in very stable membranes with significantly enhanced mechanical properties. In filtration tests, while adding ~ 10 wt% graphene/Teflon to the glass fibre membrane decreased the flow rate by × 100, the selectivity improved by × 103 compared to the neat glass fibre membrane. This combination of selectively and flow rate was significantly better than any commercial membrane tested under similar circumstances. We found these membranes could remove > 99.99% of 25–250 nm diameter SiC nanoparticles dispersed in ethanol, transmitting only particles with diameters < 40 nm, performance which is superior to commercial alumina membranes. Field trials on dirty canal water showed these composite membranes to remove aluminium to a level × 10 below the EU limit for drinking water and reduce iron and bacteria contents to below detectable levels.

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