scholarly journals Influence of Perlite in Peat- and Coir-based Media on Vegetative Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Highbush Blueberry

HortScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 658-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick H. Kingston ◽  
Carolyn F. Scagel ◽  
David R. Bryla ◽  
Bernadine C. Strik

Peat and coir are commonly used for substrate production of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium sp.). Perlite is also typically added to improve drainage and stability of the media. The purpose of the present study was to determine how various combinations of each affect growth and nutrition in highbush blueberry. Two cultivars, ‘Liberty’ northern highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L.) and ‘Jewel’ southern highbush blueberry (interspecific hybrid of V. corymbosum L. and V. darrowii Camp.), were grown for 3 months in media containing 0%, 10%, 20%, or 30% perlite, by volume, and a 1:0, 2:1, 1:2, or 0:1 ratio of peat and coir. At 95 days after transplanting, total dry weight of the ‘Liberty’ plants was greatest in pure peat and progressively less as more coir or perlite was added to the media. Total dry weight of ‘Jewel’ also declined with increasing amounts of perlite but, in this case, was unaffected by the ratio of peat and coir. The response of the plants to perlite did not appear to be a function of pH or nutrition and was most likely related to the effects of perlite on media water relations. Response to peat and coir, on the other hand, may have been due to nutrition and salinity of the media. In both cultivars, a higher amount of peat in the media improved uptake of N, P, Mg, and S and decreased uptake of K, B, Zn, and Na. Coir, on the other hand, contained higher concentrations of Na and Cl than peat. These findings suggest that the use of high amounts of perlite in the media could be detrimental when growing highbush blueberry in substrate, and some cultivars may grow better in peat than in coir.

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1067-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan C. Costello ◽  
Dan M. Sullivan ◽  
David R. Bryla ◽  
Bernadine C. Strik ◽  
James S. Owen

New markets for organic northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) have stimulated interest in using composts specifically tailored to the plant’s edaphic requirements. Because composts are typically neutral to alkaline in pH (pH 7 to 8), and blueberry requires acidic soil (pH 4.2 to 5.5), we investigated elemental sulfur (S0) addition as a methodology for reducing compost pH. The objectives were to 1) characterize initial compost chemistry, including the pH buffering capacity of compost (acidity required to reduce pH to 5.0), 2) measure changes in compost chemistry accompanying acidification, and 3) evaluate plant growth and mineral nutrition of blueberry in soil amended with an untreated or acidified compost. Ten composts prepared from diverse feedstocks were obtained from municipalities and farms. Addition of finely ground S0 reduced compost pH from 7.2 to 5.3, on average, after 70 d at 22 °C, and increased the solubility of nutrients, including K (from 22 to 36 mmol(+)/L), Ca (from 5 to 19 mmol(+)/L), Mg (from 5 to 20 mmol(+)/L), and Na (from 6 to 9 mmol(+)/L). Sulfate-S, a product of S0 oxidation, also increased from 5 to 45 mmol(−)/L. The composts were incorporated into soil at a high rate (30% v/v) in a greenhouse trial to evaluate their suitability for use in blueberry production. Shoot and root growth were strongly affected by compost chemical characteristics, including pH and electrical conductivity (EC). Potassium in compost was highly variable (2–32 g·kg−1). Concentration of K in the leaves increased positively in response to compost K, whereas shoot dry weight and root growth declined. Leaf Mg also declined in response to compost K, suggesting that elevated K concentrations in compost may cause Mg deficiency. Composts with the highest K were also high in total N, pH, and EC. Compost acidification to pH ≤ 6 improved growth and increased leaf Mg concentration. On the basis of these results, composts derived from animal manures or young plant tissues (e.g., green leaves) appear to be unsuitable for high-rate applications to blueberry because they usually require high amounts of S0 for acidification and are often high in EC and K, whereas those derived from woody materials, such as local yard debris, appear promising based on their C:N ratio, compost acidification requirement, and EC.


Author(s):  
David R. Bryla ◽  
Carolyn F. Scagel ◽  
Scott B. Lukas ◽  
Dan M. Sullivan

Excess salinity is becoming a prevalent problem for production of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium L. section Cyanococcus Gray), but information on how and when it affects the plants is needed. Two experiments, including one on the northern highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivar, Bluecrop, and another on the southern highbush (V. corymbosum interspecific hybrid) cultivar, Springhigh, were conducted to investigate their response to salinity and assess whether any suppression in growth was ion specific or due primarily to osmotic stress. In both cases, the plants were grown in soilless media (calcined clay) and fertigated using a complete nutrient solution containing four levels of salinity [none (control), low (0.7–1.3 mmol·d−1), medium (1.4–3.4 mmol·d−1), and high (2.8–6.7 mmol·d−1)] from either NaCl or CaCl2. Drainage was minimized in each treatment except for periodic determination of electrical conductivity (EC) using the pour-through method, which, depending on the experiment, reached levels as high as 3.2 to 6.3 dS·m−1 with NaCl and 7.8 to 9.5 dS·m−1 with CaCl2. Total dry weight of the plants was negatively correlated to EC and, depending on source and duration of the salinity treatment, decreased linearly at a rate of 1.6 to 7.4 g·dS−1·m−1 in ‘Bluecrop’ and 0.4 to 12.5 g·dS−1·m−1 in ‘Springhigh’. Reductions in total dry weight were initially similar between the two salinity sources; however, by the end of the study, which occurred at 125 days in ‘Bluecrop’ and at 111 days in ‘Springhigh’, dry weight declined more so with NaCl than with CaCl2 in each part of the plant, including in the leaves, stems, and roots. The percentage of root length colonized by mycorrhizal fungi also declined with increasing levels of salinity in Bluecrop and was lower in both cultivars when the plants were treated with NaCl than with CaCl2. However, leaf damage, which included tip burn and marginal necrosis, was greater with CaCl2 than with NaCl. In general, CaCl2 had no effect on uptake or concentration of Na in the plant tissues, whereas NaCl reduced Ca uptake in both cultivars and reduced the concentration of Ca in the leaves and stems of Bluecrop and in each part of the plant in Springhigh. Salinity from NaCl also resulted in higher concentrations of Cl and lower concentrations of K in the plant tissues than CaCl2 in both cultivars. The concentration of other nutrients in the plants, including N, P, Mg, S, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn, was also affected by salinity, but in most cases, the response was similar between the two salts. These results point to ion-specific effects of different salts on the plants and indicate that source is an important consideration when managing salinity in highbush blueberry.


HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 1413-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid F. Almutairi ◽  
Rui M.A. Machado ◽  
David R. Bryla ◽  
Bernadine C. Strik

Northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is adapted to acidic soil conditions and often grows poorly when soil pH is greater than 5.5. When soil pH is high, growers will usually mix prilled elemental sulfur (So) into the soil before planting (converted to sulfuric acid by soil bacteria) and, if needed, inject acid into the irrigation water after planting. These practices are effective but often expensive, time consuming, and, in the case of acid, potentially hazardous. Here, we examined the potential of applying micronized So by chemigation through a drip system as an alternative to reduce soil pH in a new planting of ‘Duke’ blueberry. The planting was located in western Oregon and established on raised beds mulched with sawdust in Oct. 2010. The So product was mixed with water and injected weekly for a period of ≈2 months before planting and again for period of ≈2 months in late summer of the second year after planting (to assess its value for reducing soil pH once the field was established), at a total rate of 0, 50, 100, and 150 kg·ha−1 So on both occasions. Each treatment was compared with the conventional practice of incorporating prilled So into the soil before planting (two applications of 750 kg·ha−1 So each in July and Oct. 2010). Within a month of the first application of So, chemigation reduced soil pH (0–10 cm depth) from an average of 6.6 with no So to 6.1 with 50 kg·ha−1 So and 5.8 with 100 or 150 kg·ha−1 So. However, the reductions in pH were short term, and by May of the following year (2011), soil pH averaged 6.7, 6.5, 6.2, and 6.1 with each increasing rate of So chemigation, respectively. Soil pH in the conventional treatment, in comparison, averaged 6.6 a month after the first application and 6.3 by the following May. In July 2012, soil pH ranged from an average of 6.4 with no So to 6.2 with 150 kg·ha−1 So and 5.5 with prilled So. Soil pH declined to as low as 5.9 following postplanting So chemigation and, at lower depths (10–30 cm), was similar between the treatment chemigated with 150 kg·ha−1 So and the conventional treatment. None of the treatments had any effect on winter pruning weight in year 1 or on yield, berry weight, or total dry weight of the plants in year 2. Concentration of P, K, Ca, Mg, S, and Mn in the leaves, on the other hand, was lower with So chemigation than with prilled So during the first year after planting, whereas concentration of N, P, and S in the leaves were lower with So chemigation during the second year. The findings indicate that So chemigation can be used to quickly reduce soil pH after planting and therefore may be a useful practice to correct high pH problems in established northern highbush blueberry fields; however, it was less effective and more time consuming than applying prilled So before planting.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Šlachta ◽  
Jan Frelich ◽  
Tomáš Tonka

Function of coprophagous beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Hydrophilidae) in cattle pastures inferred from pitfall trapping dataAn analysis of data on the dry weight biomass of coprophagous beetles in standardized dung (4.5 l) was conducted in order to characterize the spatial and the seasonal distribution of the beetles' biomass in cattle pastures and to elucidate their function in dung decomposition. Nested Anova with factors of farm, site (nested in farm), seasonal period and year was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on the biomass of four functional species groups: the dung dwellers ofScarabaeidae(subfamilyAphodiinae), the dung dwellers ofHydrophilidae, the small tunnellers ofScarabaeidae(subfamilyCoprinae) and the large tunnellers ofGeotrupidae. The spatial variation of biomass (between the sites and the farms) was insignificant (P>0.05) in the two dung-dweller groups and in the large-tunnellers group. On the other hand, a significant (P<0.05) seasonal variation of biomass was found in all but the large tunneller group. In dung dwellers, the spring biomass was formed mainly by two species,Aphodius prodromusandA. sphacelatus. In summer, most of the biomass was accounted for bySphaeridium lunatum, S. scarabaeoidesandA. rufipes. In the two tunneller groups,Onthophagus fracticornis, Geotrupes stercorariusandG. spinigerformed a majority of the biomass in dung.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 649
Author(s):  
Estefanía Noriega-Fernández ◽  
Izumi Sone ◽  
Leire Astráin-Redín ◽  
Leena Prabhu ◽  
Morten Sivertsvik ◽  
...  

The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of ultrasound (US), alone or in combination with mild heating and/or EDTA towards reduction of As, Cd, I, and Hg content of Laminaria hyperborea. Concentrations of As, Cd, I, and Hg of 56.29, 0.596, 7340, and <0.01 mg kg−1 of dry weight, respectively, were found in L. hyperborea blades. Treatment with US at 50 °C increased approx. 2-fold the amount of As released, although did not affect significantly the content of Cd or I, as compared to control (no US) samples. Reducing the temperature to 8 °C significantly decreased the effect of US, but heating at 80 °C did not cause a significant effect as compared to treatments at 50 °C. On the other hand, treatment with 0.1 N EDTA at 50 °C enhanced the percentage of Cd released by approximately 7-fold, regardless of sonication. In the present work, the combination of US and EDTA at 50 °C for 5 min led to a significant reduction of the As (32%), Cd (52%) and I (31%) content in L. hyperborea, thus improving the product’s safety for consumers.


2009 ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Skrinjar ◽  
Anamarija Mandic ◽  
Aleksandra Misan ◽  
Marijana Sakac ◽  
Ljubisa Saric ◽  
...  

An inhibitory effect of various concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2,0%) of mint (Mentha piperita L.) and caraway (Carvum carvi L.) on the growth of A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. ochraceus was examined during 10 days of cultivation in YES medium at temperature of 25?C. Mint showed stronger inhibitory effect than caraway. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of the growth of A. fumigatus in YES medium with 0.5% of mint decreased by about 95%, A. flavus by 97% and A. ochraceus by about 82%. Addition of higher concentrations of mint (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) reduced the growth of all tested species. It was poor and hardly visible. pH values of the media increased with the increase of mint concentrations. A. fumigatus showed the highest sensitivity towards caraway and A. flavus the lowest. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of growth of A. fumigatus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 72% in comparison to the control. In media with higher concentrations of caraway, its growth was found to be very poor. Concentration of 1.0% of caraway reduced A. flavus growth by 15% and of 1.5% by 92%, in regard to the control. In medium with 2.0% of caraway the growth of A. flavus was observed as poor and hardly visible. The growth of A. ochraceus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 85% comparing with control and further decrease was noticed by the increase of concentrations. In medium with 1.5% of caraway a reduction of about 95% of growth was found and under 2.0% of caraway it was poor. pH of the media also increased with the increase of caraway concentrations. Applied concentrations of mint and caraway inhibited completely the production of AB1 by A. flavus.


Author(s):  
Hikari Hori

It is impossible to understand the media-scape of Japan from the 1920s through 1945 without analyzing the implications of representations of the emperor as well as the effects of state-led- and voluntary self-censorship on their production and reception. The emperor’s portrait photograph (goshin’ei) was too sacred to gaze upon, and citizens and soldiers even died to protect it. It was preserved with extreme care in public institutions and battleships. On the other hand, paradoxically, Hirohito was the first emperor whose public appearances were covered by multiple mass media, ranging from personalized collectible postcards to newsreels, which were readily available for viewers’ scrutiny. These contradictory viewing practices, one prohibited and another accessible, disrupted the visual culture of emperor-centered disciplined and nationalized imperial citizenship. (122 words)


Author(s):  
M. Nur Erdem

Violence has been a part of daily life in both traditional and digital media. Consequently, neither the existence of violence in the media nor the debates on this subject are new. On the other hand, the presentation of violence in fictional content should be viewed from a different point of view, especially in the context of aesthetization. Within this context, in this chapter, the serial of Penny Dreadful is analyzed. As analyzing method, Tahsin Yücel's model of the “space/time coordinates of narrative” is used. And the subject of “aestheticization of violence” is analyzed through a serial with the elements of person, space, and time. Thus, the role of not only physical beauty but also different components in the aestheticization of violence is examined.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (12) ◽  
pp. 2350-2359 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Vincent ◽  
G. Vaillancourt ◽  
N. Lafontaine

The population dynamics of Pisidium amnicum have been studied in one population of the St. Lawrence River over a 2-year period during which 19 samples were taken. The species can live up to 3 years and it is iteroparous; individuals generally attain sexual maturity after 1 year and they reproduce twice, once at 2 and once at 3 years of age. In adults, mortality is lower in winter than during the rest of the year and mortality rates are twice as high during the 1st year than during the 2nd year. Total dry weight (PT, in milligrams) is related to maximum length (L, in millimetres) according to the equation PT = 0.0283∙L3,80 and flesh dry weight (PC, in milligrams) is related to length as follows: PC = 0.007∙L3,18. The annual production to mean biomass (P/B) ratio is 1.4, the mean annual production being 1.298 mg/m2 of total dry weight and 107 mg/m2 of flesh weight. Comparing these results with those obtained for the gastropod Bithynia tentaculata in the same environment and at the same period of the year has shown that the growth of Pisidium amnicum is far less influenced by the temperature regime than that of the other species and that its production is at least 10 times lower.


HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1692-1699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick H. Kingston ◽  
Carolyn F. Scagel ◽  
David R. Bryla ◽  
Bernadine Strik

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the suitability of different soilless substrates for container production of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium sp.). Young plants of ‘Snowchaser’ blueberry were grown in 4.4-L pots filled with media containing 10% perlite and varying proportions of sphagnum moss, coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) coir, and douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb. (Franco)] bark, as well as a commercially available mix of peatmoss, perlite, and other ingredients for comparison. Total plant dry weight (DW) was similar among the treatments at 72 days after transplanting, but at 128 days, total DW was nearly twice as much in the commercial mix and in media with ≥60% peat or coir than in media with ≥60% bark. Inadequate irrigation likely played a role in poor plant growth in bark. Bark had lower porosity and water holding capacity than peat, coir, or the commercial mix and, therefore, dried quickly between irrigations. Bark also reduced plant uptake efficiency of a number of nutrients, including N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Mn, B, Cu, and Zn. Uptake efficiency of P, K, and Mg also differed between plants grown in peat and coir, which in most cases was a function of the initial concentration of nutrients in the media. Before planting, peat had the highest concentration of Mg and Fe among the media, whereas coir had the highest concentration of P and K. Leachate pH was initially lowest with peat and highest with coir but was similar among each of the media treatments by the end of the study. Electrical conductivity (EC) of leachate never exceeded 0.84 dS·m−1 in any treatment. Overall, peat and coir appear to be good substrates for container production of highbush blueberry. Bark, on the other hand, was less suitable, particularly when it exceeded 30% of the total media composition.


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