Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Evaluate
new peach and grape cultivars for use in Oklahoma. Evaluate best management
cultural practices for fruit in Oklahoma. (1433)
PI: Dean McCraw
Cooperator: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station
Evaluate advanced lines and cultivars of vegetables in
comparison with established cultivars for production, quality, and energy use
efficiency. Evaluate the production and economic potential for non-traditional
vegetable crops in Oklahoma. Determine what weeds and diseases could potentially
limit production of selected vegetables and evaluate various control techniques
and strategies. (1441)
PIs: Lynn
Brandenberger, Brian Kahn, James Shrefler, and John Damicone
Cooperator: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station
Evaluate
new pecan rootstocks and cultivars for use in Oklahoma. Evaluate selected N
application rates, timing, and ground cover management for pecan to reduce
alternate bearing and develop best management practices for pecan. (1689)
PI: Michael W. Smith
Cooperators: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Oklahoma
Pecan Growers’ Association
Characterize freezing
tolerance of bermudagrass to identify cultivars suitable for the transition
zone between warm and cool season grasses. Screen experimental bermudagrass
germplasm to select for superior freezing tolerance. Identify factors
contributing to freeze tolerance. Determine the role of the chemical and
physical environment in susceptibility of molecules to denaturation and
aggregation at high temperatures. (2002)
PIs: Jeff Anderson, Charles Taliaferro,Dennis Martin
Cooperators:
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S. Golf Association, Pennington
Seed
Develop more environmentally benign pest control strategies
for Oklahoma vegetable crops.
Investigate systems, which emphasize soil conservation, including use of
cover crops and strip tillage. (2026)
PIs: Brian Kahn, Ken
Conway, John Damicone
Cooperators:
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA Southern Region
Determine long term changes to a soil when poultry litter is
used continuously as a fertilizer. Determine interactions between temperature
and moisture for germination of cucurbit seeds. Determine mechanical and/or
chemical treatments to enhance germination of watermelon seeds. Determine
effects of soil-borne diseases on watermelon seedlings at different
temperatures, and methods for lessening the impact of such diseases. (2087)
PI: Warren Roberts
Cooperators: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA-CSREES
Development of Integrated Resource Management Systems for
Turfgrass Culture in Oklahoma
Spring dead spot (SDS) caused by
Ophiosphaerella herpotricha remains one of the most serious diseases of turf
bermudagrasses (Cynodon spp) in the southern U.S. Commercially available
cultivars ‘Tifway’, ‘Tifsport’, ‘Midlawn’
and ‘GN-1’ as well as thirty-two experimental bermudagrasses were
screened for resistance to the disease at Stillwater, Okla., in a USGA
sponsored fairway trial using a field inoculation technique. Inoculation with a
blend of O. herpotricha isolates KS107, KS112 and KS188 occurred in Sept 1997.
The SDS patch size (disease area) was determined in April of 2000–2002.
SDS patch area can be used as an index of SDS resistance. Mean disease area was
332, 740 and 1470 sq. cm in 2000–2002, respectively. Differences in resistance
to SDS were present among entries in 2000-2002. GN-1 had significantly greater
SDS area than Midlawn, Tifway and Tifsport over all 3 yrs. Midlawn had
numerically lower but not significantly less SDS area than Tifsport in all yrs.
Midlawn had significantly smaller SDS area than Tifway in 2 of 3 yrs. Tifsport
had numerically small SDS area than Tifway in all years and significantly less
in 1 of 3 yrs. Experimental types with improved SDS resistance were identified.
Results should be valuable in selecting bermudagrasses that have improved
resistance to SDS and in selecting promising experimental types that merit
further research. (2222)
PIs: Dennis Martin,
Greg Bell, Charles Taliaferro, Jeff Anderson
Cooperators:
Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation, United States Golf Association, Oklahoma Golf
Course Superintendents Association, National Turfgrass Evaluation Program,
Oklahoma Turfgrass Research Foundation, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment
Station, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State Regents for
Higher Education
Production, Establishment and Maintenance of Ornamental
Plants in Oklahoma
Evaluate woody ornamental plants and ornamental grasses for
their response to low moisture conditions and identify potential physiological
and morphological mechanisms, which may contribute to drought resistance.
Determine cultural practices which may be used in production and maintenance of
quality landscape plants under limited moisture conditions. Determine optimum
combinations of controlled release and liquid fertilization, which allow for
production of high quality plants with minimal fertilizer inputs and runoff
contamination. (2324)
PI: Janet Cole
Cooperator: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station
Postharvest Preservation and Processing Systems for New
and Conventional Horticultural Commodities
Develop postharvest handling and
quality analysis procedures necessary for integrated sage and oregano
production/harvesting/processing systems as a new Oklahoma
antioxidant/antimicrobial production industry. Investigate causes of
opalescence in pecans and determine possible means for reducing the degree of
opalescence with preharvest and postharvest treatments. Evaluate Illinois
Bundleflower as a new crop for Oklahoma.
(2325)
PI: Niels Maness
Cooperator: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station
This project involves the application of new or existing
processing technologies to enhance or retain content and functionality of
inherent health-promoting compounds in processed horticultural products. Work will include physical and chemical
methods of extraction and concentration of antioxidant compounds in watermelon
and sage. The application of new
processing technologies or techniques to improve the quality and safety of
processed horticultural products will also be investigated. Minimizing microbial hazard and
maximizing shelf-life of minimally processed products are targets. Areas of research include assessing
areas of highest risk of contamination during processing and influence of
cutting mechanism on fresh-cut melons. (2369)
PI: William McGlynn
Cooperator: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Management Procedures that Enhance the Partnership Between
Turfgrass and the Environment
Investigate the use of optical sensors for evaluation of
turfgrass quality and moisture status. Evaluate the performance of
optical-based variable rate spray techniques for potential in turfgrass
management. Determine methods that reduce nutrient and pesticide runoff from
golf course fairways and other turf areas. Work in cooperation with Mississippi
State University, University of Maryland, and University of Minnesota
researchers to develop and/or revise pesticide runoff models for effective use
in turf. (2392)
PIs: Greg Bell,
Dennis Martin, John Solie, Marvin Stone, Michael Kizer, Hailin Zhang, and Mark
Payton (OSU); Joseph Massey and Kevin Armbrust (MSU); Mark Carrol (UM); Pamela
Rice and Brian Horgan (UMinn.)
Cooperators:
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, United States Golf Association,
Oklahoma Turfgrass Research Foundation, Toro Center for Advanced Turf
Technology
Technologies to produce lycopene
from watermelon are under development. A lycopene rich fraction can be obtained
from macerated red fleshed watermelon by removal of cellular material via
filtration and precipitation of lycopene from the filtrate. Measures to
eliminate sugar from the lycopene have been developed. Investigations are
focusing on measures to enhance lycopene yield in the filtrate, which presently
is about 35 to 40 percent of the total lycopene. Investigations have also been
initiated to assess enhancement of lycopene yield from the de-sugared filter
cake. (2423)
PIs: Niels Maness,
William McGlynn, Danni Bellmer
Cooperators:
Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Watermelon Promotion Board
Evaluation and Marketing of
Ornamental Plants in the State of Oklahoma
Develop a consumer-targeted marketing program for
Oklahoma Proven. Coordinate the
selection of Oklahoma Proven plants through industry surveys and plant
evaluations. Direct the consumer
to superior plants for Oklahoma, thereby creating more environmentally friendly
landscapes, and increased sales for Oklahoma green industries. (2441)
PI: Lou Anella
Cooperators: Oklahoma
Agricultural Experiment Station, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service,
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma Nursery and Landscape Association,
Oklahoma Greenhouse Growers Association, Oklahoma Botanical Garden and
Arboretum, Oklahoma Gas and Electric, Urban and Community Forestry Council
Harvesting and
Processing of Horticultural and Alternate Agricultural Commodities
Optical sensing technologies are
being utilized to evaluate fertility needs of spinach. Measuring NDVI (normalized difference
vegetative index) provides an indicator of plant health status and is
responsive to the nitrogen fertility status of spinach. Utilization of the technology for
variable rate fertilizer applications was initiated. Algorythems to convert NDVI response of spinach to quantity
of N fertilizer needed have been developed in comparison with plots of known
fertility, and plant responses to the applied N are being evaluated (2456)
PIs: Niels Maness,
Marvin Stone, John Solie, Paul Weckler
Cooperators: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA-CSREES, N-Tech
Harvesting, Processing and Storage of Horticultural and
Alternate Commodities
Evaluate means to enhance total
capsaicinoid production of peppers, and to increase capsaicin as the major
produced capsaicinoid in peppers.
Ammonium thiosulfate has been utilized to remove early flowers with the
intent of unifying later flowering and increasing the capsaicinoid content of
later set fruit. Selection for the
high capsaicin trait is underway, and plants with the high capsaicin trait are
being utilized to cross with plants with the high capsaicinoid trait to produce
a line, which has both desirable traits. Metabolic mechanisms for capsaicinoid-specific
metabolism are under investigation, with emphasis towards potential fatty acid
regulation as the acyl substituent of capsaicinoid molecules. (2481)
PIs: Niels Maness, Paul Weckler, John Solie, Marvin Stone
Cooperators: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA-CSREES, SS
Farms
Postharvest Handling, Storage and Processing of
Horticultural and Alternate Commodities
An NDVI camera system for
spinach chlorophyll concentration and pecan tree nutritional status/crop load
determinations was utilized to evaluate the feasibility of multi-pixel NDVI
measurement for individual-plant nutrient status. An x-ray imaging system for
non-destructive pecan quality evaluation was developed and image analysis
systems are under development to investigate x-ray imaging as a pecan grading
technique. Development of an aqueous procedure for watermelon lycopene
concentration determination is also underway. (2502)
PIs: Niels Maness,
Paul Weckler, John Solie, Marvin Stone
Cooperators: Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA-CSREES,
Penny Perkins-Veazie
Floral Crop Enhancement with Silicon, Novel Plant Growth
Regulators and Application Techniques, and Introduction of Native Species
Evaluate Silicon supplementation (sources, rates, and
application techniques) for floral crop enhancement of stem strength and
diameter, postharvest life, and disease resistance. Establish optimum plant
growth regulators, rates, and application techniques that contribute to
production of quality floriculture plants. Evaluate native flowering crops for
introduction to commercial floriculture trade by screening for germination,
adaptability to greenhouse production, responsiveness to plant growth
regulators, and nutritional requirements. (2534)
PI: Todd Cavins
Cooperator: Oklahoma
Agriculture Experiment Station