Scholarly Works, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24309
VAES faculty are located at 11 Agricultural Research and Extension Centers in Virginia and three colleges at Virginia Tech (CALS, CNRE, and VMRCVM).

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Browsing Scholarly Works, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station by Subject "0706 Horticultural Production"

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    Analyzing the structural shifts in U.S. boxwood production due to boxwood blight
    Hall, Charles R.; Hong, Chuanxue; Gouker, Fred E.; Daughtrey, Margery (Horticultural Research Institute, 2021-09-01)
    The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in the sales of boxwood (Buxus spp.) that have occurred in boxwood production states. We theorize that some of the shifts in production areas over the period from 2009 to 2019 have been impacted by the introduction of boxwood blight into the United States. Boxwood blight (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) was first observed in the U.S. in 2011 by plant pathologists in 8 states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The disease has now been seen in 30 states plus the District of Columbia. The data used for this analysis is from the Census of Horticultural Specialties (CHS), a survey administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) every five years. The findings from this analysis of the Census of Horticultural Specialties data from 2009 to 2019 indicate that there were already shifts occurring in boxwood markets prior to the introduction of boxwood blight. However, boxwood blight has exacerbated the supply chain challenges for green industry participants by limiting production in certain areas of the country, increasing the costs of producing boxwood compared to other evergreen shrubs, and perhaps dampening the demand from what might have been without the existence of the blight.
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    Effects of dwarfing and semi-dwarfing apple rootstocks on the growth and yield of Gala, Fuji and York apples
    Sherif, Sherif M. (2018)
    A field trial consisting of three apple cultivars (‘Red Yorking’, ‘Rising Sun Fuji’, and ‘Buckeye Gala’) grown on eight to ten dwarfing and semi-dwarfing rootstocks (G.16, G.41, G.935, G.11, G.30, B. 9, M.9 Nic 29, M.26, M.7 and/or MM.111) was established on a research farm (AHS, Jr. AREC, Winchester, VA, USA) in 2011. This trial investigated the effects of rootstocks on tree growth [e.g. trunk cross sectional area (cm2), TCSA], fruit drop, cumulative yield (2013-2017), and cumulative yield efficiency of the scion varieties. Trees were planted in a 3.6 X 6.7m tree spacing and distributed in four randomized blocks (with two trees per experimental unit) for each cultivar. Analysis of the seven-year dataset showed significant differences among rootstocks, particularly on tree vigor; with B.9 and G.41 exhibiting the lowest TCSA values; whereas MM.111 and M.26 show the highest TCSA values. Because of their dwarfing effects on the grafted scions, both B.9 and G.41 resulted in the highest cumulative yield efficiency for all three scion varieties. However, in terms of the cumulative yield, B.9 showed the lowest values (55.0 and 87.9 kg/tree) for Gala and Fuji, respectively. The highest cumulative yield for Gala and Fuji (167.8 and 203.1 kg/tree) was obtained when trees were on G.30 and M.26, respectively. For York, values of the cumulative yield were not significant between dwarfing (e.g. B.9 and G.41 and morevigorous (e.g. M.7 and MM.111) rootstocks. Fuji and Gala trees on G.935 also showed high cumulative yields comparable to those on G.30, but were less vigorous. Taking into consideration the suitability for high-density planting systems, cumulative yield, and reported resistance to fire blight, our results would recommend G.41, B.9 or G.30 for ‘Red Yorking’; and G.41, G.935 or G.30 for ‘Rising Sun Fuji’, and ‘Buckeye Gala’.