No abstract

Schlumbergera truncata (Haw.) Moran ‘Christmas Charm’, ‘Lavender Doll’, and ‘White Christmas’ were grown under an 8 hr natural photoperiod or an 8 hr natural photoperiod plus 4 hr of incandescent light from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am and treated with single sprays of BA at 100 and 200 ppm, GA at 25, 50, and 100 ppm, BA at 100 and 200 ppm plus GA at 25 or 100 ppm, calcium carbide at 2910 ppm, ethephon at 100 and 1000 ppm, daminozide at 5000 ppm, ancymidol at 132 ppm, and chlormequat at 1000 ppm in 2 experiments. No flower buds were initiated from any plants grown under the 8 + 4 hr photoperiod. BA applied at 100 and 200 ppm increased the number of phylloclades on ‘Christmas Charm’ plants grown under the 8 + 4 hr. BA at 200 ppm applied to plants grown under the 8 hr photoperiod caused an increase in flower bud number and earlier flowering in all cultivars tested. BA + 100 or 200 ppm 100 ppm GA applied to plants grown under the 8 hr + 4 hr photoperiod stimulated the growth and elongation of phylloclades. Applied to plants grown under the 8 hr photoperiod, BA plus GA caused the growth and elongation of phylloclades, initiation of lower buds, and induced the development of lateral phylloclades and flower buds. Ancymidol at 132 ppm and 1000 ppm chlormequat sprays produced earlier flower bud initiation and increased flower number to flower bud ratios on ‘Christmas Charm’ plants. Chemical names used: N-(phenylmethyl)-H-purin-6-amine (BA); gibberellic acid (GA); (2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid (ethephon); butanedioic acid mono(2,2-dimethylhydrazide) (daminozide); α-cycloproply-α-4-methoxyphenyl)-5-pyrimidinemethanol) (ancymidol).

Dry weight and total plant height of Hex cornuta IindL cv. Burfordii and Thuja occidentalis L. were greater in municipal compost-amended medium than in sphagnum peat moss-amended medium. Viburnum burkwoodii Burkwood did not show any differences in the two media. Generally, constant and biweekly liquid fertilizer regimes produced more growth than other regimes.

The disposal of solid wastes from domestic and industrial sources and sludges from sewage treatment plants is an ever-increasing problem. More than 20 years ago our society’s prodigious waste production prompted Vance Packard (65) to characterize our society as a society of “waste makers” going from “riches to rags.” Estimates of the per capita production of waste vary, but it has been noted that the average person is generating more waste each year (97). During the last decade, environmental concerns and energy needs have raised serious questions about our methods of waste disposal. Bohn and Cauthorn (13) have observed that our handling of waste has been unimaginative and expensive.

Spray applications of 4.2% Off-Shoot-0 (a mixture of methyl ester of fatty acids C6, C8, C10, and C12) effectively destroyed flower bud scales and flower parts on the azalea (Rhododendron simsii Plachon.) cultivars ‘Prize’ and ‘Kingfisher’. The addition of ethephon to Off-Shoot-0 did not increase the destruction of bud scales and flower parts. Dikegulac-sodium and oxathiin alone or in combination with ethephon did not significantly destroy scales or flower parts. Destructive chemical pinching agents such as dimethyl dodecylamine and n-undecanol usually were as effective as Off-Shoot-0 in killing bud scales but not flower parts. Cultivars differed slightly in their response to chemicals designed to destroy unwanted flower buds.