From the Director: Our goal is to provide the faculty with the latest news from the Center research projects and extension activities, and other timely information items. Please feel free to use the contents of the newsletter in your county newsletters and education activities as you wish. If you'd like additional details on newsletter items, contact the faculty member author or our editor, Cheryl Vergot.
Regards, Dr. George Hochmuth, NFREC Director
 

Dates of Interest

August 29:  Distance Education Class
Methodology of Planned Change
Quincy & other sites

September 7:  Pecan Field Day
      Alachua Co. Ext. Office

       September 26-30:  Jackson County Fair

       October 26-28:  Brangus Association Sale
            Beef Unit, Marianna, FL

September 18, 19, 20, 21:   6:00 to 9:00 p.m.:
Florida Hunter Education Course
 Wakulla Extension Facility

    September 23: 8:00 a.m. to noon:  Range
         Chief Instructor: Dale L. Bennett

     September 26 & 27:  FACTS
        Lakeland, FL

October 3:  10:00 a.m. to noon
Ornamental Grass Field Day
Leon County Extension Office

October 24:  50th Anniversary Celebration
NFREC-Suwannee Valley

Green Industry Updates for Nursery, Greenhouse
and Landscape Organizations
  November 8:  Cairo, GA (producers)
November 9:  Tallhahassee, FL (landscapers)
November 10:  Kingsland, GA (producers and landsapers)

 More Information on Dates

An Ornamental Grass Field Day for nursery and landscape personnel will be held on October 3, from 10:00 a.m. until noon. Both native and nonnative grasses will be featured. The location is the Leon County Extension Office, 615 Paul Russell Road, in Tallahassee.  The format for this field day is an informal one where you can drop in and see the grasses. There will be no indoor presentations since the auditorium is being used as a polling place that day. For more information, please contact Jeff Norcini (850-342-0988, jgn@ifas.ufl.edu), Will Sheftall (850-487-3003; williams@mail.co.leon.fl.us), or David Marshall (850-487-3003; davidm@mail.co.leon.fl.us).

Georgia-Florida Green Industry Updates

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SEMINARS:

SPONSORED BY: The University of Florida, North Florida Research and Education Center (Monticello), and the University of Georgia, Coastal Plain Experiment Station (Tifton).

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Nurserymen, flower growers, landscape contractors, maintenance personnel, landscape architects, landscape designers & garden center managers will find the programs beneficial.

SEMINAR LOCATIONS: Nov 8 - The Grady County Agriculture Center is at 65 11th Ave., NE, two blocks from Highway 84, in Cairo, Ga.

Nov 9 - The Burns Building, Florida Dept. of Transportation, is located at 605 Suwannee St., four blocks east of the Florida Capitol and 1 block south of Apalachee Parkway, in Tallahassee, FL.

Nov 10 - The Holiday Inn, Kingsland is located at Exit 3 on I-95 in Kingsland (next to Bennigan's across from Cracker Barrel).  Kingsland, GA, is just north of Jacksonville, FL.

THE SEMINAR FEE INCLUDES: Instruction, handouts, refreshment breaks, lunch and registration. Since seating is limited, preregistration is encouraged. The fee is $35 per seminar. Registration post marked after Oct. 13, or at the door is $40. Return the completed form by Oct. 13 to receive a letter of confirmation with directions.

Lunch will be sponsored by Graco Fertilizer, The Scotts Co., Berger, and Griffin Corporation.

PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDITS will be offered. Pesticide recertification in categories 21 (plant agriculture) and 24 (ornamental & turf) and in category 10 for private applicators have been applied for with the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

The Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association will grant four CEUs for the Florida Certified Nursery Professional program. Pesticide credits have been applied for with the Florida Department of Agriculture Bureau of Compliance Monitoring and Bureau of Entomology and Pest Control.
 

INFORMATION ABOUT REGISTERING FOR THE SEMINARS:

Please use the registration form below to register.

SUBSTITUTES AND CANCELLATIONS: You can have someone substitute for you at any time - just call and let us know. If you must cancel, please notify the RDC Conference Office by October 27, 2000 at (912) 386-3416. We will refund your conference fee less a $5 service charge per person.

WE WANT TO HELP: Special arrangements for people with disabilities will be made if requested in advance. For these arrangements of more information, call the Conference Office at (912) 386-3416 or FAX (912) 386-3822.

NOTE: If you decide to attend a conference for which you have not registered, please call the Conference Office before you come to ensure space is available. Also, although rarely, some conferences are canceled. Because your name may appear on several mailing lists, you may receive more than one brochure. If so , please share duplicate brochures with other people.

                                                          REGISTRATION
                                          Georgia/Florida Green Industry Updates

                              Mail to: Conferences, P.O. Box 1209, Tifton, GA 31793 or Fax to 912-386-3822
                                              *One Form per person; please feel free to make copies:
 

NAME__________________________________   FIRM___________________________________

ADDRESS________________________________________________  COUNTY_______________

CITY_______________________________ STATE_____________________   ZIP_____________

DAY TELEPHONE____________________   E-MAIL ADDRESS ____________________________

____ Early Bird registration for each seminar $35=_____________       Registration postmarked after                                                           10/13/00 or on site $40= _________
____ County Agent - No Charge

____ Student Registration for each seminar - $10 =_____________

Please indicate each seminar(s) you will attend:___ Cairo, Ga (Nov.8)____ Tallahassee, FL (Nov.9)_____
 Kingsland, GA (Nov.10) ____

Total Registration $ __________

PAYMENT METHOD: ______ Check enclosed. Make check payable to RDC/Green Industry.

                                     ______ Visa  ______ Mastercard   _______ Discover      Expiration Date __________

           Credit Card #______________________________    Signature ______________________________
 

2000 Florida Postharvest Horticulture Institute

Beginning this year, the Florida Postharvest Horticulture Institute will be offered in conjunction with the Florida Agriculture Conference & Trade Show (FACTS meeting) on September 26 & 27, 2000, in the Lakeland Center, in Lakeland, Florida. This new partnership with the FACTS Meeting will allow us to improve the Postharvest Institute in several areas. First of all, the FACTS Meeting has become the premiere horticultural event in Florida, combining the latest educational programming with a large trade show. There were about 2,800 participants in the 1999 FACTS meeting, and over 200 exhibitors. Second, Lakeland is centrally located, making the Postharvest Institute accessible to a greater number of people. Third, the cost for participants will drop dramatically. And fourth, exhibit space is available, including an area for larger demonstrations for vendors to target participants in the Postharvest Institute.

The format of the Postharvest Institute will be similar to past Institutes and will be directed to the same broad audience. This year's theme is: "Maximizing Produce Quality through Effective Cooling" and I have included the program. The cost is only $40.00 per person, which includes the luncheon, coffee breaks, reference materials and access to the trade show.

Please note that the deadline for early registration is September 1 (see enclosed brochure for details), and the deadline for luncheon reservations is September 20. There will be late registration at the door, although it will not be possible to participate in the luncheon.

The Florida Postharvest Industry Tour will continue to be held in March (next year the dates are March 5 to 8, 2001) and I will send out separate information on that later this year.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I hope to see you there in September!

Sincerely yours,

Steven A. Sargent, Ph.D.
Professor and Institute Coordinator
 

 "Pecan Field Day" is in Gainesville on September 7.  The location is the Alachua County Extension Office, 2800 NE
39th Avenue & Waldo Road, and the starting time is 8:30 A.M.   Highlights of the program are the topics "Food Quality Protection Act" , "Market Planning",  "Disease Control in Pecans", "Insect Control in Pecan", and "Pecan Management". After the sponsored lunch, a tour of Mark Brown's farm will be available. CEU's will be applied for.For more information, contact
Dr. Tim Crocker at 352-392-1996, ext. 310, or Bill Brown,352-955-2402. (Brasher, NFREC News, 2-17)
 

Personnel Notes

         Welcome to Scot Waring, of University of North Carolina  (Asheville) who is working with Dr. Joe Funderburk, NFREC-Quincy.    Scot is pursuing an M. S. Degree in Entomology.
                Also welcome aboard Josh Wilson, who is the new Coordinator for Computer Applications, District I.
 

 PROGRAM UPDATES
 

ENVIRONMENTAL HORTICULTURE

         Control Height of Joepyeweed Naturally
Jeffrey G. Norcini and James H. Aldrich

Joepyeweed (Eupatorium fistulosum Barratt), also known as Queen-of-the-Meadow and trumpetweed, is a native, herbaceous perennial that grows in moist meadows and woods. It's found from Maine to Texas (1), including much of north and central Florida (2). This tall (up to 7 feet), upright wildflower, is quite showy when it flowers in the summer. The large clusters of pinkish purple flowers give way to dark brown achenes in late summer (see inset).
Its tall, upright nature and showy clusters of flowers make joypyeweed an ideal wildflower for planting in the back of a garden. However, its height can be a detriment to those who want to grow it as a container crop. Tall plants grown in containers are susceptible to being blown over, and they can be more difficult to ship.
There may be a possible solution - natural growth regulation.  We noted that joepyeweed seedlings that were transplanted in the spring only grew 2 to 3 feet tall by the time they flowered in early summer. By shortening the time between planting and flowering, plants had less time to grow before flower buds started to form at the ends of the main stem. Once flower buds started to form, additional height increase was due mainly to flower clusters.
Although we have not yet verified this theory through scientific study, growers may want to consider our observations when deciding whether to produce certain types of tall, herbaceous perennials. We think good candidates for natural growth regulation are tall wildflowers, like joepyeweed and swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius L.), that produce extensive vegetative growth until flower buds start to form at the ends of the main stems.
Literature Cited

1. USDA, NRCS 1999. The PLANTS database (http://plants.usda.gov/plants). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
*PLANTS’ vascular plant nomenclature, most phytogeography, and core attribute data for the United States and its Caribbean territories are provided under a cooperative agreement with John Kartesz and his staff at the Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2. Taylor, W. K. 1992. The Guide to Florida Wildflowers. Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas, Texas
 
 

Thought for the Day:    Ambition without knowledge is like a boat on dry land.    (Mark Lee)

Cheryl Vergot, Public Relations
NFREC - Quincy, U/F IFAS
E-Mail: cvergot@ifas.ufl.edu
Phone: (850) 875-7112

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age handicap or national origin.
 

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY & CONSUMER SERVICES, STATE OF FLORIDA, IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER COOPERATING

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution