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

This study was a cooperative effort involving Jeff Norcini (North Florida REC), Mack Thetford (West Florida REC), Kim Moore (Ft. Lauderdale REC), and Brent Harbaugh and Michelle Bell (Gulf Coast REC).

Growth, flowering, and survival of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta L.) grown from seed from North Florida (NFL), Central Floridaz (CFL), and Texas (TEX) were evaluated under low maintenance conditions. Seedlings were transplanted during the first week of March 1998 at low fertility sites located in Jay, Monticello, Bradenton, and Ft. Lauderdale. Jay and Monticello were in AHS Heat Zone 9, Bradenton in Heat Zone 10, and Ft. Lauderdale in Heat Zone 11.

North Florida	Central Florida	Texas

DESCRIPTION AND GROWTH
TEX had grass green leaves with long, soft hairs. Flowers of TEX occurred just above the foliage. Leaves of NFL and CFL were dark green with short, stiff hairs. Flowers of NFL and CFL tended to be held much higher above the foliage than on TEX. Leaves and flowers of TEX were larger than those of NFL and CFL. These attributes of TEX made it appear that TEX was much larger than NFL or CFL than actual growth measurements revealed. Plants tended to grow more in the northern half of Florida (Monticello and Jay) than in southern half of Florida (Bradenton and Ft. Lauderdale).

FLOWERING
Flowering of plants in northern Florida generally started about 1 to 2 weeks earlier than those in southern Florida. Within each site, TEX tended to start flowering later than either NFL or CFL. At Monticello, peak flowering of CFL was about 2 weeks after NFL and TEX, while at Ft. Lauderdale it was 6 weeks after TEX and about 3 1/2 weeks after NFL. There were no differences in peak flowering date among seed sources at Bradenton or Jay.

More flowers were produced on plants at Ft. Lauderdale, Jay, and Monticello than at Bradenton. The poor flowering at Bradenton could have been due to extremely low phosphorus levels and/or nematodes. Although Black-eyed Susan is unaffected by root-knot nematodes (Thetford and Kinloch, 1999), Black-eyed Susan could have been affected by other nematode species (data not shown). Within a site, the only differences among seed sources were at Jay where TEX had more flowers than either CFL or NFL.

SURVIVAL
NFL and CFL were more long-lived than TEX except at Jay (no differences in survival).  No TEX survived until the beginning of November, and most were dead by September. This concurs with results of a previous study (Norcini et al., 1998) in which most TEX in north Florida were dead by mid-August. I have also noted that that TEX shoots consistently die in late summer when they are grown under low maintenance conditions.

At Monticello, CFL survived better than NFL but there didn't seem to be any differences between survival of CFL or NFL within other the sites. Plants at Ft. Lauderdale were flooded (ankle-deep) in mid-September due to excessive rain. Because of the flooding, most TEX and NFL died. However, all but one CFL survived. New flowers even opened on CFL while flooded!

CONCLUSIONS
Black-eyed Susan grown in northern Florida tended to be larger and started flowering sooner than Black-eyed Susan grown in the southern half of the state. While TEX was the showiest in flower, the NFL and CFL were better able to withstand the low fertility sites under Florida conditions. Under subtropical or tropical summers, CFL may be a highly desirable wildflower because it was the most durable and has lemon yellow flowers.
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z A Black-eyed Susan selection with lemon-yellow flowers. North Florida and Texas Black-eyed Susan have buttery yellow flowers.

LITERATURE CITED

Norcini, J.G., J.H. Aldrich, L.A. Halsey, and J.G. Lilly. 1998. Seed source affects performance of six wildflower species. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 111:4-9

Thetford, M. and R.A. Kinloch. 1999. Galling response of herbaceous and woody landscape species grown in Meloidogyne incognita- and M. arenaria-infested soils. Res. Rpt. 1999-08, Univ. of Fla./IFAS, W. Fla. Res. Edu. Ctr., Milton, Fla.

 (Norcini, NFREC News. 2-04)
 
 

Greenhouse Cut Flower Pilot Project
 
 
     Research and demonstration trials on cut flowers have been conducted for the past 3 years at
the NFREC-Suwannee Valley.  Trials have been conducted both in the field and in the greenhouses
to evaluate cut flowers as an alternative crop for local producers.  A local florist involved in the
evaluation of the use of the fresh flowers has found the greenhouse-grown zinnias to be of superior
quality to those available in the marketplace.
     Information on this project has been shared with prospective growers at past field days and
short courses on alternative crops.  Pilot projects are being initiated at two farms this spring.  Both
farmers have existing greenhouse space and are interested in alternative crops.  One greenhouse
was previously used to produce tobacco transplants and the other was used to produce hydroponic
tomatoes.  Bob Hochmuth, Multi County Extension Agent – Vegetables, has been working with the
growers to modify the greenhouses to produce the cut flowers in perlite bag culture, as the
technology has been quite successful as a production system.
     Suzanne Stapleton, Multi County Extension Agent – Marketing, has provided samples to local
florists to introduce them to the cut flower zinnia and to assess the market potential.  Fresh cut
zinnias will begin to arrive at the local florist shops in Live Oak and Lake City beginning in April.  If
the project is successful this spring, production may expand and marketing efforts will address
wholesale florists.  NFREC-Suwannee Valley will continue to evaluate the production and market
potential of other cut flowers, including ornamental sunflowers.
(Bob Hochmuth, Suzanne Stapleton, NFREC News, 2-04)
 
 

Thought for the Day:    Be not simply good, but good for something.

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

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