PDX Plant Girl

We set up a drip irrigation system for another grad students today, out behind the research greenhouse. It’s pretty much done, no leaks, we just need to do some flow testing. Phew what a day!

With the explosion of interest in h**p and cannabis over the last several years, there's a LOT of "spent" biomass to go around. Should that biomass just go directly into the compost? Researchers at Oregon State University say, "No!" Researchers at the university investigated a novel (and yet very traditional) application - livestock feed. Their findings included: The nutritional quality of spent h**p biomass is at par with alfalfa, which is commonly fed to lambs, and presents lower palatability and better digestibility. Feed intake was negatively affected by feeding 20% spent h**p biomass in the short term but not in the long term, while feeding 10% spent h**p biomass increased feed intake long-term. Despite this, no effects on the weight of the lambs were observed. Read more on the Oregon State University website! @oregonstate #oregon #osu #oregonstate #h**p #cannabis #plants #science #plantscience #animalscience #lambs #animals #agriculture #biology #feed #cannabisscience #research #horticulture

🚨🚨🚨CANNABIS RESEARCH 🚨🚨🚨 A recent study out of the Khon Kaen University in Thailand investigated the effects of two species of mycorrhizal fungi on h**p growth and cannabinoid production. The first picture displays some growth results at a glance(Photos were taken 60 days after the start of treatment): T1, control without AMF inoculum; T2, Non-mycorrhizal plants with synthetic NPK fertilizer; T3, Plants inoculated with Rhizophagus. prolifer PC2–2; T4, Plants inoculated with R. aggregatus BM-3 g3 The results: At 60 DAT, mycorrhizal plants outperformed non-mycorrhizal plants in stem height, stem diameter, stem dry weight, leaf area, leaf weight, SPAD index, number of branches, and number and weight of florets. Innoculation with R. prolifer PC2-2 was less beneficial than innoculation with R. aggregatus BM-3 g3. Plants inoculated with R. prolifer PC2-2 did perform equally well as fertilized plants for most performance parameters. Plants inoculated with R. aggregatus BM-3 g3 significantly outperformed plants that received synthetic fertilizer. Mycorrhizal inoculation encouraged branching and nitrogen accumulations in plants. There were no significant treatments effects on concentrations of CBDA and CBG. Because of treatment effects on floret weight, non-mycorrhizal plants had the lowest content of all four psychoactive compounds, whereas those inoculated with R. aggregatus BM-3 g3 had the highest content. Images 2, 3, and 4 show some close up of mycorrhizal morphology while in and around h**p roots, rom the study. #cannabis #h**p #science #plants #plantscience #cea #cannabinoids #research #plantresearch #greenhouses #growyourown #horticulture #agriculture #hydroponics #mycology #mycorrhizae #fungi #fungal #ipm #fertilizer

Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean greenhouses go dormant! All around the country, green businesses are preparing and selling greenery as holiday decoration. When I visited Michigan this month, I learned about a special type of greenery called a “grave blanket”. Super regional, but very traditional and popular. Other greenhouses were busy making wreaths, baskets, and even some green Santa’s. Happy holidays!

NASA is finally sending (micro) tomatoes into space!

Why? Fresh sources of nutrition are critical for long-term space missions. Tomatoes provide important nutrients like Vitamin C that don’t store well for long periods of time.

What are they growing in? (Pic 2) The Veggie system, in project VEG0-05, which uses hydroponic “pillows” and LED lights to grow plants and control water delivery.

Why is the light like that? Red and blue LEDs are used because they are the most electrically efficient and photosynthetically efficient! But these lights can be difficult for human eyes to deal with.