Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2024
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Introduction: Production of strawberries in greenhouses and polytunnels is gaining popularity worldwide. This study investigated the effect of reuse of coir and peat, two substrates commonly adapted to soilless strawberry production, as well as stand-alone wood fiber from Norway spruce, a promising substrate candidate. Methods: The experiment was performed in a polytunnel at NIBIO Apelsvoll, Norway, and evaluated both virgin substrates, as well as spent materials that were used in one or two years. Yield, berry quality and plant architecture of the strawberry cultivar ‘Malling Centenary’ were registered. In addition, chemical and physical properties of virgin and reused substrates were investigated. Results: While plants grown in peat and wood fiber had highest yield in the first year of production, the berry yield was slightly reduced when these substrates were utilized for the second and third time. However, yield was comparable to the yield level attained in new and reused coir. Interestingly, berries grown in wood fiber had a tendency to a higher sugar accumulation. This substrate also produced the highest plants. Stand-alone wood fiber was the substrate with the highest accumulation of nitrogen during the three consecutive production cycles. All three investigated materials revealed a trend for decreased potassium accumulation. Wood fiber is characterized by the highest percentage of cellulose, however after three years of production the cellulose content was reducedto the same levels as for coir and peat. Discussion: Implementation of wood fiber as a growing medium, as well as general practice of substrate reuse can be therefore an achievable strategy for more sustainable berry production.
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of substrates composed of various ratios of wood fiber and peat (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% peat (v/v)) mixed with different amounts of lime (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 g L−1) and start fertilizer (0, 2, and 4 g L−1 Multimix) on the growth and biomass accumulation of petunia (Petunia x hybrida Vilm ‘Finity F1 Purple’) and basil (Ocimum basilicum L. ‘Marian’) in an ebb-and-flow greenhouse system. Growth parameters included plant height, weight, canopy diameter, and chlorosis symptoms for petunia, along with substrate pH and EC measurements. Petunia showed optimal growth in substrates with higher peat content, while basil produced satisfactory biomass across a pH range of 5–7 regardless of substrate type. Optimal petunia cultivation in 100% wood fiber required a significant dose of start fertilizer without lime. Monitoring pH and EC using pour-through and press methods revealed a pH decrease in substrates with added start fertilizer, while substrates with higher wood fiber content were less acidic. Substrates with over 50% (v/v) wood fiber without lime showed a rapid pH increase over five weeks. The pour-through method generally underestimated EC values compared to the press method. These findings contribute to optimizing the wood fiber/peat blends for sustainable horticulture.
Authors
Mirjana SadojevicAbstract
Environmental control of growth and flowering is generally well understood in raspberries, but a complete understanding of the processes is missing in blackberries. To get a better understanding of growth and flowering in blackberries, five cultivars, ‘Loch Ness’, ‘Loch Tay’, ‘Natchez’, ‘Ouachita’, and ‘Sweet Royalla’, were studied in the phytotron at 16°C and 12, 13, 14 and 15h photoperiod, and under natural temperature and daylength conditions at Apelsvoll, Norway (60.7° N). The results demonstrate that origin and genetic background of cultivars play a crucial role in how they respond to environmental signals. ‘Natchez’ had a critical photoperiod of 14h for cessation of growth at 16°C, while ‘Loch Ness’ continued to grow independently of photoperiod treatment. Photoperiod in the 12-15h range was not critical for flower bud initiation in ‘Natchez’ and ‘Loch Ness’. All five cultivars initiated flower buds before cessation of growth under out-door conditions. In both experiments, the cultivars that reached growth cessation first, also had the most advanced flower buds, except for ‘Ouachita’. Flower bud initiation in ‘Loch Ness’ and ‘Natchez’ began in the mid-section of the cane and continued in both basipetal and acropetal directions. Three ‘Loch Ness’ plants from each photoperiod treatment were forced in the greenhouse after sufficient chilling to examine the flowering performance of the buds that were initiated before growth cessation. Plants at 15h photoperiod, had the highest percentage of flowering nodes, most flowers per plant and fewest days to anthesis at forcing, but all plants from all treatments developed flowers. The position of the flowering nodes along the cane corresponded to the position of the initiated flower buds dissected in ‘Loch Ness’ prior to chilling. The results suggest that temperature, rather than photoperiod, may be the main factor affecting both growth cessation and flower bud initiation in blackberries.
Authors
Mirjana SadojevicAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Larisa Garkava-Gustavsson Jonas Skytte af Sätra Oksana Korniienko Marina Kuzmenkova Darius KviklysAbstract
The fungus Neonectria ditissima causes fruit tree canker, a serious desease on apple and pear. In the past years the disease has become a threat for Swedish and Northern European apple production since devastating outbreaks destroy large numbers of trees. To date, no complete genetic resistance to N. ditissima is known in apple but genotypes (scion cultivars and rootstocks) differ greatly in their level of partial resistance. Furthermore, susceptibility of a scion cultivar may be influenced by the rootstock it is grafted to. Thus we aimed to improve our understanding of genetically determined differences in resistance among rootstocks and clarify cultivar/rootstock interactions with regards to canker resistance. For that, two experiments where conducted where differences in resistance were evaluated in 23 rootstocks (including two ‘M.9’ clones) and in the four most common scion cultivars in Swedish orchard grafted to four rootstocks differing in vigour (16 rootstock/scion combinations). The trees were inoculated in a greenhouse in artificially created wounds and the symptoms were assessed seven times every second week. In the experiment on rootstocks, significant differences (p=0.008). The new knowledge will be useful for growers, nurserymen and breeders.
Abstract
The total phenolic content and antiradical activity in vitro varied significantly among the fruit mesocarps samples extracts of seven plum cultivars. It shows the influence of the cultivar factor on the quantitative composition of phenolic compounds and antiradical activity in vitro of P. domestica fruit mesocarps samples extracts. The highest total phenolic content and the strongest antiradical activ ity in vitro was determined in the fruit mesocarps samples extracts of the cultivar 'Čačanska Najbolja' (bred in Serbia). The fruit mesocarps from this cultivar could be valuable for the future researches – determination of the qualitative and quantitative composition of the individual phenolic compounds.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Darius KviklysAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered