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In container production, the key issue is proper irrigation and fertilization. Typically, the water required for plant growth is supplied through an irrigation ramp system, which can also perform fertilization. The frequency of irrigation and the amount of water supplied by the ramp depends on several factors, such as the species of plants grown, the container used, the substrate, and atmospheric factors accompanying production. For effective irrigation, the substrate in the container cell must retain the supplied water long enough for plant absorption. However, any excess water should drain from the container. To optimize irrigation, it is important to determine the parameter of the water outflow speed from the container cell, which is difficult to determine. This work proposes a new solution for a station that can measure the water outflow speed from various container cells (patent application P.443675 2022). In tests, the water outflow speed was assessed for two Styrofoam container types (V150—650/312/150 mm, 74 cells, and 0.145 dm3 cell volume; and V300—650/312/180 mm, 53 cells, and 0.275 dm3 cell volume). Both were filled with a peat and perlite substrate (95/5%) using the Urbinati Ypsilon line (V150 substrate moisture 75.7 ± 1.1%, and V300 75.9 ± 2.1%, efficiency of the line 400 containers∙h−1, vibration intensity of the vibrating table—maximum acceleration 12 G). The results indicated that the water outflow speed varied between container types. The V300 container had a higher outflow speed (0.0344 cm·s−1) compared to the V150 (0.0252 cm·s−1). This discrepancy may be due to differences in dry bulk density, with a correlation of r = −0.523. The V300 had a lower actual and dry bulk density (0.418 g·cm−3; 0.079 g·cm−3) compared to V150 (0.322 g·cm−3; 0.103 g·cm−3). This highlights the need for individual selection of parameters on the backfilling line for different container types when filling. Using identical parameters for diverse containers can lead to varying substrate volume densities, impacting water outflow rates.

Recently, there has been increased interest in container blueberry production as a viable alternative to open-field blueberry planting. Container production of blueberries offers numerous advantages, among these, a lack of limitation by suboptimal soil conditions in the open field and the ability to control substrate pH, drainage, and organic matter. The photosynthetic response for three container-grown Southern highbush blueberry (interspecific Vaccinium hybrids) cultivars including ‘Jewel’, ‘Meadowlark’, and ‘Victoria’ and a rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum) ‘Baldwin’, were measured during the spring and summer of 2022. It was hypothesized that the three cultivars evaluated would have different photosynthetic responses. The objective of this study was to determine the photosynthetic activity of different blueberry cultivars during the first year of crop establishment. A series of measurements were conducted every 2 h throughout the day and for different dates using a gas exchange data analyzer on newly matured fully expanded leaves located in the top middle section of the canopy for each cultivar. The response curves showed that net photosynthesis (A) became saturated at moderate light, with saturation occurring at a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 1932 µmol m−2 s−1. At this point, the rate of CO2 assimilation was approximately 16.84 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1. No differences in (A) were found among cultivars. Overall, the attained values of photosynthesis provide a strong conceptual basis for understanding the cultivar variation response when grown in containers; therefore, the containerized system may serve as a production system for early fruiting blueberries in Alabama, USA.

Although interest in integrating agriculture into the urban landscape in the USA is increasing rapidly, there is a shortage of guidance for agricultural production in this context as well as a unique set of significant biophysical constraints. A common constraint is not being able to grow directly in the soil, making raised-bed gardening a necessity. Subirrigated planters (SIPs) are a style of raised bed with a subsoil reservoir that provides aeration and allows growers to irrigate below the soil where water is pulled up via capillary action. This bed design has vocal advocates; anecdotally, growers find them to be high yielding, water efficient and easier to maintain than standard raised beds. Given their apparent promise, there is interest in promoting SIPs and in utilizing them in larger-scale urban gardening operations but no rigorous tests compare these beds relative to standard raised beds. At one location and for one season, we compared yields for three crops: cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum), sungold cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and lacinato kale (Brassica oleracea), crop quality and labor input for two styles of SIPs, as well as a sack garden, a variation of a SIP that does not require lightweight soil, with two conventional raised beds (one with a compost and topsoil mix and one with the soilless growing medium ideal for container gardening). Results from our first year of data indicate that both the SIP beds and the conventional beds with the soilless growing medium were more productive overall than conventional raised beds with topsoil and compost (P<0.01). Tomato production in the SIP without the root barrier was greater than both the conventional bed with the compost and topsoil mix (P<0.01) and the conventional bed with the soilless growing medium (P<0.05). The majority of the higher-cost beds had a positive revenue stream in the first summer season; given these results, investing in SIPs or in soil appropriate for raised beds appears to be worth the higher initial cost.

For the first time in history, more than half the population lives in cities. Because of urbanization, every year we destroy untold amounts of plants and fertile soil. With this in mind, how can we make cities more sustainable? This program takes a special look at green roof gardening, the expansion of solar panels, and thinking inside the box with food container gardening. Big cities leave big trouble for the natural world. The good news is we have the ability to change. There are currently innovative technologies in place that will help combat climate change in big cities.

Formation and function of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are affected by levels of fertility in soil or fertilizers applied to soilless container mixes. For AM fungi, phosphorus (P) is the main element influencing colonization of host plant roots. The question addressed in this study was whether inorganic or organic fertilizers were more compatible with the formation and function of AM. Several controlled-release inorganic (CRI) fertilizers were compared with several organic (OR) fertilizers at different rates (1/2x to 4x the recommended rate) to determine (1) threshold levels of tolerance by the AM fungus Glomus intraradices in relation to root colonization, and (2) growth responses of 'Guardsman' bunching onion (Allium cepa) and 'Orange Cupido' miniature rose (Rosa spp.) plants grown in a soilless potting mix or sandy loam soil. AM colonization in soil was greatly decreased or totally inhibited by CRI fertilizers with high P content at the 2x rate or greater, whereas colonization was decreased but never eliminated by low-P OR fertilizers at the 3x rate or greater. Shoot growth of onions was similar with or without AM inoculation when fertilized with CRI, but in general was only enhanced by OR fertilizers if inoculated with AM fungi, compared to the noninoculated controls. Shoot and root growth of onions were significantly increased by AM inoculation when OR fertilizers were used at the 1x rate. In contrast, root growth was not increased by the combination of CRI fertilizers and AM fungal inoculation. Inoculation of miniature roses grown in sandy loam amended with 25% peat and perlite and fertilized with all the CRI or OR fertilizers resulted in high AM colonization, but without much AM-induced growth increase except where OR fertilizers or CRI fertilizers with low P were used. In a soilless potting mix, growth of miniature roses was less with OR fertilizers at the rates used than CRI fertilizers, but mycorrhiza formation was greater in the former unless P was low in the latter. These results indicate that release of nutrients from organic fertilizers, as a result of microbial activity, favors AM establishment and function more than most inorganic fertilizers unless P levels of the latter are low.

Perhaps the world's first peace garden, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens embody the history of twentieth-century America and reveal the complex interrelations between art and place. This essay uses the Cleveland Cultural Gardens as a lens through which to explore how art and place have intersected over time. It explores how communities have negotiated questions of national, ethnic, and American identity and embedded those identities into the vernacular landscape. It considers how the particulars of place were embedded into a public garden and asks whether it is possible for public art to transcend its place—both in terms of geography and history. In some sense, the Gardens have transcended their place, but in others respects, their fortunes were bound inextricably to that place, to the economic, demographic, and cultural contours that shaped and reshaped Northern Ohio. As works of art, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens both have reflected the history of Cleveland and American industrial cities during the 20th century and revealed something of the dynamics that underscored the changing character of public art and gardens in American cities.

The Coastal Roots School Seedling Nursery Program for Habitat Restoration was initiated by Louisiana State University in 2000 in cooperation with Louisiana Sea Grant. The program enhances learning areas such as plant growth, wetland issues, conservation, and hands-on habitat restoration, and includes the installation of a small container nursery for the production of coastal plants in schoolyards. The program was adopted by Mississippi State University's Coastal Research and Extension Center in 2008. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the program as well as Mississippi's plans to adapt the Louisiana model to demonstrate teaching by example through hands-on demonstration that will supply students with real-world conservation and stewardship experience.