UNH Twilight Meeting Aug. 2005 



BY MELISSA MOORE 



At the UNH Twilight meeting 

 held August 16th, University re- 

 searchers shared results of their most 

 recent studies. The projects underway 

 were right on target and 

 in sync with market is- 

 suess that drive how pro- 

 ducers choose varities to 

 grow. Experienced grow- 

 ers know the best route 

 to success is providing 

 unsurpassed quality and 

 delivering unique varities 

 that are early to market. 

 Whether its cutilowers, ed- 

 ible soybeans, or colored 

 bell peppers crops, with 

 these characteristics (ear- 

 liness, unique color, and 

 flavor) will give growers a 

 competitive advantage. 



In the area of cut 

 flowers, Cathy Neal 

 planted more than a doz- 

 en varieities suitable for 

 cut flowers. "My goal is 

 to examine their flower- 

 ing habits, the sturdiness 

 of their stems, and each 

 flower's lasting quality in 

 a vase", says Neal. Every 

 variety was planted at a 

 density of 12 plants per 

 seven foot plot. The new Celosia va- 

 riety called Flamingo Feather stands- 

 out head and shoulders above the 

 pack. Its pink flower looks like a tuft 

 of feathers sitting on top of a grace- 

 ful wand. The feathery top is light and 

 airy and promises to hold up well in 

 mixed bouquets. In the Rudbeckia 

 family, Neal favors Prairie Sun. With 

 a pale green center encircled by a ring 



of lemon- yellow petals, this blooms 

 appears like it mirrors sunshine. Pra- 

 rie Sun is a crowd pleaser that will 

 spur sales. In this ever expanding 



This beautiful Prairie Sun appears to mir- 

 ror sunlight. A wonderful cut flower for 

 mixed houquels. 



category, this new Rudbeckia is a 

 keeper. 



Becky Grube, UNH Extenstion 

 Education in Sustainable Agriculture, 

 tackled some essential questions with 

 high-value vegetables that have the 

 potential to make an important eco- 



nomic difference to growers. Demand 

 for colored peppers is strong, yet they 

 pose a unique challenge here in the 

 Northeast. Peppers typically need a 

 long season to color-up. 

 Grube explains, "Color 

 development requires an 

 additional 2-3 weeks of 

 frost-free days past mature 

 green, and ripening fruits 

 are increasingly suscep- 

 tible to diseases, insects, 

 and other production prob- 

 lems." Her study focused 

 on Identifying peppers that 

 colored early and would 

 be recommended for New 

 Hampshire growers. She in- 

 cluded 21 different varieties 

 in her study. These varieties 

 were grown in three dif- 

 ferent environments: open 

 field conditions, unvented 

 high tunnels, and vented 

 high tunnels. Preliminary 

 results suggest that there is 

 not a significant difference 

 between peppers grown in 

 high tunnels versus open 

 field conditions. Through- 

 out the study, data was col- 

 lected on the average num- 

 ber of fruits per plant, and 

 the average weight per fruit. Grube 

 said, "The study will wrap up just 

 prior to frost when the number and 

 weight of all remaining (immature) 

 fruits will be recorded." 



At the August Twilight meeting, 

 colored pepper varieties testing well 

 were Ace and New Ace from John- 

 ny's Selected Seed. Three new variet- 

 ies from a Cornell breeding program 



10 



The Plantsman 



