A Letter From Peru 



PAUL FISHER 



Every seventh year, university 

 professors are eligible for a 

 sabbatical leave in order to 

 catch up on the backlog of projects, 

 learn new skills, and plan new ini- 

 tiatives. For 1 1 months, I am travel- 

 ing overseas to Peru and New 

 Zealand with my wife Rosanna 

 Freyre and my two children, Diego 

 and Maya. As many of you know, I 

 am an Associate Professor and Ex- 

 tension Specialist in Floriculture. 

 Rosanna is an Assistant Research 

 Professor in Flower Breeding at 

 UNH. 



So what are we doing during this 

 trip? The past week will give you a 

 flavor. 



I am writing research proposals 

 for projects on plant nutrition and 

 fungus gnat control, in order to 

 fund new graduate students. You 

 might find it interesting that it costs 

 $26,000 per year to fund a graduate 

 student for stipend and tuition, plus 

 typically $15-25,000 per year for 

 supplies and experimental costs (i.e. 

 about $80-100,000 for a two year 

 Masters degree). In contrast, indus- 

 try grants usually range from $2,000 

 to $30,000, so a lot of a professor's 

 time is spent splicing together fund- 

 ing sources. Throughout this year, I 

 am writing several grant proposals. 



I am sure you are familiar with 

 "publish and perish " - the need for 

 academics to put out publications or 

 get the boot. It is not a-bad system. 

 We have accumulated a lot of re- 

 search over the last six years at 

 UNH that is useless unless it is put 

 into the scientific and industry 

 press. I am especially focusing on 

 pH and micronutrient nutrition 



Rosanna Freyre collecting 



NOLANA IN LOMAS NEAR LiMA, PeRU 



work. Bill Argo of Blackmore Co. 

 and I have just published a book 

 "Understanding pH Management for 

 Container-Grown Crops" (available 

 from Meister Publishing, at Tel. 

 800-572-7740 ext. 205, or http:// 

 meisterpro.com and select "Find 

 Products In: Ornamentals"). 



Using e-mail, I was able to com- 

 municate with poinsettia growers 

 throughout New Hampshire and 

 Massachusetts during the growing 

 season. I was able to help with 

 problem-solving and crop monitor- 

 ing. For example, McLeod's Florist 

 in Concord sent me digital photos 

 of their poinsettia crop showing bet- 

 ter root growth in plants grown in 

 thick-walled pots. Poinsettias grown 

 in thin pots grow poorer roots be- 

 cause light transmission reduces root 

 growth. It is worth purchasing qual- 



ity containers. Related to using the 

 computer, I am currently working 

 on new software to help growers 

 track plant height, soil, and pest 

 counts in their greenhouse (see the 

 extension web site at http:// 

 ceinfo.unh.edu/agricultu re/docu- 

 ments/flora. htm for these products). 

 I am expanding the software to 

 make them more useful for growers 

 and teachers. I will be working on 

 this with a university team in New 

 Zealand in 2003. 



Rosanna is developing new flower 

 varieties for production as vegetative 

 annuals. We just returned from four 

 days (and 870 miles) traveling 

 through Southern Peru collecting 

 wild species of Nolana (somewhat 

 similar to petunia in a white-blue- 

 purple color range) in various 

 "lomas". The coastline of Peru is 

 desert, generally with very little veg- 

 etation except in the river valleys. 

 The lomas are coastal sand hills in 

 certain areas that are completely 

 bare for most of the year. These ar- 

 eas suddenly change from desert 

 into greenery and bloom for about 

 2-3 months during the moist period 

 when coastal fog and sometimes rain 

 briefly visit the area. 



The concept of a short "sabbati- 

 cal" may be useful for you also, to 

 get away from the clutter of your 

 normal routine. Could you plan a 

 trip to visit other greenhouses and 

 nurseries, get fresh ideas, take a 

 break to look at the big picture, 

 and reassess goals? To adapt an old 

 saying, sometimes keeping your nose 

 to the grindstone (concentrating on 

 working hard) just ends up giving 

 you a flat nose. 



WINTER 2003 



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