Experiments were conducted with tomato under shade netting and with lettuce in a vertical hydroponic system at the Hatfield Experimental Farm, University of Pretoria. The objectives of the study were: 1. To evaluate the effect of different types of shade netting on tomato production 2. To develop a vertical hydroponic system for lettuce production which would be suitable for use by small-scale farmers. In the tomato trial the highest number of fruit per plant (47) was produced under 12% white shade and 40% black shade nets, and the lowest fruit number (35) was produced under 30% black net. The highest yield of 6.2 kg per plant was obtained under the 18% white net while 30% black net produced the lowest yield of 3.9 kg per plant. The test yield of lettuce grown in plastic tubes with eight vertically arranged plant positions were obtained with a continuous high flow rate of the nutrient solution. However, a simplified manual system where the nutrient solution was delivered by gravity from a small reservoir tank resulted in comparable yields. / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Agronomy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

Home gardening has historically been a subsistence or supplemental form of food procurement worldwide and promoted as a food security project in times of economic hardship. Qualitative research was used to investigate container gardening's potential to provide the impetus for further agricultural activities within low-income, low-food-access, rural Appalachian Virginia, thereby impacting community food security, food choices of individuals, and the local food system. Ethnography and phenomenology methodologies were used through the lens of community-engaged research, and the lived experiences of participants were recognized as valid representations of food insecurity. Semi-structured interviews with fourteen participating households revealed program involvement was deeply connected to previous food production experiences and fueled by existing interest in home gardening. Containers were valued as providing alternative modes to continue a meaningful practice, specifically mitigating challenges of limited mobility for the elderly. As rural areas are experiencing an outmigration of young people and struggling social services, container gardening could be utilized as a low-cost culturally appropriate mental- and nutritional-health service for the rural elderly. Similar initiatives should begin with appreciative inquiry into existing perceptions, values, assets, and potentials within a target community. Through preliminary investigation, needs and barriers can be acknowledged and community-identified solutions can be implemented through culturally sensitive program development. With the existing impetus for home gardening in the region, program expansion could potentially impact food security and the local food system. Overall, this case study serves to further endorse a public effort to support home food production in rural areas of the United States. / Master of Science

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 B75 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 H34 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 G34 / Master of Science

3 pp. / Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Series -- Plants Unit / The Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Fact Sheet Series is intended to educate homeowners who have recently purchased small acreages in Arizona. The purpose of the series is to give homeowners information about living in rural settings. The Plant Unit includes fact sheets on Arizona's native plant law, small-scale gardening, pasture establishment, invasive plants, and assessing plant damage.

A study of Tucson residents' and University of Arizona students' attitudes towards vegetation in Tucson indicates that familiarity and emotions attached to landscape or vegetation types are major factors in the development of preferences. Context, or the location of vegetation and perceived associated uses, appears to be another important factor affecting attitudes towards vegetation. Vegetation is seen as contributing to Tucson's identity or sense of place. However, students tend to prefer grass lawns and tree or shrub species from humid climates while Tucson residents prefer native, low-water use species and desert landscaping. Landscape elements considered to be important are shade and cool appearance, type or presence of trees, greenness, neatness and an organized, planned appearance. Messy, dirty, cluttered, and uncared-for appearances--as well as apparent poor health or lack of vegetation--are disliked landscape characteristics. Awareness of environmental issues associated with vegetation, such as water-use and pollen production, is more prevalent among Tucson residents interviewed than among students. However, there appears to be a disparity between expressed attitudes towards vegetation and water use and actual yard landscaping in the interview sample. Vegetation, especially trees, is important to a strong majority of respondents in this study. Yard trees and trees in parks are seen as most important. Respondents from neighborhoods with heavy vegetation cover density value street trees and trees at a city level more than do respondents from neighborhoods with sparse vegetation cover. However, this may be due to a lack of resources for planting and maintaining trees in the low-income neighborhood with sparse vegetation. Tucson's identity, and the quality of life offered in Tucson is affected by the type of vegetation planted in the city. With increasing concern about water availability, urban heat islands, and global warming, the type, amount, and location of vegetation planted in cities in arid climates will become increasingly important. Citizens' attitudes towards vegetation affects the type of vegetation planted and nurtured in Tucson. In developing public policies related to vegetation, it is important to consider people's emotional needs as well as environmental factors in order to create meaningful places.

This practical thesis aims to reform the use of plant material in landscape architecture projects in the Najd or Central Region of Saudi Arabia. Many aspects of landscape architecture in Najd attempt to emulate western concepts. Neglect or unawareness of the values of Arabic society is one of the main reasons for the failure of the landscape programme. This factor of traditional culture is particularly sensitive in Najd which is the birthplace of Whabism, one of the strictest applications of Islam. This implies special conditions that made outdoor design sensitive and complicated, unable to tolerate western forms. Western urban patterns in planning, such as wide streets, neighbourhood parks and their detailed components of artifacts and plant materials, all shattered the character of traditional landscape architecture in the region. Although indigenous landscape elements in Najd evolved as a result of socio-environmental factors, many consultants do not differentiate between Persian, Islamic, and Najdi gardens. The inventory of available plant species indicates that most are imported from tropical and subtropical countries. These species require stripping of soil from wadi Hanifah for potting, and for top soiling planting projects, a process destructive to the rich wadi habitat. Such a process is necessary when using imported plant material while native ones can adapt to the existing sandy and saline soil. The devastation of the wadi ecosystem, the saline water table and the high cost of maintaining those plants, represents serious short and long term economic, ecological and technical implications. These implications all point to the scale of these negative consequences of using imported plant material. Also, climatic data, points to the suitability and adaptability of native flora and its significance in avoiding further damage to eco-environment. Use of imported plants in arid Najd and creating a man-made micro climate to suit them, is a waste of resources, especially the water budget in Saudi Arabia. The thesis proves that these plants consume large amounts of water, require high levels of maintenance, are unsuitable to Najdi environment, introduce new pests and diseases, require special microclimatic conditions, rich soil and prove unsuccessful in their functions. All the previous factors combine to acknowledge the failure of many tropical gardens in the arid land of Najd. The answer lies in Najd itself which is wealthy in flora adapted to its local conditions. The potential for their use in Saudi Arabian landscape projects is vast. Individually they will substitute for the imported nursury stock, while the available communities represent a ready-made and complete landscape element which would be valuable for Najdi parks. The general question, the comparative advantages of native over imported plants is conclusively answered in the thesis. Though the native plants are diverse, attractive and available, they were tested practically aiming at, firstly to test the individual species, the "target species method", and secondly to test the whole community "target community method". Three test sites were allocated in the Diplomatic Quarter to test the selected target species and communities. The tests were conducted extensively over five years and intensively over three years, during which the author monitored closely a large number of species and communities and arrived at an encouraging set of results and findings. The conclusion of the thesis consists of two parts. Firstly, the successful species which is included in a Flora, and the successful target communities which use selected target communities as a landscape design tool. These are aimed specifically at landscape designers. Secondly, the author recommends how to utilize both methods in a typical Najdi urban park, and how to encourage their successful use.