Dissertation
TISSUE CULTURE RED RASPBERRY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WITH PLASTIC MULCHES
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2020
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/111689
Abstract
Washington leads the nation in floricane red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) production. Typically, raspberry is planted as bareroot canes or root cuttings on bare raised beds, and weeds are managed with herbicides. Due to increasing use of tissue culture (TC) transplants, weed management via handweeding during establishment has increased because herbicides can damage TC transplants. Compared to bare soil, polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable plastic (BDM) mulches can provide horticultural benefits in annual cropping systems; however, few studies have explored their impacts in perennial systems. The objectives of this dissertation were to: 1) evaluate the impacts of PE mulch and BDMs in comparison to bare soil on plant growth, yield, soil temperature and moisture, weed management, and root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus penetrans; RLN) populations in spring- and late summer-planted red raspberry systems; 2) evaluate the deterioration and degradation of BDMs in a raspberry production system; and 3) identify barriers and bridges to the adoption of PE mulch and BDMs by caneberry growers. For the first objective, in the spring-planted experiment, TC raspberry plants established with PE mulch and BDMs had greater primocane growth and yield than bare soil. PE mulch and BDMs increased soil temperature and moisture, suppressed weeds, and had neutral or increased effects on RLN population densities in soil and roots compared to bare soil. In the summer-planted experiment, PE mulch improved primocane height but not yield, compared to bare soil. For the second objective, deterioration reached 91% soil exposure for BDMs but remained low for PE mulch (4%) in Mar. 2018 (10 months after transplanting). In tests where BDMs were buried, 91% of BDM area remained after 18 months. For the third objective, “improved weed management” and “increased yield” were primary bridges for raspberry growers to adopt PE mulch (2018 and 2019 survey data) and BDMs (2018 survey data) in a raspberry production system. In 2019, the primary bridge for growers to adopt BDMs was “eliminate removal and disposal cost.” In both years, the primary adoption barrier for growers was “concerns regarding the use of plastic mulches in caneberry production.” which needs to be addressed in future research.
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Details
- Title
- TISSUE CULTURE RED RASPBERRY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WITH PLASTIC MULCHES
- Creators
- Huan Zhang
- Contributors
- Lisa Wasko DeVetter (Advisor)Lisa Wasko DeVetter (Committee Member)Carol Miles (Committee Member)Jessica Goldberger (Committee Member)Inga Zasada (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Horticulture, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 326
- Identifiers
- 99900581701401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation