Merry Christmas:This is late fall and it is also our Christmas Season. We hope all is going well and you received the information for seedlings, membership and the Governor's Tree Contest. Steve Guy is trying to schedule the delivery of the winning tree for December 3. For those who are entering the contest, please keep that day open.
It seems like a long time since we were hosted so nicely by the Fontaines (Fontaine's Choose and Cut) at our annual meeting at Gulf Shores. They worked so hard and really made it special for all of us who attended. Their trees were beautiful, but with their warmth and contagious zest for life and the Christmas season, they could have sold Charlie Brown Trees to a Christmas Tree grower. We know that everyone that leaves their place must feel that they received a little love and Christmas Magic in each tree they bought.
We thank Steve Mannhard at Fish River Trees for opening his farm/nursery for tours and helping as a local host and our national representative. Every potential new Christmas tree grower should visit Steve. After seeing all his innovations and quality trees, they would have to be inspired to do a quality job. Of course if they still wanted to do it after they saw the tremendous amount of work that Steve does, then they have a good chance of succeeding.
Others (non-grower groups) contribute to our success. It was great to have several of our county agents attend from Baldwin, Tuscaloosa and Calhoon Counties. Being in Extension, I know that their time is very tight. Continue to call your county agents and get them involved. They care and would like to be a part of helping to make your farm a success. Although Steve Guy could not be at the meeting, ALFA continued its generosity by donating $200 for our Christmas Tree and Wreath Contest. The Baldwin County Farmer's Federation was very kind to sponsor our great meal at the Fontaines. Our vendors also continue to support us and we are grateful to them. When you send in your orders, thank them for being a part of our association.
We really enjoyed the educational program and especially Nancy Zeigler's (with Alan's capable assistance) enthusiastic marketing presentation. This along with the members' sharing time offered many take home ideas for improving our businesses. This meeting is about sharing with each other and it was nice that everyone came prepared to share. It really worked well and will continue to be a part of our annual program. As you go through this season, take notes and pictures of things that have worked well for you to share in Tuscaloosa next year.
We voted to go to Tuscaloosa next year and be hosted by the 2 Waynes, Wayne Murphy and Wayne Ford (Tuscaloosa County Agent). We know this tandem of competent people will offer us an experience equally as good as this year's. The pressure is on!
It is worth being in the business and part of the ACTA just to be associated with such wonderful people. Ben, Betty, Reba and I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. Spread the Christmas Spirit and Live Trees!
We always welcome your calls or e-mails at anytime. Ken Tilt's numbers are 334-887-6913 (H) 334-844-5484 (W) and E-Mail ktilt@acesag.auburn.edu. Ben's number is 334-677-3365.
Luminuous Tree to Brighten Christmas
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR in London
Live Trees Getting Livelier I included this article in our last mailing. I thought it was interesting where our technology is going. However, I talked with our "Gene Splicer", Dr. Fenny Dane, who does some of this work in our department and she said that she has worked with this stuff and it takes so much of it to get even a slight glow that it probably would not be a viable product in the near future.
British researchers say they can create a genetically modified Christmas tree lit by glowing pine needles - ending the need to untangle strings of electric lights and replace burned-out bulbs. Neurophysiology student Katy Presland, 29, said: "We're talking about a green luminescent Christmas tree that glows in the dark and produces a noticeable light during the day." Ms. Presland and four other bioscience PhD students from Hertfordshire University discovered how to modify a Douglas Spruce with genes that would make it illuminate, Britain's Press Association news agency reported yesterday.
Two genes are used, one of which produces an enzyme called luciferase and the other a substance called green fluorescent protein (GFP). Both exist in glowing jellyfish, while luciferase is also found in fireflies.
The students invented the tree as part of their proposal for a fictitious biotechnology company, to be judged for its commercial viability. The trees would be modified by infecting seedlings with a harmless bacterium carrying the genes. A chemical compound called luciferin is needed to activate luciferase, which "switches on" GFP and makes it grow. The luciferin substrate would be mixed into a special fertilizer sold with the tree. Although confined to paper, it would be technically possible to grow such a tree, Ms. Presland said. "The only problem in reality is the cost. We calculated the initial trees would cost about £200 [HK$2,570]," she said.
Christmas Trees in A Bag
Ken TiltAt the Annual meeting, I had a demonstration of some new in-ground bags for the nursery and Christmas tree industries. I have been working with "The Bag" for close to 15 years. It is a viable alternative for producing trees in the ground and digging them with a smaller root ball for transplanting to the garden. They can also be used the same as other live Christmas container trees in the house and planted out after Christmas. The idea is that the tree is planted into a bag containing soil in the field. The roots grow through the fabric and out into the surrounding soil. As the roots expand to about pencil size in thickness, they are girdled by the fabric forcing new root branching within the container. The increased root mass allows you to transplant a larger tree with a small ball that is easy to harvest. The bags have improved greatly over the years. The ones we used on the Fontaine's Farm are made by RootMaker Products Co., Huntsville, AL, 35815, PO Box 14553, phone: 800-824-3941.
The bags are sold in assorted inch diameter increments ranging from 5 to 24 inches. Depending on the size of tree you are growing, you will need a 12 up to a 24 inch bag or fabric container. The price ranges from $1.60 to about $3.50 each. Some of you have tried containers and found them to be a big transition shock from the field. The fabric bags are much easier to grow in than containers and may fit into your production plans better than pot-in-pot or above ground containers.
This company also makes the Root-Maker propagation trays that we have shown in the past and do an excellent job for developing a good root system for leyland cypress. Remember, following your well-deserved 2 week break after Christmas, stick your leyand cypress cuttings. Take your cuttings long enough to get to some of the darker colored brown wood, dip in a higher concentration of IBA rooting compound (10,000 ppm or 1%) after wounding the cutting and stick in pine bark or 50:50 Peat moss:perlite propagation medium. Put under mist or in a high humidity cold frame. Cuttings should be ready to transplant by May 1 into 1 gallon containers. These will be ready for the field in September. If you are interested in more information, give me a call. It is a good system that requires no overwintering costs and your trees have all fall and winter to establish a good root system before being exposed to stressful spring and summer heat in Alabama.
Annual Meeting Minutes
Ben Graves ran an efficient meeting this year. The meeting was called to order by President Ben Graves. We dispensed with the reading of the minutes and briefly reviewed the treasurers report. Ken Tilt reported that we had 39 members. We decided to get a mailing list from some of our vendors to help with our membership. After a brief discussion of alternatives of combining with the Alabama Nurserymen's Association or the Georgia or Mississippi Christmas Tree Associations, we decided to continue as ACTA as long as we had interest and funds. Members voted to continue support of the National Tip program outlined by Steve Mannhard taking $500 from what normally went to support the travel of the national representative and using additional funds from the seedling improvement fund to donate $20 per member to the program. Wayne Murphy was elected to another term as a representative on the ACTA and Nancy Zeigler was elected for her first time in this 3 year office. We voted for the next board meeting to be held at The Gulf States Trade Show in Mobile during the last week of January (specific date and time to be determined).
Charlie Brown Christmas Trees
Ken Tilt(A reminder of using Charlie Brown to help sell your trees and do something good for others at the same time. Reprint)
As a demand for perfection in Christmas Trees has increased and the Christmas Tree has become part of a color coordinated Christmas decoration for our homes, some of the family tradition of trimming a tree has been lost. The "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree comes to the rescue.
The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree is a cull or an unsalable tree found at your retail lot or at your Choose and Cut Christmas Tree farm. It is a tree that in earlier times was perfectly suitable for Christmas but our expectations of the "Perfect Tree" has increased. It is hard to groom the perfect tree and many of the trees fall short of this benchmark. These trees are usually cut up for wreaths or roping or they are cut and cast aside as ditch fillers or wildlife habitat.
A trend that is emerging is to buy these outcasts at the Christmas Tree Farms and use them as kid trees or Charlie Brown Trees. This is a second tree that is put up in the home to allow the children to experience some of the traditional fun and creativity of decorating the family tree. Rules of balance, proper lighting, spacing, color coordination and other decorator rules are thrown out and the kids along with the rest of the family are allowed to express their creativity. Fine crystal ornaments, ceramic figurines and lace tree toppers are replaced with popcorn, popsicle sticks and origami ornaments, globs of tinsel, children and pet pictures, Ninja Turtles, Master of the Universe, and Barbie ornaments. The large gaping holes in the tree can be covered with the perfect size Teddy Bear. It can dangle in a spot, that was meant to display and give a place of honor to the children's most prized toy and it can be removed easily at night when the children are ready for bed.
The ultimate dream of all pine, spruce, fir, and cedar seedlings are to grow up and be a beautiful Christmas Tree and be the center of love on Christmas morning is some family's home. This story becomes special when the ugly duckling of the Christmas Tree farm is spared the indignity of becoming a ditch filler, or the let down of becoming a garland or a wreath. The needles of these trees will puff up and branches will stiffen with pride when they are selected for a place of honor in someone's home on Christmas Day. If the less than perfect chicken wings can become a delicacy as a buffalo wing, then a less than perfect Christmas Tree can become the center of attention and symbol of love on Christmas morning as a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.
Visit your Choose and Cut Christmas Tree operation this year and ask for a Charlie Brown tree to go with your other tree.
Last Minute Research Project
Dr. Gary Keever and I are going to try to get in a Christmas Tree research project using some left over container leylands and Arizona cypress from a previous research project. We would like to try some growth regulators to enhance the post harvest keeping quality of the trees and also take a look at the potential fire hazard of the trees we grow in Alabama. We know that tales of blazing Christmas trees are blown out of porportion by the media. Only 1/1000 of a percent (0.001%) of Christmas trees are involved in residential fires. Not many of us put lit candles on a tree anymore and our tree lights rarely get too hot to touch. I will keep you informed of our progress.
Send questions and comments to bfischma@acesag.auburn.edu.
