Hi from Ben and Ken! Merry Christmas in spring and welcome to April! It has continued to be a beautiful spring. Ben and I hope all is going well for you. I talked with many of you since Christmas, and I know that this was a good year for all of you. From visiting many farms, I can tell that we are all moving faster into the entertainment business and not just growing trees. Everyone seems to have some unique ways of making people leave their farms with a smile on their face and memories to bring them back next year. We need to continue to work on ways to get them there the first time.At our meeting this fall, come prepared to share a few of your success stories. That worked well last year. So, we will make room for more sharing time this year in Tuscaloosa.
Other comments I have heard are that Leylands, Carolina Sapphire and Blue Ice Arizona cypress are increasing and Virginia Pines are decreasing. More people are buying in some quality spruces and firs to keep their customers happy. Good stands are making people enjoy their live trees better and giving them fewer frustrations. Fewer frustrations means live over artificial trees. You can not find good stands at Wal-mart or K-Mart.
Many people are beefing up their Christmas stores or Santa's Workshop with Unique crafts and Christmas wreaths and item unique crafts and Christmas wreaths and items that you do not find in Wal-Mart.
Some of our members are giving a hard look at the school kids' visits and at least making this a break even venture or a little profit rather than a losing event.
Color, signs, music, food, drink, convenience, country atmosphere, Christmas spirit, dress, lighting, insurance, parking, follow-up cards, multi-seasonal events, labor ...... are all topics of interest for us to share our successes and failures. These are all things that have nothing to do with production of trees but can determine the success of your farm.
Everyone seemed to be pretty happy with the seedlings this year. I think the accounting process was a little rough but it is all straight now. I will discuss with the board the possibility of billing everyone after they pick up their trees rather than prepay because some of the prepay did not coincide with the bill we got from US-Alliance. Anyway, all is well now.
Another trend is that we have about 4 or 5 people who are now growing some trees in containers. I expect to see that increase. It is a different way of growing but it offers new products that can not be purchased anywhere else and makes your farm unique. Nurseries grow these plants but they do not work them into the nice form the Christmas tree growers do. It allows you to grow Deodar cedar, hemlocks, white cedars, cryptomeria, and hollies that can not be used as a cut tree. These plants also offer a dual purpose to supply the landscape industry. The last article of the newsletter offers a summary of research we have been doing to supply more efficient and effective means for irrigation application for growing container plants.
It looks like we are having renewed interest in Christmas tree production. People in struggling traditional agriculture crops are looking for new opportunities. New requests are coming in for Christmas tree and nursery information. Liners also continue to be in short supply and could offer opportunities to our Alabama Christmas tree farms and nurseries.
Ben and Betty just announced that they have reached a stage in their lives where it is time to slow down a little. I was sad to hear about their second retirement but happy for them. They are putting Promise Land Farm, located outside of Dothan, up for sale with all the daylilies, Christmas trees and the pot-in-pot nursery area. They have sacrificed a number of years of very hard work developing a beautiful, inviting farm. It should be a great start for the next young family that comes along looking for a great opportunity. Ben and Betty said they have made so many friends in the business that they would continue to come to the meetings to enjoy their many friendships among the members.
I have included for your memory and safekeeping the Governor's Gaff of '99 this past Christmas. We got some good exposure from his error and you can bet they have in bold letters on someone's calendar, "Buy Alabama-grown Christmas Trees only!". Continue to enjoy your spring. Let us hear from you. As always, we welcome your comments, concerns and questions.
Georgia Supplies State Christmas Tree
Associated Press
Montgomery AdvertiserDissatisfied with a Christmas tree delivered to the Capitol and apparently unable to get a replacement from the more than 100 growers in Alabama, aides to Gov. Don Siegelman went to a Georgia tree farm. There they got a splendid tree - a 29 foot tall Leyland cypress - and a potentially prickly case of bad public relations.
"In our haste, we made a mistake," said Carrie Kurlander, the governor's press secretary. Kurlander said the official state tree displayed outside the front entrance to the Capitol should be "from Alabama" and will be next year.
A state work crew Thursday decorated the 29-foot Leyland cypress, which was cut Tuesday at the Coco Hollow Christmas Tree Farm in Fortson, GA.
"I know it was donated and the person who donated has requested that they remain anonymous," Kurlander said. The price was not disclosed.
Harold McLemore, who grows Christmas trees at his King Cotton Farms in Montgomery, said he was "disappointed the governor didn't get a tree grown in the state of Alabama." McLemore said he has donated trees to former governors and has several Leyland cypress trees that are taller than 20 feet.
State Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bishop declined comment on Siegelman getting the Christmas tree from another state, but he said Alabama tree growers need the support of their home-state consumers.
Ken and Ben Respond with a Letter As members and representatives of The Alabama Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), we would like to address the front-page headlines of the Montgomery Advertiser and the Associated Press releases to other papers. These papers offer the tragic news that the Governor's office made the mistake of getting the Alabama Capitol Christmas tree from Georgia. Although we certainly would think that the governor would buy an Alabama tree and support agriculture in Alabama, it does not rate front-page news. On the same front page where this story was found in the Montgomery Advertiser is a story concerning mourners honoring fallen firefighters and that the United Way in the Montgomery area has almost made its goal of 6.1 million dollars to support its many charities. Compared to these stories, the source of the Christmas tree for the Capitol seems trivial. It does not take much to put this Georgia Christmas tree story in proper perspective.
We have some of the finest Christmas tree growers in the United States in Alabama. Many people are enjoying their visits to the Alabama family farms now and will attest to the quality of trees we have in Alabama. The Governor and his staff made a glaring mistake in not getting an Alabama grown Christmas tree but our growers enjoy the true meaning of this season too much to allow this incident to dampen their spirits.
The newspaper accounting of the story left out, overlooked, or misinterpreted some important facts. The Governor was not dissatisfied with the Christmas tree donated to the Governor by ACTA. The ACTA has been donating trees to the Governor's office for over 10 years. Alabama Christmas tree growers have always presented a tree to the Governor that has met the specified size that the Governor requested. The Governor's staff has always asked for a tree that was 8 feet tall so that it would fit in the Governor's office. The Alabama growers who won this year's annual statewide competition for the best Christmas tree delivered the tree to the Governor. It was a beautiful tree. They presented the tree, had a wonderful time and the Governor loved the tree. However, the Governor apparently needed another large tree this year, which we would have been happy to supply.
I was contacted by the Governor's office less than 2 weeks ago with a request for a Leyland Cypress Christmas tree with a MINIMUM height of 30 feet. I told the individual that the Leyland Cypress was a relatively new tree and very few of our growers would have a tree that size. We offered a beautiful, well shaped tree that was 25 feet tall but the Governor's representative would not accept anything less than 30 feet.
Christmas trees are intensively managed horticultural crops that are harvested at a specified size, mostly between the heights of 4 and 12 feet. A few trees are kept and continue to be fertilized, pruned, sprayed for insects, diseases and weeds to provide churches and institutions with some larger trees. If they get too large they are cut and used for wreaths or garlands. These farmers make very little money from their trees. The longer they keep them, the more work that is involved and the lower the profit. You can imagine the large equipment and effort involved in pruning or shearing a tree 30 feet tall over one that is 6 feet tall. This is the first year they have requested a tree this size. Of course, next year we will be happy to provide a tree this size for the Governor.
We do not compete with Georgia Christmas tree farmers. Georgia and Alabama Christmas tree growers regularly attend each other's meetings. One hundred miles and a state line do not change the farmers and their shared love for the Christmas season. Our concern is more with the increase in artificial trees. We will let the newspapers and the politicians look for things to argue about during this special season. We will concentrate on the spirit of Christmas and enjoy sharing our love for the season with the children and families that regularly visit our quality Alabama Christmas tree farms. We invite the Governor and his family to visit one of our many great Christmas Tree farms next year and see the quality trees we have in Alabama. If you have not had the experience of cutting a LIVE tree from a Choose and Cut Christmas tree farm in Alabama, you are missing a special treat. Go once and it will become a family tradition in your home. Have a Merry Christmas!
Capitol Tree catches on Fire
Opelika-Auburn NewsJACKSON, Miss. --- State officials under fire for putting up an artificial holiday tree in the Capitol had to deal with real flames after the silk branches caught fire. The fake tree had replaced the real thing amid concern that a live tree was a fire hazard.
The ornately decorated fake tree caught fire Wednesday and filled the nearly 100-year-old building with smoke, interrupting legislative meetings and forcing the evacuation of about 75 Capitol workers, legislators and reporters for several hours.
There were no injuries or serious damage.
State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Millard Mackey blamed electrical problems with light.
Countdown on NCTA Biennial Meeting
August 16-19, Rochester, NYPlans are now complete for the National Christmas Tree Biennial meeting in Rochester, NY, August 16-19. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of all the things that a national meeting gives us. First of all - outstanding speakers from all over the country on a greater variety of topics than can usually be offered at a state meeting. Second, a chance to meet growers from other states and discuss mutual problems and hopefully some solutions. Finally, here is a chance to visit some of the attractions Western New York has to offer. Oh yes, this trip is a business expense and tax deductible. How can you lose? Pre-convention activities are on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 15 and 16. These include a trip to Niagara Falls, a cruise on the Erie Canal, an Ag and wine tour, plus fishing and golfing. Exhibits open on Wednesday afternoon. A free Wednesday night reception leads to the formal opening at 8:00 a.m. Thursday, August 17 at the Riverside Convention Center. Thursday and Friday are devoted to lectures and discussions with plenty of time for visiting exhibits. The exhibits and all sessions take place at the Center so there is no moving from building to building.
Thursday evening's Theme Night party will be a 50's Extravaganza with live music, a 50's photo opportunity, and food stations with New York grown fruits, vegetables, wines, cheeses, and more. You'll also hear the results of the tree, wreath, gallery of trees, and media contests.
Saturday offers a choice of three farm tours, each covering two farms. Many of the Thursday and Friday speakers will be at the farms to share their expertise. Pick the tour that best serves your needs.
We haven't forgotten spouses or others who might not want to attend all sessions. Guest tours on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will keep them occupied with visits to an historic village, a scenic state park, a craft market and wine tasting. And the children in your family? Each day, Wednesday through Saturday, children ages 8-16 (under 8 are welcome with a parent) can join others for special youth tours. They can visit a science museum and planetarium, visit an historic fort and village, wander through a gigantic maze, and more.
Members of NCTA will automatically receive registration forms as part of the next issue of The Journal. Non-members can receive a registration flyer by writing: National Christmas Tree Association, 1000 Executive Parkway, Suite, 220, St. Louis, Missouri 63141, or calling: 314/205-0944.
New Liner Source J.O. and Judy Williams are new (returned to the Association) members and they bring with them a new liner source with 4 inch or quart and 1 gallon liners of Leylands, Blue Ice, Carolina Sapphire and Deodar Cedars. They are in Hollins, AL and can be reached at 256-249-8808. We welcome them and a new liner source.
Alabama Cooperative Extension System
TIMELY INFORMATION
Agriculture & Natural Resources
EXTENSION PLANT PATHOLOGY, EXTENSION HALL,
AUBURN UNIVERSITY, AL 36849-5624 February 7, 2000
PP-475
CERCOSPORA NEEDLE BLIGHT ON LEYLAND CYPRESS
Austin Hagan
Extension Plant Pathologist and ProfessorCercospora needle blight is a common and occasionally damaging disease on Rocky Mountain junipers, Eastern red cedars as well as bald and Arizona cypress. Recently, nurseries and Christmas tree plantations in Alabama have reported damaging outbreaks of Cercospora needle blight on Leyland cypress. In field plantings, this disease tends to be more damaging to stressed trees or trees in otherwise poor condition.
Symptoms
A browning or blighting of the needles, which typically starts on the inner portions of the lower branches near the base of the tree, progresses upward and outwards towards the shoot tips. At advanced stages of the disease, all but the current year growth near the shoot tips has died. Selected, highly susceptible trees may succumb to this disease. Typically, symptoms usually appear during the summer months.Disease Cycle
Eastern red cedar and other native tree hosts are the most likely source of the causal fungus Cercospora sequoia. The fungus may be introduced into landscape plantings on disease B & B or container-grown nursery stock. The fungus overwinters in the needles and other host tissues. Spores of the causal fungus, which are produced during periods of wet weather in the spring and fall, are spread by air currents and wind-driven rain to healthy trees. Free water is needed for spore germination and successful infection of host foliage.Control
In the nursery, protective fungicide sprays should give good protection from Cercospora needleblight. For best results, begin sprays in mid-to-late spring before fresh symptoms appear. Repeat preventative sprays at intervals list in the table on Leyland cypress throughout the summer until the cooler and drier weather in October. Thorough coverage of the foliage is critical for the control of Cercospora needle blight. When spraying, be sure to use enough pressure to force the fungicide through the canopy to thoroughly wet the innermost shoots, especially those near the base of the plant.Fungicide cleared for the control of Cercospora leaf spot are listed in the table below. Note: the information concerning the efficacy of fungicides for the control of Cercospora needle blight dates back to the late 50's and 60's. No efficacy trials have been conducted with any registered fungicides.
Fungicide Application Rate Comments Per Gallon Per 100 Gallon azoxystrobin Heritage 50W - 1-4 oz. Apply at first sign of disease and repeat every 14 to 28 days. propiconazole Banner Maxx - 8-12 fluid ounce Apply every 30 days when conditions favor disease. thiophanate-methyl 3336 50W 3336 4.5 11/2-2 t. 1 T. 12-16 ounces 10-20 fluid ounces Spray at 7- to 10-day intervals during humid, wet summer weather. Apply to drip. Use surfactant to improve coverage with wettable powdery formulations of the thiophanate-methyl are available and are also labeled for the control of this disease. thiophanate-methyl Zyban 79W 5 t. 3 lb. t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon
Small Steps to Improving Your Irrigation System, Reducing Labor
and Increasing Your Bottom LineBy Dr. Ken Tilt
Irrigation is one of our most critical cultural practices in production of nursery crops and yet it is one that we offer the least attention at most nurseries and in our research. A good thing about the water/plant relationship is that plants have evolved to tolerate extremes in water availability to account for nature's fickle schedule of irrigation. However, in the nursery BUSINESS, we do not strive just to keep plants alive. Our goal is to produce quality plants in the shortest time possible, using the minimum space and impact on the environment while reducing costs with efficient and effective use of our other resources. While a large segment of our industry is still made up of small family farms and plant lovers, a common comment often heard is that "the plants I like the most at my nursery are the ones that are going on the back of a truck and heading out to my customers". It is a business and the objective is not to keep plants around the nursery any longer than necessary. Competition and our production, business and marketing knowledge has increased over the years. We do not keep plants "past their time". One area we can improve on to shorten a plant's time on our nurseries is to improve our irrigation practices.
We have added some automation aids over the years, but primarily to reduce labor. We are beginning to see some small advances in improving our irrigation practices as a result of environmental pressures and the great motivator, "MONEY" ! There is a number of hardware and software irrigation factors we can adjust, improve and maintain to increase plant growth. The design of our nursery, the media we use and the container designs can also improve our irrigation efficiency and effectiveness.
Irrigation hardware includes items that get the quality (pre-tested) water from the water source to the plants. Pumps, filters, pipes, backflow devices, emitters and pressure compensators fall into this category. A professional should design hardware so that a uniform volume of clean water reaches each plant. If you do not treat all plants within a group the same, how can you get uniformity of growth or diagnose problems when they go wrong? We are not just watering plants to keep them alive, we are trying to use irrigation management to get maximum growth. Hardware needs to be maintained and tested frequently for uniformity. Replacement parts should be parts designed for the system and not ones that just fit.
Irrigation software involves the mechanisms and equipment involved for scheduling and applying the appropriate volumes of water to meet the demands of the plants. This can be as simple as sticking your finger in the substrate to feel the wetness (our manual sensor) or using irrometers to electronically quantify the moisture in the soil or how fast the plant is using it. This is area where our research is moving.
We began thinking complete automation by running wires all over the nursery with irrometers in a number of pots to measure the water loss to the atmosphere and the plant and try to replace that water each day and replace it with minimal leaching. The irrometers were not very accurate, so we cooperated with our electrical engineers to write a complicated fuzzy logic computer program so the computer could monitor and "learn" the variability of the instrument and make corrections. We grew a crop of plants in the greenhouse to test the technology and it did great except you needed 100 wires and your own electrical engineer to make adjustments to the program. It can be done and I am sure it will be in the future but it is a big jump from the greenhouse and 40 plants to a nursery of millions of plants of different species, sizes, and highly variable water requirements even within the same species and container size.
Our plan of attack now is to just do a better job than we are currently doing and take practical, economically feasible baby steps to improved irrigation application and efficiency. This involves combining current technology to partially automate irrigation and make the same normal, manual adjustments to environmental conditions that you would do if you had the time to stand by the tap all day and turn it on and off.
We can use timers, light, rain, wind, evaporation, relative humidity Class A evaporation pans and temperature sensors. We can also adjust the substrate and container design so that it will hold more water while still maintaining a balance of air space. We know that as light, temperature and wind increase, plants will demand more water and conversely as these factors decrease and relative humidity goes up or it rains, we must reduce our irrigation to adjust for the plants lower water needs. That is simple. The problem is time and having experienced, knowledgeable people to be monitoring and adjusting for all these factors, complicated by the large number of species and sizes of plants. We need to use our experience to calibrate the electronic aids so that they can be monitoring the environment night and day and taking our place at the on/off switch.
The first thing to adjust is the substrate and water reserve. By adding 10 to 25 percent of peat moss or coir, we can increase the amount of water held in reserve, the easily available water and reduce the frequency of watering. Research conducted at Auburn University on red maples in 15 gallon pot-in-pot production using media combinations of 4:1 pinebark:peat and pinebark:coir and 100% pinebark resulted in a 17% and 12% increase in height in the pinebark and peat over the other two media, respectively. We thought that we could adjust the water to compensate for the lower water holding capacity of the 100% pinebark mix. But, we found that the peat or coir added more available water and possibly greater nutrient holding capacity to generate more growth with the species we tested. Other research at Auburn has also found potential increase in growth by raising container holes and reducing them in size to limit leaching and increase the water reserve. A side benefit is the control of rooting out in pot-in-pot production, which Dr. Patricia Knight at Mississippi State University has investigated. We are doing follow up research on these factors to verify and fine tune the results that will hopefully continue to be positive.
Changing the volume applied and the frequency of application can also increase available water, reduce fertilizer loss and runoff from the nursery. This cultural practice is termed cyclic irrigation. The normal water volume you apply at one application is divided into equal amounts and applied 3, 6 or more times a day. Research has shown that this technique will give equal or increased growth with the added benefit of reduced runoff. This practice has proven effective in many research projects and is worthy or trying at your nursery. Glenn Fain grew red maples in 15 gallon pot-in-pot containers under 1,3 and 6 cycle irrigation treatments at Auburn University. Red maples had a 23% and 17% increase in dry weight while receiving the same total volume of water in 3 cycles and 6 cycles, respectively over dry weight production of trees under a single application of water. Total nitrogen leached per pot was reduced by 99% in the 6 cycle treatment over the 1 cycle treatment with an obvious increase of nitrogen in the containers receiving 6 cycles. More available nitrogen (within safe limits) yields greater growth. Rob Trawick, who just completed his research at Auburn, reported similar increased growth with cyclic irrigation on white cedar and Arizona cypress in 3 and 7 gallon containers, respectively. The volume of irrigation applied in this research was 0.59 gallons per 3 gallon container daily (unless interrupted by 1/2 inch of rain) from April to mid June. The volume increased to 0.81 gallons until mid-July and peaked at 1.0 gallon per pot from July until mid September. The 7gallon Arizona cypress received a total application water volume during each of the above intervals of 0.63,1.0, and 1.03 gallons at each application. Volume of water applied is based on replacing moisture loss during the day and is explained below.
Future research will look at applying the irrigation at different times of the day with varying volumes to adjust for the different water demands as you go through the day. You can calculate the approximate water to add each day by watering the plants on a bright, hot day, allow for drainage to stop, then weigh the container to determine the weight at the maximum water holding capacity or "container capacity". At the same time the next day, weigh the plants again. Container capacity weight minus the weight the next day in grams equals the daily water loss in milliliters. Use this as an estimate on the total volume of water to apply each day. This is basing your water needs on the extreme case of clear days and high temperatures. This volume could be adjusted with data coming from temperature, light, wind and relative humidity sensors.
Applying water in smaller increments or using cyclic irrigation, you increase the volume of water held in the container and fertilizers are not leached. The other adjustment method is to use cyclic irrigation and monitor the amount of leaching after irrigating. You would like to minimize the total leachate to less than 15 to 20% of the total water applied. Some of the cycles in the heat of the day may not have any leaching.
If you are going to consider cyclic irrigation, (and all the research points to positive results), you will need a controller or a computerized monitoring system. Controllers and timers are less expensive ranging from $200 to over $2000. There are many different irrigation jobs that you manage on the nursery including propagation and monitoring various sized containers and species of plants with inherent variability among and between species. They are also at varying stages of growth. The flexibility of a computer system may be the economic and sound business choice to manage it all. Computer irrigation management systems range from $5000 to $10,000 or more, obviously depending on the size of nursery. Two companies that offer this equipment are Q-COM in Santa Ana, California (949-837-8418) and World Wide Water, Inc., Apex, NC. (919 362-4200). These management systems allow you to take a big step towards controlling and monitoring your irrigation. It is a big capital expenditure but no more costly than a many media mixers or other equipment used on the nursery and equally or more important than these other cultural practices.
The next step is to begin to monitor the amount of water applied and keep records for future scheduling. As water restrictions continue to tighten, you will be required to measure your water use. Flow meters are added to the system to help you monitor and adjust duration and volume of irrigation. A Mini Clik or an Electronic Rain Gauge ($100) can be added to turn off the water when a critical amount of rain falls on the plants. This certainly makes sense to add one of these devices rather than irrigating automatically during a blinding rain storm or running back and forth to the valve to manually shut off the irrigation and reschedule.
With an irrigation management system, if you received 1/4 inch of rain, simple commands could be added to skip one or two cycles of irrigation that day. This same flexibility can be applied for temperature, light and relative humidity sensors. Our current research is evaluating the value of these sensors, individually and in concert to determine an economic, practical system to partially automate your irrigation while increasing growth or at least reducing labor and runoff into groundwater systems. The system does not replace you but it sure saves miles of running each weak and a few premature gray hairs from worrying about if plants got irrigated and if it was too much or too little. You train your electronic eyes and finger in the field to keep data of what is going on and to alert you if things are not going as you instructed. (If we can adapt this technology to attach to our kids, we will clicking glasses with Bill Gates.)
A deviation in the flow to the containers at a set percentage, too much or too little, signals the computer to sound the alarm or call one or several people to let them know a problem exists or it can call every day at a specified time to let you know all stations were irrigated. So, this is not a system just for the large nurseries. It also offers peace of mind and a free day or possibly two away from the nursery for the small nursery manager.
We can do better than what we are doing and make it profitable to take the small steps to improve. There will be a learning curve in the beginning to fine tune your electronic finger and eyes to manage the irrigation but after you get your system up and running you will find you will have much more freedom, peace of mind and reach the ultimate objective of uniform quality plants heading out the nursery gate. Many Universities in nursery states are working on these irrigation opportunities. Stay alert as new information develops for improving your irrigation effectiveness and begin to take small steps to improve your irrigation management.
1999-2000 Alabama Christmas Tree Association Officers
| President: | Ben Graves |
| Vice President: | Cary Walker |
| Secretary/Treasurer: | Reba and Ken Tilt |
| Past President: | James Glasscock |
| BOARD OF DIRECTORS: | . |
| One year: | Webb Thornhill , David Gann |
| Two year: | Frank Wadsworth, Jean Fontaine |
| Three Year: | Wayne Murphy, Nancy Zeigler |
| National Representative: | Steve Mannhard |
| A & M Representative: | Dr. George Brown |
| Auburn Representative: | Dr. Ken Tilt |
| ALFA Representative: | Steve Guy |
Questions: E-mail me: (Ken Tilt) at ktilt@acesag.auburn.edu. =================================================
  
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