Calendula Officinalis Growth and Production of Secondary Compounds in Greenhouse and Soil-Based Herbal Organic Production Systems
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences Plant and Soil Sciences 2013 CALENDULA OFFICINALIS GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN GREENHOUSE AND SOIL-BASED HERBAL ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS Victoria M. Anderson University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Anderson, Victoria M., "CALENDULA OFFICINALIS GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN GREENHOUSE AND SOIL-BASED HERBAL ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences. 26. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_etds/26 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s dissertation including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Victoria M. Anderson, Student Dr. Krista Jacobsen, Major Professor Mark Coyne, Director of Graduate Studies CALENDULA OFFICINALIS GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN GREENHOUSE AND SOIL-BASED HERBAL ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS THESIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky By Victoria M. Anderson Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Krista Jacobsen, Assistant Professor Lexington, Kentucky 2013 Copyright ® Vicky Anderson 2013 ABSTRACT OF THESIS CALENDULA OFFICINALIS GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN GREENHOUSE AND SOIL-BASED HERBAL ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS Calendula officinalis is a useful model crop because calendula flowers are used both ornamentally and medicinally. Organic production systems have many challenges; among these is the synchrony of nitrogen mineralization with the requirements of the crop. Organic greenhouse substrates have significantly different initial nitrogen levels which influence the performance of calendula, the highest initial N and plant performance was found in the organic compost peat substrate (OCP). The addition of supplemental nitrogen improved performance, but only OCP performed as well as the conventionally fertilized peat-based substrate. The nitrogen mineralization patterns in a soil-based greenhouse pot experiment showed that highly processed amendments supplied the highest levels of nitrogen, and that these amendments showed greater vegetative growth when soil was amended with a high-input amendment, but flower production was reduced. There was no observed influence of water stress on nitrogen mineralization, but flowers from water stressed plants had approximately 50% higher concentrations of secondary compounds than non-stressed flowers. Nitrogen mineralization in organic production systems is difficult to predict, but highly influences plant productivity and performance. KEY WORDS: Nitrogen Availability, Secondary Compounds, Organic Agriculture, HSME-GC, Greenhouse Production Victoria M. Anderson May 30, 2013 CALENDULA OFFICINALIS GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN GREENHOUSE AND SOIL-BASED HERBAL ORGANIC PRODUCTION SYSTEMS By Victoria M. Anderson Krista L. Jacobsen Director of Thesis Mark Coyne Director of Graduate Studies May 30, 2013 Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Krista Jacobsen, for whole-hearted unwavering support and encouragement in this endeavor. This support and advice allowed me follow my interests and to design and execute a project that I am proud of, allowing me to feel like a scientist again. I would also like to thank my committee member Doug Archbold, for the generous use of his laboratory instruments and for his guidance with GC analysis of secondary compounds. He helped make this project come alive. Also, I would like to thank my other committee members, Bob Geneve and Dewayne Ingram, for their support and advice over the years. I would like to thank Jim Crutchfield and Tami Smith not only for the analysis of thousands of samples over the years, but for teaching me to analyze them myself and for always making me feel welcome in the lab. I would like to thank my fellow lab members Alex Hessler and Kavita Mizin for long discussions about methods and principles and for helping me maintain my sanity. I would also like to thank Alexis Amorese for helping me keep my plants watered which was not a small undertaking. This work was made possible by the support of Shari Dutton, Grant Clouser and Brett Wolff, my sincerest thanks to them! This research was supported by the University of Kentucky, Department of Horticulture & SCRI grant (USDA grant # 2010-51181-21212). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. vii Chapter One: Introduction to thesis ................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Two: Introduction to Sustainable and Organic Floriculture ............................................... 3 Sustainability in Floriculture ........................................................................................................ 4 Organic production systems .................................................................................................... 7 Organic nitrogen management ................................................................................................ 7 Floriculture Greenhouse Systems ................................................................................................ 9 Organic greenhouse systems ................................................................................................. 11 Organic Greenhouse research ................................................................................................... 12 Vegetable transplants ............................................................................................................ 12 Organic hydroponic production ............................................................................................. 12 Organic flowering crops ......................................................................................................... 13 Microbial diversity and its beneficial effects ......................................................................... 14 Plant Stress................................................................................................................................. 14 Calendula as floriculture model ................................................................................................. 15 Objective .................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter Three: Nitrogen availability and plant productivity in commercially available organic greenhouse substrates................................................................................................................... 17 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 17 Organic greenhouse nutrient management .......................................................................... 17 Methods & Materials ................................................................................................................. 19 Results & Discussion .................................................................................................................. 22 EC & pH .................................................................................................................................. 22 iv Total inorganic N ...................................................................................................................