News Stories - Page 22

Dario Chavez, associate professor of horticulture on the UGA Griffin campus, shows off the drip irrigation system in the peach orchard of the Dempsey Research Farm used to study irrigation and fertilization management for young peach trees. CAES News
Irrigation benefits both newly planted and established peach trees in UGA study
While peach orchards are a common sight throughout middle and south Georgia — helping the Peach State live up to its name — peach producers need more than just the title to ensure that both long-established groves and newly planted fields are successful.
UGA Cooperative Extension volunteers contribute thousands of hours of their time and effort to support youth, family and agricultural programming throughout the state every year. CAES News
UGA Extension celebrates Volunteer Appreciation Week
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, volunteers have continued to make a positive impact for Georgians of all ages. Throughout Volunteer Appreciation Week April 19 - 23, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is honoring thousands of volunteers who have dedicated their time to facilitate 4-H, Master Gardener and Family and Consumer Sciences programming on the county, district and state levels.
UGA researchers have been looking for ways to reverse the decline of pollinator populations by examining centipedegrass as a food source for pollinators. CAES News
Your lawn could help save the bees
Over the past few decades, pollinators have been in decline worldwide, which is concerning because 70% of crops used for human food depend on pollinators. Turfgrasses – used for most residential lawns – often take some of the blame for pollinator decline as they are known to be wind-pollinated and were thought not to serve as a pollinator food source, until now.
Qian Feng, a second-year doctoral candidate in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has mapped additional genes responsible for volatile production in order to offer a more complete picture of the biochemical pathways in tomatoes. She hopes that other researchers can introduce the desirable genes into current or new varieties to breed a tastier  tomato. CAES News
UGA student investigates why modern tomatoes have lost their flavor
Why have tomatoes lost their flavor? Why do some dishes call for ketchup when cooking with tomatoes? These are a couple of the questions that Qian Feng, a second-year University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences doctoral candidate, seeks to answer through her research.
Members of the UGA Horticulture Club prepare for the cub’s spring rose sale. Each year, club members sell bouquets for Valentine’s Day to fundraise for club operations, trips and scholarships. (Photo taken in 2019) CAES News
UGA Horticulture Club helps grow scholarship funding
Students in the University of Georgia’s Horticulture Club are growing more than plants. They’re also growing support for current and future Bulldogs.
Boxwood blight symptoms clockwise from upper left: tan to gray leaf lesions with a darker purplish border on an English boxwood; circular, tan spots with a brown border on upper leaves; tan blighted leaves and bare stems on an infected plant; blackening of stems and browning foliage; and black stem lesions on bare branch tips. (photos by Jean Williams-Woodward) CAES News
Wet weather can cause influx of disease to evergreens
If you're seeing brown areas in your landscape trees or hedges where you should be seeing green, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension can help. Wet winters and severe weather have been causing disease and other issues in landscape plants, especially Leyland cypress and boxwood.