Video - Transpiration Process in Plants

Video explaining the transpiration process in plants. Transpiration is the loss of water in parts of the plant.

Herbicide May Have Unintended Consequences

Purdue Univ. researchers have discovered a fine-tuning mechanism involved in plant root growth that has them questioning whether a popular herbicide may have unintended consequences, causing some plants to need more water or nutrients.

Angus Murphy, a professor of horticulture, and Wendy Peer, an assistant professor of horticulture, study the movement of auxin, a plant hormone essential for plant development. They showed that ABCB4, a protein responsible for moving auxin into cells, also removes the hormone when too much has accumulated.

"We knew that the protein took auxin up, but found that it switched to removing auxin when a threshold is reached," says Murphy, whose findings appeared in the early online version of The Plant Journal. "It starts transporting the hormones out."

That fine-tuning mechanism is integral to proper development of plant root hairs, which extend from the main plant root and are where most water and minerals enter.

Read full article in: The LaboratoryEquipment.com

Stylish succulents can thrive on neglect | At Home | eastvalleytribune.com

Quick, what is the easiest class of plants you can grow, that multiply like weeds, look like high design and sophisticated no matter how you pair them, survive on neglect and need little water when you're jetting off to foreign places? Read more:
Stylish succulents can thrive on neglect At Home eastvalleytribune.com Source: eastvalleytribune.com

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Xeriscape plants save your water bill and your time

By Suzanne Staton
Go to Suzanne's Home Page
Austin Frugal Living Examiner

If you want to have nice landscaping in your yard, but you don’t want to spend a fortune in time and money watering plants or replacing them each year, consider xeriscaping.

Xeriscaping is a style of landscaping that incorporates design principles and plants that conserve water, generally ones that are native to the area. According to greenbuilder.com, 38 percent of the water consumed in Austin is used for outside watering. Aside from using up a valuable resource, that kind of water use can be expensive.

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Efficient watering, xeriscaping still a good idea despite rain | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan,

Although we're lucky to have an abundant water supply this year, being conscientious about water use is always the right thing to do. During the hottest summer months, up to 70 percent of a home's water can be used for lawn watering. Unfortunately, some lawns end up with too much of a good thing. If water from your sprinklers is running down the street or spongy areas of lawn are attracting ducks, you're probably overdoing it. Read more:
Efficient watering, xeriscaping still a good idea despite rain coloradoan.com The Coloradoan, Source: coloradoan.com

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It's Time To: Stop end rot

By Rhonda Stansberry

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

If the first tomatoes of the season have an ugly black spot on the bottom, don't despair. This season's crop isn't ruined.

Those tomatoes — which have blossom end rot — have to go, but later tomatoes should be fine with a few adjustments in watering and mulching.

Blossom end rot is also a common problem of peppers, eggplant, squash and watermelon. It occurs as a flat, dry, sunken, brown rot on the blossom end of the fruit, opposite the stem end.

The solution is to get water to the plant so that it can take up more calcium.

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'Lab on a chip' to measure water stress in plants

Fifteen years ago, when Alan Lakso first sought to enlist Cornell's nanofabrication laboratory to develop a tiny sensor that would measure water stress in grapevines, the horticultural sciences professor ended up back at the drawing board.
'Lab on a chip' to measure water stress in plants Source: physorg.com

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