“ begonia are one of the most pop plant . Yet their sensitivity to environmental aspects puts stress on the plant life and leads to high price for growers , ” says Dr. Alfred Huo , adjunct professor of ornamental works breeding in the Department of Environmental Horticulture at the University of Florida . late , they receive a joint grant of $ 175,000 from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services . Now , the enquiry team is on a mission to enhance stress tolerance in new begonia cultivar . Dr. Alfred Huo and biological scientist Matthew Creech at the begonia hybrid evaluation siteA Modern inquiry areaDr . Huo ’s overall enquiry focus on how flora genetic science interact with environmental factor and how this touch on plant growth . So far , the research has encompassed a blanket change of horticultural crop , including lettuce , tomato , snapdragon , and petunia . “ Now we are start to exercise on begonias because they are among the top five most pop plants establish in prime bed . In tropic areas , begonias usually grow under Tree , thus not being disclose to unattackable , direct sun . Therefore , when we are make them as bedding plant , this is an subject we have to solve as we are in need of more weather tolerant potpourri . We know that it is not just the heat that affects the works , but the combination with sunlight , humidness , and eminent temperature . These environmental aspects have a significant effect on plant growth . ”Photos by UF / IFAS Matthew Creech
Weather extremitiesWith atmospheric condition extremities becoming more frequent , this research is now more important than ever . “ In some years , almost all State in the US have had issue with the uttermost heatwaves , and these weather extremities are becoming more frequent than they used to . Growers then have to increase their usance of lachrymation , shading , and galvanising cooling system to help the stressed plants . In addition , heatwaves come together with drought , which is another tenseness factor faced by the growers . begonia are mainly produced in nursery , so if we can make begonia more oestrus tolerant and reduce the H2O usage , grower can save a quite a little of money in their begonia production . ”Dr . Huo also mentions that this research will not just gain the growers in tropical area . He explains that more lively begonias will also benefit the end - drug user , as well as European growers , for example . “ While heating system tolerance may not be an topic for every begonia grower , anyone can highly do good from drought tolerance and abridge the amount of water necessary for production . ”
A challenge : collecting plant materialsSo far , begonia enquiry has been mainly focused on evolutionary studies to infer how the begonia evolved , but there has been a deficiency of research on breeding , leading to scarce data and industrial plant materials . “ Before we go this unexampled grant , we received a littler grant which allowed us to collect planting material . This is important , as it is difficult to make different combination when you do n’t have honorable genetic diversity . Over the last two yr , our begonia ingathering has grown and now includes more than 240 different types from countries around the world , and we are bear to expand to 450 by natural spring 2022 . ” The researchers are using both traditional breeding and genome redaction to amend stress tolerance . The current research labor start in January , and they are hop to let go of the unexampled tension - broad varieties in 3 - 4 twelvemonth .
What about the indoor varieties?There are more than 2,500 species of begonias , some of which are planted outside , whereas some varieties are used as houseplants . So will this inquiry also be beneficial for the indoor motley that do not have to deal with atmospheric condition member ? “ While environmental aspects are not sham indoor plant , it is still good for the cultivator ’s production to have stress - patient of indoor mixture . Therefore , we are collaborating with local nurseries to see if we can also educate some temperature resistant indoor Rex begonias , which would be a great advantage for growers . ”For more information : UF / IFASDr . Alfred Huo[email protected]www.alfredlab.comwww.ifas.ufl.edu
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