News

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Gardeners looking for the perfect hanging-basket plant are finding an outstanding option in the new Bonfire begonia, which produces hundreds of fiery, scarlet-orange flowers. Bonfire brings incredible beauty and a rugged nature.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Strong prices encouraged Mississippi farmers to make corn the state's No. 1 row crop this year, but drought conditions are cutting yields.

On June 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated Mississippi producers have planted 980,000 acres of corn, up from 340,000 in 2006. Erick Larson, Mississippi State University Extension Service small grains specialist, said persistent drought conditions are reducing the yield potential of corn across much of the state.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- As people become accustomed to their physicians employing sophisticated medical equipment, diagnostic equipment, and therapies for treatment of diseases and physical problems, they expect veterinarians to offer their family pets similar innovations in health care.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Lime green is a hot, hot, hot color in the garden, and it won't be long until the new Limón talinum will help soothe the quest for this jewel color.

Botanically speaking, Limón talinum is Talinum paniculatum and is in the portulaca family. It is native to the West Indies and Central America and has common names of Fameflower and Jewels-of-Opar.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Students at Mississippi State University are using genetic engineering to build “machines” once only dreamed about in science fiction.

Last year, nine graduate and undergraduate students genetically engineered E.-coli bacteria to glow green in the presence of hydrogen, providing a safe way to measure the hydrogen available in hard to probe places like fuel cells. They entered this new design in the International Genetically Engineered Machine, or iGEM, competition held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Asian soybean rust has not been found in Mississippi as of June 28, a fact confirmed by the team canvassing the state’s soybean crops, sentinel plots and Kudzu each week.

A group of Mississippi State University Extension Service plant pathologists, members of the Soybean Management by Application Research and Technology program, and other Extension personnel, researchers and trained consultants search daily for the disease. Billy Moore, an Extension plant pathologist emeritus, said there is no reason for concern at this point.

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

STONEVILLE -- Catfish production is off to a good start in Mississippi in 2007 after a successful spawning season and warm weather that is promoting regular feeding.

“For the year overall, we are up on feed sales and feed to our fish,” said Jimmy Avery, Mississippi State University Extension aquaculture specialist based at the Delta Research and Extension Center National Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville.

By Andrea Cooper
MSU College of Forest Resources

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi streams do not offer the fly-fishing opportunities found in the West, but the state's wadeable streams provide good sport fishing of spotted and largemouth bass, longear sunfish and bluegill sunfish.

These streams are not the sport fishermen magnets that streams are in the highland region of the United States, so many wadeable streams in Mississippi and the Southeast are often ignored and unmanaged.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- When Covington County cattleman Johnny Pope placed the top bid for a Hereford bull at a recent sale, he was almost 200 miles from the auction.

Pope is one of many animal buyers in the state taking advantage of the interactive video component added to the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Annual Livestock Production Sale by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Whenever someone tells me they have quite a bit of shade and want to plant flowers, I always direct them to impatiens. These tropical-looking flowers from East Africa are literally unbeatable for season-long color.

Long before we had all of the dazzling choices today, our grandparents and great-grandparents no doubt felt the same exuberance for their version called Touch-Me-Not.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- This year's watermelons relied on Mother Nature for the sunny skies to make them sweet, but most needed farmers to supply the essential irrigation to make them juicy.

Wayne Porter, area horticulture agent for Mississippi State University's Extension Service, said watermelon harvesting has begun in southern counties. Porter is based in Lauderdale County and also serves Smith County, Mississippi's top watermelon-producing county.

By Courtney Coufal
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- In celebration of the Mississippi 4-H centennial, the organization's members, agents and volunteers re-enacted a decades-old activity using modern technology.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Midsouth homeowners may soon find it easier to locate St. Augustine grass for their lawns.

A new St. Augustine grass cultivar bred for cold tolerance is being licensed by Mississippi State University to sod producers in north Mississippi and other Midsouth locations.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

By Robert H. Wells
Delta Research and Extension Center

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Two weeks of harvests in the southern part of Mississippi indicate a very good year for blueberries, despite an Easter weekend freeze that decimated those in the northern part of the state.

John Braswell, Mississippi State University horticulture specialist at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said the crop is in pretty good shape.

“Most of the acreage south of Interstate 20 has a good crop,” Braswell said. “There's a lot of fruit coming off right now.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi may not be far behind the Georgia and Florida wildfires if people are not careful during hot, dry conditions.

Charles Burkhardt manages Mississippi State University's timberlands located throughout the state.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Many gardeners across the state are shocked by sprawling, bright orange masses that appear quickly in gardens, but this scary looking fungus is quite harmless.

Clarissa Balbalian, plant diagnostic lab manager with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the fungus is a slime mold that feeds on decaying woody material.

“It doesn't hurt plants or people,” Balbalian said. “Slime molds live on fungi, bacteria and other microscopic creatures that decay organic material.”

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

We can complain about the lack of rainfall this year, but we can't complain about the beautiful and fragrant petunias that are blooming everywhere we turn.

Even though they all have been photogenic, this year's All-America Selections winner Opera Supreme Pink Morn is catching my eye.

If you knew how hard it was for a new petunia or petunia series to get established in today's competitive market, then you would know how special the Opera Supreme Pink Morn is.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana pecan growers can learn more about production and marketing issues at a June 21-22 convention and trade show in Shreveport, La.

Pecan grower associations from each of the three states are sponsoring the event at the Clarion Hotel. Registration begins at noon on June 21 and costs $35.