Two years ago I planted approximately 2,000 Canaan fir seedlings in a field with fine-textured soil and a proclivity to flood(I wrote about it back then) . The seedlings came from several different seed sources, which had been evaluated for needle retention. My goal was to determine which ones tolerated the soil conditions.
Canaan fir screening in progress.
This morning I visited the field to check in on the plants. The field had a nice crop of dandelions. Based upon my observations I’m not sure if any of the seed sources have a higher tolerance for the soil conditions than others. The field is too big to keep trends of what I saw straight in my head. I’ll enter the data and see what the numbers say.
After returning form the field I spent the early afternoon in the lab. I set up two quick plating experiments. One testing mefenoxam sesitivity of the Phytophthora isolates I have been using and another to test the effect of brief soaking in 70% ethanol on hyphae survival. I should have results from both experiments by the end of next week. (Quick lab experiments are great. I’m so accustomed to a short-term study taking months in a greenhouse or field.)
