New Plant Root Zone Management Book Published
2nd Edition
Good roots make good shoots was the quote spoken by Dr. Peter Konjoian in the 1990’s. It is the overriding theme that inspired the writing of the initial guide. It has been 25 years since the first edition of the Plant Root Zone Management guide was published. A group of eight NC State floriculturists prepared the manual as part of an all-day workshop at the Ohio Shortcourse in 2001, now called Cultivate. Our goal was to bring together resources under one cover that provided insights into improving plant growth from the roots up.
Twenty-five years have passed, and advances in production protocols and printing options have improved. An update was needed. Teaming up with graduate students Patrick Veazie and Luke Finn to make this a capstone project of their graduate studies at North Carolina State University turned into a goal driven by them. The irony is not lost that when the first edition was published, one co-author was under 1 year old, and the other wasn’t even born. It is good that this guide is being updated for the future.
The economics of print-on-demand color printing now enable upgrading the guide with a more extensive library of images. We have tried to supplement our words with top-quality photographs that we have documented over the past 25 years. In addition, we added a section on diagnostics, which aids in the problem-solving process.
Our goal is to improve the understanding of the root environment and aid greenhouse growers in growing top-quality crops.
The print-on-demand guide can be ordered from lulu.com
Brian E. Whipker
Professor of Floriculture
Patrick Veazie and Luke Finn
Department of Horticultural Science
Brian Whipker
Professor, Horticulture, North Carolina State UniversityBrian E. Whipker is a professor of floriculture at North Carolina State University. He has an appointment split between extension and research, but also teaches the graduate level plant nutrition course at NC State. His specialization is plant nutrition, plant growth regulators, and problem diagnostics. He brings over 30 year of experience in diagnosing grower plant problems.
