AY Honors/Flower Culture/Answer Key

1. Define each of the following:

a. Perennials

A perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. Perennial plants are divided into two large groups, those that are woody and those that are herbaceous. All woody plants are perennials since they form woody tissue that persists from one year to the next. Woody perennials develop a woody base or root system from which the foliage and flower stems grow year after year while the plant is alive. In common usage the term perennial generally describes herbaceous perennials.

b. Annuals

Annuals die each year. Depending on your climate annuals may be for summer planting (in snow regions) or winter planting (in low deserts). These plants produce many flowers and seeds in their life cycle to help perpetuate them. As a result many annuals seem to grow back each year when it is more likely a new plant from a seed has grown in its place.

c. Biennials

Biennials are plants that live for two years. They generally take on different forms in each of these years, producing seeds only in the second year.

2. Give general instructions for making a hotbed. What is the difference between a hotbed and a cold frame?

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Hotbed cold frame

3. What is drainage? Of what importance is it?

Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.

In moist climates, soils may be adequate for cropping with the exception that they become waterlogged for brief periods each year, from snow melt or from heavy rains. Soils that are predominantly clay will pass water very slowly downward, meanwhile plant roots suffocate because the excessive water around the roots eliminates air movement through the soil. Other soils may have an impervious layer of mineralized soil, called a hardpan or relatively impervious rock layers may underlie shallow soils. Drainage is especially important in tree fruit production. Soils that are otherwise excellent may be waterlogged for a week of the year, which is sufficient to kill fruit trees and cost the productivity of the land until replacements can be established. In each of these cases appropriate drainage is used to carry off temporary flushes of water to prevent damage to annual or perennial crops.

In farming drier areas, irrigation is often used, and one would not consider drainage necessary. However, irrigation water always contains minerals and salts, and these can be concentrated to toxic levels by evapotranspiration. Irrigated land may need periodic flushes with excessive irrigation water and drainage to remove these toxic minerals.

10. What is the purpose of a soil test?

The purpose of a soil test is to determine the nutrient content of the soil. This will allow the gardener to select plants that will grow best in the existing soil conditions or to determine what nutrient supplements are required to amend the soil for the intended plants.

References

• Wikipedia articles:
  • Cold frame
  • Drainage
  • Hotbed