Hygiene

Hygiene [ Horticulture - Phytopathology ]
Cleanup procedures

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Sanitary practices, cleanliness. Conditions and practices followed to maintain good health, habits of cleanliness.

Some basic cleanup procedures to follow in horticultural practise consist in:

Removal of all dead and seriously cankered parts: Remove also flowers rest, dead leafs, and other debris; This will help prepare plants for winter discourage and prevent winter injury and damage from fungal moulds. Diseased stem and rot tissues should be burned or buried, not included in a compost !
Tools cleaning: Disinfect saws, scissors and knives used for cutting out diseased branches with methylated spirits or a flame (a cigarette lighter comes in handy for this). This also helps when taking cuttings.
Growing containers: Only use new, sterilized or well-washed containers when growing cuttings and sowing seeds.

Advertising

Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994