Nursery Research and Service Center

The TTU Nursery Research and Service Center serves the horticulture industry of Tennessee. The nursery industry in Tennessee includes about 2,000 plant dealers, which employ more than 10,000 full-and part-time employees. Clientele also includes the professional associations for nursery producers and retailers. These include the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association, Inc., Middle Tennessee Nurserymen’s Association, East Tennessee Nurserymen’s Association, Southern Nurserymen’s Association, and the Horticultural Therapy Association. The Nursery Research and Service Center also cooperates with other state and federal organizations such as the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the USDA, SCS, and the National Arboretum. The personnel at the Center are available to area garden clubs and home owners for consultation.

The Center is available to provide educational and instructional services for the horticultural industry. Diagnosis of pest problems and their management is a service provided by the Center. Research is developed and centered around problems that the industry is experiencing in production or management. Topics include disease, insect and weed control, fertility, propagation or production management, and sustainable agriculture. The Center also cooperates with suppliers in testing of chemicals, fertilizers, new cultivars and other products used in the industry. The facilities are well equipped for conducting general plant disease diagnostics and predominantly applied research, whether in the field, the greenhouse or in container production systems.

The research facility includes three acres of field plot space, all under drip irrigation. The greenhouse facilities include one 3,000 ft. polyhouse, 2,000 ft. under glass, 2,000 ft. under shade, and 450 ft. in cold frames. Work areas include two headhouses and one equipment barn. Equipment includes a 100 ft2 walk-in cooler, media mixer, sprayers, an 18 hp tractor, a 30 hp tractor, a front-end loader, rototillers, cultivators, fertilizer injectors, a tree setter, a tracking wagon, and a Lindig cart.

Laboratory facilities include a plant pathology lab equipped for diagnosis and culture of plant pathogens, and a general lab used for weed science and plant physiology studies. A transfer hood, fume hood, various microscopes, leaf area meters, conductivity meters, an autoclave, a growth chamber, incubators, freezers, a spectrophotometer, microtomes, and a convection oven are on site for plant science studies.

The newest addition to the Nursery Research and Service Center is the establishment of an American chestnut orchard, part of a cooperative research program to sustain and re-establish this species nearly eliminated by the chestnut blight
(see http://www.tntech.edu/publicaffairs/rel/chestnut.html).