Exploring Tomato Grafting Techniques at the Mid-Ohio Growers Meeting

The Mid-Ohio Growers Meeting is an annual horticulture-focused event in Holmes County, OH, attracting growers from multiple states including OH, MI, PA, and KY. This event offers a platform for growers to participate in hands-on demonstrations, attend industry and extension seminars, and explore a trade show. At this year’s meeting, Jason Hollick, a Ph.D. candidate in the Kubota Lab, partnered with Dr. Matt Kleinhenz and Sonia Walker from the Vegetable Production Systems Laboratory at The Ohio State University to arrange a tomato grafting demonstration. This hands-on session provided growers with the opportunity to learn techniques for grafting tomato plants, aiming to empower growers with key knowledge and practical skills necessary for grafted plant production.

Jason Hollick presented at ASHS in Orlando, FL

Jason Hollick, a Ph.D. candidate in Kubota lab, presented his recent research update at ASHS Annual Conference this year in Orlando, FL. Jason’s research focuses on improving flower and fruit development of grafted watermelon plants. By conducting both greenhouse and field trials using various scions and rootstocks, Jason found that the delay of reproductive development could be attributed to unbalanced source:sink ratio or localized deficiencies of specific nutrients. His work lays foundation for future studies focusing on using environmental and nutritional adjustments to promote earlier flowering and fruit set. The outcome of Jason’s research can help promote the application of grafted plants, providing economic and environmental benefits to the industry.

Tomato Harvest at Kubota Lab

Dr. Changhyeon Kim, a postdoc scholar at Kubota lab, had a busy day harvesting tomatoes with the help of Ben Stover, an undergraduate student intern. Changhyeon’s research project focuses on improving the productivity of greenhouse-grown high-wire tomatoes based on physiological evidence and autonomous environment control in controlled environment agriculture. This work will contribute to the advancement of the horticulture industry, with potential benefits for producing high-quality produce in large quantities efficiently.

Kubota Lab helped host Cultivate greenhouse workshop and OHCEAC Annual Conference

The Kubota lab members are grateful for the incredible opportunity to help host the Cultivate greenhouse workshop and the OHCEAC Annual Conference in the past 2 weeks.

Cultivate ‘23. At Cultivate, we were thrilled to see the new crop varieties and technologies shaping the green industry’s future. Members from Kubota lab and Dr. Garrett Owen’s lab participated in ‘Back2Basics: Media & Fertility Workshop’ held in OSU Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC). We had the pleasure of assisting visitors from all over the US in understanding greenhouse substrates and fertility. Sharing knowledge and fostering growth within the industry is always a rewarding experience.

The 2nd OHCEAC Annual Conference. This conference ‘Advancement of sustainable controlled environment crop production sciences and technologies’ offered us the chance to engage with countless scientists and industry leaders and learn about the cutting-edge research conducted to advance the CEA industry. We were proud to showcase our latest research projects at our state-of-the-art controlled environment agriculture research building, sparking meaningful conversations, and fostering potential collaborations.

Gratitude to all involved for making these events a great success! Looking forward to the continued growth and advancements in the world of horticulture.

 

 

Spreading knowledge and smiles: our experience at COSI Events

The Kubota Lab members are passionate about hydroponics, and nothing brings us more joy than seeing people learn something new about this amazing field. Last week, we had the privilege of hosting two successful COSI events where we were able to share our knowledge and experience with the public.

We couldn’t have done it without our amazing team of volunteers. They did an incredible job educating attendees about the science behind controlled environment agriculture and hydroponics and showing them how they can benefit our communities.

Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces as they learned something new was truly rewarding. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to share our passion with others and we look forward to doing it again next year.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making these events a success. Your support and dedication are greatly appreciated! Check out some of the photos from the events below.

   

Talking about science in hydroponics at COSI

Join us at the upcoming COSI events on May 3rd at Waterman Farm and May 6th at the Columbus Center of Science and Industry (COSI) museum. The Kubota Lab is excited to share our scientific knowledge of hydroponics, including nutrient film technique (NFT), the effect of different colors of light on plants, vegetable grafting, and soilless substrates used to grow plants hydroponically.

If you’re interested in learning about hydroponic technology and its potential to revolutionize agriculture, don’t miss this opportunity to engage with our experts and discover how hydroponics can lead to sustainable and efficient food production. We look forward to seeing you there!

Click the link below to check out our posters:

Nutrient film technique (NFT)

Different colors of light and plants

Vegetable grafting

Soilless substrates

Posters designed by Pooja Tripathi, Changhyeon Kim, Jason Hollick, and Keiya Satoh.

Kubota Lab attended NCERA-101

Members of the Kubota lab, including Changhyeon Kim, Yiyun Lin, John Ertle, Jason Hollick, andPooja Tripathi, recently attended the NCERA-101 (North Central Extension and Research Activity) Annual Conference at the University of California, Davis. During the meeting, they shared their latest research updates in Controlled Environment Agriculture and presented The Ohio State University Station Report.

We are thrilled to announce that John Ertle’s lightning talk on lettuce tip burn management won second place in the student competition. This achievement is a testament to John’s hard work and dedication, as well as the innovative research being conducted by the Kubota lab. Lettuce (let us) congratulate John on this well-deserved recognition!

As always, we are proud of our team’s commitment to advancing the field of Controlled Environment Agriculture and look forward to sharing more updates on their progress soon.

John Ertle successfully defended his PhD dissertation

We are thrilled to announce that John Ertle, one of our Kubota Lab PhD candidates, has successfully defended his PhD dissertation. John’s research has explored the role of environmental control systems and novel technological applications, including lighting control, to minimize the tipburn risk of lettuce in indoor farms. His work has shed new light on how we can leverage technology to improve crop quality and productivity in controlled environment agriculture.

John’s expertise in his field, combined with his hard work and dedication, have resulted in a dissertation that we are confident will make valuable contributions to the industry. We are proud to have been a part of his growth and development as a researcher, and we look forward to seeing his continued impact and success in the future.

Congratulations, John, on this outstanding achievement! Your work is an inspiration to us all, and we are honored to have you as a member of our team at Kubota Lab.

John Ertle received first place at the HCS Graduate Research Symposium

Graduate students from Kubota Lab – John Ertle, Jason Hollick, and Pooja Tripathi – recently presented their newest research outcomes at the 2023 HCS Graduate Research Symposium. John Ertle’s presentation on lettuce tip burn management for indoor production received first place in the highly competitive graduate student research lightning talk competition. Congratulations to John for his impressive achievement! We are proud to have such talented individuals in our team.

Welcome to OSU Kubota Lab!

The new Kubota lab website has finally been launched!  This website will be used as a static site to list member information, project information, and publications.  The Kubota lab facebook will update news and events to communicate with our peers and stakeholders.