Dr. John Dole

Professor
Graduate Program Director

Department of Horticultural Science
158 Kilgore Hall, Box 7609
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7609

Office Phone: 919.515.3537
Fax: 919.515.7747
E-Mail: john_dole@ncsu.edu
Web site: http://www.floricultureinfo.com

Education:

• Michigan State University, B.S. in Horticulture, 1984
• University of Minnesota, Ph.D. in Horticulture with emphasis on plant physiology, 1989

John Dole specializes in floricultural crops research and teaches floriculture courses including Greenhouse Management, HS 440, and Production of Floriculture Crops, HS 442 . In addition, he serves as Executive Advisor for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, http://www.ascfg.org, and co-authored Floriculture Principles and Species, 2nd edition, 2005, with Harold F. Wilkins (http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0130462500,00.html or other book selling websites).

• Research
  • Crop Management and New Crop Species Development - Cut Flowers. The production of specialty cuts in North Carolina and in the United States continues to increase. North Carolina State University is recognized as the only university in the United States with a comprehensive research program on greenhouse and field cut flowers. Our program includes new cultivar evaluations, production studies, postharvest experiments, and marketing analysis. In cooperation with the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG), we coordinate the national ASCFG Seed, Perennial and Woody Plant Trial Programs which includes over forty participating growers around the United States and Canada. This work has been supported by the ASCFG, the American Floral Endowment, the International Cut Flower Growers, and numerous suppliers and producers.
  • Crop Management and New Crop Species Development - Bedding and Potted Plants. The rapid development of the plug and vegetatively-propagated bedding plant industry has been one of the most significant changes in the floriculture industry in the past 20 years. This has resulted in new production methods and dozens of new floriculture crop species on the market. Unfortunately, little information exists on many of the new species. We have been working on providing production protocols for several new species. In addition, since the floriculture industry relies so heavily on shipping of cuttings, we are working on the postharvest handling of unrooted and rooted cuttings. This work has been supported by the Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation and numerous suppliers and producers.
  • Development of cost accounting techniques and tools for floriculture crop producers. In today’s competitive environment, floriculture businesses must be equally adept at producing and marketing their crops and managing their businesses to generate a profit. One indicator of floriculture production expenses, $/ft2/week or $/ft2/year, is useful for producers to evaluate their production efficiency. We are updating the $/ft2/week figure for bedding and potted plant producers and the $/ft2/year figure for cut flower producers. In addition, we will focus on correlating automation with characteristics of floriculture companies and developing simplified tools for payback and cost of production analyses. This work has been supported by the North Carolina Commercial Flower Growers’ Association and by numerous producers.
• Teaching
  • HS 440-Greenhouse Management
  • Greenhouse Management, HS 440, is a junior/senior level course that serves students in a variety of departments including Horticultural Science, Agricultural Education, and Botany. The course is taught in the fall and is divided into two sections. The first half of the course explains the principles of plant physiology needed to produce plants within a controlled environment, including media, nutrition, water, light, and temperature. The second section of the course deals with greenhouse operations and management such as greenhouse construction, heating, and cooling and business management, marketing, and advertising. In the laboratory students grow a wide range of floriculture crops including potted plants, cut flowers, bedding plants, and foliage plants and at least one field trip is taken. In addition, pest management and plant growth regulators are covered.
  • HS 442-Production of Floricultural Crops
  • Production of Floriculture Crop, HS is a junior/senior level course and the floriculture capstone course. Since well over 200 species are used regularly by floriculture industry, the overall goal of this course is to explain the basic production and marketing systems in floriculture using the major crop species as examples. A key component of the course is a term project on scheduling the crop production of a commercial greenhouse for one year and estimating the costs/profits for the entire operation. Much of the project can be completed using a computer spreadsheet. My goals for this project are to 1) emphasize the economic aspects of a floriculture business and 2) incorporate the information they have learned into a practical plan.
• Publications
  1. Dole, J.M., P. Fisher, and G. Njue. 2004. Optimizing postharvest life of cut ‘Renaissance Red’ poinsettias. HortScience.
  2. Dole, J.M. 2003. Research approaches for evaluating the cold requirements for forcing of geophytes. HortScience 38:341-346.
  3. Blankenship, S.M. and J.M. Dole. 2003. 1-Methylcyclopropene: A review. Postharvest Biology and Tech. 28:1-25.
  4. Bosma, T.L., J.M. Dole, and N.O. Maness. 2003. Optimizing marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) petal and pigment yield. Crop Science 43:2118-2124.
  5. Greer, L. and J.M. Dole. 2003. Aluminum foil, aluminum-painted, plastic, and degradable mulches increase yield and decrease insect-vectored viral diseases of vegetables. HortTechnology 13:276-284.
  6. Bosma, T.L., K.E. Conway, J.M. Dole, and N.O. Maness. 2003. Sowing dates and priming influence African marigold field emergence. HortTechnology 13:487-493.
  7. Frost, M.D., J.C. Cole and J.M. Dole. 2003. Fertilizer source affects iron, manganese, and zinc leaching, nutrient distribution, and geranium growth. J. Plant Nutr. 26:315-329.
  8. Cavins, T.J., L. Greer, J.L. Gibson, B.E. Whipker, and J.M. Dole. 2003. Response of marguerite daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens) 'Comet Pink' to plant growth regulators. PGRSA Quarterly 31(1):2-7.
  9. Redman, P.B., J.M. Dole, N.O. Maness, and J.A. Anderson. 2002. Postharvest handling of nine specialty cut flower species. Scientia Hort. 92:293-303.
  10. Bosma, T. and J. M. Dole. 2002. Postharvest handling of cut Campanula flowers. HortScience 37:954-958.
  11. Bosma, T., J.C. Cole, K.E. Conway and J. M. Dole. 2002. Solid matrix priming hastens canterbury bells seed germination. HortTechnology 12:268-270.
  12. Pallez, L.C., J.M. Dole and B.E. Whipker. 2002. Production and postproduction studies with potted sunflowers. HortTechnology 12:206-210.
  13. Frost, M.D., J.C. Cole, J.M. Dole and N.T. Basta. 2002. Media constituents, micronutrient fertilizer source and Ca applications influence Fe, Mn and Zn leaching. J. Plant Nutr. 25:315-326.
  14. Cavins, T. and J.M. Dole. 2002. Precooling, planting depth, and shade affect cut flower quality and perennialization of field-grown spring bulbs. HortScience 37:79-83.
  15. Morvant, J.K., J.M. Dole, and J.C. Cole. 2001. Fertilizer source and irrigation system improve geranium growth and nitrogen retention. HortScience 36:1022-1026.
  16. Cavins, T.J. and J.M. Dole. 2001. Photoperiod, juvenility, and high intensity discharge lighting affect flowering response and cut stem quality of Campanula and Lupinus. HortScience 36:1192-1196.
  17. Pallez, LC. and J.M. Dole. 2001. Maintaining vegetative potted purple velvet plants. HortTechnology 11:590-595.
  18. Cavins, T., J.M. Dole, and V. Stamback. 2000. Unheated and minimally heated winter greenhouse production of specialty cut flowers. HortTechnology 10:793-799.
  19. Morvant, J.K., J.M. Dole, and J.C. Cole. 1998. Irrigation frequency and system effect poinsettia growth, water use, and runoff. HortScience 33:42-46.
  20. Cole, J.C. and J.M. Dole. 1997. Effect of temperature and phosphorus source on phosphorus retention by a pine bark medium. HortScience 32:236-240.
  21. Behe, B.K., P.M. Redman, and J.M. Dole. 1997. Consumers prefer red poinsettia cultivars. HortTechnology 7:438-441.
  22. Ruiz-Sifre, G., J.M. Dole, B.A. Kahn, P.E. Richardson, and J. Ledford. 1997. Correlation of poinsettia graft union development with transmission of the free-branching characteristic. Scientia Hort. 69:135-143.
  23. Morvant, J.K., J.M. Dole, and E. Allen. 1997. Irrigation systems alter distribution of roots, soluble salts, nitrogen and pH in the root medium. HortTechnology 7:156-160.
  24. Filonow, A. B., J.M. Dole, and H.S. Vishniac. 1996. Yeasts that reduce gray mold of geranium flowers. Biocontrol 2:47-55.
  25. Ruiz-Sifre, G., J.M. Dole, and B.A. Kahn. 1995. Production and movement of branching agent in poinsettia leaf and stem. J. Agr. 79:139-151.
  26. Dole, J.M., J.C. Cole and S.L. von Broembsen. 1994. Effect of irrigation methods on water use efficiency, nutrient leaching and growth of poinsettias. HortScience 29:858-864.
  27. Dole, J.M. 1993. Interaction of emergence date and long days after cooling on Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum Thunb.). J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 118:741-746.
  28. Dole, J.M. and H.F. Wilkins. 1993. Interaction of bulb vernalization and shoot photoperiod on 'Nellie White' Easter lily. HortScience 29:143-145.
  29. Dole, J.M. and M.A. Schnelle. 1993. A comparison of attitudes and practices among sectors of the floriculture industry. HortTechnology 3:343-347.
  30. Dole, J.M., H.F. Wilkins, and Sharon L. Desborough. 1993. Investigations on the nature of a graft-transmissible agent in poinsettia. Can. J. Bot. 71:1097-1101.
  31. Bratcher, C.B., J.M. Dole and J.C. Cole. 1993. Stratification improves germination of five native wildflowers. HortScience 28:899-901.
  32. Dole, J.M. and H.F. Wilkins. 1992. In vivo characterization of the graft-transmissible agent in poinsettia. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 117:972-975.
  33. Dole, J. M. and H.F. Wilkins. 1991. Vegetative and reproductive characteristics of poinsettia altered by a graft-transmissible agent. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 116:307-311.
  34. Dole, J. M. and H.F. Wilkins. 1991. Relationship between nodal position and plant age on the nutrient composition of vegetative poinsettia leaves. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 116:248-252.