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Utah State University’s research on cut flower production is ramping up. About a year ago, I started the USU Small Farms lab, where we focus on tailoring cut flower production to Utah growing conditions, as well as testing environmentally responsible farming practices. My background is in soil physics, so researching production schedules, season extension, temperature manipulation, plant nutrient management, and water conservation is right up my alley. It’s particularly exciting to be working in Utah because the growing conditions here are just about opposite from the typical places where cut flowers are grown: we have different soil, water, air, sunlight, temperatures, precipitation, growing season length, and winter conditions – from a plant’s perspective, that’s basically everything. Before I arrived at USU, cut flower research had already started to pop on the university farm because of Maegen Lewis, an undergraduate student at the time. She has a true passion for cut flowers and I’m incredibly fortunate that she’s now a graduate student in my lab, where she manages most of the research and undergraduate crew. Here’s a preview of our current studies: