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YELLOW JACKET \u2013 Hemp plants between 4\u00bd feet and 3\u00bd feet \u2013 their height dependent on the amount of irrigated water they had received \u2013 were shown off Wednesday at the Southwest Colorado Research Center in Yellow Jacket.<\/p>\n
The center, an agricultural research and experimentation facility run by Colorado State University<\/a>, opened its doors Wednesday to more than 70 visitors for its annual Field Day.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring Field Day, we can communicate to the farmers, convey the research that\u2019s going on here, things that might help them,\u201d said Emily Lockard, a research associate with the center. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a good website, but it can\u2019t replace face-to-face meetings and walking the fields.\u201d<\/p>\n Zane Wilson, a CSU intern from Mancos, who works on the research hemp plot at the center, said researchers are targeting feeding half the plants 20 inches of irrigated water and half the plants 12 inches during the growing season to measure the effects of low and high irrigation amounts.<\/p>\n Wilson measures the plants\u2019 heights, the number of main branches on a plant, the stem diameter and the temperature of the leaves.<\/p>\n Besides the irrigation affecting the plants, three types of biodegradable plastic mulch used on the test plot also affect the plants\u2019 growth, and Wilson is measuring the plants\u2019 characteristics based on the type of mulch used as well.<\/p>\n The plot is using 48-inch-wide biodegradable, compostable plastic strips as mulch. The strips break down to fertilizer over a growing season. The mulch is either colored black, white or white on the edges with a black strip down the center.<\/p>\n