Want to know the type of damage silverleaf whiteflies inflict on South Texas cantaloupes? How about the effects of citrus triztesa virus on Mexican limes? They may not be the hottest topics of discussion at the local Starbucks, but for those interested in such horticultural matters, getting that type information just got easier.

After more than a half century of being published yearly in hard copy, Subtropical Plant Science, the journal of the Rio Grande Valley Horticultural Society, is now online. It can be found at http://www.rgvhortsociety.org.

"We're really excited about this," said Dr. Bob Wiedenfeld, a soils scientist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco and editor of the journal for the past 14 years.

"The horticultural research information is now easily accessible and we can get it into the hands of people who use it much more quickly," said the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station scientist.

The Rio Grande Valley Horticultural Society was established in 1947 to "stimulate interest in research and its practical application to the production of fruit, vegetables and ornamentals."

Before the society was officially formed in 1947, members had already published proceedings from their 1946 institute, the society's yearly January gatherings. They were printed in a bound, magazine-style format for 59 years.

"It was a lengthy and expensive process, going from the authors' hands to actually being printed in the journal," Wiedenfeld said. "Now we can post edited manuscripts online as soon as we get them. We can even load them into our Web site one at a time. And the journals won't be taking up shelf space in people's offices or homes, gathering dust."

The editing process authors and editors must follow won't change, but the time it takes to work with a printer to make sure manuscripts are accurately printed will be eliminated.

"It would sometimes take us a whole year between our meeting in January and the time the journal was finally printed," he said. "That was just too long, but since each manuscript has so much detail in its copy and graphs and tables, we'd spend months going back and forth with the printer reviewing and revising galleys. Then we'd have to wait for printing and distribution. No more."

The online version of the journal will also feature a photo and biography of each year's winner of the Arthur T. Potts Award. Since 1955, the society has presented the award in recognition of outstanding service to the horticultural industry of South Texas.

Information about the 2006 winner, Dr. Julian Sauls, a Texas Cooperative Extension citrus specialist based in Weslaco, is available on the Web site.

"Eventually, the Web site will carry everything the journal does, including information on the society, instruction to the authors, the Potts Award winner, research reports in fruits, vegetables and entomology, review articles and abstracts, plus information from back issues," Wiednefeld said.

Kay Chandler, owner of Texas Plant and Soil Lab in Edinburg and a longtime member of the horticultural society, said providing information online is beneficial to the industry.

"This is a very good thing," he said. "Getting this information out to the public is important because researchers have done some very good work here. Access to this information helps keep our commercial growers competitive."

Writer: Rod Santa Ana III