Botanical Words Alphabetical List - HU

HULL: 1. The outer covering of a seed, nut, or fruit. 2. To remove the hull of.

HUMID ACIDS: 1. The term sometimes interchangeable for humus. 2. The alkali-soluble end products of the decomposition or organic matter in mineral soils.

HUMIDITY METER: An instrument used to measure the amount of moisture in house or greenhouse air.

HUMMING LINE: A ribbon suspended over crops that emits am ultrasonic sound to discourage birds.

HUMUS: The organic residue of decayed vegetable matter in soil. Also often used to describe partly decayed matter such as leafmold or compost. Humus retains moisture and keeps the ground from drying out quickly in hot weather; it is the main indirect food supply for plants. Soil which lacks humus soon becomes impoverished. Humus is supplied mainly by adding animal manure, leaf mold, decayed garden refuse (compost), peat moss, sedge peat and by turning under crops grown as cover crops or green manures.

HUSK: 1. The outer covering of the fruit of a plant (i.e. corn husks). 2. To remove the husk of.

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