Here are 10 suggestions to help keep your vegetable crop healthy. Get plant problems accurately diagnosed. Before deciding on a control measure, are you sure you know what the problem is? The optimum control of downy mildew on cucumbers, for example, requires specialized fungicides. On the other hand, no amount of fungicide will control[Read More…]
Indiana mint growers have a newly registered use for a familiar herbicide. Spartan®, already labeled for use in newly planted and dormant mint, can now be applied as a post-harvest application in Indiana with a new 24(c) Special Local Needs label (Figure 1). Here is what you need to know -An application can only be[Read More…]
When we surveyed Indiana high tunnel producers eight years ago, about two-thirds of the operations grew cool season crops for harvest from November to March. Although spring field planting season is just underway, it is not too early to plan for markets and organize a production schedule for fall. This article summarizes common crops and[Read More…]
Welcome to the Vegetable Crops Hotline (VCH), Purdue Extension’s exclusive newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. This issue features articles on planning for fall and winter production in high tunnels, spotlight articles on flea beetles and Palmer amaranth, a new Spartan® label, and suggestions for vegetable disease management. We also examine the[Read More…]
It was timely that in last week’s issue, we chose to spotlight cucumber beetles because they are on the move and hungry. Friday afternoon, I received an email from a grower reporting that his squash transplants were getting hammered (Figure 1). This weekend, I decided to take a look in my own garden, where I[Read More…]
A new episode of the Strawberry Chat podcast is available. In this episode, we talked with Dr. Marvin Pritts from Cornell University. We discussed the new edition of the Strawberry Production Guide for the Northeast, Midwest, and Eastern Canada. Dr. Marvin introduced us to the plasticulture day-neutral strawberry product system he has been researching recently.[Read More…]
Welcome to the Vegetable Crops Hotline (VCH), Purdue Extension’s exclusive newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. This issue features articles on integrated insect management strategies, spotlight articles on cucumber beetles and dandelions, and research results from a sweet potato weed management study and a consumer study about salad mixes. We also take[Read More…]
It’s gonna be… I mean… it’s already May! How can this be? Early spring flowers have already cycled through, I’m on record pace for mowing my yard, and field activity has been delayed due to a wet April. April began a bit cool, with several mornings of frost advisories and freeze warnings, which was not[Read More…]
The Clearspring Produce Auction is located just 2 miles south of US 20 in Clearspring Township in the Heart of the LaGrange-Elkhart Amish Settlement. It is within easy driving distance of the towns of Shipshewana, Topeka, Emma, and LaGrange. Produce is sold 3 days a week throughout most of the growing season (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday),[Read More…]
Common names: Dandelion, lions-tooth, blow-ball, cankerwort, Irish daisy, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed Latin name: Taraxacum officinale Family: Asteraceae (Aster family, sunflower family) Life Cycle Dandelion is a perennial weed that reproduces by seed. Seeds germinate in spring and summer, and seedlings form a rosette (Figure 1). Dandelions begin flowering in their second year of growth, with concentrated[Read More…]