Almost every year, I have a greenhouse tomato grower or two call me about tomato plants that are distorted and don’t seem to be growing right. The problem often turns out to be ethylene damage. This year, I have already received my first case of heater problem. Please read the article below to avoid or…Read more about Ethylene Damage on Tomato Plants[Read More]
Solanaceous Crops
Purdue Extension presented its first Fruit, Vegetable and Hemp Field Day post-pandemic at the Meigs Ag Center in July 2022. Extension Specialists and Graduate Students presented specialty crop research to 45 attendees. Attendees had only good things to say about the event. ” Great information and research.” “Great variety of experiences and knowledge.” “I felt…Read more about Purdue Fruit and Vegetable Field Day – July 20, 2023[Read More]
The 2022 Purdue Small Farm Education Field Day was a big success. Nearly 72% of attendees reported that they learned something new. Nearly half indicated they plan to adopt recommended practices for diversified farming systems, and over a third (36.0%) plan to adopt recommended practices for creating, improving, or strengthening their business. Half (52.0%) indicated…Read more about Small Farm Education Field Day – July 27, 2023[Read More]
A new strain of the disease anthracnose of pepper has been detected in South Carolina and Ontario, Canada. Although this disease has not been found in Indiana, the article reprinted below will help growers to be aware of this potential problem. Pay close attention to the description of the disease and the photo. Don’t hesitate…Read more about Anthracnose Management in Peppers – the Old and the New[Read More]
Grafted tomatoes show advantages, particularly for high tunnel production. A Purdue extension publication, Techniques for Tomato Grafting, and the video provide a step-by-step guideline for small growers to explore this technique. I am often asked. When should I start to plant the seeds to produce grafted plants? The chart below shows a general timeline and materials needed to produce…Read more about Grafted Tomatoes for High Tunnel Production[Read More]
Are you still thinking about varieties for the upcoming season? Purdue has been keeping a record of vegetable variety trials in the Midwest since 1999. The Midwest Vegetable Trial Report series includes reports of applied research relevant to vegetable and melon production in the Midwest. Here are some abstracts of the most recent reports. Visit…Read more about Selecting Vegetable Varieties for your Farm[Read More]
Vegetable growers may be wondering when to apply the final fungicide application. It is important to leave the crop protected until the last harvest. Yet, it is important not to waste fungicides. In most cases, the last fungicide application should occur 10 to 14 days from the final harvest. Most fungicides that are designed to…Read more about The Final Fungicide Application[Read More]
At Pinney Purdue (PPAC) bell peppers were harvested for the first time on August 15. Plants appear a little larger in the irrigated plots than in the unirrigated plots, but it is not obvious in photographs (Figure 1). Similar to what was observed at SWPAC, blossom end rot (BER) was much more common in the…Read more about Irrigation Demonstration Update July Aug. 24, 2022, Pinney Purdue Ag Center.[Read More]
This is the fourth article in a series that describes the three primary bacterial diseases of tomato: bacterial canker, bacterial speck and bacterial spot. This article is a general summary of management options for these diseases. All three of these diseases may be seed borne and brought into to field situation on transplants. It is…Read more about General Management Options for Bacterial Diseases of Tomato[Read More]
We received more than 8 inches of rain since the evening of July 24 at Southwest Purdue Ag Center. This article discusses a few plant physiological disorders we observed after the heavy rains. We noticed a large percentage of cracked fruit on tomatoes at the stem end (Figure 1). Fruit cracking is a physiological disorder…Read more about Physiological Disorders after Heavy Rains[Read More]