Thanks to my University of California Cooperative Extension colleagues, I visited central valley vegetable production last week. Undoubtedly, I learned a lot on this trip. I want to share what I learned with Indiana growers in a few newsletter articles. This short article highlights two things I saw farmers use to extend early-season crop production….Read more about Season Extension Strategies—What I learned in a CA trip[Read More]
Crop Culture
At the 2022 Southwest Indiana Melon and Vegetable Growers Annual Meeting, 17 watermelon farmers and 2 agricultural professionals shared their irrigation and fertilization management practices used for watermelon production in Indiana. These individuals grow or provide services for watermelon acres from less than 50 acres up to 2,000 acres over the past five years. We…Read more about Watermelon Irrigation and Nitrogen Fertilization Methods Commonly Used in Indiana[Read More]
We are getting close to the time of year when I begin to get phone calls about strange symptoms on tomato plants in greenhouses. Too often, the problem is ethylene damage. Read on to find out how to avoid this problem. Tomato plants with ethylene damage often have leaves that are curled down and stems…Read more about Ethylene Damage on Tomato[Read More]
We conduct standard seedless watermelon variety trials at Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center each year. In a separate trial, we evaluate mini seedless watermelon varieties. Mini watermelons refer to fruit ranging from 4.4 to 8.8 lbs, although the industry considers 6-7 lbs fruits ideal. Fruit in a wide range of sizes is suitable to sell at…Read more about Mini Seedless Watermelon Varieties[Read More]
Supported by Indiana Vegetable Growers Association and Illiana Watermelon Association, a collaborative project between Purdue University and Michigan State University that aims to help watermelon farmers improve irrigation management was recently funded. In this project, the team will conduct the scientific experiment at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center to test currently used irrigation management tools,…Read more about Collaboration between Purdue University and Michigan State University to Improve Irrigation Management in Indiana Watermelon Production[Read More]
As warm-season crops are harvested, many vegetable farmers start the process of transitioning to cool-season crops. Leafy greens and root vegetables are ready to be planted. High temperature is present across the state recently. The heat stress may affect germination and growth of some of the vegetables. Spinach is probably one of the most heat-sensitive…Read more about Heat Effects on Cool-season Vegetables[Read More]
In the last several days I have received complaints of pumpkin plants with yellow leaves. Growers want to know if the yellow is a symptom of disease and what can be done about it. Yellow lesions on leaves may be symptoms of disease. There can be many reasons why pumpkin plants have yellow leaves. Usually,…Read more about Yellow Leaves on Pumpkin[Read More]
Growers interested in growing strawberries on a plasticulture system can choose to use plug plants or bare-root plants. The pros and cons of using each of the planting materials was discussed in a previous article. This article will discuss the importance of planting dates for growers who chose to use plug plants. In the…Read more about Getting Ready to Plant Strawberries in a Plasticulture System – Planting Date[Read More]
Tomatoes cracking in the late stages of ripening (Figure 1) was observed in our field visit. This article discusses conditions that are likely to predispose tomatoes to crack. The cracking that happened recently in open field production is likely associated with the heavy rains. The problem is most observed when a dry period is followed…Read more about Cracking Tomatoes[Read More]
Our recent field visit revealed a green bean issue that is likely associated with wet conditions. Purdue soybean specialist Shaun Casteel recently released this video that may also help vegetable bean growers to assess the damage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMfoghn7Ilk