Soil Fertility and Fertilizers

Vegetable Crops Hotline A newsletter for commercial vegetable growers prepared by the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service

Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
Soil nutrients, plant nutrition, soil testing and sampling, soil acidity, soil organic matter, green manures and cover crops, animal manures, fertilizer recommendations, fertilizer materials, etc.

Indiana Nutrient Management Tool

March 14, 2024 - From Issue: 732

By: Kevin Allison

The Indiana Nutrient Management Tool is a new Excel workbook that provides fertilizer and amendment recommendations for vegetables commonly grown in Indiana. Whether for a backyard garden or a market [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Vegetable Crops – General

Article Tags:

Soil and Water Data is Critical for High Tunnel Growers

April 5, 2023 - From Issue: 716

By: Petrus Langenhoven

High tunnels are essential for every vegetable grower as they can modify the growing environment for crop earliness, protect the crop against environmental stress, reduce disease and insect pressure, and [Read More…]

Article Tags:

Webinar Series – Scaling up Your Small and Medium-sized Farm

March 15, 2023 - From Issue: 715

By: Petrus Langenhoven and Autumn Stoll

Dr. Betty Feng’s lab within the Department of Food Science at Purdue University is hosting a series of webinars this March and April. The webinars are free to anyone who [Read More…]

Article Tags:

Are You Thinking of Applying Compost to Your Soils?

March 14, 2023 - From Issue: 715

By: Nathan Shoaf and Petrus Langenhoven

Recent price increases and supply chain shortages for fertilizers, chemicals, and energy have impacted farm profitability and viability. As a result, many Indiana farmers are interested in alternative and more [Read More…]

Article Tags:

Water Affects Efficacy of Soil-Incorporated Fertilizers and Amendments

September 15, 2022 - From Issue: 712

By: Wenjing Guan and Liz Maynard

Figure 1. Irrigation dye demonstration to compare wetting pattern of one single drip tape vs. two drip tapes on a bed at Pinney Purdue Vegetable Field Day (Credit: Irrigation educator Lyndon Kelley). The drip tape in the demonstration was 12’’ emitter spacing and 0.4 gpm/100 ft flow rate at 8 PSI and ran for an hour at 10 PSI.

We discussed wetting patterns in drip irrigation in a previous article. The take home message is drip irrigation applies water to only a portion of the soil. Uneven water distribution [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Vegetable Crops – General

Article Tags:

Research Update on Nitrogen Management in Non-Irrigated Watermelon Production

April 21, 2022 - From Issue: 702

By: Wenjing Guan

A large proportion of watermelon acres in Indiana are not currently using drip irrigation. Farmers may choose not to use drip irrigation because precipitation is usually abundant in most years [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Cucurbits
- Watermelon

Article Tags:

Watermelon Irrigation and Nitrogen Fertilization Methods Commonly Used in Indiana

April 6, 2022 - From Issue: 701

By: Wenjing Guan

Figure 1. Distribution of watermelon acres using the three irrigation methods in Indiana: No irrigation in any forms, overhead irrigation, drip irrigation.

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 [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Cucurbits
- Watermelon

Article Tags:

Reevaluation of Fertilizer Application Practices

March 16, 2022 - From Issue: 700

By: Wenjing Guan

Fertilizer prices have increased dramatically this year. More than ever, we need to think carefully about whether we are using fertilizers wisely. This article will be one of a series [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Vegetable Crops – General

Article Tags:

Nitrogen Loss from Wet Soils

July 1, 2021 - From Issue: 692

By: Liz Maynard

High rainfall amounts lead to loss of nitrogen from the soil. Sometimes the loss is great enough that a crop will benefit from additional nitrogen application. This article will describe [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Vegetable Crops – General

Article Tags:

Reducing Blossom End Rot and Yellow Shoulder/Internal White Tissue in Tomato

May 5, 2021 - From Issue: 688

By: Liz Maynard

As tomatoes bloom and set fruit it is a good time to review practices for avoiding some common fruit problems. Water management is key to avoiding blossom end rot. Adequate [Read More…]

Article Categories:

Solanaceous Crops
- Tomato

Article Tags:

Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
Soil nutrients, plant nutrition, soil testing and sampling, soil acidity, soil organic matter, green manures and cover crops, animal manures, fertilizer recommendations, fertilizer materials, etc.

Indiana Nutrient Management Tool

Soil and Water Data is Critical for High Tunnel Growers

Webinar Series – Scaling up Your Small and Medium-sized Farm

Are You Thinking of Applying Compost to Your Soils?

Water Affects Efficacy of Soil-Incorporated Fertilizers and Amendments

Research Update on Nitrogen Management in Non-Irrigated Watermelon Production

Watermelon Irrigation and Nitrogen Fertilization Methods Commonly Used in Indiana

Reevaluation of Fertilizer Application Practices

Nitrogen Loss from Wet Soils

Reducing Blossom End Rot and Yellow Shoulder/Internal White Tissue in Tomato

PRIMARY
PRIMARY

College of Ag Sites
College of Ag Sites

Related Sites
Related Sites

Soil Fertility and Fertilizers Soil nutrients, plant nutrition, soil testing and sampling, soil acidity, soil organic matter, green manures and cover crops, animal manures, fertilizer recommendations, fertilizer materials, etc.

PRIMARY PRIMARY

College of Ag Sites College of Ag Sites

Related Sites Related Sites

Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
Soil nutrients, plant nutrition, soil testing and sampling, soil acidity, soil organic matter, green manures and cover crops, animal manures, fertilizer recommendations, fertilizer materials, etc.

PRIMARY
PRIMARY

College of Ag Sites
College of Ag Sites

Related Sites
Related Sites