Cover crops have been shown to improve water and soil quality, reduce erosion and capture nutrients. Choosing the right cover crop, however, can be difficult. The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) —made up of representatives from 12 Midwest states and universities, including Purdue, the province of Ontario and other agricultural stakeholders — is rolling out an improved cover[Read More…]
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is a plant disease caused by a virus that infects more than 1,000 species of plants, including ornamentals and vegetables. Visual symptoms of TSWV vary depending on the plant that is infected, but general characteristics include yellow or brown ringspots on fruit and small, dark-colored ringspots on foliage that may[Read More…]
Phytophthora blight was a serious disease this past season. As a result, I have had many questions about managing this disease. The following article is an update of a previous article on this subject. The questions I have been asked have ranged from what do I spray to how does this disease work? Therefore, I[Read More…]
Thanks to growers’ collaboration and help from Superior Ag, we collected plant tissue samples from 12 watermelon fields at different crop growing stages in Southern Indiana in the 2020 season. In this article, I want to discuss two of the issues that standout from these tests. One is the generally low or deficient Magnesium (Mg)[Read More…]
After the last several weeks of predominantly dry conditions, the national climate outlooks are finally showing confidence that temperatures should start shifting to cooler than normal and precipitation will be wetter than normal (Figure 1). Hurricane Laura will definitely help the precipitation side of that prediction with current tracks having the strongest rainfall amounts in[Read More…]
Strawberries are primarily grown in matted row system in Indiana, in which bare-root strawberry plants are set in the spring. Runners are established. Fruit is first harvested in the second year and plantings are renovated each year for 2-3 seasons. Growers in the southern part of the state expressed interest in growing strawberries in plasticulture[Read More…]
This is an update of the article When to Stop Spraying Fungicide published in issue 666 on Sep. 12, 2019. Many vegetable growers are closing in on the final harvest. Several growers have asked me about fungicide applications late in the season. In this article, I want to address when to stop. To limit the[Read More…]
This disease appears to be more important each year. It is not clear to me why. This article reviews Plectosporium of pumpkin, sometimes called white speck. I would rank Plectosporium blight behind powdery mildew, bacterial leaf spot and Phytophthora blight in economic damage caused. The occurrence of this disease is usually sporadic. However, when it[Read More…]
Downy mildew was observed on pumpkins in Daviess, Knox and Washington County. Evenings and mornings with heavy dews and fogs may help the disease to spread. Whether to apply fungicides for this disease will depend in part on when growers plan to harvest. In addition to the cucurbit downy mildew outbreaks reported in the last[Read More…]