In December 2014, I described the ‘Yearbook of Agriculture, 1928”. In that blog, I wrote about processing tomato production in 1925 and 2013 (the ‘Yearbook of Agriculture, 1928’ lists data back to 1925). Today, I would like to discuss cantaloupe and watermelon production. Unfortunately, yields posted in the “Yearbook” are in different units than in[Read More…]
Dan Egel
While the hard copy of the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2015 (ID-56) has been available since early January, the on-line version is updated as needed. Below I outline the latest changes. Page 40, Table 16. Several insecticide products were added to the “Insecticide Labeling for Greenhouse Use” table. Page 100, Cucurbit chapter.[Read More…]
In early March, I observed white mold of recently transplanted tomato plants in a greenhouse situation. I have described the symptoms, biology and management of white mold at https://ag.purdue.edu/arp/swpap/VeggieDiseasesBlog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=18 . I have never observed white mold (a.k.a, timber rot) in February before. I have observed white mold of tomato transplants in April. However, the very[Read More…]
Bacterial spot of tomato is one of the most serious diseases facing tomato growers in Indiana. As described at Vegetable Diseases in Greenhouses (PDF), bacterial spot is more of a problem for field tomatoes than for greenhouse tomatoes. Symptoms and management of bacterial spot are described briefly at Bacterial Spot of Tomato and Pepper (PDF). A more detailed[Read More…]
Over the last several years, the number of questions I have had about tomato production in high tunnels has increased dramatically. Since I am a plant pathologist, most of the questions I have been asked are about diseases of tomatoes in high tunnels. However, I also have been asked production questions. One particular question about[Read More…]
The goal of the Vegetable Crops Hotline is to provide vegetable growers with timely information that helps you to improve your vegetable production and marketing. This url tinyurl.com/lqww2lw links to a very short survey that will help us to make the Hotline more useful to you. We are especially interested in any comments you have[Read More…]
Bacterial fruit blotch is a disease that can affect most cucurbits (see Figure 1). However, the symptoms are most often observed on watermelon. A brief description of this disease and some photos can be found here. This article will introduce new recommendations for this disease in Indiana. Details of these recommendations can be found in the Midwest Vegetable Production[Read More…]
While visiting my son in Lincoln, Nebraska this past summer, I had the chance to browse in a second hand store.I felt myself drawn to the book section where I found a green hard cover book titled, “Yearbook of Agriculture, 1928”. From 1894 until 1992, the Department of Agriculture published a Yearbook of Agriculture annually.[Read More…]
For 100 years bacterial spot has been causing huge losses for tomato growers worldwide. For 100 years products containing copper have held the key to controlling this devastating tomato disease. As tomato growers enter their second century of dealing with bacterial spot, the question has become whether copper applications lessen the severity of bacterial spot-or[Read More…]
The title of this article is pretty scary. But it isn’t entirely accurate. Pumpkins won’t really rot from the inside out. In this article, I will describe one way in which pumpkins can seem to rot from the inside out. Recently, I was asked to visit a field of pumpkins where the pumpkins were soft[Read More…]