Cucurbit downy mildew has been observed on cucumber in the southwest corner of Michigan, just across the border from La Porte County and LaGrange Counties, Indiana. All cucurbit growers in Indiana should be scouting for downy mildew. Cucurbit growers in northern Indiana should be managing for downy mildew. The organism that causes downy mildew of[Read More…]
Dan Egel
Vegetable growers are used to scouting for pests such as spider mites and aphids. Growers have come to recognize the yellow leaves caused by spider mites and the curled leaves caused by aphids. Growers understand that even after spider mites and aphids are dead, the symptoms of the damage may remain on the affected leaves.[Read More…]
Earlier this summer, sunken lesions were observed on garlic scapes on a small farm in east central Indiana. Lesions started out a cream or tan color (Figure 1), however under rainy or humid conditions, spore production caused lesions to turn orange (Figure 2). Larger lesions resulted in the collapse of the scapes. It is estimated[Read More…]
The 2019 production season started with above-normal rains. The wet conditions affected agriculture production, including watermelon and cantaloupe. In this article, we will review some of the watermelon and cantaloupe problems that are often associated with wet conditions. Manganese toxicity– This nutrient disorder occurs more often on cantaloupe that is grown in soils with pH[Read More…]
At the Southwest Purdue Ag Center, we are studying annual strawberry production on plastic mulch. Our hope is to gather information on the best methods and varieties to use for annual strawberry production in Indiana. As we learn about insect and disease problems, we will pass this information on to producers. This article is about[Read More…]
I know this may not come as a surprise to most of you, but it is rare that we get to observe the effectiveness of insecticides in such a dramatic way as we encountered when visiting a melon grower in southern IN recently. And in this case, the decision to apply an insecticide at transplant[Read More…]
In addition to delaying much of our fieldwork, the cool set spring has wreaked havoc on some of the plants we have been able to squeeze in during brief dry periods. We have received reports of damage caused by seedcorn maggots (Figure 1) and wireworms (Figure 2). In preparation of this article I browsed the[Read More…]
In the past week, we have observed a few cases where newly planted watermelon seedlings were severely damaged or dead (Figure 1). In some fields, we observed rotted roots and lower stems caused by fungal pathogens. However, such diseases were in response to the cold soils and would not normally cause problems in warm soils.[Read More…]
Producing healthy transplants is a critical step for a successful growing season. Choosing the proper growing media is an important first step. Supported by a USDA Specialty Crops Block Grant through the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, researchers from Purdue have been evaluating different organic growing media with and without adding supplemental organic fertilizers for[Read More…]
Although Indiana is not known for lettuce production, an increasing number of growers find that augmenting retail sales with leaf lettuce can be profitable. Since lettuce is a cool season crop, field planted leaf lettuce around Indiana may be reaching harvest stage. Leaf lettuce can generally be grown with few pests. However, lettuce drop was[Read More…]