Two USDA grant programs may be of interest to vegetable growers or grower organizations. The Rural Energy for America Program helps growers and small rural business improve energy efficiency, or purchase or install renewable energy systems. The program includes guaranteed loan financing and grant funding. For more information see the USDA website at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency or[Read More…]
For those who receive hard copies of the Vegetable Crops Hotline by US Mail, this will be the last issue mailed unless you have renewed your subscription for 2015. You may renew by 1) mailing subscription form included in this issue with payment, or 2) joining or renewing membership in the Indiana Vegetable Growers Association[Read More…]
WebsitesBotany and Plant Path Extension – Vegetables ag.purdue.edu/btny/Extension/Pages/VegetablePathology.aspx Entomology Extension – Vegetables – extension.entm.purdue.edu/veg/commercial/ Food Safety for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables – ag.purdue.edu/hla/foodsafety Hort Extension – ag.purdue.edu/hla/Extension/ Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab – www.ppdl.purdue.edu Purdue Extension – extension.purdue.edu Purdue Small Farms – ag.purdue.edu/extension/smallfarms/ TwitterHort Extension – @PurdueHortExtRick Foster – @purduefvinsectNW Commercial Hort (Liz Maynard) –[Read More…]
Good Agricultural Practices A to Z Workshops. Funded by Purdue, as part of AgSEED Crossroads funding to support Indiana’s Agriculture and Rural Development, or by USDA/ISDA Specialty Crops Block Grant to Purdue. Programs focused on cantaloupe are also relevant to other fresh fruits and vegetables; all growers are welcome to attend. Register online at tinyurl.com/RegisterGAPsAtoZ.[Read More…]
Welcome to a new year of the Vegetable Crops Hotline, Purdue Extension’s newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. Our goal is to provide timely information that will be useful for Indiana vegetable growers. If there is something you’d like to see included, please let us know. Frequently we include links to web[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…]
Transplant production will soon begin in earnest if not already underway. It is sensible to check the greenhouse heating system before starting production to make sure it works and won’t pollute the air in the greenhouse. This checklist for gas or propane-fire unit heaters highlights some of the major points. If you are not familiar[Read More…]
Many Indiana vegetable crops begin life as transplants. If lack of nutrients, lack of light, disease, or other problems slow growth during this stage it may reduce establishment success and/or growth and yield in the field or high tunnel. Good management of the following factors should lead to healthy transplants (see Figure 1). Time. Don’t[Read More…]
The Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers, or ID-56, remains a popular resource for growers in the region. If you haven’t got the 2015 edition yet, don’t delay! Members of the Indiana Vegetable Growers Association for 2015 receive a copy at no additional charge and hard copies can be purchased from The Education Store[Read More…]
The Southwest Indiana Melon and Vegetable Growers Association (SWIM) will have their Annual Meeting beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 6, 2015, at the French Lick Resort & Conference Center, 8670 W. State Rd. 56, French Lick, IN. We will be meeting in conjunction with the Illiana Watermelon Association again this[Read More…]