Purdue specialists and educators are starting to plan winter programs. What topics and speakers would you like to see? Join a conversation on Thursday, Sept. 16, 8 pm to 9 pm Eastern/7 pm to 8 pm Central by phone or internet. Or, add ideas to online form here You can reach us by sending emails[Read More…]
As warm-season crops are harvested, many vegetable farmers start the process of transitioning to cool-season crops. Leafy greens and root vegetables are ready to be planted. High temperature is present across the state recently. The heat stress may affect germination and growth of some of the vegetables. Spinach is probably one of the most heat-sensitive[Read More…]
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 how nitrogen is lost and factors to consider in deciding whether to apply extra nitrogen. There are two main ways nitrogen is lost from wet[Read More…]
As spring crops finish up, areas where no crop is planned for a month or more are good candidates for a summer cover crop. A number of species reliably establish well in the summer. The best one for a particular situation will depend on the length of time available, the desired benefits, and the following[Read More…]
In a recent Hoosier Ag Today/CCSI Soil Health Podcast, Stephen Meyers of Purdue Horticulture and Dan Perkins of Perkins Good Earth Farm covered spring management of cover crops on vegetable farms. They discussed a variety of methods for terminating: flail mowing and tarping, roller-crimping, tillage, and killing with herbicide. They pointed out that decisions about[Read More…]
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 potassium is important to reduce yellow shoulder and internal white tissue. This article provides more information on these topics, and includes some information previously published[Read More…]
Vegetable growers, we would like to hear your story about the freeze event on Apr. 20 and 21. What crops are you growing? Did you take protective actions? Did it cause damage on the crops? Hearing your stories would help us better design our extension programs. If you allow, we would like to share your[Read More…]