Pumpkin and winter squash should be harvested fully mature to reach their optimal quality and fulfill their potential shelf life. Characters indicating fruit maturity include loss of rind surface gloss, ground spot yellowing, and hardening of the skin to the level that it is resistant to puncture with a thumbnail. Except for some striped varieties,…Read more about Tips for Harvest and Postharvest of Pumpkin and Winter Squash[Read More]
Wenjing Guan
Vegetable Crops Hotline Editor & Clinical Engagement Associate Professor
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Area(s) of Interest: Commercial Vegetable and Melon Production
Wenjing Guan's website
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Area(s) of Interest: Commercial Vegetable and Melon Production
Wenjing Guan's website
The Aug. topic of Strawberry Chat is about plasticulture strawberry production. Our special guests were Brad Bergefurd, former Horticulture Specialist at The Ohio State University, Calvin Beasley from Beasley Orchard in Danville, IN, and Danny Vanmeter from Vanmeter Family Farm in Clarkston, KY. We discussed many important topics in plasticulture strawberry production, including site selection,…Read more about Strawberry Chat Plasticulture Production[Read More]
A major difference between drip irrigation and other irrigation methods is that drip irrigation applies water to only a portion of the soil. This works great for vegetables grown on the plastic mulch, since no irrigation water is applied between the row middles; water applied to row middles encourages weed growth. So, does the soil…Read more about Understanding Wetting Patterns in Drip Irrigation[Read More]
Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day will held Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at MSU Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center in Benton Harbor, MI. Registration and more information about the field day can be found at https://thelandconnection.org/event/2022-mmwcfd/ If you have questions about the field day, please contact Sam Oschwald Tilton (Sam.oschwaldtilton@wisc.edu), phone (608) 219-7775
Root-knot nematodes (RKN) are a devasting soilborne pest on a wide range of vegetables and fruits. Root-knot nematode infections result in root swellings called galls (Figure 1). Heavily infected crops by RKN display aboveground symptoms such as stunted growth, wilting, and leaf yellowing. We often found root-knot nematode causes damage to watermelons, cantaloupes, and tomatoes…Read more about Root-knot Nematode on Vegetable Crops[Read More]
August Strawberry Chat will be about plasticulture production. Our guests are Brad Bergefurd, a former horticulture specialist at The Ohio State University; Calvin Beasley from Beasley Orchard in Danville, IN, and Danny VanMeter from VanMeter Family Farm in Clarkson, KY. The live session is on Aug 10, 12:00-1:00 pm EST. If you are interested in…Read more about Strawberry Chat Aug. 10 Plasticulture Production[Read More]
At Southwest Purdue Ag Center (SWPAC), more than 10 inches of rain fell since July 7; over 8 inches happened since the evening of July 24. Soil water content on the unirrigated tomato/pepper/eggplant bed (12’’ under plastic mulch) increased from 10% (early July) to about 15% after 3 inches of rain on July 7-9. The…Read more about Irrigation Demonstration Update July 27, 2022 Southwest Purdue Ag Center[Read More]
We received more than 8 inches of rain since the evening of July 24 at Southwest Purdue Ag Center. This article discusses a few plant physiological disorders we observed after the heavy rains. We noticed a large percentage of cracked fruit on tomatoes at the stem end (Figure 1). Fruit cracking is a physiological disorder…Read more about Physiological Disorders after Heavy Rains[Read More]
We discussed insect pests and weed control during renovation in the July episode. Our special guests are Drs. Stephen Meyers, Samantha Willden, and Mr. David Doud. Steve and Sam are researchers from Purdue. Steve is the weed scientist in the Horticulture department; Sam is a postdoc researcher in the entomology department. David is the owner…Read more about Strawberry Chat July—Weed Control and Insect Pest Management[Read More]
We observed a large amount of unmarketable pepper fruit hanging on the plants during on-farm visits and at the research farms recently. Damage appears on the sides or at the bottom of the fruit (Figure 1). The symptoms that occur at the fruit bottom are similar to tomato blossom end rot (BER), a plant physiological…Read more about Unmarketable Bell Peppers[Read More]