Welcome to a new year of the Vegetable Crops Hotline! Starting with this issue, I will be the new editor of VCH newsletter. If you do not know me yet, I am the horticulture specialist located at Vincennes, IN. I am excited to work more closely with VCH. I also feel responsible to continually provide you[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
You might have heard about tomato grafting, or you might even already have tried the new technique. Yes, it has multiple benefits: control of soilborne diseases, enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses, and increased productivity. It works for some growers, but not all. Why? There are several reasons. First, effects of grafting on controlling soilborne diseases[Read More…]
Crop production, decomposition of organic matter, using ammonium-producing nitrogen fertilizers, and rainfall all lower soil pH. To maintain soil pH in the optimal range (6.5 to 6.8) for vegetable production, periodic application of lime is needed. The primary form of agricultural lime is calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is the carbonate (CO3^2-) part that brings up[Read More…]
You might remember seeing cation exchange capacity in soil test reports. Recently, I have been asked about what it means. This is one of the important soil characteristics that we need to understand. Firstly, we need to know what cations are. Cations are positively charged ions. There are several. The ones very important for plant[Read More…]