To regular readers of the Vegetable Crop Hotline, it may seem that we include an article about tomato spotted wilt virus every year out of custom. However, we have again observed large outbreaks of this disease. Please read the article below carefully if you raise tomato transplants or mature tomatoes in a greenhouse or high[Read More…]
Bolting of crops overwintered in high tunnels is common in the spring. ‘Bolting’ refers to lengthening and blooming of the flowering stalk. Bolting is often a problem because the quality of the marketable part of the plant declines. Also, plants subject to bolting are programmed to die once they complete flowering and seed production so[Read More…]
Last week when the heavy frost hit us, air temperature at Southwest Purdue Ag Center (SWPAC) in Vincennes, IN dropped to 24°F. We did not take action for frost protection on the strawberries growing with the annual plasticulture system, considering only two early cultivars start to bloom at that time. However, this appears to be[Read More…]
WHAT: An Indiana Pesticide Clean Sweep Project designed to collect and dispose of suspended, canceled, banned, unusable, opened, unopened or just unwanted pesticides (weed killers, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, miticides, etc.) is being sponsored by the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC). This disposal service is free of charge up to 250 pounds per participant. Over[Read More…]
USDA is establishing new programs and efforts to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions. The new initiative—USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers—will reach a broader set of producers than in previous COVID-19 aid programs. USDA is dedicating at least $6 billion toward the new programs. This[Read More…]
At the Pinney Purdue Ag Center in northern Indiana we had plots in 2020 with no-till sweet corn, pumpkins and winter squash following a rye cover crop. As is common when adapting new planting and tillage systems, we had both challenges and successes. Check out the video presentations to see photos of the plots, and[Read More…]
Three new vegetable IPM videos in Spanish are available on Youtube. They were made by a team led by Natalie Hoidal, Extension Educator at Univ. of Minnesota. Búsqueda de problemas en el campo (Scouting for problems in the field) Diagnóstico de problemas de las plantas (Diagnosing plant problems) Recolección de plantas enteras para el diagnóstico[Read More…]
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering the free online course “Risk Management Education for Farmers with On-Farm Visitors”. Producers will learn practical management techniques to enhance the safety and health of their on-farm visitors. For more information about this course, please visit Farmers with On-site Visitors Can Learn to Manage Risk during Free[Read More…]
March wrapped up as one of Indiana’s wettest (44th wettest out of 126 years) and warmest (16th warmest). It was marked by unusually warm days and then cool days. Was it ever just average? Certainly, most days fell within the climatological range of temperatures. Precipitation seemed to be partial to the southern part of the[Read More…]
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