Welcome to the Vegetable Crops Hotline (VCH), Purdue Extension’s exclusive newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. It almost felt like summer for the past 10 days. That is until we got the cold weather again on April 16. It’s just a reminder that we should not get too eager to plant tender…Read more about From the Editor’s Desk[Read More]
As we approach warmer days in May and June, it’s time to prepare for transplanting warm-season vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash. Growers preparing vegetable transplants should plan for the process of hardening or conditioning their transplants to outdoor temperatures, light, and soil moisture conditions. By now, you should have started your…Read more about Setting Your Transplants Up for Success[Read More]
The warm weather of late did not only pull us out of our winter slumber but definitely awoke some of our overwintering pests as well. Cucumber beetles and seedcorn maggots are likely on the hunt for food, and your early-season crops may be exactly what they are looking for. Striped cucumber beetles (Figure 1) are…Read more about Threats to Early Seedlings[Read More]
Vegetable growers will begin thinking about fungicide applications in a few weeks. Many growers will have already purchased fungicides for the 2023 season. Where can Indiana vegetable growers go for fungicide information? To find recommended fungicides for vegetable fungicides, one may want first to study the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide. One can find this Guide,…Read more about How to get Fungicide Information for Vegetables[Read More]
The importance of bees for providing pollination is a regularly discussed topic in many fruit and vegetable production systems. Although tomatoes are often pollinated by wind, they too can benefit from bee pollination. Recent research suggests that tomato flowers visited by bees have a larger fruit set and produce heavier fruits. An ongoing study in…Read more about Pollination Services in Tomatoes[Read More]
Onions are poor competitors with weeds. Their narrow leaves do not compete well for light, and their shallow root system makes them poor competitors for water. Tight in-row and between-row plant spacing make mechanical weed control, including hand-weeding, difficult. Chemical weed control can be effective and reduce the amount of time required to hand-weed onions….Read more about Even Minimal Herbicide Use Can Reduce Hand-Weeding Time[Read More]
Through the first 18 days of April, temperatures ran 5.5◦F above normal statewide (Figure 1). The largest deviations occurred in central and northern Indiana. Despite the wet start to the month, wind, abundant sun, low humidity and reduced precipitation accounted for drying conditions across the state. Statewide, precipitation averaged 69 percent of normal. Surprisingly, tillage,…Read more about Return to Below-Normal Precipitation, Variable Temperatures, and Enhanced Freeze Risk[Read More]
The most recent two podcast episodes of the Strawberry Chat focus on spring weed and disease management. Spring Weed Management Podcast Kevin Schooley and Stephen Meyers joined the discussion to talk about weeds and weed management in matted-row and plasticulture strawberry production. Steve spoke about weeds commonly seen in strawberry fields and gave us a…Read more about Strawberry Podcasts on Spring Weed and Disease Management[Read More]
We are happy to announce that Purdue Extension is presenting its annual Fruit and Vegetable Field Day on July 20, 2023, at the Throckmorton/Meigs Horticulture Farm, Lafayette, IN. More information about the upcoming field day will be available beginning May 2023. Registration will open soon! Contact Lori Jolly-Brown ljollybr@purdue.edu or Petrus Langenhoven plangenh@purdue.edu if you…Read more about SAVE THE DATE for the Purdue Fruit and Vegetable Field Day[Read More]
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