Dear Valued VCH Readers, Welcome to issue 749, the second edition of the 2025 Vegetable Crops Hotline newsletter! Spring is certainly making its presence felt! The weather has been very mild to hot this past week. It’s a great time to start working ground that has thawed and drained. Don’t get too eager to start…Read more about From The Editor’s Desk[Read More]
Optimizing light management is crucial for producing high-quality vegetable transplants in greenhouse environments. As greenhouse growers gear up for the spring production season, managing light conditions becomes a critical factor in producing high-quality vegetable transplants. With varying natural light levels and the challenges posed by greenhouse structures, understanding and optimizing daily light integral (DLI) is essential…Read more about Managing Daily Light Integral to Improve Vegetable Transplant Quality[Read More]
Planning your vegetable varieties for the upcoming season? Purdue University has maintained comprehensive records of vegetable variety trials throughout the Midwest since 1999. The Midwest Vegetable Trial Report series offers valuable applied research findings specifically relevant to vegetable and melon production in the Midwest region. Below, you’ll find abstracts from the most recent reports. For…Read more about Data-Driven Decisions: Choosing Vegetable Varieties with Midwest Trial Results[Read More]
After a family vacation to Jamaica in 2023, Dr. Langenhoven at Purdue University recognized the potential for Scotch Bonnet peppers as a high-value specialty crop for diversification on Indiana farms. This led to a 2024 research trial at the Meigs Horticulture Facility (Throckmorton Purdue Ag Center) near Lafayette to evaluate the commercial production potential of…Read more about Specialty Crop Opportunity: First-Year Results of Scotch Bonnet Pepper Trials[Read More]
Numerous educators and extension volunteers took advantage of the annual Summer School for Consumer Food Safety Education program. The 2024 speakers of the second webinar session were Carla Schwan, an Extension food safety specialist from the University of Georgia, and Melissa Rupp, an Extension educator from Ohio State University. They focused their presentation on safety…Read more about Safety Considerations of Freeze-dried Foods: Learnings From the Consumer Food Safety Education Webinar Series[Read More]
2024 Field Trial Shows Yield Differences Between Italian and Asian Cultivars As part of Purdue University’s Field Production of Horticulture Crops class, Dr. Langenhoven established a comprehensive eggplant cultivar demonstration at the Meigs Horticulture Facility near Lafayette during the 2024 growing season. This hands-on educational project served a dual purpose: providing students practical crop management…Read more about Italian vs. Asian Eggplant Cultivars: Performance Comparison for Indiana Commercial Production[Read More]
The Purdue Ag Center is seeking a Specialty Crops Systems Specialist. In this role, you will provide expertise and assistance to faculty and graduate students in the Departments of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Botany and Plant Pathology, Entomology, and others by implementing and maintaining applied field research trials related to fruit, vegetable and specialty crops…Read more about Horticulture Research Manager Position at Purdue University[Read More]
Purdue Extension is offering the Farmers Market Certificate, a virtual training designed to equip market managers, vendors, and community leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to operate successful and sustainable farmers markets. This program will provide essential insights into best practices, food safety regulations, legal considerations, marketing strategies, conflict management, and customer engagement techniques…Read more about Purdue Extension to Host Virtual Farmers Market Certificate[Read More]
Let’s face it, growing a specialty crop is hard work and expensive. Battling mother nature, insects and disease are just a few of the obstacles growers face. Pesticide drift shouldn’t be one of them. DriftWatch offers a reliable and FREE mapping tool that promotes communication between specialty crop producers and pesticide applicators. (Beekeepers can also register…Read more about How Much is Your Specialty Crop Worth?[Read More]
Selecting tomato cultivars can be both exciting and challenging, simply because there are so many options to choose from. Some growers settle on a few favorite cultivars and focus on fine-tuning their production practices to suit them. Others prefer to explore new cultivars every year, selecting those that best fit their evolving production systems. Regardless…Read more about Considerations for Choosing Tomato Cultivars[Read More]
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