I recently encountered some lesions of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) that appeared relatively large and had a ring-like structure. I was able to confirm the presence of the virus, but at first glance, the lesions could be mistaken for a very common tomato disease: early blight. This article will describe how the foliar lesions…Read more about Tomato Lesion Primer[Read More]
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One of the most problematic insect pests that organic vegetable growers have to deal with is the striped cucumber beetle. The insect feeds on all the cucurbit crops, but can be particularly devastating to muskmelons and cucumbers because those two crops are susceptible to bacterial wilt of cucurbits, which is caused by a bacterium carried…Read more about Organic Control Methods for Striped Cucumber Beetles[Read More]
The Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2018 (ID-56) was printed in December 2017. At the same time, the on-line version was posted at mwveguide.org. As updates need to be made to the ID-56, I will make those updates to the on-line version. I will announce these updates in the Hotline as I post…Read more about Updates to the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide[Read More]
Today, seven out of 10 Americans use social media to share information, find entertainment, and engage with businesses (Pew Research Center, 2017). Social media have become an important information source for Millennials; yet, Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are significantly increasing their use of Facebook and other social media platforms. Among social media platforms, Facebook…Read more about 5 Social Media Best Practices to Help You Increase Sales[Read More]
Entomologists are looking for growers willing to participate in research examining the detection and distribution of striped cucumber beetles. We would like to visit your fields on multiple occasions this year to count the number of cucumber beetles we encounter in your crop. If you grow slicing cucumbers in the field, and are interested in helping to improve…Read more about Entomologists Looking for Cucumber Beetles[Read More]
It’s that time of year, where we are prepping high tunnels and getting back into the full swing of production, slowly, here in the Midwest. Many of you have already begun to transplant and may have encountered your first pests on these new crops. Aphids are one that remain a problem in high tunnels, and…Read more about Aphids in High Tunnels[Read More]
One way insects communicate with individuals of the same species is with pheromones. Pheromones are volatile chemicals released by an insect that usually can be detected only by individuals of the same species. There are a number of different types of pheromones, but the most common type is the sex pheromone. Usually the females will…Read more about Pheromones and Pheromone Traps[Read More]
Now is a good time to begin your plans for managing corn earworms (Figure 1) in your sweet corn. Below are several tips that will help you in this process: Make sure you have a corn earworm pheromone trap and earworm pheromones. See the article below for details. Consider planting Bt sweet corn, especially for…Read more about Corn Earworm[Read More]
Although strawberry plants can be quite cold hardy, they need protection to survive the winter. In North Carolina, growers use floating row covers to protect strawberries in the winter. In Indiana, straw mulch is a more traditional way of winter protection for strawberries grown in a matted row system. After two relatively mild winters in…Read more about Strawberry Winter Protection: Straw Mulch vs. Row Covers[Read More]
Growers start to plant tomatoes in unheated high tunnels around the end of March in southern Indiana. Around that time, there may still be a few light frosts, or even heavier ones, like the one we just experienced in the past week. With additional help from row covers inside of high tunnels, temperatures normally can…Read more about Check Soil Temperatures before Planting Cucumbers in a High Tunnel[Read More]
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