We have seen increasing interest in harvesting strawberry runner tips and producing plug plants on-farm for the next year’s planting. This practice is allowed for cultivars that don’t have a patent or patent has expired. Several excellent Extension publications describe this process, including Strawberry Plug Plant Production published by Utah State University, and Propagating Strawberry…Read more about Considerations of Growing Strawberry Plugs by Harvesting Runner Tips[Read More]
Crop Management
As strawberry harvest winding down, growers are preparing for next year’s planting. A question among plasticulture strawberry growers is whether to establish a new strawberry patch using plug plants or bare-root plants. Plug plants are actively growing transplants produced from runner tips and typically sold in 50-cell trays filled with soilless growing media. In contrast,…Read more about Considerations of Using Plugs or Bare-Root Plants to Start a Plasticulture Strawberry Patch[Read More]
As the fruit crops recover, some frost rings have appeared in our apples. In the past two weeks, our monitoring traps in the orchard have caught 70 dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula) individuals, 17 coddling moth (Cydia pomonella) individuals, and 0 oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta) individuals. An apple cover was applied 5/22, and a grape…Read more about Crop conditions[Read More]
The 2026-2027 Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide is now available! This guide provides conventional pest management recommendations for commercial tree fruit, small fruit, and grape producers throughout the Midwest and surrounding states. These recommendations have been formulated to provide up-to-date information on pesticides and their application. It is available for free online and can be…Read more about 2026-2027 Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide Now Available[Read More]
When growers are asked about the top challenges in plasticulture strawberry production, frost/freeze damage are almost always at the top of the list. Anyone living in Indiana understands how unpredictable spring weather can be. This year, in southern Indiana, we experienced warm periods with average daily temperatures exceeding 60 °F in mid-February, followed by sharp…Read more about Spread out Flower Timing to Reduce Spring Frost/Freeze Risks in Plasticulture Strawberry Production[Read More]
A wet welcome to the growing season from Mother Nature. Weather this year in North Central Indiana has been characteristically dramatic. Recently, highs in the mid 80’s followed by lows in the mid 20’s not 48hrs apart. That with some warmer than average temperatures have landed us in a similarly jump-started spring as last year….Read more about Crop conditions[Read More]
Hi. As I’m sure most of you have noticed, the Japanese Beetles have arrived. We have been dealing with them in every fruit crop with the exception of our apples. The blackberries are currently being consumed by them despite a well-timed spray last week. Fire blight continues to show up in our orchard. We are…Read more about Crop conditions[Read More]
From 2022 to 2024, we evaluated the performance of 15 June-bearing strawberry cultivars grown in a plasticulture system using black and white-on-black plastic mulches at two locations in Indiana: the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center in Vincennes, IN, and the Meigs Horticulture Research Farm in Lafayette, IN. During the experimental period, monthly average temperatures at the…Read more about Performance of 15 June-bearing Strawberry Cultivars Grown in Plasticulture System for Two Seasons in Indiana[Read More]
Hello! Fruit crop conditions are good here with the exception of our Rosalee apples. Unfortunately, they are heavily infected with fireblight. We are in the process of removing the affected trees and destroying them offsite. Some of our first raspberries are ripening up. Applications of fungicide, insecticide, and thinning chemical have been made on schedule.