Grapes harvest has started in the Lafayette area. A bit of both powdery and downy mildew are present on leaves, but overall fruit quality looks great. Recent rains did not cause fruit cracking so fruit rots are minimal. Early apples are over and mid-season varieties are getting close. Fall bearing (primocane fruiting) red raspberries and[Read More…]
Crop Management
The symptoms of sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) have begun to make their appearance. I know this because 1). I’m starting to see spots (Fig 1, 2 & 3). We have accumulated MORE THAN enough hours of post- petal fall leaf wetness needed for infection to occur, despite the sudden drought conditions. First, what is[Read More…]
The grape harvest will get started in the southern part of the state in the next couple of weeks. Most varieties are slightly behind normal this year. In Lafayette, early varieties are at the start of veraison and should be ready to harvest in four to five weeks. We generally harvest early varieties such as[Read More…]
Plant nutritional status is important for all phases of plant growth and has a direct effect on vigor, fruitfulness, cold hardiness, and other factors. Tissue analysis is the most reliable means of determining plant nutritional status. Combined with soil testing, tissue analysis can help pinpoint the source of problems and determine what measures may be[Read More…]
Apples look good and are sizing well. Brambles are not having a great year. Winter injury was severe and the wet spring has led to a significant amount of Raspberry (Septoria) leaf spot. Grapes are doing okay, despite significant winter injury. Appropriate pruning resulted in full crops of most varieties. Japanese beetles and 2,4-D damage[Read More…]
On June 5, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) mailed letters to produce growers having annual food sales over $500,000 informing them that inspections of produce farms would start in July. Due to their sales volume, these growers are expected to be in compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule (21CFR[Read More…]
At the Southwest Purdue Ag Center, we are studying annual strawberry production on plastic mulch. Our hope is to gather information for best production practices in our area. As we learn about insect and disease problems, we will pass this information on to producers. This article is about the insect pests we have observed in[Read More…]
Current wet weather is increasing the risk of Phytophthora diseases in the orchard. Phytophthora is a major problem on apples and pear; stone fruit are also susceptible, with plums being the most resistant to this disease. In addition to excessive soil moisture and flooding, moderate temperatures, wounds (mechanical or through herbicide damage), and rootstock susceptibility[Read More…]
I received a report this week from a strawberry grower that overnight he went from no eastern flower thrips to an average of 15 thrips per bloom. Eastern flower thrips are an occasional pest of strawberries. They are attracted to and feed on flowers, with the result being leathery fruit or fruit that fail to[Read More…]