Fruit crops are finally starting to grow in the Lafayette area after a few days of warmer weather. Apples are at 1/2 inch green to tight cluster. Peaches have 1/2 inch vegetative shoots. There are no live flower buds in our planting. Cherries are at swollen bud. Early grapes varieties are at swell. Raspberries have[Read More…]
Bruce Bordelon
Professor Emeritus
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
There are some potential pest and disease problems that require early season sprays. Phomopsis is a major problem on many grape varieties in the Midwest. Mancozeb should be applied starting at 1-3 inch shoots and repeated each 7-10 days, especially prior to a predicted rain event. Evaluations of delayed-dormant fungicide applications for management of this[Read More…]
North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association member Trellis Growing Systems recently won a USDA-AMS Local Foods Promotion Program grant to do a feasibility study for an IQF (individually quick frozen) processing facility to service Midwest berry growers. The facility would be in Circleville, OH. They have created a survey through PollDaddy to try to determine grower interest,[Read More…]
Early spring is a good time to make the first herbicide application of the year. There are several options for fruit crops including both pre- and post-emergent herbicides. See the weed control chapter in the 2018 Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide for a complete list of products. In most situations, there will be some emerged[Read More…]
It has been a cool spring so far and most fruit crops are still relatively dormant in the Lafayette area. Early grapes are just at bud swell, red raspberries are also showing signs of growth, sweet cherry buds are swelling, and early apples are at silver tip. Fruit trees in Lafayette remain dormant, however are[Read More…]
May 7, 2018 Purdue Wine Grape Team “From Grape to Glass” Byler Lane Winery 5858 County Road 35, Auburn, IN 46706 Contact Jill Blume blume@purdue.edu June 26, 2018 Indiana Hort Society Summer Field Day Garwood Orchard, LaPorte, IN Contact Lori Jolly-Brown ljollybr@ purdue.edu October 17, 2018 Indiana Flower Growers Conference Daniel Turf Center Contact Lori Jolly-Brown[Read More…]
This winter was significantly colder than normal in the northern half of Indiana. Many areas north of “I-70” experienced temperatures between -15 and -20˚F in early January. That is cold enough to cause considerable cold injury to grapes, peaches, and blackberries. Ten below zero is a commonly accepted threshold for seeing damage to cold sensitive[Read More…]
The Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide is updated each year by the Midwest Fruit Workers group to provide the most complete information and recommendations for controlling weeds, diseases and insect pests of all major fruit crops grown in the Midwest. For the past three years, the guide has combined information on tree fruit, small fruit[Read More…]
If you sold, or normally do you sell, more than $1000 worth of agricultural products in a year then it is your responsibility to fill out the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) needs a Census of Agriculture response from ALL the nation’s producers. In order to get an accurate[Read More…]