All of our fruit trees at the Meigs Horticulture Facility have a lot of fruit despite the late frosts we had this spring. We have been busy applying our cover sprays and even had to thin our Apples. We will also have a lot of Strawberries this year, they are starting to turn red this…Read more about Crop Conditions[Read More]
Abundant rainfall has eliminated any drought across the Hoosier State, and we have April showers to thank for that. Fort Wayne had its wettest April on record with a whopping 7.39 inches of precipitation, over 3 inches above the normal 3.74 inches for April. In Indianapolis, it was the 8th wettest April on record with…Read more about Indiana is Drought Free, but Long-Term Precipitation Deficits Remain[Read More]
Leaving behind the fourth or fifth wettest April, rains continue in May. Many growers are confronted with serious issues with respect to scab management. Depending where you are in the state, development is at anywhere from petal fall to 2nd cover (kings at 10-11mm) or even further along. Against some pretty grim probabilities, most of…Read more about Scab management[Read More]
Mesotrione is a Group 27 (HPPD-inhibitor) herbicide. It is registered as a stand-alone active ingredient in products such as Callisto®, Argos®, and Tenacity® among several others. It is also a common ingredient in pre-mix corn herbicides such as Acuron, Calliso® GT, Optero®, Storen® and many others. Mesotrione has both pre-emergence and post-emergence activity on select…Read more about Callisto® and Brambles- A Cautious Reminder[Read More]
A new episode of the Strawberry Chat podcast is available. In this episode, we talked with Dr. Marvin Pritts from Cornell University. We discussed the new edition of the Strawberry Production Guide for the Northeast, Midwest, and Eastern Canada. Dr. Marvin introduced us to the plasticulture day-neutral strawberry product system he has been researching recently….Read more about Discussion with Dr. Marvin Pritts about Strawberry Production in the Northeast[Read More]
Removing overwintering leaves on plasticulture strawberries in the early spring is a time-consuming and labor-intensive job. I was asked whether the effort is worthwhile. I want to share my observation that confirms it is worth the effort. We conducted a comparative study on second-year plasticulture strawberries at Southwest Purdue Ag Center in Vincennes, IN. In…Read more about Why You Should Remove Old Leaves on Plasticulture Strawberries[Read More]
As we head into the strawberry season, I anticipate more questions from growers when it comes to pests that directly damage the fruit. One that was reported recently was the Strawberry sap beetle. This beetle belongs to the family Nitidulidae, which are broadly referred to as sap or picnic beetles. The Strawberry sap beetle overwinters…Read more about Strawberry sap beetles (Stelidota geminata)[Read More]
2024 OISC Clean Sweep Pesticide Disposal WHAT: An OISC Clean Sweep Pesticide Disposal Program designed to collect and dispose of suspended, canceled, banned, unusable, opened, unopened or just unwanted pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, miticides, etc.) is being sponsored by the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC). This disposal service is free of charge up…Read more about OISC Pesticide Clean Sweep- Dates, Times & Locations Announced[Read More]
San Jose scale attacks all the delicious fruit trees: apple, peach, pear, and plum. Some of you may already know that this insect is particularly difficult to manage, because most life stages are very small, even tiny, so they are not obvious until there are lots of them! In fact, you’re going to need a…Read more about Tips for managing San Jose scale in tree fruit[Read More]
Purdue Fruit & Veg field day REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! Register here: Purdue Fruit and Vegetable Field Day Purdue Extension presented its second Fruit and Vegetable Field Day post-pandemic at the Throckmorton Purdue Agriculture Center’s Meigs Horticulture Research Farm, located in Lafayette, on July 20th, 2023. Extension Specialists and Graduate Students presented specialty crop research to…Read more about Purdue Fruit & Veg field day[Read More]
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