With our research partner, Freeport High School Student Vegetable Farm, the annual strawberry plants study has continued to grow well into September. In July and August, we removed runners and cleaned the beds weekly to reduce pest pressure (yellow jackets, lygus bugs, small mammals). While these...

The ginger crop languished in the Unity high tunnel during August, putting on minimal growth — even with shade cloth in place of plastic over the top of the tunnel. The ginger trial team and I are starting to think that this crop may benefit from more than the 30% shade cloth we are using in the...

In walking through the hydroponic tunnel at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center this week, the stark difference in powdery mildew disease pressure could not be ignored and was the inspiration for this article.  In the guide from Missouri Extension,...

Dew remains on plant surfaces well into the morning hours, creating conditions conducive to powdery mildew. Benefitting from the rains are weeds. This is the busy time of harvest and weeds can rapidly grow to a seed producing size if not controlled with mowing, hoeing, cultivation, or post-emergent...

University of Missouri Extension is offering a nine-part webinar series on organic production of specialty crops. The series, which runs Sept. 26 to Nov. 28, begins with an overview of the organic certification process. Other topics include soil and fertility and management of weeds, insects and...

Pumpkins are doing well. I gave my pumpkins a side dress application of nitrogen the first week of August and they have really taken off we have fruit starting to size nicely. I have not seen any signs of powdery mildew yet but have started spraying preventative fungicides, especially given the...

If you work with specialty crops or have experience with two-spotted spider mites, please complete a survey from Purdue University designed to determine the limit of detection of spider mite damage. All responses...

We had a break from the summer heat last week, but this week the heat dome has moved back over our region creating very hot, humid conditions. With 95-100° temperatures and heat indexes ranging from 105-120°, much of the field work in our high tunnels is completed before noon with lots of water and...

High temperatures and very high humidity are the current conditions in the St Louis Metro East. The entire region has received rain recently, just not all at the same time or the same amount. In general, soil conditions worsen as you move south, but are improved from the last reporting. Harvest in...

July has brought a little relief from the drought conditions, but for some that relief has been short-lived. Locally, most areas have received a cumulative total of an inch or more of rainfall this month. Some areas still have been missed for more soaking rains and the moisture has been a “band-aid...