The St Louis Metro East in the last few weeks has been experiencing what I would call “resort” weather, with temperatures during the day in the upper 70s to middle 80s and nighttime lows in the upper 50s to low 60s.
Apple harvest is in the ‘Golden Delicious,’ ‘Red Delicious,’ and ‘Jonagold’...
Not to brag or anything, but we may be on a 2-week streak of what I consider perfect weather. The humidity levels have dropped making it easier to breath, and the temperatures have been in the upper 70s to low 80s during the day. We did receive about 0.1” of rain on September 21 which was just...
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...
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...
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...
We are testing soil solarization as an effective management strategy for bindweed, a nasty perennial weed, at our Unity site. We know soil solarization can work for control of annual broadleaf and grass weeds, but I have never attempted to control a perennial weed with it. A bindweed-infested bed...
Phytophthora blight, caused by Phytophthora capsici, is the most important disease of cucurbits and peppers in Illinois. In wet conditions, the disease may cause 100% crop losses. Following the recent heavy rainfalls, the disease developed in our pumpkin plots near South Pekin in Tazewell...
