Commercial Vegetable Production

I am sharing some observational results from 5 lettuce varieties I grew this spring.  Five lettuce varieties were set out as transplants 2/28/2025 at my home near Waterloo, IL.  Since I don’t have a high tunnel but I wanted to afford some protection for the plants, they were covered with...

Tomato and pepper transplants have been planted in all three high tunnels at DSAC. The control tunnel, no cover crop or cut flower treatments in last 4 years, was planted with tomatoes on April 9 and peppers on April 18. The treatment tunnel, cover crop and cut flower plots established the past 4...

Our area has been a little on the wet side lately.  We have had over 9” of rain for the Month of April (as of 4/29) and more rain chances in the forecast before the month is over.  Temperatures have been about average and we have only had a handful of days this year over 80°. We endured...

Sprayers are up and running for the 2025 season.  Plasticulture strawberries are uncovered, and the first round of fungicide has been applied, as well as the first dose of fertilizer.  So far, no signs of ...

It is starting to feel like spring.  Our area has actually been very dry for March until this past weekend when we got 1.23” of rain Saturday morning.  Prior to that the soil was exceptionally dry, having missed multiple other storm systems. Other than 0.35” of rainfall on March 5,...

The Unity Community Center’s Food Production and Demonstration Garden I manage every year has had to move. We are in the process of relocating the Food Production and Demonstration Garden to an area behind Unity Community Center that Extension owns – formally the site of a children’s garden. The...

After a warm dry spell of weather in October, we are more wet and have more typical temperatures.  We made up for lost time in precipitation having 8.03 inches of rain for the month of November (as of 11/26).  Most of this came on 11/4 and 11/5 when we got 6.37 inches of rain. This...

The cover crops seeded in the “treatment” high tunnel are growing, although not as evenly as hoped. The crimson clover stand is almost non-existent, and the annual ryegrass stand is much better in plots at the back of the tunnel (photo to right, B. Aly, Illinois Extension 2024). The working theory...

We are dry in the area, having received little rainfall in the month of October with only 0.06”.  We did get almost 6” of rain in the last half of September which went a long way to helping fall crops in the field. Temperatures have overall been fairly warm with highs bouncing between the...

The two-year specialty crop block grant, “Strategies for Improving Biological Control of Insect Pests for Vegetable Growers Utilizing High Tunnels” officially finished data collection in September. During the month of October, tomato, pepper and cut flower plants, stakes, posts, and string have...