Archives for June 2012

June 30, 2012

Rutgers Turf Blog

Turf Specialist, Jim Murphy talks about what’s happening out in the field on the new
Rutgers Turf Blog.

Good cultural management practices can help reduce the severity of Anthracnose basal rot.Read more >
Most people begin to notice crabgrass in turf around the 4th of July. At that time, the crabgrass plants are large enough that the leaves stick-up above the desired grasses and the lighter, yellow-green color is highly noticeable from a distance.Read more >
Red thread disease tends to be more aggressive in full sun than shade and it often appears where soil fertility and organic matter are low.Read more >
Filed Under: Turf
June 30, 2012

Ornamental Commercial Recommendations – 2012

Disease Control Recommendations for Ornamental Crops by Ann Brooks Gould, Ph.D. is a comprehensive summary of pesticides currently labeled for ornamental disease control in New Jersey.

The guide is intended for use by industry professionals (arborists, growers of greenhouse crops, nursery crops, or Christmas trees, and personnel who manage various indoor and outdoor landscapes) for disease management of ornamental crops. This guide is not intended for use by homeowners. Publication E036, available at your County Extension Office or http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=E036.

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf
June 30, 2012

Plant Diagnostic Lab Highlights June 28, 2012

Downy fungal growth impatiens leaf underside

  • Turfgrass
  • SummerPatch, Anthracnose, and Weevil
  • Pythium
  • Downy mildew of Impatiens

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Plant Diagnostic Lab, Turf Tagged With: , , , ,
June 23, 2012

Vegetable Alert: Late Blight on Processing Tomato

Alert Date: 6/23/12
Pest: Late blight
Location:  Late blight was confirmed on actively sporulating leaf lesions from an 70 acre processing tomato field outside of Elmer, NJ. All lesions were found on the upper most leaves in the canopy suggesting Late blight was carried in from an outside source. This is the second report of Late blight in NJ on potato or tomato this year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
June 6, 2012

Farm Food Safety: Compliance Documentation – Packinghouse Logs

Part 7 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

The USDA Good Agricultural Practices Third Party Audit requires that certain activities on the farm be documented. These logs should accurately reflect what you have done on the farm to ensure food safety. If you do not write your activities down, the auditor will assume that the activity never happened. This documentation may be new for many growers, so making it as easy as possible for you to comply will ensure that the documenting happens in a manner that is acceptable to an auditor.

Remember you may not need a third party audit; it depends on who is purchasing your produce. However, everyone should have a food safety plan.

What packinghouse logs will you need to have as a part of your farm food safety plan? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food Safety