Vegetable Crops Edition

Seasonal updates and alerts on insects, diseases, and weeds impacting vegetable crops. New Jersey Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations updates between annual publication issues are included.
 
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Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.

May 21, 2019

Understanding Damping-off Pathogens During Seeding and Transplanting

Damping-off is caused by a number of important vegetable pathogens and is very common during transplant production and early-spring. Damping-off can kill seedlings before they break the soil line (pre-emergent damping-off) or kill seedlings soon after they emerge (post-emergent damping-off). Common pathogens that cause damping-off include Pythium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and Fusarium spp.

It is extremely important to know which pathogen is causing the damping-off problem and which fungicide to properly apply.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
May 21, 2019

Vegetable Disease Update – 5/21/19

  • The cool, damp weather the past week has been ideal for downy mildew development on spring crops. Growers are advised to scout fields on a regular basis
  • The heavy rains and damp, cool weather have been ideal conditions for early-season damping off caused by Pythium. Growers should continue to scout on a regular basis and remain proactive in their fungicide programs as long as current weather patterns continue.
  • Cercospora leaf spot on swiss chard has been reported.
  • Bacterial leaf spot of parsley has been reported.
  • Basil downy mildew has been reported in greenhouses in North Carolina.
  • Cucurbit downy mildew has been reported as far north as St. Lucie County, Florida.
  • For more information on controlling these and other important diseases please see the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Guide. The guide is available for FREE online by following the links on the Plant and Pest Advisory website. Hardcopies of the 2019 guide can be purchased through your local county Extension office.
Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
May 15, 2019

IPM Update 5/15/19

Sweet Corn

Most of the IPM Program black light trap network is now operational in New Jersey.   To date, no corn earworm (CEW) have been captured.  However, low numbers of European corn borer (ECB) moths are now appearing in a number of traps (see map at left).  This is the onset of the first flight of the season.  As yet, most corn is too young to support an infestation, although early plantings grown under plastic will be at risk first.   As numbers increase and corn plantings progress into the whorl stage, growers should begin scouting for injury.  Look for the characteristic “shot-hole” type of feeding (photo below at right) and consider treating when infested plants exceed 12% in a 50 plant sample.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 5/15/19 are as follows:

Downer   2 Cinnaminson   1 Medford   1
Beckett   1 Elm   1 South Branch   1
Bellemeade   1 Georgetown   1 Woodstown   1

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
May 14, 2019

Vegetable Disease Update – 5/14/19

  • The cool, damp weather the past week has been ideal for downy mildew development on spring crops. Growers are advised to scout fields on a regular basis
  • The heavy rains and damp, cool weather have been ideal conditions for early-season damping off caused by Pythium. Growers should continue to scout on a regular basis and remain proactive in their fungicide programs as long as current weather patterns continue.
  • Sunburn on stems of newly transplanted peppers on black plastic mulch has been reported.
  • Cercospora leaf spot on swiss chard has been reported this past week.
  • Cucurbit downy mildew has been reported as far north as St. Lucie County, Florida.
Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
May 8, 2019

IPM Update 5/08/19

Sweet Corn

IPM Program personnel are currently finishing deployment of the black light trap network in New Jersey.  At present, we are approximately 80% operational and have begun to monitor traps.  To date, no corn earworm (CEW) have been captured.  The low numbers of European corn borer (ECB) moths that have been caught do not allow us to produce a map image.  As numbers increase, look for population maps of ECB, CEW and CEW catches from pheromone traps in this weekly publication.  The Vegetable IPM Program is expanding the use of CEW pheromone traps to include central and northern counties this year.  The resulting full-state maps will include interpretive information.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 5/08/19 are as follows:

Georgetown   1              Woodstown   1

Hillsborough   1

European corn borer egg mass on a pepper leaf.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
May 3, 2019 and

Are you required to let the public bring their animals onto your retail farm?

An increasing number of customers are bringing animals with them when they visit farm markets, pick your own farms, or agritainment activities. Animals can pose a food safety risk to produce, introduce disease to farm animals, frighten or upset farm animals. Outside animals can also pose a risk to employees and other market customers and farm visitors. Farmers need to consider these occurrences when keeping in compliance with regulations and buyer requirements specific to food safety and biosecurity to protect their farm animals. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) governs what you are legally allowed to do in regards to customers with service animals visiting your market or on your farm. This fact sheet will cover the specifics of the ADA, animals that are not protected by the ADA regulations, and how to reduce potential risk on your farm from outside animals. States often have regulations that go beyond the federal ADA regulation, information represented in this fact sheet is specific to New Jersey. If you farm in another state please consult the state by state guide linked at the end of this article.Dog resting in the shade

What do the ADA regulations cover?
While many types of animals can provide comfort and emotional support to their owners, only service animals are protected by the ADA, specifically Title II and III. The ADA regulations define “service animal” as dogs, and less commonly miniature ponies, that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding a blind person, alerting people who are deaf, assisting a person in a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post [Read more…]

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops