Fruit and Vegetable News

Author: Natalie Hoidal, UMN Extension Educator, Local Foods and Vegetable Production Precipitation was wildly inconsistent this week. Some growers experienced downpours, and even tornadoes and hail. Other expected rain, but received none at all. For everyone, it's been hot except for a lovely cool day yesterday thanks to winds coming from Lake Superior. We can expect another hot week ahead with high dewpoints and relative humidity. This means crops are growing quickly and keeping you all very busy. It also means the potential for disease spread and heat stress is high. Crop report Tomatoes and peppers:  Thanks to some very warm weather over the last couple of weeks, tomatoes and peppers are maturing more evenly this week. With high humidity in the forecast, preventative sprays (of either biocontrol agents or fungicides, or both) will be important. Continuing to monitor soil moisture closely will also be important for preventing physiological issues related to soil moisture in...

Author: Natalie Hoidal, UMN Extension Educator, Local Foods and Vegetable Production If you're seeing interesting things in your fields, insects and diseases, or just want to share photos, we'd love to hear from you! As always, don't hesitate to reach out with questions and pictures. We're still here for technical assistance over the phone, via text, or via email. Vegetable questions  go to me (Natalie): hoida016@umn.edu Fruit questions  go to Annie: kloddann@umn.edu Food safety questions  go to Annalisa: hultb006@umn.edu Crop report So, the weather predictions from last week were totally off. This week has been soggy and wet, and many of you have not been able to get in to the fields. Here's to hoping the next 7 days or so of dry weather in the forecast are accurate! The first succession of most crops are now in the field. Garlic is starting to produce scapes. Photo: NH Melons are beginning to vine out. Photo: NH Asparagus  harvest continues but...

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewee: Yolanda Chen In  episode 26 of What's Killing My Kale ,  Natalie talked with Dr. Yolanda Chen, a professor at the University of Vermont. Yolanda has been studying Swede Midge on the East coast, where it has been a devastating disease of cole crops. In particular, her research has focused on organic management strategies.  In part 1 of this episode, we interviewed Angie Ambourn, supervisor of the MDA's pest detection unit, about recent Swede Midge sightings in Minnesota. We anticipate that this insect pest may move beyond community gardens to vegetable farms in the near future, so it's important for growers to be on the lookout, and to have some background in current research and management strategies.  Listen to part 1 here.  You can listen to and download the episode here.   What's Killing my Kale is also available on iTunes. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As alway...

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewee: Angie Ambourn In  episode 26 of What's Killing My Kale ,  Natalie talked with Angie Ambourn, supervisor of the MDA's pest detection unit. Angie's team has been studying emerging insects and diseases in community gardens across Minnesota, and they've recently detected Swede Midge in gardens across the Twin Cities. Swede Midge is an important pest of cole crops on the East Cost, and while has not yet caused economic damage on Minnesota farms, it's important for producers to keep an eye out and anticipate this insect pest in the years to come.  In part 2 of this episode, we interviewed Yolanda Chen from the University of Vermont about management strategies for organic farms. You can listen to and download the episode here .   What's Killing my Kale is also available on iTunes. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As always, reach out and let us know if there are any topics you...

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewees: Julie Weisenhorn and Nathan Hecht In  episode 25 of What's Killing My Kale ,  Natalie talked with Extension Educator Julie Weisenhorn, and recently graduated horticulture master's student Nathan Hecht. Both Julie and Nathan have been studying how flowering plants near fruit and vegetable plots impact pollination and fruit set. While we generally know that adding flowering plants to the landscape is good for pollinators and beneficial insects, we wanted to dig deeper and learn how much of an impact flowering plants can have, how to go about selecting the proper plants, and how the broader landscape impacts results. This is a longer episode, but it's packed with insight and good discussion.  You can listen to and download the episode here.   What's Killing my Kale is also available on iTunes. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As always, reach out and let us know if there are any topics ...

Corn earworm feeding. Photo: Hutchison Lab, University of Minnesota By Bill Hutchison, Professor and Extension Entomologist CEW adult, moth flights continue to be high near Blue Earth, and increased substantially this past week at Owatonna (now >70/night) and Rosemount (>175/night). As other crops continue to mature (e.g., tomato, peppers, green beans), late-planted or late-maturing sweet corn with fresh silks, will continue to be the #1 preferred host for CEW egg-lay.  Recent flights have been supported by several recent weather systems, moving warm air from southern states, our way. Although we have observed various levels of CEW resistance to pyrethroid insecticides (bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin) in recent years, our results so far this year have indicated good efficacy.  If you are not finding good/excellent control, consider one of the diamide options (e.g., Coragen). See the VegEdge CEW page for moth flight updates at all locations:  https://z...

If you have not yet checked out our new podcast on fruit and vegetable pest management, called " What's Killing My Kale ," this is a great time to give it a listen. It's easy - just click on the episode titles, and hear the recording out of your phone or computer. Japanese beetles enjoy a Marquette grapevine leaf near Red Wing, MN. Also pictured: Downy mildew.   Photo: Annie Klodd Despite the name, it's not just about kale. We release timely episodes on all kinds of pest topics, based on the insects, diseases, or weeds that are currently causing problems for Minnesota fruit and vegetable crops. The podcast is hosted by Annie Klodd and Natalie Hoidal . Each episode is an interview with an expert - either a researcher, farmer, or Extension educator - about the latest and most effective ways to manage that pest. Each episode can be found on the UMN FruitEdge website: https://www.fruitedge.umn.edu/kalepodcast This month's episodes included: Episode 1...

Authors: Anthony Hanson, Eric Burkness, & Bill Hutchison Have you seen corn borer or corn earworm this year? UMN Researchers give recommendations, and explain how they use flight data on European Corn Borer and Corn Earworm to help predict the risk of infestation. Fig. 1. European corn borer, ear feeding. European corn borer (ECB) , Ostrinia nubilalis , can cause damage to sweet corn by tunneling through the stalk, ear loss by shank feeding, and tunneling through the ear along with direct feeding on ear kernels (Fig. 1).  In most years, the primary concern is feeding damage within the ear, reducing marketability to both fresh-market and processing sweet corn. The multi-generation strain of ECB typically has two generations in Minnesota. Given the number of above-average temperatures this summer, we are at ~225 ECB degree-days (>50F) ahead of 2017, for many locations; as of July 31, >1500  degree-days have accumulated for southern, central and NW MN (F...