New cultivars, pesticide treatments and beneficial insects are proving to be invaluable tools for commercial vegetable growers, but best management practices, both in the field and in the greenhouse/high tunnel, remain a producer’s strong defense system against plant diseases. Penn State vegetable d...

In 2008, Ray Tuegel and Cheryl Ferguson were commuting back and forth between Albuquerque, NM and Cheryl’s family farm in North Carolina. They hadn’t intended to become farmers, but Cheryl’s father had always encouraged her to come back to the former tobacco and cattle farm. The farm has been in Che...

Age truly is a number for Patricia Rickard, 76, a Baldwinsville, NY resident whose contemporaries are mostly retired. She tried that once. She operated Korros, which taught performing arts to children with hearing impairment. But as her encore career, she founded PAR Horticulture Consulting Business...

Plant diseases are caused by three categories of pathogens. Ranked in the order of prevalence, these disease-causing agents are: fungi, bacteria and viruses. “Fungicides may be able to stop or slow down some of the fungi, but there are just too many to defeat totally,” Dr. Daniel Egel, Extension Pla...

“A high tunnel is an irrigated desert,” opened Bruce Hoskins of the University of Maine. He continued by describing a common problem faced by high tunnel growers of salt and nutrient build-up in upper soil layers. Hoskins presented several ways to minimize build-ups and to mitigate problem sites in ...

Tomatoes are a big draw at farmers markets and every year, growers aim for a crop that delivers what customers want. Lori Hoagland, of Purdue University, says that while the demand for organic produce is rising, growers face challenges in terms of meeting consumer expectations for produce that diffe...

Peppers are highly susceptible to infection from Phytophthora capsici, a fungal-like pathogen, as are cucurbits such as watermelon, squash and cucumbers. The disease spreads rapidly in wet conditions, particularly if there is free moisture available, which allows the reproductive zoospores to swim t...

Maximizing tomato yield is a subject that many tomato growers would be eager to learn about, especially when increased yields can mean increased profits. It is known that letting tomato vines sprawl on the ground with no support yields the most fruit per plant. But many tomatoes succumb to fruit rot...

It may be winter, but keeping cool should be on the mind of orchardists. Sunburn or sunscald on apples, pears, plums and other tree fruits causes changes internally, in the cells of the fruit, resulting in damage which goes deeper than any cosmetic symptoms. There are several types of sunburn condit...