Coastal
Zack Snipes reports, “The horticulture team got the opportunity to tour some really nice greenhouse/transplant providers last week. One point I’d like to bring up is transplant quality. Yes, quality transplants cost more upfront but healthy, quick-growing plants will help you recoup your investment. I see lots and lots of subpar transplants going into fields that come from transplant providers with disease and insect issues from the start. The plants will require more attention and cost more to fertilize and spray than healthy plants from the start. We also got to see some grafted tomato and melon plants. If you have been having trouble with a particular disease, cultivar, or area within your farm then grafted transplants may be an option for you. I have seen several farms in the past few years switch to using grafted plants and they are loving the results. Again they cost more but they are less likely to die with a full fruit load in late May.”
Midlands
Justin Ballew reports, “We had a little break in the rain over the weekend. Hopefully, strawberry growers have taken advantage of that to sanitize the fields and get a fungicide application out. Conditions have been perfect for Botrytis development (lots of moisture and temps in the 60’s) and we are seeing a ton of it. The MyIPM app is a great resource for determining which fungicides to include in your rotation. There are a few fruit out there that are ripening up, but they’re ugly and don’t taste great yet. This will improve with time as long as pollination is good and we get some sunny days. Keep in mind it’s still very early in the season. Start taking tissue samples now to make sure we get the fertigation right.”
Sarah Scott reports, “Recent rains have caused a lot of erosion issues in orchards, especially those with trees planted on berms. With more heavy rain in this week’s forecast, farmers should focus on problem areas and consider erosion control methods such as coconut coir logs to help slow the movement of water through the orchard. Peach trees are progressing quickly but it is still too early to make predictions about this year’s crop.”
Pee Dee
Tony Melton reports, “Farmers are hurrying to get greens/cabbage/collards planted before the rain this week. Also, getting sweet potato beds in for transplant production. Growers are fumigating fields for tomatoes, peppers, and other summer vegetables.”
Upstate
Kerrie Roach reports, “Last week several S.C. agents toured two different grafting/vegetable transplant production operations in WNC. Grafting can translate some great resistance/tolerance traits to otherwise susceptible varieties of tomatoes we commonly plant in small scale production. Check with your agent to see if grafted tomato plants might benefit your operation. Meanwhile, in the upstate, it didn’t rain for a few days and growers have finally been able to get into the field to prep and plant some early crops. Temperatures have been typical for this time of the year. Hang tight because more rain is forecasted for this week!
The South Carolina Grower 