This week, our Strawberry Webinar Series continues with a presentation on managing cold events. There is also a Fall Farm Safety Day for Women on 10/4 and a Waste Pesticide Collection Event happening 10/7 in York. Don’t miss these events!
Check out upcoming meetings on the Upcoming Events tab, and don’t forget to look at our Resources tab for links to crop handbooks, helpful websites, and related blogs. Also, check out the latest episode of the SC Grower Exchange Podcast.
Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see this week’s Question of the Week, and check back on Thursday for the answer.
Coastal Region
Zack Snipes
- I’m scared to mention the word “fall,” but lately its felt a little like…fall. I hope we planted enough pumpkins for all the pumpkin spice lattes going out in the next few weeks.
- Fall festivals on-farm have opened and are in full swing. Corn, sunnhemp, and sorghum mazes are open to the public as well as pumpkin patches.
- Nighttime temperatures have been in the low 60’s which has really made the cooler season crops take off.
- Brassicas look great but there has been an uptick in our nemesis the diamondback moth. I have also seen a good many whiteflies in brassica this fall. Any group 28 insecticide (Coragen, Harvanta, and others) used for caterpillar management will also take care of the whiteflies.
- Strawberry planting is just a few weeks away for us on the coast. Make sure to get down 60 units of nitrogen, 60 units of phosphorous, and up to 120 units of potassium. Getting this fertility out now will pay dividends in the spring.
Midlands
Sarah Scott
- Cooler night temperatures are causing some crops, such as squash and tomatoes, to ripen slower than we’d like. Hopefully, the warmer temperatures this week will push them before the next cold snap.
- Brassica crops are doing well with the exception of some diamondback pressure.
- Growers began receiving strawberries last week and have started planting in fields.
Upstate
Andy Rollins
- Grape/muscadine production is slowing down especially for black muscadine varieties. We’re picking primarily bronze pollinators at this point. I am seeing what looks like Xylella (Pierce’s disease) giving a scorch-type symptom on the leaves. Dr. Libby Cieniewicz has a grad student taking samples from multiple crops, investigating transfer of this disease to and from other crops. She has taken samples from 3 upstate farms that grow types of multiple small fruit.
- Some growers are preparing ground for peaches to go in early next year. They are taking nematode samples to help decide if they will need to fumigate before planting.
- Pumpkins are being harvested at multiple locations across the Upstate. Fall festivities, like corn mazes, will be opening soon, if they haven’t already.
Question of the Week
What is causing the light colored discoloration on these zucchini plants?
Answer in the comments below and check back on Thursday to see the answer.
The South Carolina Grower 