Weekly Field Update – 10/30/23

The final installment of the Strawberry Webinar Series will be available until next Monday (11/6). Don’t miss this presentation about managing cold events.

NC State University is looking for cucumber growers to participate in a survey about experiences with common cucumber diseases and growers’ opinions about cucumber plant characteristics. The aim of this study is to inform plant breeders, growers’ associations, the USDA, and others about what matters to growers like you in choosing which varieties to grow. Access the survey here.

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

•  We are very dry in the Lowcounty and could really use a good rain to water our strawberries in. No mention of rain in the 10-day forecast unfortunately.
• We are finishing up planting our strawberries with pretty good weather to help them grow a bit. The lab has confirmed Phytophthora in our plugs. Growers need to consider using an oomycete specific product such as Ridomil Gold, Orondis Gold, or one of the Phosphonate products (ProPhyte, Aliette, etc) to help manage this disease. Plants need to be actively growing and “set” before these products are applied.

Midlands

Rob Last

• Crops in the Midlands look very good with good growth and a range of products coming to market.
• Pest and disease pressure remains low, but continue to scout regularly as populations can quickly spike.
• I am observing low numbers of diamondback moth caterpillars in some fields, which are not currently widespread.
• The strawberry establishment looks promising at present with few issues.

Phillip Carnley

• Leafy greens are being harvested with great quality and quantity. There has been less feeding damage from diamondback caterpillar and an increase in looper and yellow striped army worm feeding. I have also seen a little bit of cutworm damage to fields that were transplanted late. Disease pressure has been very low with the main culprits being blackrot and a very minimal amount of downy mildew. 
• Strawberries are being quite slow to take root in parts of the Midlands. Most plants have been in the ground now for 1 to 2 weeks. During this time, soil moisture is critical and should be monitored frequently so transplants don’t dry out. If a preplant dip was not done, monitor plants closely for any signs of phytophthora or anthracnose, as well as any planting discrepancies like J-rooting or planting depth. Deer pressure and browsing are on the rise, so make sure to take adequate steps to keep them out.  
• Squash are still hanging on, but with increased disease pressure from powdery mildew and the occasional out break of downy mildew. These plantings are on their last leg and are recommended to be terminated. 

Upstate

Andy Rollins

• Stinger is a selective post-emergent herbicide often used on strawberry. It’s active ingredient is clopyralid. Many use it for controlling vetch. It has other weeds it controls, but many of them need to be controlled at a very early stage. You have to be careful with this herbicide as it can hurt your plants if not applied correctly. Please do not spray this product with anything else in the tank. This would include fungicides, insecticide, and definitely no surfactant. Also make sure your sprayer is calibrated. Using a rate a little bit more than the labeled rate can be a major problem. Maybe even consider applying it below the labeled rate until you know you won’t cause damage. I am saying this because even when applied correctly, this product can cause the symptoms shown below. These plants should recover, but most growers really don’t want to see this. In the past, I have seen an accidental 2x application of this product stunt the crop so badly that some plants died and none produced anywhere near where they should have.  Stinger is a good herbicide, it just needs to be applied correctly.  

Question of the Week

What is this weed that is starting to show now up in vegetable fields?

Answer in the comments below and check back on Thursday to see the answer.