Tomato / Pepper / Eggplant

Transcription

1 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO Michigan Greenhouse Growers EXPO December 5-7, 2017 DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI Tomato / Pepper / Eggplant Where: Grand Gallery (main level) Room A & B MI Recertification credits: 2 (1B, COMM CORE, PRIV CORE) OH Recertification credits: 1.5 (presentations as marked) CCA Credits: PM(2.0) Moderator: Ron Goldy, Senior Vegetable Educator, MSU Extension, Benton Harbor, MI 9:00 am Fungicides: The Pollination Paradox (OH: CORE, 0.5 hr) Jackie Albert, Entomology Dept., MSU Meghan Milbrath, Entomology Dept., MSU 9:30 am Upping the Game: Strategies to Improve the Efficacy of Pre-Plant Soil Fumigants (OH: 2F, 0.5 hr) Gary Vallad, Plant Pathology Dept., Univ. of Florida 10:00 am Integrated Bacterial Spot Management, A Florida Perspective (OH: 2B, 0.5 hr) Gary Vallad, Plant Pathology Dept., Univ. of Florida 10:30 am ABA and Height Control in Pepper Transplants Chris Gunter, Horticultural Science Dept., North Carolina State Univ. 11:00 am Session Ends

2 Chris Gunter Horticultural Science NCSU Chris Gunter Horticultural Science NCSU Crop Diversity Why Transplants? Earliness Uniformity Growth Control Holding until conditions are right Better stands Overall fit in your operation Economics based on acreage Management skill Time Infrastructure High level of Management and Resources COMMERCIAL TRANSPLANT PRODUCER Market? Legal responsibility for crop failure? Either? GROWN FOR ON FARM USE Seed cost/availability? Replants if crops fails? Both? 1

3 Water Less but more frequent Fertility Lower Temperature DIF Brushing By hand or Fans Chemical Control Air Distribution Bottom Heat Floors, Mats Germination Rooms Note: all may stress plant and result in delayed yield, yield loss, rough fruit Plastic Polystyrene (Styrofoam) Polystyrene (pyramid shaped/tapered Cells) cells per tray Ex. 1.5 cells = 128 cells per tray 2.5 cells = 72 cells per tray Plastic Flats Many sizes and cell shapes/configurations Note: Large cell volume = larger root volume Less stress (water and nutrients) Reduced Transplant Shock SMALLER CELLS Cabbage Broccoli Cauliflower Collard Kale Lettuce LARGER CELLS Tomato Pepper Watermelon Muskmelon Cucumber Squash Treat seed to prevent bacterial leaf spot Use disease free transplants Production cycle is 6-8 weeks at 75/65F 2

4 Commercial Soilless Mix Free of insects, pathogens, weed seeds Designed for Seeds Fine particle size Good drainage Good aeration Nutrients Premixed or Grower Added Know what you are using! Maintain adequate moisture Avoid Oversaturation Charged media lasts about 2 weeks Ex ppm N (daily vs. weekly appl s) Watch for over application Ammoniacal form Spindly or leggy growth (light, water also) Few products labeled and limited crops Ex. Sumagic (uniconizol) from Valent BioScience Carefully label directions Rates are ml per gallon precision counts! Transplants are Leggy Deep transplanting possible Prevents stem damage from WIND and ABRAISION Gain experience with small areas 3

5 11/24/17 Two Studies Done in Our Lab Tall and leggy pepper transplant Crushing, cutting Different pepper types responded differently to ABA treatment Multiple applications initiated at the cotyledon stage reduced transplant height of Aristotle bell pepper seedlings Plants that received an early application tended to be shorter than those receiving a later application GREENHOUSE LAYOUT DRENCH APPLICATION 4

6 Grafting tomato A new tool in the toolbox Disease Resistance Edaphic Stress Tolerance Water, Temperature, Nutrition Rootstock characterization Our strategy Future rootstock development Develop, screen, and characterize rootstocks for abiotic stress tolerance Evaluate current rootstock varieties for performance in NC production systems Rootstock Characterization Differentiation potential How does it translate this to the farm! Beaufort: Low average root diameter Short total root length High specific root length Cherokee Purple Non-grafted Cherokee Purple Beaufort Cherokee Purple Shield Shield: High average root diameter Long total root length Low specific root length (Suchoff et al., 2017) Peregrine Farm Alex and Betsy Hitt Jennie Rasmussen Normal: 3hrs every other day Reduced: 1.5hrs every other day vegetables.ces.ncsu.edu/ 5