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Some Vineyard Tasks to Prepare for Winter

Eric T. Stafne, Extension and Research Professor, Mississippi State University Fall is coming soon, and winter is just around the corner. With the cold temperatures coming, it is important that grapevines are prepared. Irrigation should be stopped in September to allow plants to acclimate to the lower light conditions and…
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Provide Feedback to The Southern Fruitcast Podcast

Southern Fruitcast

Dr. Aaron Cato, IPM Specialist, University of Arkansas The Southern Fruitcast is hosted by Aaron Cato and Amanda McWhirt, extension IPM and production specialists for fruits and vegetables at the University of Arkansas. This podcast aims to cover the people, technology and latest developments in small fruit production in the…
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Assessment of Pierce’s Disease Resistant Predominantly European Grape in Alabama

Dr. Elina Coneva, Fruit Crops Extension Specialist and W. A. Jr. & C. Dozier Endowed Professor, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University Studies to establish the feasibility of growing Pierce’s Disease (PD) resistant, predominantly European grape hybrids are ongoing at Auburn University, Alabama since 2010 https://www.asevcatalyst.org/content/early/2020/07/06/catalyst.2020.19008. We have evaluated advanced selections with early-, mid-, and late season of ripening trained…
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Top-Performing Arkansas Blackberry Receives Horticultural Science Group’s Outstanding Fruit Cultivar Award

Ouachita a 2003 release from Division of Agriculture fruit breeding program  By Fred Miller – July 28, 2020  Ouachita blackberry, a 2003 thornless variety from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, received the Outstanding Fruit Cultivar Award from the Fruit Breeding Professional Interest Group of the American Society of Horticultural Science. …
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UGA releases new muscadine cultivar ‘RubyCrisp’.

Patrick Conner, University of Georgia – Tifton Campus  ‘RubyCrisp’ is a new muscadine cultivar released from the University of Georgia muscadine breeding program. ‘RubyCrisp’ was selected from a cross of ‘Supreme’x‘Tara’ and was tested as Ga 8-1-338 in replicated trials in Tifton, GA. Single vine replicates were planted in randomized order…
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Establishing the Arkansas Quality Wine (AQW) Program

Renee Threlfall, Research Scientist, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture  The Arkansas Quality Wine program, or AQW, will set quality standards for Arkansas-made wine, provide professional development for growers and winemakers and entice consumers to taste Arkansas wines. The program will be established in the fall of 2020 as…
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The IR-4 Project: Quietly Making Pest Management Possible

Tim McCoy, Extension Associate with the Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs and Virginia State Liaison to the IR-4 Project More than 40% of your daily consumption comes from crops that are deemed by the USDA to be “minor” or “specialty” crops. These commodities are only minor in comparison to the major crop groups like corn, soybean, cotton,…
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Post-harvest insect pest management in small fruit crops

Douglas G. Pfeiffer, Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech   When the fruit are in, it is easy to think about putting the sprayer away.  But sometimes there are insect issues that can be addressed in post-harvest, fall or winter periods.  Let’s take up a few now.  Grape  In general, it is advisable…
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Our Continuing Search for Better Strawberry Varieties

E. Barclay Poling, Professor Emeritus, NC State & Master Licensee for Lassen Canyon Strawberry Nursery; and Whit Jones, Extension Agent (retired), Duplin County & Farm Manager, Cottle Strawberry Nursery  In this paper, we wish to simply report our findings from a strawberry variety and advanced selection trial at a location in Eastern, NC…
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Impact of Fall Cold Injury to Strawberry Crowns on Spring Yield

Amanda McWhirt, Horticulture Specialist, University of Arkansas  In early November of 2019 a cold front moved across the Southeast on Veterans day, and brought drops in temperature of 40-50°F across the state of Arkansas. Lows temperatures dipped to 13-14 °F statewide on Tuesday November 12th, 2019 and in some cases…
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