Small Fruit News
The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium posts articles and sends the SMALL FRUIT NEWS to subscribers four times annually.
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Juliana S. Baggio and Natalia A. Peres, UF/IFAS-Gulf Coast Research and Education Center If you grow strawberry or are somehow related to the strawberry industry, you must have heard about a new emerging disease, Pestalotia leaf spot and fruit rot, caused by the fungus Neopestalotiopsis sp. The taxonomy of this pathogen is confusing because it…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Kenneth Buck, University of Arkansas; Margaret Worthington, University of Arkansas; and Patrick Conner, University of Georgia Rooting muscadines from hardwood cuttings is generally viewed as a difficult, if not impossible, task. The majority of the literature on the topic is from the first half of the 20th century, and even the more recent studies from…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Haley Williams and Dr. Eric Stafne, Mississippi State University Decades of development followed the grape research that was initiated by the United States Department of Agriculture in Meridian, Mississippi in 1937. Eventually this research led to the release of a new grape cultivar from Mississippi State University in 1981. That new cultivar was ‘MidSouth’: a…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Pragya Chalise and Douglas G. Pfeiffer, Dept. Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA While working on your grapevines or small fruit crops, you may come across small, white slow-moving insects. These are mealybugs, named for the white powdery secretions covering their bodies. They occur in perennial crops including grapevines and deciduous fruit crops. They use their…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Kayla Knepp, Masters Graduate Student, University of Arkansas Weed management continues to be a major issue in blackberries. With increasing acres being dedicated to blackberry production there is a growing need to find more tools to combat the timeless issues of weeds. New plantings are particularly sensitive to weed competition and can quickly become overgrown.…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Ioannis Tzanetakis, Professor/Director of the Arkansas Clean Plant Center, University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture Viruses can be a menace to berry crops. A single breeding selection or mother plant can easily be propagated to millions of daughter plants, and if the mother plant is infected, all daughter plants will also be infected. An…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Professor Emeritus and Assistant Professor, Small Fruit Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University, and Jayesh Samtani, Assistant Professor, Small Fruit Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech October 2021 Planting Check plants for possible biological (insects and diseases) and physiological (nutrient) disorders prior to planting and treat appropriately. Consult your extension agent if plants appear unhealthy. Get diagnosis…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Gina Fernandez, Small Fruit Specialist, North Carolina State University Fall 2021 Plant growth and development Primocanes continue to grow but growth rate is slower Flower buds start to form in leaf axils on summer-fruiting types Carbohydrates and nutrients in canes begin to move into the roots Primocane fruiting types begin to flower in late summer/early…
Posted in: Fall 2021 -
Dr. Ron Strahan (Associate Professor, LSU Extension Weed Specialist), David Sexton (LSU Extension Research Associate Specialist), Stuart Gauthier (County Agent/Regional Horticulture Agent, LSU AgCenter) Weed management continues to be one of the major issues facing blackberry growers in Louisiana. Grower concerns prompted LSU AgCenter, Weed Scientist Dr. Ron Strahan and St. Martin Parish County Agent,…
Posted in: Summer 2021 -
Barclay Poling (ret.) and Mark Hoffmann, NC State University JULY Make key decisions about varieties and plant types for next season. Order your plants!! Remember, tips need to arrive 4-6 weeks prior to planting. Other immediate field operations: remove and recycle plastic – some growers use tobacco balers to compress the plastic before it goes…
Posted in: Summer 2021