Warm weather and longer days mark the beginning of the field season for the Meadow’s lab. We have tomato and pepper transplants in the greenhouse waiting to be transplanted into the field over the next several weeks. Our field research this year will be taking place at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville, NC and at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, NC.
As is usually the focus of our field research, the majority of our trials this summer are to evaluate pesticide spray programs for the control of vegetable diseases.
This year’s disease trials will evaluate spray programs for the management of:
- Bacterial spot of tomato and pepper
- Phytophthora blight of pepper
- Gray leaf spot of tomato
- Late blight of tomato
- Early blight of tomato
- Septoria leaf spot of tomato
- Cucurbit Downy Mildew
Additionally, we are repeating our 2020 trial comparing the yield of two tomato scions (Mountain Gem and Jolene) grafted onto three different tomato rootstocks or non-grafted, and either pruned or not. Results from this trial will be combined with last year’s results and will be incorporated into a budget analysis. Results from this project will be included in an Extension publication, which will help growers make decisions on which plants and horticultural practices are the best option for them.
We are also collaborating with several labs at NC State to conduct on-farm trials assessing the use of fumigants to manage Verticillium wilt of tomato, root-knot nematodes, and weed populations.
We are excited to begin our busy season, and you can expect periodical updates regarding the progress of our research. If you would like more information regarding our research, please refer to the Contact Us section of our website.
