Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates

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Clemson Extension agents provide updates in the The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state.

Weekly Field Update

This will be the final update of 2020. We will pick back up on Jan. 4, 2021. Be sure to keep an eye on the upcoming events tab give us a call if you need anything. Happy Holidays from the SC Grower team!

Coastal

Zack Snipes reports, “A chilly week in the Lowcountry took out or really slowed down some of our fruiting crops like pepper, tomato, and cukes.  The brassicas and strawberries are loving this weather. One thing I have noticed lately is lots of worm damage on brassica. After talking to many growers, I hear that many are not using adjuvants in their spray tanks.  Adjuvants can help your pesticides work better. A common one I would recommend on brassica crops is the use of a spreader-sticker. Brassica crops have a waxy leaf which repels water. The use of a spreader-sticker will help stick the pesticide droplet to your leaf and the spreader will help reduce surface tension so that the droplets spreads out on your leaf. You will be amazed at how much better coverage you will get with a spreader-sticker and how much better your pesticide will work (organic or conventional pesticide). Adjuvants are cheap, so consider adding some to your tank today.  For more on adjuvants and spray tips, join us on Tuesday night from 6-8 pm for the Organic/Sustainable Farm Meeting via Zoom. The registration link can be found here.

Many crops have a waxy surface that cause pesticide mixtures to bead up on the plant.  The use of a spreader-sticker would have helped these pesticide droplets spread out and stick to the leaf which helps overall efficacy of your product. Photo from Zack Snipes.

Midlands

Justin Ballew reports, “We had two nights last week where temperatures dipped below freezing. After a long fall growing season, the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash are done. Now, growers will be focusing on strawberries, greens and herbs. Strawberries in some fields had developed blooms as a result of the late warm weather. Now that the cold has killed them, it will be important to sanitize them before the spring, as dead blooms can become a significant source of grey mold inoculum. As always, don’t let up on scouting for caterpillars in greens.”

Due to a warm fall, several strawberry fields have developed some early blooms that have been/will be killed by the cold. Be sure to sanitize these blooms to keep grey mold from having dead tissue to develop on. Photo from Justin Ballew.
As the cold weather has finished off other fall crops, growers will be focusing more on greens now. This mustard is off to a great start. Photo from Justin Ballew.

Sarah Scott reports, “Brassicas are being harvested. Pest pressure is relatively high this season, including aphids and diamondback months. Peach fields are being prepped for new plantings. In areas where armillaria root rot has been an issue in past crops,  growers will use a plow to create burms to plant trees on. Rain has slowed plowing down but there is a dry forecast for the next 7 days.”