The wildly diverse members of the Cucurbitaceae family come from every corner of the world, but they have been in Southern gardens so long they feel like natives. They have 7 interbreeding and ever-changing species in 3 genera. The genus Cucurbita includes four of them. Cucurbita pepo is the pumpkin, which we know in many variations — the pumpkin, summer squash, cushaws, and gourds. C. maxima, C. mixta, and C. moshuta are true squash, although we know them as winter squash. The genus Cucumis includes cucumbers (C. sativus) and melons (C. melo). And the genus Citrullus includes only one species, C. vulgaris, the watermelon. Except for summer squash, all members of this family grow on vines. And they are so similar that, with just a few tweaks, they can be treated as a single vegetable. This family is thoroughly intolerant of frost; it requires rich, moist, light, warm, and clean soil. It’s members are plagued by beetles, squash borers, and soil-borne diseases that can be defeated only with good hygiene. As a defense against beetles, till the bed in the fall and again, if possible, after your first freeze, and rotate, rotate, rotate. If you find beetles on your plants, pick them off by hand; if you find clusters of red eggs on the undersides of leaves or just below the soil surface, rub them off. These clusters are squash borers, your nemesis. They are wasp eggs that are deposited in June and soon hatch as small white grubs that burrow into your plant stems and suck them fatally dry. I am still looking for an answer to this problem, but this year I intend to construct net tents over my plants to keep the wasps out. I will use wide-weave bridal netting on a tubular frame in hopes of allowing enough light and a... ... middle of paper ... ...inter squash on the vine until they are fully mature; they will not continue to ripen after they have been picked and although a light frost may shorten the fruit’s shelf life, it can enhance its taste. You will get the biggest yield by picking any ripe fruit before frost and leaving the rest in the field, covered with a cloth to protect it against the cold, until it is ripe. Store what you pick in a cool, dry place. Harvest winter squash only in dry weather. Cut the vine with a sharp knife, leaving 3 inches of stem attached to the fruit, and take care not to damage the fruit, since that would invite rot. Dry the squash in the sun until the stem has shriveled and turned grey; then put it in a 45° room with 60% humidity. It should keep for 5 months. The only exception is acorn squash. Do not dry it in the sun; store it a little cooler and a little damper.
The boll weevil’s primary food source are cotton plants, a crop that covered the southern plantations at the time. In the spring, when they emerge from hibernation, they puncture the cotton buds and lay their eggs inside ("What is a Boll Weevil?"). After about four days, the larvae are born. This is where most of the damage occurs. The larvae eat and destroy the cotton fibers("What is a Boll Weevil?"). The plant is plagued by these insects; they eat them until the cotton plant’s eventual death. The boll weevil season allows for man...
The fungus sclerotinia sclerotiorum over winters as sclerotia either in the soil or in stubble at the soil surface (Morton and Hall, 1989). If the weather (moisture and temperature) is favorable, small mushroom-like structures called apothecia will be produced on the sclerotia. Each sclerotia can several apothecia. Apothecia can produce millions of spores called ascospores. Ascospores will be released in air when the apothecia is mature. Some ascospores land on canola plants and infect dead canola tissues like fal...
In the 1880's a harmful fungus known as blight, inhabited the United States from imported Japanese chestnut trees. Blight quickly spread, killing chestnuts and chinquapins, which is another species of chestnut that produces 1 nut per bur. In 1904, Chestnut blight appeared infecting trees in New York City and spread at a rate of 20-50 miles per year. By 1906, W.A. Murrill reported that this disease is known to occur in New Jersey, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia. In 1912, the Planet Quarantine Act was passed to reduce the chances of plant deterioration or devastation prevention. Chestnut Blight or Chestnut Bark Disease was originally found in 1904 and within 50 years, it spread across the eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia and as far west as the edge of Michigan. By 1950, the American chestnut was essentially eliminated as a forest tree. In 1972, importation from Italy gave a biological control in which a virus helped prevent the blight f...
Cold Potato: that when the potato is cooled to 2-5 degrees the production of oxygen will be slowed as the catalase in the potato will become less active due to the molecules getting less kinetic temperature from the heat.
Wisconsin fast plants come from the Cruciferae plant family. They tend to have shorter life cycles. It took years of Dr. Williams breeding these plants to get it right, but now the 6 month life cycle is down to a 5 week life cycle. Wisconsin fast plants, also known as Brasica rapa plants, were bred as research tools. (H. Lauffer, D. Lauffer, Williams)
The potato famine of 1846 was one of the biggest natural disasters in Irish history. The “explosive disease” said William Fry, Ph.D., caused by Phytophtera infestans, is a condition that prevents growth and destroys the plant by disease. P. infestans is a fungus-like pathogen that infects and destroys the leaves, stems, potato seed and the potato itself, turning it black and slimy (Craig, 1998). The first signs of blight are when leaves get brown specks on them that start to get white, hairy growth around them (Damsker, n.d.). In addition, leaves and stems withered very quickly. This if followed by a terrible smell. It spreads as a spore and grows rapidly in moist, warm and humid conditions. Today, the blight disease still affects potato crops. However, an application of the plant fungicide, metalaxyl, or copper sulfate mixtures and pesticide will prevent and eliminate or, at least, decrease the possibility of its appearance (Daly, 1996). In fact, according to Gibbon’s article in 2013, the pathogen and its host of dried leaves ar...
Domesticated potatoes were once all belong to one botanical species, Solanum tuberosum; it included thousands of varieties that had diversity in size, shape, color and other characteristics. The potato was first domesticated in the South America Andes, then the Puritans who took Mayflower arrived the land and the First Nations taught them about potatoes. Then the sailors went back to Europe and people started to plant potatoes in Spain, England, France, and many other countries in Europe. Later, potatoes were spread into Africa by the colonists. The crop was once believe to be poisonous by the local farmers who refused to plant them. However, the colonists persuaded the farmers and introduced potatoes as a low-price and high-production crop in substitute of wheat and rice.
...ute of Food and Agricultural Sciences." Monroe County Extension Office – Solutions for Your Life - UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2011.
all be cut out of the potato using a cork borer and will all be cut to
The types of gardens I plant are flowers, vegetable, and herbs. There are plants that love to reside in the shade and plants that love the sun. One of the trendiest gardens to plant is the Salsa garden. The necessary vegetables these beds are the early girl tomato for their sweet, juicy taste, also added are tri-colored peppers, red, yellow and green. In keeping with tradition you need to add Jalapeño pepper to your garden for its bite of heat. Last but not least it’s the Cilantro that adds the authentic flavor to any Salsa.
... a “natural pesticide” against, in this situation wheat, the crop-killing bug. This is the advantage that family farms have.
Upon harvesting the bangus that are matured enough to be sold in the market, these will be placed in the ice box full of ice in order to ensure its freshness and to avoid spoilage.
In winter, it's not only the heat of the oven that feels so good. It is also a great choice to have a warm food during this season. In some traditions, like the tradition of Oriental medicine, warming foods include foods that take longer to grow. These winter foods include most crop vegetables and most cruciferous vegetables. Compared with leafy vegetables that tends to grow much more rapidly, these root vegetables and crucifers make excellent winter choices. However, we don't need Oriental medicine to tell us about the warming properties of
Sweet potatoes are a vegetable in the Convolvulaceae family, signifying that it is a vine, funnel shaped flower, and bisexual plant. Its botanical name is Ipomoea batatas. Sweet potatoes are also assimilated with “yams” in the United States; this is because of its orange-flesh. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013)
In parts of the Southern United States, the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), often can be observed infesting grain sorghum that was planted later than normal. The infestations occur during the vegetative stages of development (Gardner et. al 1983). In North and South America, the fall armyworm is highly distributed (Sparks 1979). In crops such as cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), corn, (Zea mays), and many pasture grasses, it is considered an important pest and often needs to be controlled. Infestation during mid to late whorl stages can reduce grain yield, increase tillering, and decrease plant height (Henderson et al. 1966). Feeding injury fr...