This manual is intended to help small greenhouse tomato growers in Louisiana and elsewhere grow a successful crop using perlite or pine bark medium. Small growers can produce vine-ripened, high-quality fruit that can be delivered to the local market on the same day of harvest.

Knowing what is in your soil and what it needs is a basic and first step to a good crop and plant health. This off-season time is a good time to get this information and find the products you will require.

The chemical analysis of a soil sample has been worked out and calibrated so that the numbers reported mean something useful to the client. However, the results are only as good as the sample is representative of the area and crop’s root zone.

Farming of exotic mushrooms offers another opportunity to add to farm cash flow or supplemental income. It is also popular among home gardeners and organic farmers. Shiitake (pronounced she ta key) is the most popular of the exotics. This publication includes information on the fruiting, harvesting, pest problems, and cost and returns for shiitake mushrooms.

Good marketing is the process of fulfilling the objectives of both the buyer and the seller. The factors you have some control over are the 4 Ps of product, price, placement and promotion. Here are some tips to help you tune up your produce marketing plan.

Greenhouse tomatoes are about a $2.2 million business in Louisiana, assuming growers can sell what they produce for a profit. Learn the secrets of turning a profit from your tomatoes.

This guide for 2009 contains suggestions for management of the most important or more prevalent diseases of Louisiana plants. It includes information on fungicides, bactericides and nematicides, as well as safety precautions for using them.

Number of seeds/pound, seeding rate/acre, spacing, planting dates, optimum soil temperature range for germination, depth to plant seed, days to germinate, days from planting to harvest begins, approximate time from pollination to market and recommended varieties included. Revised May 2009.

2008 farm value of greenhouse vegetables in Louisiana.

A simple but accurate way of checking the output of your sprayer is the H 128 method of sprayer calibration.

Acidic soils (low pH) cause more gardening problems in Louisiana than any other soil factor. They affect so many other soil factors in both pest management and soil fertility.

2008 farm value of greenhouse vegetables in Louisiana.

This publication includes information on soil preparation, fertilization, training, pruning, nutrient solutions, pollination, harvesting, marketing, and insect and disease control for greenhouse tomatoes.

BOSSIER CITY – Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse may be less costly in the future.Dr. H.Y. Hanna, an LSU AgCenter scientist working at the Red River Research Station in Bossier City, is studying how spacing between bags that hold the plants affects the amount of heat required to produce tomatoes in greenhouses.

Community Supported Agriculture is an alternative marketing method for commercial vegetable growers. Growers sell a share of their anticipated harvest directly to consumers and deliver an agreed-upon portion of their crops to subscribers throughout the season.

Downy mildew is a potentially devastating disease of all cucurbits. Disease symptoms, development, control measures and color photographs of symptoms on pumpkin, cucumber and watermelon are included.

Before Command herbicide was labeled for sweet potato production, Louisiana sweet potato growers faced numerous weeds such as annual grasses, cocklebur, morningglory and prickly sida.

LSU AgCenter experts at its Red River Research Station gave greenhouse tomato growers some new ideas to save money and boost production at a recent field day (Feb. 24).

LSU AgCenter experts say soil contamination in Jefferson and Orleans parishes from flooding after this summer’s hurricanes may not be as serious as originally feared. Initial results of tests conducted in October indicate no need for special preparations to the soils prior to planting and that there should be no danger for individuals digging or planting in the soil.