Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Figs are one of our more easy-to-grow fruit plants, although at this time of year, leaf diseases are often observed.
Most of our blackberry and blueberry plants have finished fruiting, so it’s time to think about pruning them and making a final fertilizer application.
Plants injured by synthetic auxin herbicides often exhibit distortion of leaves and other plant parts.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
The LSU AgCenter will hold a meeting for commercial strawberry growers.
Several types of insects make highly noticeable webs in trees.
There are websites that can help you find local produce.
There are vegetables that tolerate hot weather.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Sweet corn can be planted earlier than many other warm-season vegetables.
Apple trees are usually trained in the central leader form.
Apple varieties recommended for the Florida Parishes area of Louisiana include Anna, Dorsett Golden, and Ein Shemer.
Black flies, or buffalo gnats, are a major nusiance in the Feliciana parishes in spring.
The LSU AgCenter will hold an Agritourism Education Meeting for people involved or interested in agritourism.
Information on how to grow potatoes in the home garden.
If you wait until March or April to plant a vegetable garden, you will have missed the window for planting some of our cool-season veggies.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Chinese privet is, unfortunately, a common plant in the southeastern US.
A primary criterion for choosing pecan varieties for yards and home orchards is resistance to pecan scab.
This meeting will be held from 6:00 to 8:15 PM on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at the LSU AgCenter’s Washington Parish office (1104-B Bene St., Franklinton).
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
The sweet potato production cycle begins when sweet potatoes from the previous harvest season are planted in the spring, to produce slips for transplanting.
The forest products industry contributes to each parish economy in several ways, including jobs, wages and purchases in the local economies.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Muscadines are well-adapted to our climate.
After planting, the first several weeks are the most important for weed control.
Herbicides, tillage, blocking light from reaching the soil for a sufficiently long time, or a combination of these can be used to kill weeds before planting.
Some heat-tolerant vegetables can still be planted, and it won’t be long before it’s time to plant many cool-season crops.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Many of our cool-season vegetables can be planted in September and October.
Herbicides are important tools in some cases, but they should not be relied upon alone to manage weed problems.
It was a bad year for blueberry production, but it was a good year for learning what varieties are more likely to produce in spite of late freezes.
This spring has brought a lot of questions about blossom end rot and bacterial wilt.
May or June beetles feed on many species of plants.
The LSU AgCenter will hold a meeting for commercial strawberry growers from 9 AM till noon on Thursday, July 27, 2023.
Deer have poor depth perception, and some fence designs take advantage of that.
Southern peas or cowpeas can tolerate the hottest parts of our summers and can be planted between April and early August.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Contour maps based on numbers of chill hours received between October 1 and February 28, over a 30-year period, are available.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
A client contacted me recently about a problem in a turnip field. It wasn’t clear what the primary issue was in the photos, so I made a visit to the field.
“Chewers,” or insects that make holes of various sizes in various plant parts, include caterpillars and beetles.
This meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 6:00 PM to 8:20 PM, at the LSU AgCenter’s Washington Parish office (1104-B Bene St., Franklinton).
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
When aphids have been on a plant, we often see skins (the exoskeletons they shed as they molt) and aphid “mummies,” or parasitized aphid bodies.
If you plan to save seed from your own plants to use in the future, there are a few things to know.
The second half of October is a good time to plant strawberries in our area.
Many of our “root” vegetables are cool-season crops.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Tables summarize efficacy ratings, use rates, allowed numbers of applications, and other basic information about these products.
Wilting tomatoes are a common complaint. There are several possible causes.
Our growing season is long enough that we can prune blueberries soon after harvest, and the plants will have time to set flower buds for the next year.
There's a variety of reasons that this can occur.
The LSU AgCenter will offer a blueberry pruning demonstration at the Hammond Research Station at 9:00 AM on Friday, July 8, 2022.
Fire ant treatment options are similar to those for other locations, but only insecticides labeled for use around vegetables should be used.
Injury caused by piercing-sucking and rasping-sucking insects often appears as distortion or stippling.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
On February 22, a strawberry grower in Tangipahoa Parish brought my attention to a field of ‘Florida Brilliance’ plants where some collapse was occurring.
Fruit trees and bushes can be grown in containers on a variety of sunny sites.
"Warm season” vegetables differ regarding the times of year and temperatures at which they’re best planted.
LSU had a fig breeding program that began in the 1950s.
Figs are among the easier-to-grow tree fruits for southern Louisiana and can be enjoyed fresh, dried, or in preserves.
If you’ve been thinking of planting a new citrus tree or have an older one that needs to be fertilized, February is a time to do these things.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Within the past 30-plus years, plant breeders have released blackberry varieties that lack thorns, have an upright growth habit, and produce large fruit.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
The blueberry varieties that have traditionally been planted in the Deep South are rabbiteye blueberries, with good reason.
Garlic and most types of bulb-forming onions need to be exposed to cool temperatures followed by longer days to form bulbs of the desired sizes.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Greens such as turnips, mustards, collards, and kale can be planted from mid-July through early November and again from late January through early May.
The first half of October is a good time to plant a winter cover crop in Louisiana.
Like we do, plants need certain nutrients to live. It’s important that they have enough of each essential element but not an excessive amount of any one.
Plants often need supplemental nitrogen, in addition to what they would naturally be able to obtain from the soil, for optimal growth.
Complete fertilizers provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and are often useful. Sometimes, though, separate phosphorus and potassium sources are needed.
This article rounds out our discussion of macronutrients, or elements that plants contain in relatively large concentrations.
In most cases, micronutrient quantities naturally available in soil are sufficient, but there are situations in which micronutrient fertilization is needed.
Hot temperatures restrict planting dates for some vegetables, but there are still quite a few vegetables that can be planted now and in the coming weeks.
Fire blight is a common problem of pears and apples and is sometimes seen on mayhaws, loquats, and other plants in the rose family.
A soil test is needed to know what your soil’s pH is and how much, if any, lime or sulfur is needed.
Tips on staking plants, removing suckers, and avoiding blossom end rot, leaf diseases, and caterpillar damage.
Some of the most important steps in disease management must be taken before planting.
The snap bean is another warm-season vegetable that can be planted relatively early in the year.
If you’ve been thinking of planting a new citrus tree or have an older one that needs to be pruned or fertilized, February is a time to do these things.
Muscadines fruit on shoots that come from the previous season’s growth.
Mushrooms of Armillaria and Desarmillaria fungi, which cause root rot on a number of woody plants, often appear in the fall.