Pumpkins/Squash
Tips for pumpkin management in final stretch
We are in the final stretch of the pumpkin season in Michigan. Vines are dying down and cutting has begun. At this point, growers are discovering just how well their growing season management practices paid... more »
New method could quash squash pests
Florida grows more zucchini squash than anywhere else in America – to the tune of $70 million a year. To help improve production, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are developing... more »
UGA researchers fight fruit disease with naturally occurring bacteria
Georgia farmers struggle to control bacterial fruit blotch (BFB), but University of Georgia plant pathologists have discovered that naturally occurring bacteria can combat the disease. The disease initially devastated watermelon crops in the 1980s. It... more »
MSU Extension releases butternut squash cereal rye cover crop trial results
A Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development funded a one-year cover cropping trial in butternut squash. The trial was planted at the Forgotten Harvest Ore Creek Farm (9153 Major... more »
Pumpkin shortage looms after heavy rains
There should be enough pumpkins for Halloween this year, but that might not be the case for the canned pumpkin used in pies come Thanksgiving, according to crop experts in Illinois, the country's top pumpkin-producing... more »
UNH melon research produces higher yields
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found that grafting melons onto the rootstocks of hybrid squash substantially increases the production of melons, a potential source of increased revenue for New England farmers. The... more »
Crop mix keeps customers coming back for more
When the Erbs talk about the diversity of their crops, they're not exaggerating. They grow 74 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 54 varieties of peaches and nectarines and more than 100 varieties of pumpkins, for example,... more »
Pumpkin and winter squash harvest and storage
Continuing dry conditions throughout the state are hastening the decline of pumpkin vines in many fields. This raises the question of when pumpkins should be cut from the vine, and how best to store them... more »