The Durham Museum, in Omaha, NE, will be hosting an exhibition later this fall on the secrets of soil.  Did you know that more has been discovered about the dark side of the moon than has been discovered about soil?

The exhibition runs from October 2-December 26.  More information can be found at:

 http://durhammuseum.org/experience/exhibits/future/exhibit-details.aspx?ID=185

spit??  Sounds more than odd, but that is what researchers at Cornell, University of Goettingen, and National University of Colombia discovered.  They were studying the effects from saliva of the Guatemalan potato moth larvae (Tecia solanivora) had on a commercial potato plant.

Their results included that when the larvae infected fewer than 10% of the tubers, the plant produced marketable yields that weighed 2.5 times more than undamaged plants.  Even when up to 20% of the tubers were infected, yields still doubled.  How about when half of the potatoes were infested?  Yields were equal to plants without infection!

This is something you might want to investigate further http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100527131704.htm

Wonder if any of the crops in the Midwest respond in a similar fashion to invasive pests??

Elwynn Taylor, ISU Climatologist, talks about the ocean temperature changes which may impact our summer weather.

http://twitpic.com/1qo7wd

You might find this tool handy for calculating growing degree days for your location. 

http://www.weather.com/outlook/agriculture/growing-degree-days/

I eagerly look forward each year to enjoying the summertime treats.  Sweet corn and tomatoes head the list of my favorites.  However, with this year's cool summer weather, there has been a delay in enjoying the bounty. 

An article in the Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009907240378 talks about a delay in arrival, but suggests there will not a decrease in quality or taste.

I am hesitant to agree.  Our garden at home is filled with tomato plants ( I spent most of Saturday caging them with woven wire for containment & more support), and the plants are huge.  Many of them are at least 4' tall.  If you look really close, there is a 55 gallon drum, standing on edge, underneath the sprinkler.

I have also observed the onset of calcium deficiency, also known as blossom end-rot (http://blog.calciumproducts.com/posts/blossom-end-rot-.cfm).  I have broadcast SO4 in 3 separate applications this year, but intentionally omitted 2 plants.  These plants are showing symptoms of deficiency (water soaking on the fruit & leathery looking leaves).

My conclusion?  Many plants, including tomatoes, are growing more slowly this year.  Quality will also be affected, but having adequate nutrient availability (calcium) will help mitigate this.

Take care when applying SO4

I decided last week that our garden was needing some calcium.  The soil structure had declined considerably since earlier this spring, and it was becoming difficult to till (hoe).  I was also wanting to increase the quality of the potatoes and reduce the onset of blossom end rot in tomatoes(http://blog.calciumproducts.com/posts/blossom-end-rot-.cfm)

Thursday evening I applied SO4.  It was very difficult to get between the rows of potatoes, so I top spread the area, and then turned on the water for 2 hours.  Friday morning, my wife harvested some onions, which were near the potatoes, and was surprised that she couldn't stand to eat them.  She also couldn't stand to cut the tops off of more than 2-3 at a time without tears. 

Conclusion: the sulfur level in the onion had increased significantly.  Link:(http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/onion.asp)

Lesson learned & a very evident (tearful) demonstration of the solubility of SO4.  In this case, less than 12 hours & 0.4" of water were sufficient for the product to break down & be taken up by the plant.  If you have plants that you don't want to more pungent (radishes, peppers), please take care when applying SO4.

The darker color in leafy vegetables are associated with antixoxidants, which are thoughts to have many health benefits.  A team of plant physiologists at the USDA facility in Beltsville, MD has used ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to make lettuce darker and redder, i.e. healthier.

This may allow for the opportunity to improve the quality of food grown in greenhouses, especially during the winter.  It may also be used to maintain the quality of food already in storage.

Link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518172659.htm

I like to read some of the different postings on various discussion boards regarding agriculture.  One of my favorite sites recently referred to an article that I found quite interesting.  Here is the link:

http://www.lesspub.com/cgi-bin/site.pl?332&ceNews_newsID=6043

This article discusses the role that calcium, when bound to a protein, has by prompting plants to make salicylic acid when it is threatened by infection or other danger.  Salicylic acid (SA), let’s see, it has been a while since chemistry class.  Oh yeah, it is related chemically to aspirin!  According to the director of the study, B.W. Poovaiah, it has been known that plants make SA for quite a while (> than 100 years), but the role of calcium in telling a plant to make SA has been unknown up to now.

Wow!  This is good stuff!  I mean one of the biggest reasons that I chose agronomy over animal science was a remark that I remember from freshmen orientation.  Animals give very specific, unmistakable indications when they are not feeling well or under stress.  Plants, well let’s just say that they are often more subtle about it.  But this article helps us understand that they too are not passive about putting together a defense plan to ward off infection.

The downside?  Plants that have high levels of SA will be very resistant to infection, but have slower growth.  Plants with too little SA will grow very rapidly, but are susceptible to infection.  Makes sense, many things in life & nature follow the rule that some is good but too much or too little causes problems.
 
Another great reason to make sure that you don’t neglect calcium nutrition when finalizing your crop plans for 2009.  SuperCal 98G & SO4 are both great sources of calcium, that’s why they are called Super!  Why not try some today & give your crop a head start (but not a headache).

For most of us in the Midwest, this is week will be one of the coldest and windiest of the year. For those of us that kind of like snow and winter sports, this is a little too much to take. Thoughts of the spring thaw and getting back to being outside in the sun working the land are hard to suppress.

So for those of you who cabin fever, garden or farm, here is a nice video from our fiends at International Ag Labs.

Bob Siems runs a small vegetable farm, hear in his own words how correcting soil problems has lead to huge increases in yields, and more importantly increases in quality of the produce and customer satisfaction.

Bob’s big increase is mainly due to the large increase in available calcium in his soil. While Bob is working with vegetable crops International Ag labs works with many row crop farmers and has proven success in helping to increase productivity by correcting soil problems.

Nice video guys!

We have received a number of phone calls recently on SuperCal SO4 and SuperCal 98G for tomatoes. SuperCal SO4 is the best product on the market to eleminate blossom-end rot. As always start with a proper soil analysis, then add fertilizers and ammendments as need.

Blossom end rot:

Blossom-end rot is a nonparasitic disease of tomato, pepper and watermelon. Losses can vary from a trace to more than 50%.

Symptoms

The first symptom is a slight water-soaked area on or near the blossom end of the fruit. The affected area soon darkens and enlarges in a constantly widening circle until the fruit begins to ripen. The tissues are dark and shrunken and have a dry, leathery appearance. With pepper the rot is tan in color and should not be confused with sunscald, which is white. The affected area may be merely a speck or it may involve half or more of the fruit. Secondary microorganisms may grow on the decayed area.

Cause

Blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium in the developing fruit. This may be due to a lack of calcium uptake from the soil or to extreme fluctuations in water supply. Incidence of blossom-end rot is also increased where there is a low ratio of calcium to certain other nutrients such as potassium and nitrogen.

Control

Although the most desirable calcium levels for preventing blossom-end rot have not been determined, the application of lime (SuperCal 98G) to fields known to be low in calcium has helped to prevent the disease. Soil should be limed according to recommendations of soil analysis report, usually to pH 6.5-6.8. The use of gypsum (SuperCal SO4), at rates of 500 to 1000 pounds per acre (1 to 2 pounds per 100 square feet).

SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 can be applied 2 weeks in advance of planting due to the fineness of the base material. Other lime and gypsum materials may need to be applied months in advance.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/vg19.htm