Strawberry season will soon be upon us (if it isn’t already). It’s a popular crop – number three among fruits produced in the U.S. and constant consumer craving. That demand and the fruit’s adaptability for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems makes strawberry an attractive fruit crop fo...

Indigenous botanist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the best-seller “ Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge & the Teaching of Plants ,” spoke collaboratively for two nonprofits – the Massachusetts Audubon Society and Wellesley College – in the Bay State. Her latest book, “T...

Imagine blackberry growing becoming more streamlined – literally. Pairwise, a company based in Durham, NC, uses proprietary plant gene editing technology to deliver breakthroughs that benefit farmers, consumers and the planet. At last year’s American Society for Horticultural Science meeting, they s...

A never-ending propagation challenge is weeds. In a presentation hosted by the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), research associate professor Anthony Witcher, Ph.D., Otis L. Floyd Nursery Research Center at Tennessee State, discussed weed control in propagation. “We think propagation is a shor...

A recent study titled “Healthier Soils, Lower Emissions & Carbon Credits in ‘Carbon-Smart’ Apple Orchards” sets a sharp and stirring stage for research from Michigan State University scientists Kevin Postma, Akihiro Koyama and Julianna Wilson. Their work blends careful calculation with climate consc...

SPRING HOPE, NC – Johnny Barnes knew how to achieve big goals. In 1986, he returned home to the family farm established by his parents Carson and Maxine and helped turn it into an operation which markets sweet potatoes across the country and globally. He also helped build organizations which assist ...

If you grow strawberries, there’s a good chance you have used plastic mulch in the past (or are thinking about trying it in the future). However, the most commonly used mulch is anything but green for the horticulture industry. Polyethylene (PE) mulch suppresses weeds, optimizes the soil and canopy ...

Irrigation involves many considerations, but soil scientist Dr. Andrew Bierer, Appalachian Fruit Research Center, Kearneysville, WV, believes soil is number one. “Soil is made of three different size class particles,” said Bierer, who spoke recently at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention. ...

Thanks to social media, plants that never received much attention before are gaining more time in the spotlight. Like Dipladenia. An annual, Dipladenia (aka rocktrumpet) is sometimes used interchangeably with Mandevilla but they are different. As Brian Krug and Jamie Gibson, technical leads with Syn...