Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates

Weekly Field Update

Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state.

Coastal Region

Anna Sara Hill

• The temperatures dropped down to freezing this weekend, and there were some isolated storms around the area on Thanksgiving Day.   
• According to this week’s forecast, the thermometer will continue to drop over the next few days, and we may see some hard freezes, especially if the wind is calm. That is good news for killing insect pests and reducing disease development; not so good for the growing plants.   
• Continue to stay on the lookout for pests though. Never let your guard down, as they are never eliminated completely, and the first warm days we get, populations will start creeping back up. 
• Ensure produce and strawberry plants are frost protected using one of the following methods; solid set irrigation, or covers. Another helpful technique is watering prior to the event and keeping the soil moist. Moist soil retains heat better than dry soil.   

Zack Snipes

• It has been a really rough start to strawberry season for the Lowcountry. I haven’t seen too many good patches of berries this year.
• We are finding lots of phytophthora, Neopest, and Fusarium in our fields. Many plants are melting down, reducing the stand. In fields where we don’t have much disease, plants are very small and haven’t really jumped like they have in other years. Many growers have used liquid fertilizer over the top to help plants out and most covered the past few nights to help keep the heat units up and size up our crowns going into the winter. If you haven’t covered and plan to, it is extremely important that you put out a product that prevents disease under the covers. Yes, your strawberries are nice and cozy under the covers but so is the disease. Remember pathogen + host + environment = DISEASE.
• Satsumas, grapefruit and Meyer lemon are coming in at heavy volumes as are all of our brassica crops. 

Midlands

Rob Last

• Crops continue to develop well and are producing great quality right now.
• The freezes over the weekend put an end to the summer fruiting vegetables.
• Brassicas may well show purpling over the next few days. This effect Is transitory due to reduced P uptake.
• Strawberry development looks good. I am getting several questions about row cover usage to promote growth.
  • Step one: Inspect crops closely for crown development. We aim to have 3 to 5 crowns in the spring.
  • Step 2: Calculate Growing Day Degrees; the target would be 600 to 800-day degrees accumulation; however, this number can vary by cultivar.
  • Sample Calculation: Note that the figures are for Lexington County and were taken from the Clemson Tempest Weather Station Data.
    • For Tuesday, Nov. 26: High temperature of 67 degrees Fahrenheit (F), low of 51 F.
    • Add these figures together, giving 118 F.
    • Divide 118 by 2, giving 59 F.
    • Subtract 50 F (the baseline temperature) and get 9 Growing degree days.
    • Assuming planting on Oct. 15, we have accumulated 460 Growing Day Degrees (according to Clemson Tempest Weather Station Data). In this situation, row covers are unlikely to be necessary.

Pee Dee

Christiana Huss

• Freezing weather is expected most nights this week. Strawberry farmers located inland have started to cover their plants to help protect their strawberry crowns from the cold. Several coastal farms will likely need to cover their plants this week as well. Keep a close eye on the temperature and dew point. It’s best to have thermometers monitoring the lowest part of your field where it’s coldest. 
• Plenty of collards were harvested last week for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great holiday! 

Brittney King

• Strawberries are looking great in the Pee Dee. Growers who are already harvesting day-neutral varieties were protecting their crop with row covers over the Thanksgiving holiday. Neopest is still present, but the disease seems to be kept at bay with proper fungicidal applications. Two-spotted spider mites are the only insect issue I noticed before the row covers were applied, so it will be interesting to see what the population is like after the row covers are removed.
• I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Get your deer deterrents out now if you haven’t already!! You do not want your field to be a feast for deer once hunting season is over.
• Onions have been in the ground around a month and are progressing well.
• Leafy greens are looking great with the colder weather. There was bacterial disease and nutrient deficiency from the heavy rains we received in late summer, but most plants have bounced back for a good harvest.