Spring cleaning and more

Joe Jancsurak, Editor 

This month’s issue of Produce Grower brings you ideas and important information on how to sanitize and then keep your greenhouse sanitized; biological methods for ensuring healthy produce; and what to consider when it comes to specialty crops, and why.

This month’s cover story (page 10) by Nathan Kleczewski, an extension specialist in Plant Pathology at the University of Delaware, provides you with eight steps for ‘Coming Clean,’ which just so happens to be the title of Kleczewski’s article. Make greenhouse cleanliness and sanitation a priority, advises the author, not just for the sake of aesthetics, but because if you do, you’ll have fewer issues with diseases and pests.

Which brings me to two more articles in this month issue. The first is “Best Practices for avoiding tomato diseases in greenhouses” (page 29), by Dan Egel, an extension plant pathologist at Purdue, and Shubin K. Saha, an assistant extension professor, vegetable crops at the University of Kentucky. The second is “Biologicals provide options”(page 14), by Ned Madden is a California-based Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) consultant.

If you’re unsure about how diseases affecting greenhouse-grown tomatoes differ from field-produced tomatoes, the “Best Practices” article is a must-read. And as you continue to look for ways to protect all your crops from pests and diseases, you’re likely interested in achieving a balanced arsenal of chemicals and more benign biological control agents. If so, don’t miss “Biologicals provide options.”

And in “Specialty crops offer opportunities” (page 22), by freenlance writer and horticulturist, Karlyn Green, growers share their success and insights on varieties for satisfying consumer demand while growing profits.

Happy growing!

Joe Jancsurak, Editor | jjancsurak@gie.net
(216) 236-5960 | Twitter: @GreenhouseMag