The Vegetarian Newsletter

A Horticultural Sciences Department Extension Publication on Vegetable Crops
Eat your Veggies!!!!!

Issue No. 544 April 2009


Featured Articles

 

Announcements & News

The 2009-2010 Vegetable Production Handbook for Florida has arrived and is currently being distributed.  Check out the on-line version available as a Featured Article in this month's issue of the Vegetarian Newsletter. The new handbook should be available in EDIS very soon.

The 2008 FSHS Proceedings are now available on-line. Click here to view them now.

The 2008 Proceedings of the Tomato Institute are now available on-line.
Click here to view them now.

Monthly Climate Summaries are now available at www.AgroClimate.org - click on the state you want to view: Florida, Georgia or North Carolina.

Visit our archives. All of our archived issues from 1950-1999. These archived issues are full of interesting bits of knowledge. Click here to check out the topic of your interest now.

The 2007-2008 Vegetable Production Handbook is available on EDIS!
Click here to visit it now.

The electronic version of the 2007-2008 Vegetable Production Handbook has been archived but is still available for viewing.

Click here to see it now.

New EDIS Horticulture Publications

Our latest publications are now available on EDIS: 
"Guide for Maintining the Quality and Safety of Organic Vegetables and Melons During Harvest and Handling Operations" is available at:   http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS396 -This 7-page fact sheet, by Dr. Steven A. Sargent and Dr. Danielle Treadwell, decribes the practical guidelines to assist growers and handlers of organic vegetables and melons to minimize losses during harvest and handling operations. Differences in recommendations between crops grown using organic methods and conventional production methods are noted.

"'Florida Elyana' Strawberry" is available on EDIS at:   http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS399 -This publication, by Dr. Craig K. Chandler, Dr. Bielinski M. Santos, and Dr. Natalie A. Peres, describes performance of this short-cultivar that has shown promise in recent trials in western portions of Central Florida.

"Greenhouse Manufacturers and Suppliers" is available on EDIS at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS255. Revised! This publication, by Dr. George J. Hochmuth and Dr. Robert C. Hochmuth, provides a partial directory of greenhouse manufacturers and supplies.

"Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide" is available on EDIS at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VH021.
Revised! This publication, by J.M. Stephens, Dr. Sydney P. Brown, Dr. Danielle D. Treadwell, Dr. Susan Webb, Dr. Amanda Gevens, R.A. Dunn, Dr. G. Kidder, D. Short, and G.W. Simone, provides recommendations appropriate for home gardens in Florida. It covers planning, soil preparation, compost and fertilizing, irrigation and drainage, and pest management with and without pesticides. Gives fertilizer and insect control recommendations. Also has a planting guide with planting dates and spacing information, as well as a table with suggested varieties of vegetables for Florida gardens.

Other sources of horticultural information.
Direct link to the BMP Manual for Vegetables & Agronomic Crops in Florida

Click here for a printer friendly version of this article.

 

USPB/Snackfood Association Potato

Variety Trail, 2008
 

By:  Chad Hutchinson, Associate Professor and Allison Beyer, Senior Statistician, Horticultural Sciences Department

General Comments

A goal of the Snack Food Association trial is to identify a short-season processing potato variety with better production and quality characteristics than Atlantic, the current standard.  Potatoes were chipped and rated by biologists at the trial site.

Planting Information

Planting Site

PSREU - Hastings Farm, Hastings, FL

Planting Date

February 4, 2008

Harvest Date

May 15, 2008

Season Length

101 days

Fertilizer Program

preplant, 100-43-86 lb/A;  sidedress, 100-0-86 lb/A;  sidedress after rain event, 30-0-26 lb/A

Irrigation Program

seepage

Experimental Design

Number of Varieties

3 (Standard: Atlantic)

Number of Clones

13

Within Row Spacing

Approx. 8 in (20.3 cm)

Between Row Spacing

40 in (102 cm)

Replications

1

Plot Size

Single 250 ft row (76.2 m) planted for each variety.  Four, 20 ft (6.1 m) plots harvested from each row to determine production and quality statistics.

Production Statistics

Early Vigor Ratings

42 days after planting.

Highest Total Yield

Snowden (454 cwt/acre or 45.1 MT/ha)

Highest Marketable Yield

Snowden (333 cwt/acre or 37.3 MT/ha)

Highest Specific Gravity

W2717-5 (1.101)


Table 1.  Plant Growth Characteristics

Rating

Early Vigor
(plant height)

Vine Type

Vine Maturity
at Harvest/Vine Kill

1

no emergence

decumbent – poor

dead

2

leaves in rosette

decumbent – fair

+-

3

plants < 2 in

decumbent – good

yellow and dying

4

plants 2 to 4 in

spreading – poor

+-

5

plants 4 to 6 in

spreading – fair

moderately senesced

6

plants 6 to 8 in

spreading – good

+-

7

plants 8 to 10 in

upright – poor

starting to senesce

8

plants 10 to 12 in

upright – fair

+-

9

plants > 12 in

upright – good

green and vigorous

Adapted from Sisson and Porter, 2002.


Table 2. Internal and External Potato Tuber Characteristics

Rating

Internal
Flesh Color

Skin
Color

Skin
Texture

Tuber
Shape

Eye
Depth

Overall
Appearance

1

White

Purple

Partial Russet

Round

Very Deep

Very Poor

2

Cream

Red

Heavy Russet

Mostly Round

+-

+-

3

Light Yellow

Pink

Mod. Russet

Round to Oblong

Deep

Poor

4

Medium Yellow

Dark Brown

Light Russet

Mostly Oblong

+-

+-

5

Dark Yellow

Brown

Netted

Oblong

Intermediate

Fair

6

Pink

Tan

Slightly Netted

Oblong to Long

+-

+-

7

Red

Buff

Mod. Smooth

Mostly Long

Shallow

Good

8

Blue

White

Smooth

Long

+-

+-

9

Purple

Cream

Very Smooth

Cylindrical

Very Shallow

Excellent
Adapted from Sisson and Porter, 2002.

 

Potato Chip Color Reference Standard


Table 3.  Production statistics for the 2008 USPB/SFA Chipping Potato Variety Trial potato selections in Hastings, FL.

Table 3


Table 4.  Plant growth and tuber characteristics of the 2008 USPB/SFA Chipping Potato Variety Trial potato selections in Hastings, FL.

Table 4

 

Table 5.  External and internal defects of 2008 USPB/SFA Chipping Potato Variety Trial potato selections in Hastings, FL.

Table 5

 


Horticultural Sciences Department, 1117 Fifield Hall, PO Box 110690, Gainesville, FL 32611-0690
Phone Number: 352-392-1928 - Fax Number: 352-392-5653