Garlic Season Begins Garlic in southern and midcoast Maine is emerging and it is time to prepare for managing pests in your crop. Here are the basics: Anticipate potential problems by considering the pests or diseases you encountered in previous years. Most garlic diseases persist, and several insect pests overwinter, in soil and crop residues. […]
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2025 STRAWBERRY PEST MANAGEMENT SEASON BEGINS Vegetable and Berry Growers Twilight Meeting at Belanger’s Farm, Lewiston, June 5, 5:30 p.m. Situation: March was slightly warmer than average this spring, but April has been very cool and damp, keeping strawberry plants dormant in matted row plantings under straw mulch. It is now time to uncover the […]
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In this newsletter: Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees Bud Stages and Bud Survival Guest Articles from Cornell Cooperative Extension Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees Cherry trees are usually trained as a multiple leader tree like peach and plum with about 4 leaders per tree. Fully dwarfed sweet cherry trees can be trained as a central […]
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Maine Produce Safety Improvement Grants (MPSIG) help specialty crop growers i.e, growers of fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture but excluding commodity crops) to: Implement on-farm food safety practices; Transition to compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR); Meet market demands for on-farm […]
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While strawberries have long been a staple of spring crops in Maine, the plants are not especially hardy. As an herbaceous, or non-woody plant, strawberries don’t achieve what is considered a true state of dormancy during the winter. Rather, they go into a quiescent state, or pseudo-dormancy which offers some protection against extreme temperatures, but […]
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Why? Highbush blueberry bushes should be pruned every year to produce regular crops of good quality fruit. Good pruning opens up the bush to more light and air movement, which will reduce disease problems. It also improves berry flavor and size and encourages earlier ripening. When? Prune the plants when they are fully dormant, in […]
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Researchers at Highmoor have summarized their tarping research with colleagues from Cornell University in this new research paper. To read the full article, click on the image below.
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Although strawberries have long been grown successfully in Maine, they are not particularly hardy plants. However, because of the low growth habit of the plants, and their tendency to grow in protected areas near wood lines in the wild, they are often covered with leaves and snow during the coldest parts of the winter, which […]
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Frost Protection Tips For Strawberries A significant frost/freeze event has the potential to injure and kill susceptible strawberry flowers and buds. Growers should be ready to protect their plants with irrigation and/or row covers. Check your pump, pipes and sprinkler heads to be sure that they are all in good working order and ready to use […]
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