Harvesting Nature's Science™
Conducted by: Southeast Ag Research, Inc.
Huma Gro Products Used: Breakout®, Max Pak®, Vitol®, and Zap®
Objective
The purpose of this research project was to evaluate how Huma Gro® liquid fertilizer products with Micro Carbon Technology® affect cucumber yield when compared with a control program of grower’s standard fertilizer.
With Larry Cooper
Jason Garcia
A few weeks ago in this space I wrote about vegetable growing with Huma Gro®. Today I’m writing about melons—which are a whole different proposition. In my part of Florida, growers frequently follow their strawberry crop with melons (typically watermelons or cantaloupes), seed-planted right into the strawberry beds while the strawberries are still producing their final fruits of the season. The plastic mulch and drip tape are still in place, but the fertilizer applications have wound down so as not to soften the berries and invite disease.
Bed Preparation
When the melon seeds are planted, we hope that it is into strawberry beds that have been using our Promax®/Zap® fumigation-replacement program. If so, then that program can continue through the drip irrigation right through seed planting and all the subsequent melon growth stages till harvest without interruption. If the beds weren’t on a Promax®/Zap® program for the strawberries, we recommend that you implement it for your melons; fumigation isn’t an option for the way this second crop is grown, but nematodes and soil-borne diseases can still severely damage your crop if they are allowed to take hold. Here’s a quick reminder of our Promax®/Zap® program that is much safer than fumigation, has no restrictions, and can be less than half the cost. [Read more…]
With Larry Cooper
Jason Garcia
Vegetable growers in Central Florida are preparing to get their beds ready for planting, so here’s my guide to how Huma Gro® can help growers get their best vegetable crops ever.
Bed Preparation
It’s become a pretty standard practice for Florida vegetable growers to fumigate their fields, then put down plastic and drip tape as their first steps in preparing planting beds for vegetables. Fumigation is generally considered to be a necessary—though expensive and sometimes controversial—first step to protect the coming crop from soil disease and nematode damage. Fumigation can be the most expensive part of vegetable production, and it comes with a host of safety precautions and restrictions that are a challenge for the grower and the surrounding community. But there is a Huma Gro® alternative that is much safer, has no restrictions, and can be up to half the cost of fumigation. [Read more…]