Join the Adair County Extension Master Gardeners on Tuesday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. for an engaging program focused on making your garden more efficient and your plants more productive.
This interactive session invites participants to bring along their favorite tools or tips that have helped improve their home gardens.
The program will also feature demonstrations on garden irrigation, weed control, and effective planting techniques. For more information, contact the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service at 270-384-2317.
Gardening Tips to Prevent Diseases
Warmer temperatures signal that gardeners everywhere are ready to get plants in the ground. However, before planting, it’s important to develop a plan for this year’s vegetable garden.
A thoughtful approach to layout and preparation can help reduce disease pressure and improve overall crop success.
Here are a few key areas to consider as you plan ahead and work to prevent potential diseases.
The best vegetable garden sites are sunny with adequate moisture and fertile, well-drained soil. Avoid low spots, which can worsen soilborne diseases, and shady locations, which can worsen foliar diseases. Prior to planting, it is advisable to draw a planting map.
This allows consideration of site limitations and succession planting. Scale models of garden space can be drawn on graph paper, made in Microsoft Excel or designed using one of many available apps.
Choose perennial locations carefully to make tilling more convenient. Taller crops, such as sweet corn or tomatoes, should be planted on the north or west side of the garden to avoid shading shorter plants. Retain these maps from year to year and refer to them when planning next season.
If the same garden site is used each year, avoid planting the same or closely related crops in the same place. A three-year rotation is recommended; however, even a year or two out of a certain plant family can be beneficial.
Crop rotation prevents disease-causing pathogens from building up in soil. Multiple vegetable crops are closely related and prone to many of the same diseases. Closely related crops are listed together:
• Tomatoes, Peppers, Potatoes and Eggplant
• Cucumbers, Pumpkins, Squash, Watermelons and Muskmelons
• Peas, Broad Beans, Snap beans and Lima Beans
• Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Collards, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Turnips, Rutabaga, Chinese Cabbage and Mustard
• Lettuce, Endive and Salsify
• Chives, Garlic, Leeks, Onions and Shallots
• Beets, Swiss Chard and Spinach
• Carrots, Parsley, Celery, Celeriac and Parsnip
Avoid composting diseased plants or produce, since home compost piles typically do not reach temperatures high enough to kill pathogens.
Accelerate the rate of decomposition by turning compost piles at least once per month. Avoid adding fresh material to finished compost piles, as the new material will not break down in time for spring planting. Water should be added to very dry compost piles at turning to allow for more complete decomposition.
Whether using an app or a physical garden journal, keep track of disease and pest issues as they occur to help develop strategies to prevent or manage them. Also include details about cultivars and their performance, as well as weather patterns.
Haymaking Season Around the Corner
Last year’s wet spring created significant challenges for producing high-quality hay for livestock. Many first cuttings were delayed until June, and although yields were often high, forage nutrient density was quite low.
The single most important factor affecting hay quality is the stage of maturity at harvest. For optimal quality, hay should be cut when the plant is transitioning from the vegetative stage to the reproductive (flowering) stage.
While weather conditions are beyond our control, we can take steps now to prepare for the upcoming hay season. Getting equipment ready early positions us to take advantage of favorable forecasts when they arise. If conditions allow, consider beginning first harvests in late April or early May. Cutting hay earlier will reduce yield, but forage quality will be exceptional.
In addition, any yield sacrificed initially can often be recovered through strong regrowth of cool-season grasses, resulting in a productive second cutting by late June.
Hay producers should also consider the option of wrapping baled forages. Round-baled silage can be an effective way to harvest and preserve high-quality forage when harvest windows are narrow. Ideally, forages should be baled at a moisture content of 40–60%.
Bales should be dense and wrapped thoroughly with plastic to ensure complete exclusion of oxygen and proper fermentation. Baling forage at moisture levels above 60% can increase the risk of feeding problems and should be avoided.
Producers should also be vigilant for poison hemlock and avoid harvesting any field areas where this plant is present. Poison hemlock is potentially toxic to both livestock and humans, whether consumed during vegetative growth stages or after the plant has dried in harvested forage.
Ideally, poison hemlock should be controlled with herbicide applications made during the plant’s early vegetative growth stage in late winter or early spring, or with a fall herbicide treatment.
At this point in the season, effective control with 2,4 D applied alone may be limited, and alternative herbicide options may be necessary for best results.
Poison hemlock can also be managed through mowing or mechanical removal prior to seed production, which typically occurs shortly after flowering. If poison hemlock is encountered during hay harvest, avoid incorporating it into stored forage by mowing around infested areas or harvesting those areas separately.
When discussing hay and forage options, it is also important to consider summer annual grasses. These grasses thrive during the summer months and are capable of producing high yields for both hay and grazing.
Summer annuals well adapted to Kentucky include sorghum sudangrass, sudangrass, pearl millet, and crabgrass. Many of these species – particularly sorghum sudangrass and sudangrass – exhibit rapid emergence and quick canopy closure. This growth habit helps suppress summer annual weeds while providing an additional grazing option during the summer months. This can be especially valuable, as cool season pastures often struggle under hot, dry summer conditions.
For summer annual grass to germinate and rapidly emerge, plant them when soil temperatures reach at least 60 degrees F. If you have a planting delay after final tillage, it may be a good idea to do one more pass of light tillage to disturb any weed seedling that may have germinated.
Taller-growing summer annuals, such as sorghum sudangrass and pearl millet, should be allowed to reach a height of 18–24 inches before grazing. Livestock should be removed from the pasture once plants have been grazed down to 8–10 inches to promote regrowth and maintain stand health.
