07/26/1995

Record Crowd Attends Chilton Fruit/Vegetable Event

CLANTON, Ala. - Blackberries sweet as sugar and with no thorns, pears from Asia and controlling weeds with diesel-fueled flames highlighted a recent Horticulture Field Day held at the Chilton Area Horticulture Substation here.

The annual event, co-sponsored by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service at Auburn University, drew more than 200 commercial producers and home gardeners from a 15-county area. Master Gardener and other groups from as far away as Tuscaloosa attended the field day, which consisted of a tour of research plots and orchards and presentations by researchers from the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.

In addition to tasting large, sweet Navaho blackberries, the visitors were able to see for themselves how these berries can be picked from the thornless canes, with no fear of the ever-present briars in traditional blackberries. Auburn researcher David Himelrick told the group that Navaho, in addition to being thornless, has an upright growth habit that requires no trellis and has excellent flavor and post-harvest storage qualities.

Hosui and Shenko are not names commonly associated with pears, but Alabama growers may become more familiar with these Asian pear varieties, if their popularity continues to grow among consumers. A big problem with Asian pear production in Alabama, according to AU researcher Arnold Caylor, is fire blight. "Some varieties are more susceptible than others, but there doesn't seem to be much consistency as to when it occurs. Trees that are affected in one part of the smay not be affected in other parts," Caylor explained.

Controlling weeds in vegetables with flame can be an economical method, but the operator better know what he is doing to avoid damaging the crop, stressed Auburn researcher Mike Patterson. Propane to fuel the flame cultivator can be cheaper than herbicides, but a bigger reason to develop this technology is the lack of registered herbicides for many vegetable crops, according to Patterson.

Bobby Boozer, a research and extension specialist at the Substation showed the visitors some old and new varieties of peaches. Among the new varieties, White Lady, has performed better than other white-fruited varieties. "This peach has a sub-acid, sweet taste that many people like, and it hangs on the tree longer and ripens firmer than some of the other white-fruited varieties we are testing," Boozer noted.

Entomology researchers have tried a little bit of everything to control white fringe beetles, which damaged about 70 percent of the central Alabama sweet potato crop last year. Auburn researcher Alex Debonier showed the visitors a test in which soil sterilization, foliar applied insecticides, and biological control methods only slowed down the foraging insects. "We were hoping to control the insects with nematodes, which are natural predators of white fringe beetle larvae, but that hasn't worked too well. Fumigation controlled the beetles fairly well, but caused too much damage to the crop. And, weekly applications of liquid Sevin slowed them down, but requires frequent applications to give adequate control," Debonier explained.

"We were pleased with the large turnout, which was probably the biggest ever for a field day here," noted Jim Pitts, superintendent of the Chilton Area Horticulture Substation. The interest in our research program is extremely high among home gardeners, as evidenced by large groups of people in the Master Gardener program attending the field day," Pitts concluded.

-30-

News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

July 26, 1995