Vegetable production

Research report from OSU's North Willamette Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Delbert Hemphill
OSU Dept of Horticulture, NWREC

Prices paid for rhubarb are usually highest at the beginning of the production season. Growers would benefit from an inexpensive and reliable method for forcing crowns into early production. Hot house forcing has been used but this practice is expensive and the field must be replanted. Clear plastic mulch has been used to force rhubarb in the field but mulch costs may exceed $200/acre and plastic removal and disposal are an additional expense.

Transplanting lettuce seedlings can insure a nearly perfect stand. In addition, transplanting offers the possibility of bringing the crop to market earlier than a direct-seeded crop, taking advantage of higher early season market prices and allowing marketing over a longer time period. Perhaps more importantly, transplanting may allow for multiple cropping. In the Willamette Valley, for example, transplanting would allow three rather than two crops of lettuce. Transplanting may also take place when soil conditions would not allow direct seeding.

Production of muskmelons in the Willamette Valley is limited by low air and soil temperatures, particularly early in the growing season. Daily minimum temperatures are commonly between 50 and 55°F even during the warmest months.

Research report from OSU's North Willamette Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Delbert Hemphill
OSU Dept of Horticulture, NWREC

Shallots can be planted in October for harvest the following summer. A major problem in overwinter shallot culture is weed control. Winter rains make tractor cultivation or hand-hoeing nearly impossible and effective herbicides have not been available. These trials were designed to test the weed control effectiveness of four herbicides applied immediately after planting and their effect on crop fields.

Methods

Research report from OSU's North Willamette Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Delbert Hemphill
OSU Dept of Horticulture, NWREC

Research report from OSU's North Willamette Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Delbert Hemphill and N. Mansour
OSU Dept of Horticulture, NWREC

The purpose of this trial was to evaluate several lines of cabbage for late spring or early summer harvest. This requires planting out in early spring and many varieties will bolt under these conditions. Since direct-seeding is often impractical in early spring and emergence would be slow and erratic, the lines were seeded in an unheated screenhouse and transplanted about six weeks later.

Methods

The purpose of these trials was to evaluate varieties of cauliflower for summer harvest. The major desired quality is heat tolerance: the ability to withstand high temperatures without ricing and to maintain the high curd quality typical of autumn-harvested cauliflower. A second desired quality is long wrapper leaves for self-blanching.

This trial is the fourth in a series of winter cauliflower variety trials dating from 1978. Previous trials have established that best quality is obtained with varieties that mature in April or May in average years. Very early varieties are less hardy, often fail to produce sufficiently large frames to support large heads, and may suffer frost damage to the curd. Several varieties maturing in late May and June have good yield potential but poor curd quality. This trial focused on mid-maturity varieties to determine those with the best combination of yield and quality.