News for the Horticulture Department
In the News


Entomologist Jeffrey Miller, retired from Oregon State University, has been painstakingly adding data points to the existing maps of Oregon butterflies.



A plant expert at Oregon State University developed a new type of tomato with blueberry-like health benefits. The purple tomato contains anthocyanins, a healthy antioxidant pigment found in blueberries.


Given their importance, it’s confounding to Andony Melathopoulos, a professor of horticulture at Oregon State University, that the status of Oregon’s roughly 800 species of wild bees is relatively unknown.



During an online seminar on Wednesday, Andony Melathopoulos, assistant professor and pollinator health extension specialist at Oregon State University, taught farmers how to make their land more hospitable to bees.

Erica Chernoh, Horticulture Faculty with OSU Extension in Lane County, agreed the season is a couple of weeks late, but said that can change quickly if the weather heats up.



Andony Melathopoulos is an associate professor in pollinator health at OSU. He told KLCC so far 10 wineries, including Eugene's King Estate, have swarmed at the chance to participate.



But in Corvallis, the Turkish Student Association at Oregon State University feels for their friends and family. This is the case for Mustafa Bozkus, a graduate student at OSU studying horticulture.

Oregon State University would receive $1 million to study pest control alternatives under a bill that’s partly meant to replace certain insecticides in specialty crops.

Last week, Oregon State University hosted a blueberry cutting event during which people taste-tested 112 different blueberry selections and varieties.

As of Wednesday, the Oregon State University Horticulture Department had reached its goal of 3,000 vouchers for the “Pollinator Paradise” plates.


At the 7:13 mark of this episode, OSU researcher Brent Warneke talks about what’s available today in the agriculture industry for sensor-controlled spray systems as well as autonomous systems.



Lane Selman thinks winter vegetables are under-appreciated and she wants to change that! The Oregon State University professor and creator of the Culinary Breeding Network joined us to share her tasty tips.



Nik Wiman, an associate professor in the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences, stated that the first BMSB to be detected in Oregon was found in Portland in 2004. Wiman says OSU has been researching the bugs for a decade.

Dr. Patty Skinkis, viticulture extension specialist at Oregon State University, said people panicked over the frost. Skinkis’ job is to “help guide people in these uncertain times,” she said.

Professor Gail Langellotto is shown working with OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteers and graduate students to bring urban Portland community gardens to life.

Oregon State University received $749,997 for its OSU Extension Small Farms Program, which is developing programs to help launch new farmers and ranchers.

A new Oregon State University Extension Service website provides a trove of science-based solutions for garden pests, weeds and disease problems in one easy-to-navigate place.




A bee recently rediscovered in Oregon by an Oregon Bee Atlas (OBA) volunteer lives only on volcanoes, where it reproduces on tiny balls of pollen it stuffs into tiny bubbles in volcanic rock found in lava fields.

Carolyn Breece, faculty research assistant and coordinator of the Spanish-language version of Master Beekeepers, said it’s the first program of its kind in the United States.


From a stint at a nursery to working in molecular biology to researching crops in Hermiston, Scott Lukas forged a circuitous route to his new position as Oregon State University Extension Service berry specialist.


Recent breakthroughs by Oregon State University researchers against a devastating tree disease has helped the state’s hazelnut industry more than double its acreage in the last decade.

Bernadine Strik was Oregon State University's berry specialist for over 35 years. She says a lot of this comes down to climate. The Willamette Valley has mild winters and usually temperate summers.






To support pollinators, people have turned to creating eco-friendly spaces around their homes, including replacing their grass lawns with flowering plants.

Oregon State University’s Vaughn Walton has joined the ranks as one of the world’s most highly cited researchers from 2019-2021 by Clarivate, a global company that provides analytics and insights in the sciences.



Later this month, agricultural scientists at Oregon State University will release a parasitic wasps into the public to fight off an invasive species of fruit fly called spotted wing drosophila.






The IR-4 Project is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 SOAR Award.
Eastern filbert blight has historically been a curse to the Pacific Northwest hazelnut industry. That is, until Oregon State University released several blight-resistant varieties.



According to Jim Meyers, horticulture professor at Oregon State University, tomatoes, squash and melons establish deep root systems quickly and draw moisture from deeper soil long after the soil surface has become dry in midsummer.

This episode explores the concept of emergence through the lens of a Margherita pizza.

Oregon State University Pollinator Health Extension Specialist Andony Melathopoulos prefers to call the stinging insects by their less sensationalized name: giant Asian hornets.

Pacific Northwest radicchio farmers want to boost domestic markets for the crop and foster the exchange of information with Italian farmers, seed companies and breeders.





Dry farming was more prevalent before farmers turned to irrigation, said Amy Garrett, president of the Dry Farming Institute and Oregon State University Extension small farms programs instructor.

