News for the Horticulture Department
In the News
OSU Extension Service offers timely advice on garden chores, fertilizing, pest control, and more each month. Here’s the program’s advice for July gardening.
“There is not another land grant university that has a team this size and with this potential,” said Chris Schreiner, chief executive officer of Oregon Tilth, a leading organic certifier. “It’s historic.”
A new strawberry called Finnito is on the verge of being released and continues the legacy of Chad Finn, a USDA Agricultural Research Service berry breeder.
“I think it could be one of the largest kiwiberry research plots in the U.S.,” said Scott Lukas, an OSU small fruit researcher. Kiwiberry, also called hardy kiwi, is from northern Asia, but vines grow well in Oregon and Washington.
Coffee grounds aren't "magic pixie dust," but in the right circumstance they can help improve your soil according to Linda Brewer, a soil scientist with Oregon State University's Department of Horticulture.
As Priya Rajarapu explains it, Justin Whitehill, the leader of the Christmas Tree Genetics Program at N.C. State, would take lab members to meetings of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association so they could meet growers.
The main benefit of no-till gardening is the preservation of the soil structure, says Erica Chernoh, assistant professor of Practice in Community and Commercial Horticulture at OSU Extension Service.
Jeb Fields and Lloyd Nackley presented their research findings and updates from a collaboration on evaluating various methods to manage substrate (or root zone) temperatures across the country.
OSU professor Bernadine Strik says organic research was not widespread when they began their study a decade ago
Each state features advantages and disadvantages impacting its unique agriculture industries. There are many considerations for hobby farms to balance.
Alexander Butcher’s passion for food — which led to culinary school and a 10-year career as a professional chef — has now brought him to Oregon State University to pursue a Ph.D. in entomology.
Oregon’s annual hazelnut crop is worth about $110 million, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Oregon State University estimates the state produces more than 65,000 tons of hazelnuts a year.
A coalition that includes three Oregon State University Extension Service researchers was awarded a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve organic seed production, both in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.
Nick Andrews, Oregon State University Extension Service’s organic vegetable specialist, is one of the university’s resident experts on cover crops and a founding board member of the Western Cover Crops Council.
With drought, wildfire and other extreme weather events, climate change is bringing stress and a feeling of uncertainty for many farmers and ranchers. It’s also bringing along a new hurdle for many in the agricultural world – climate grief.
Our team researched, rated and scored the most popular national lawn care companies based on our in-depth methodology.
Greenhouse Grower’s July cover story will feature a closer look at how university horticulture departments from across the country are attracting new blood to the industry while fostering career development.
However, Oregon berries have a short growing season and shelf life, and they bruise easily in transit, according to Scott Lukas, a berry scientist at Oregon State University.
The Oregon State University Extension Service in Union County is warning cherry tree owners of the emergence of the first adult western cherry fruit flies in the county.
Following an extensive national search, Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences has named Dr. S. Patricia Stock as the new department head of Horticulture, effective August 5, 2024.
What does it mean to be a sustainable gardener? According to Erica Chernoh, assistant professor of Practice in Community and Commercial Horticulture with Oregon State University Extension Service, there is no hard-and-fast definition.
Pacific Nut Producer Editor Matthew Malcolm met with Nik Wiman, Orchard Crops Extension Specialist at Oregon State University, to discuss the impact of the prionus californicus root borer and what growers can do about it.
The finding by Oregon State University scientists indicates the fungal pathogen has evolved locally, thwarting disease resistance from the Gasaway cultivar that’s been bred into newer hazelnut tree varieties.
Caneberries should be fertilized in the early spring when new growth is starting, explained Amanda Davis, berry crops research assistant with the Oregon State University Extension Service.
Ramesh Sagili, an Oregon State University bee expert, has been appointed to a new pollinator subcommittee for the USDA National Agricultural Research, Extension Education and Economics Advisory Board.
Reports of worrisome symptoms prompted OSU to conduct a test last year that has verified the strain affects otherwise resistant hazelnut cultivars, said Nik Wiman, an OSU Extension horticulture specialist.
Oregon State University has a world renowned hazelnut breeding program, and the newest variety, Thompson, has recently been released. Thompson has some impressing features pacific northwest growers will be interested in.
Although the disease is not new, it appears to have gotten worse in the past five years, according to Andony Melathopoulos, an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at OSU, and the co-principal investigator of the study.
Following a national search, Oregon State University has named Brian Pearson as the next permanent director of the Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River, according to a news release from the university.
The cultivar is geared toward maximizing yield potential per acre, including in fruiting wall systems harvested with over-the top machinery currently used for blueberries, said Shawn Mehlenbacher, OSU’s hazelnut breeder.
Scott Lukas, Oregon State University associate professor, said some fruits grown in the Northwest have tight margins, and farms face international competition.
This is one reason why codling moth pressure, once thought to be well-managed with IPM and pheromone disruption, is increasing, said Chris Adams, Oregon State University entomologist and chair of the Northwest’s codling moth task force.
“You’re slowing the flow of water down as much as possible so the water stays on the land as long as possible,” said Maud Powell, a small farms specialist with Oregon State University Extension.
The Oregon State University campus in Corvallis is known for two features – its majestic brick study halls and the more than 65,000 individual trees that line its streets and walking paths.
"The wildfire smoke can severely impact wine quality,” Cody Copp, an Oregon State University assistant professor and horticulturist said. “And for a lot of vineyards and wineries it can make fruit unmarketable."
A few dozen growers learned about quirks of growing Pearl series cherries, cherry breeding and leafhopper research on June 6 at Oregon State University’s annual preharvest cherry tour in The Dalles.
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.
