Project Overview
Evaluating the rotation of tomato with fresh-cut flowers in a high tunnel system for improved pest, disease, and soil management
Commodities
- Additional Plants: flowers
- Human Health: workers, residents, applicators
- Pollinators: habitat
- Vegetables: tomatoes
Target Pests
Practices
- Pest Management: biological control, chemical control, cultural control, disease vectors, economic threshold, host resistance, monitoring/scouting, pesticide application timing, pesticides, prevention, sanitation
- Crop Production: crop rotation, cropping systems, fertigation, fertilizers, high tunnels or hoop houses, irrigation, multiple cropping, nutrient management, pollination/pollinator health/habitat, varieties and cultivars
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, quality of life, sustainability measures
Proposal abstract:
High tunnels are passively heated and cooled, temporary structures used to extend the growing season for high-value crops. They provide protection from extreme weather and serve as a moderately-controlled environment. High tunnels have the potential to provide growers with the ability to extend the growing season and to moderate the environment with respect to precipitation and temperature. This can translate to increased income from increased marketable yields and improved quality. High tunnels play an essential role in the local food system of Kentucky. Most of the growers who utilize high tunnels sell their products locally and market their products at farmers markets, roadside stands, and/or in community supported agriculture programs.
Tomato is the most high-value vegetable crop grown in high tunnels and the most common crop grown in high tunnels throughout the U.S. High tunnel production is nuanced and growers face unique production challenges from diseases and insect pests compared to open-field production. In Kentucky, high tunnels fall under the same rules and restrictions as greenhouses. This means that pesticides that are labeled for use on field-grown tomato are often not permitted for high tunnel tomato. Crop rotation is a clear and viable method for pest and disease management. However, rotating out of tomato often means that growers earn a significantly lower profit. Although they know crop rotation is beneficial, many high tunnel growers avoid rotations because they need the higher profits of tomato. Managing the soil in a high tunnel has also proven challenging for growers who are familiar with open field practices. The lack of weathering and precipitation compared to open field production results in increased risk of soil salinity from over-application of fertilizer.
High tunnel growers need a high-value crop that can be planted after tomato season to serve as a rotation during the tomato off-season. Most growers are unwilling to replace the spring-summer tomato crop because of the high profit potential, but they indicate that they are willing to follow with a cooler season crop. Fresh-cut annual flowers may be a viable option for rotation with tomato in high tunnels. Compared to tomato, flowers in the Asteraceae and Amaranthaceae families are less nutrient demanding and many have less days to maturity. Flowers may provide a physical and temporal break from the disease and pests that can often cause issues in high tunnel tomato production. Additionally, fresh-cut flowers have the potential to be very profitable in local markets. There is very limited information about fresh-cut flower production in Kentucky.
The objectives of this project are to determine the following: whether the disease and pest life cycles persist or whether new pests and diseases emerge when following tomato with cut flowers, the fertilizer use and requirements for cut flower in high tunnels in Kentucky, whether adding cut flowers to a high tunnel system can help alleviate soil salinity risks, and the economic viability of adding cut flowers to a high tunnel tomato rotation. All of these objectives are assist us in developing new grower recommendations and a budget for cut flower production in a high tunnel system. This will provide education to county agents so they can better assist growers. Growers will be able to make informed high tunnel management decisions and potentially adopt a new rotation for their high tunnel systems.
Project objectives from proposal:
Planned outputs and anticipated outcomes
| Planned Outputs What you plan on doing or making |
Anticipated Outcomes What change are expected to occur as an effect |
Problem or priority targeted What situation you are addressing |
| 1. Insect pest and disease management | ||
| Analysis of pathogen and pest populations in a rotation – statistical analysis of documented risks, multi-disciplinary specialists involved | New options for rotations for high tunnel growers
Decrease disease and pest losses as a result of rotations Break the disease and pest cycle |
Continuous issues with pest and disease management from growers not practicing crop rotations of any kind |
| Analysis of pathogen and pest populations in a rotation | New collaborations across host crop specialists and across disciplines | Need improved communication and collaboration to address grower production issues across the state |
| 2. Soil management | ||
| Analysis of cut flower fertilizer use and requirements | Cut flowers recommended as a complement tomato rotation and require fewer inputs | Over-application of fertilizer, abiotic disorders in tomato, soil salinity in high tunnels |
| Analysis of soil samples collected throughout the study—pre, during, and post season | Cut flowers will utilize nutrients that were not taken up by the previous tomato crop | Over-application of fertilizer, abiotic disorders in tomato, soil salinity in high tunnels |
| 3. Economic viability | ||
| Evaluation of economic viability of cut flower rotation – spreadsheet budget, includes input from entomology, horticulture, plant pathology, economics, and growers | Enhance economic viability for a small specialty crop grower | Possibility of cut flowers as a viable rotation regarding timing, economic viability, and input requirements |
| New grower recommendations – published extension publication, introduction to new market opportunities during off-season, available online | Increase profits as a result of rotations
New off-season commodity |
Need for information on cut flower production in KY; ability to assist interested growers with startup |
| 4. Education and outreach | ||
| New grower recommendations – published and available online | Educate growers and county agents on new rotation potential | Need for information on cut flower production in KY; ability to assist interested growers with startup |
| Field days and presentations at winter meetings about the tomato-flower rotation | Educate growers and county agents on new rotation potential | Lack of knowledge about cut flower production in KY—growers may be interested in trying it, but do not know where or how to start |
| Two infographic style publications and two Extension videos about the benefits of this rotation | Educate growers and facilitate adoption of rotational practices | Development of new recommendations for growers |
