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Although grafting tomato with vigorous rootstocks provides the potential for higher yield, grower adoption of this technology has been relatively slow in the United States. One way to help facilitate this transition is to develop simple propagation techniques that yield high quality grafted transplants for small-batch propagators to graft their own plants. Formation of adventitious roots (AR) from the scion can result in poor quality plants and loss of rootstock function/benefit. In this study, a series of greenhouse experiments was performed to investigate how leaf removal (LR) during the grafting procedure affects AR formation and plant growth post-grafting. We applied three treatments, 0% LR, 50% LR, and 90% LR, to the ‘BHN 589’ scion and then grafted them onto ‘Maxifort’ rootstock. The experiment included 4 replicated blocks and was conducted in three different healing chambers. Our results indicate that both 50% and 90% LR significantly decreased AR formation in the low (68% RH) humidity chamber, but only 90% LR reduced AR formation in the chambers with high (95% RH) humidity (P < 0.05). Using a second experimental design, we measured plant growth (height, leaf area, shoot and root biomass, stem diameter, and incidence of flowers) 24 to 52 days post-grafting to understand how leaf removal affects transplant quality (as defined by Vu et al., 2013), growth, and development. Plants with 90% LR had significantly lower leaf area and shoot biomass at day 24, but by day 52, only had reduced stem diameter and height compared to 0% LR. Leaf removal during grafting may be a viable method for propagating high quality, grafted transplants and our report indicates that the desired product (plant for sale vs. plant for use) could dictate the use of 50% vs. 90% LR as the higher leaf removal level reduced transplant quality at the estimated time of sale, but did not affect subsequent plant growth.

Spring-planted, day-neutral strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) production within a high tunnel system could provide growers with season extension and enhanced postharvest quality. This study identified which spring-planted, day-neutral strawberry cultivars are successful in a plasticulture, high tunnel system, while investigating the utility of an evaporative cooling system (EC), with regard to quality at harvest and throughout storage. The trial was conducted at Kansas State University Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center (OHREC) during the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. Six commercially-available cultivars were evaluated, ‘Albion’, ‘Evie 2’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Portola’, ‘San Andreas’, and ‘Seascape’. Mature fruit (90–100 % red) were harvested twice weekly and three harvests were evaluated for the quality. Respiration rate, moisture content, and overall visual quality, using a scale from 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor), were monitored every 24 h. Flesh firmness, color, soluble solids content (SSC), and titratable acidity (TA) were evaluated at harvest and every other day throughout storage. Nutritional quality (total phenolic and antioxidant capacity) was evaluated at harvest. ‘Monterey’, ‘Seascape’, and ‘Albion’ had the highest SSC (P

Preharvest losses of fruits and vegetables constitute a considerable amount of the total food losses that occur in the food chain. Preharvest losses are typically related to a decrease and/or loss of marketable yield due to reduced crop performance and/or crop damage related to weather and/or pests and plant diseases. However, physical and nutritional quality are also important parameters that can contribute to food losses. There are numerous reports in the literature that indicate that small-acreage farmers in the U.S. can utilize high tunnels to increase the yield of various fruit and vegetable crops. However, it is unclear if the high tunnel production system affects the preharvest food losses of spinach, particularly in regard to physical and nutritional quality. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the high tunnel production system on preharvest food losses of fall-planted spinach, Spinacia oleracea, cv. ‘Corvair’. Comparative open field and high tunnel trials were conducted at the Kansas State University Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center from 2014 to 2017 (three growing seasons). A systems approach was utilized, consisting of six replications per production system. The experiments were conducted using organic production practices. Spinach quality was assessed on the day of harvest during years 2 and 3 of the experiment. Spinach leaves were harvested at full maturity and the preharvest losses were evaluated in regards to yield, percent marketability and physical and nutritional quality. Spinach grown in the high tunnels had 126 %–528.6 % higher marketable yield (P

Grafting is an important integrated pest management strategy to manage soilborne pathogens and other pests of solanaceous and cucurbitaceous crops. Important diseases managed by grafting are caused by fungal pathogens such as Verticillium, Fusarium, Pyrenochaeta and Monosporascus; oomycete pathogens like Phytophthora; bacterial pathogens, particularly Ralstonia; root knot nematodes and several soil-borne virus pathogens. Rootstocks can include intraspecific selections that utilize specific major resistance genes and interspecific and intergeneric selections that exploit non-host resistance mechanisms or multigenic resistance. Rootstock selection has also been documented to impact foliar pests including pathogens, arthropods and viruses. Over-reliance on specific rootstocks in production systems has led to the emergence of new pathogens or shifts in the host specificity of the pathogen population, emphasizing the need for multi-tactic approaches to manage soilborne pathogens. One advantage and associated challenge of grafting is that rootstock selection for disease management is site specific depending on the presence, population structure and dynamics of the pathogen, as well as edaphic, environmental and anthropogenic factors. The use of grafting as an Integrated pest management tool to manage biotic stress will be most successful when carried out with increasing knowledge about the biology, diversity, and population dynamics of the pathogen or other pests and when complemented with sustainable farming system practices. This review highlights major uses of grafting to manage soilborne pathogens, provides some novel information on managing foliar or other soilborne pests (insects, mites, weeds) and offers discussion on future research and applications.