Season Extension Experiment

Project Overview

FW03-306
Project Type: Professional + Producer
Funds awarded in 2003: $1,250.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2004
Region: Western
State: Utah
Principal Investigator:
Rick Heflebower
Email
Utah State University

Commodities

  • Vegetables: tomatoes

Practices

  • Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, networking
  • Production Systems: general crop production

    Proposal abstract:

    Extending the growing season can benefit crops, especially in the southern Utah desert, where springtime temperature extremes keep farmers guessing. Aviva Maller, an organic farmer near Springdale, Utah, will work with extension horticulturist Rick Heflebower to extend the growing season for tomatoes and summer squash. For spring heating and frost prevention, they’ll lay plastic and paper mulch, poking holes for transplanting tomatoes and squash Maller grows from seed in his greenhouse. They’ll lay two types of row cover along with mulch for comparison. Similar experiments will be done with row cover and shade cloth to extend the season for Maller’s salad mix in the heat of summer. Notes on daily high and low temperatures, seeding dates, germination dates, transplanting dates, irrigation and weeding schedules, harvest dates and yields will provide a model for other growers.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.