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As we swing into the fall in southern New Jersey, the harvesting of our specialty crops (fresh-market tomato, bell pepper, and eggplant) continues at RAREC. Harvest began on 2 August with our eggplant, 8 August with the bell pepper, and on 22 August with the fresh-market tomato. A late transplanting date of 10 June, followed by an extended period of extremely long, hot, dry weather (90 and above) in July led to the blasting of flowers pushing back our harvest season. To date, we have completed 7 eggplant, 3 tomato, and 3 bell pepper harvests and plan to continuing harvesting as late in the fall so we can to collect as much yield data as possible.
On 19 September, RAREC will be hosting it’s annual fall twilight meeting from 4 pm until dark. The public is welcome! For more information on the RAREC twilight meeting please click here.
Figure 1. Specialty crops growing into the conventional block (without panels) at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (RAREC) near Bridgeton, NJ.
Figure 2. Specialty crops growing in the single-axis tracking single-panel block at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (RAREC) near Bridgeton, NJ.
Figure 3. Specialty crops growing in the single-axis tracking double-panel block at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (RAREC) near Bridgeton, NJ. Note the long shadow cast by the double-panel arrays across the block in the early morning as the panels face due east.
Figure 4. A view of the entire specialty crop research block at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center (RAREC) near Bridgeton, NJ.
Articles and images can be used by Permission from the Rutgers RAPS Team only – For Permission contact RAPS at shawn.sorrels@rutgers.edu.
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