Other UT vegetable publications of interest Research at the West Tennessee Experiment Station has concentrated on cultural practices that will produce no-till tomato yields and fruit quality equal to or better than conventional methods at equal or lower costs. Investigations have included applying liquid fertilizer by broadcast or banding over the row or injection through the drip irrigation system, and subsoiling no-till tomato rows. Conservation of soil and water resources in West Tennessee has been greatly improved by applying no-tillage cultural practices to agronomic crops. Interest is increasing in the use of no-till procedures in the production of several vegetable crops, including tomatoes. With no-till cropping practices, the soil surface remains firm enough that large equipment can be used in relatively wet conditions.
Vegetables grown in Tennessee are under the constant threat of disease.
The state's warm, humid weather with frequent rains favors disease development. Topography, farm size, irrigation availability, and marketing limitations often lead to intensive vegetable production with inadequate crop rotation opportunities. Researchers at the West Tennessee Experiment Station pursue ways to improve control of several of the most common plant pathogens that threaten the yield potential of Tennessee vegetable crops. Incorporation of new and emerging disease control technologies into Tennessee vegetable production systems is an important component of this research. This research has led to effective disease control procedures for seedling diseases of snap beans, bacterial soft rot of broccoli, and the soil-borne pathogens that often plague home gardeners.