Over the past decade we've produced Chandler strawberries on plastic mulch on one to two acres per year in the mountains of western Virginia at elevation of about 2,400'.

We continue to be impressed and pleased with the new growth on our older highbush blueberries since we began a more regular or calendar-based soil mulching program on them a couple years ago.

This production guide was written to answer inquiries for information by many potential new strawberry growers in this region north of the Carolinas. The information presented herein was developed from our research results and field experience of several years with plasticulture strawberries at Kentland Agricultural Research Farm near Blacksburg, Virginia, at an elevation of approximately 2,400 feet above mean sea level.

For the November, 2003 SE Strawberry Expo at Durham, NC, I was asked to make a presentation on the topic "Introduction to Foliar Feeding." Several folks helped me find background reference information on this subject, which was used to assemble this presentation and is included herein. I hope this information will help you produce better berry, fruit and vegetable crops!

This is the first of a two part series written by former Virginia Tech Extension Specialist, Charlie O'Dell. Charlie has been keeping very busy in retirement growing small fruit and vegetables for his U-Pick operation near Blacksburg. In this segment he has some great insight and practical experience to share with us about new primocane raspberry varieties and production considerations for both new and established growers.

Recently during the cold snap we had in January I had a few eastern Piedmont growers inquire as to the need for covering their strawberries, I posed the question to Charlie O'Dell regarding his past experiences with strawberry crown damage in an uncovered, unprotected situation.

A few years ago we planted an acre of newer varieties of erect blackberries including thornless varieties Apache, Arapaho, Navaho, Chester and Ouachita, and thorny ones including Shawnee, Kiowa and Chickasaw.

Tests to compare caging, ground culture, and trellising systems of tomatoes were conducted at the Virginia Tech Horticulture Research Farm in the early 1970's with earlier determinate or short growing tomato varieties. Varieties with fewer vines and "self-topping" types were grown in short cages on mulches as early season companions to later-maturing trellis varieties. Many growers adopted short cage culture, using black plastic mulch under the determinate vines.

Table of vegetable recommendations for Virginia.