It’s easy to grow fresh, nutritious and tasty vegetables in your own yard, community garden plot, or even in containers on a deck or patio. The University of Wisconsin – Madison Division of Extension offers home vegetable gardeners a tremendous number of resources to learn how to grow vegetables, as well as how to prevent and control diseases and insects. Browsing our publications and fact sheets will help you be successful in achieving a bountiful harvest.
Making your own compost is an easy, practical, and satisfying way to make use of yard waste and table scraps. With this publication, designed for the home gardener, you’ll be composting like a pro in no time!
Crop rotation in the home vegetable garden involves changing the planting location of vegetables within the garden each season. Crop rotation is used to reduce damage from insect pests, to limit the development of vegetable diseases, and to manage soil fertility. Learn the basics in this factsheet.
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There aren’t many native woodland plants that also double as vegetables, but the spring ephemeral Allium tricoccum is one. Commonly known as ramps or wild leek, this native onion species is frequently collected and sold at farmers markets or served in upscale restaurants. To find out more about this perennial plant, read this article…
Author(s): Amanda Gevens and Michelle Marks Cucurbit downy mildew is a potentially serious disease of all plants in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), including cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, and squash. The disease causes sudden, rapidly developing and widespread foliar disease epidemics that can be very destructive. In recent years in the Midwestern United States, cucurbit downy […]
Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are small, soilborne, worm-like organisms that infect many agricultural and horticultural plants. This publication describes the symptoms, management and control of root-knot nematodes in Wisconsin.
Want to maximize your garden’s productivity and minimize potential crop problems? This publication will walk you through the basics of the most common crops grown in community gardens.
May/June beetles or “Junebugs” (Phyllophaga spp.) are beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. These native insects are common throughout Wisconsin and can often be seen flying near lights or heard hitting window screens on early summer evenings. Learn more about these large beetles and their larva, found in the soil, in this factsheet.
K.A. Delahaut, A.C. Newenhouse Revised: 10/10/2011 Item number: A3688 Growing vine crops such as pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, gourds, and squash is an excellent way to bring a weed-infested field into production. This publication tells you all you need to know to select, plant, manage, and harvest these vine crops in Wisconsin (19 pages). […]
Christelle Guédot, UW-Madison Entomology and Bryan Jensen, UW IPM Program Revised: 3/26/2014 Item number: XHT1236 Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halymorpha halys, is an exotic, invasive insect native to Asia, including China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. BMSB was first confirmed in the United States in 2001 although an unconfirmed sighting was reported in Pennsylvania in […]
Tobias Lunt*, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised: 10/18/2013 Item number: XHT1224 What is bacterial soft rot? Bacterial soft rots are a group of diseases that cause more crop loss worldwide than any other bacterial disease. Bacterial soft rots damage succulent plant parts such as fruits, tubers, stems and bulbs of plants in nearly every plant family. […]
Tianna Jordan*, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised: 6/19/2013 Item number: XHT1221 What is common corn smut? Common corn smut is a fungal disease that affects field, pop, and sweet corn, as well as the corn relative teosinte (Zea mexicana). Common corn smut is generally not economically significant except in sweet corn where relatively low levels of […]
Joe Spraker, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised: 6/7/2013 Item number: XHT1230 What is huitlacoche? Huitlacoche is the Native American name for the mushroom-like masses found on the ears of corn and corn relatives (collectively called teosinte). Huitlacoche can be a major problem for sweet corn growers where it is referred to as common corn smut (see […]
Andrew Pape, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised: 6/14/2013 Item number: XHT1225 What is black rot? Black rot is a potentially lethal bacterial disease that affects cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, rutabaga and turnip, as well as cruciferous weeds such as shepherd’s purse and wild mustard. Black rot occurs worldwide wherever cruciferous […]
Amanda Gevens, Ken Cleveland and Lauren Thomas, UW Madison – Plant Pathology Revised: 5/30/2012 Item number: XHT1211 Diseases of vegetable plants can pose a challenge for the home gardener. Typically, cultural methods are the preferred options for disease management in home vegetable gardens. Cultural methods include proper site selection, plant spacing, staking, watering, fertilization, and […]
