 My name is Krista Hartzuck and I am the Iowa SARE coordinator. As part of SARE, we have a lot of different grant programs and one of those is a graduate student grant, which our speaker was able to receive. So today we have Sharon Adea-Araez here, who is a PhD student, excuse me, at Iowa State University. As she received her undergraduate degrees from the University of Costa Rica, her interests are in integrated pest management and biocontrol. And her PhD research focuses on studying mesotunnel systems. So please help me welcome Sharon. Sharon, thanks for being here. Okay, my presentation is called Managing Tep as a Living Mulch for Organic Acron Squash and Mosmelon in Mesotunnel Systems. I was introduced kindly. My name is Sharon Balilla-Arias, and the co-outors of this research were Kefas Mande, which is a PhD student. He was in charge of the Mosmelon part. Sorry, and Mark Lieson, who was the PI that helped us with this research along the use. This was possible because of a grant that Mark received from the USDA in NIFA and for the grant that we received from North Central SARE. So thanks a lot. Okay. As some people might be familiar with, some of the most important pest and diseases complexes of corbids in the Midwest. We have the cumber beetles, which transmit bacterial yields, and squash bog, which transmit the corbid yellow vine disease. This last disease is an emerging disease. It might not be that important at the time, but we have observed a increase over the years. So that might be important, hopefully not, but might be important in the future. More important at least. And the bacterial yield is a disease is most importantly in Mosmelon and cucumbers, and the corbid yellow vine disease is mostly seen in squash and complex. The management of these diseases is through the vectors. So spraying insecticides is a management option that a lot of people uses. Rotating from corbids meaning using or planting different crops, which are not a host or this insect. We use perimeter trap cropping, which is basically planting a different crop around the main crop, which is going to attract the pest and spray those mainly. That is tragedy. I think there are there is different results, some more positive, some less. But it's a option and use barrier strategies. That is another option in which I'm going to elaborate. For organic management, we, the insecticides that are allowed are sadly are less effective than the other insecticides. Therefore, the barriers are barriers are one option. And as examples of barriers, we have low tunnels and mesotunnels. So this is a picture showing low tunnel and mess so means middle size. So mesotunnels are a little bit bigger than low tunnels. To expand on this, these here I'm showing two more pictures and a picture of low tunnels and a picture of mesotunnels. This is kepas installing one of our mesotunnels. So low tunnels, the cover of these tunnels are found on polypropylene. They are usually 18 inches high tunnels. They are wire supported. They are installed from transplant on the bloom. And they do have some limitations like the short term protection that they provide because they can be installed when they at transplant, but they need to be removed at bloom. To allow the pollination to happen. Another limitation is that they can overheat the cubic seedlings, especially in very hot days. The mesotunnels, by the other hand, are covered by this nylon mesh fabric. They are bigger. They are 3.5 feet high tunnels. They are also wire supported. And they can be installed during this whole season. They do not overheat. That is one of the reasons they can be installed for the whole season. They can be sprayed through them. We can spray through them. And they are tougher than the spawn bound. This picture shows that because of the size of the mesh, they stop the test. But they allow the wind and the liquid from the spray bomb to pass through them. However, mesotunnels also have some limitations. Such as they exclude the pollinators, as I am trying to show in this picture. Because of the mesh. And they also hinder the weed control. Because they are these physical barriers that must be removed in order to control the weeds. To come up with some solutions or possible solutions, we perform field trials. Do in 2020, 2021, and 2022. We performed some trials to come up with a pollination strategy. And some others to come up with a weed control strategy. We did these for two different crops. The most melon, variety atina, and acorn squash variety table ace. So I am not going to expand on the pollination trials. But I want to share with you and mention what we have done during those three years. We installed these three row mesotunnels of 150 long mesotunnels. They were this big in order to try to make a commercial size field. So we could have a better sense of what could happen with the pollination. We compared three different treatments. One was a full season mesotunnel. In which we installed a bumblebee hive in the middle of the mesotunnel. In the second row. We had an on-off-on treatment in which we installed the mesotunnels at transplanting. We waited until bloom. We removed the nets for two weeks to allow the pollination to happen. And then we reinstalled the nets. And then we also had open ends in which we only opened the ends for those two same two weeks. And then we resealed. I'm not going to expand on this. I want to mention that we had different results depending on the crops. And if at the end anyone is interested I could explain a little bit of this and expand. But I want to share with you what is the team of the talk for today. Which is weed control trials. So for the weed control trials we also performed it for the three years that I mentioned. We also had three rows but in this case 30 feet long mesotunnels. Which you can observe in here. And we tested living mulch to control weeds. Also we did this for moss melon, varietina, and acorn squash, varietin, pavoace. To control weeds in organic production we don't have that many options. So that's why we decided to use a living mulch or test it. Some of the advantages of using a living mulch is that they can protect the soil against erosion. For instance in this picture you can observe how the soil can get eroded after a rain event. The living mulches also build organic soil, organic matter. Because all of this land material and the roots that we cannot observe in this picture for instance gets into the soil and helps to build this organic matter. And they also suppress weeds and weed weeds. I will expand on this with all results. So for 2020 we tested four different treatments in the soil for rows between the plastic rows. We had a weed fabric treatment in which we installed the weed fabric in here. Then we tested Teph, a non-coated Teph at two different densities because we didn't know which density was the best for our system. So we tested Teph at four pounds per acre and Teph at eight pounds per acre both non-coated and bare ground. The Teph we planted it with a Gandhi seeder. Here you can see a picture of Kefas just like planting it just before starting the transplantation the very same day. For the markable yield of moss melon in here in the x-axis you can observe the different treatments and in the y-axis you can observe the pounds per acre of moss melon. You can observe in here that the Teph reduced the yield in comparison to the weed fabric. If we move to the acre and squash results I am also showing here the pounds per acre of acre and squash and the different treatments. And in here you can observe that Teph at four pounds per acre reduced the least being yield was similar to using the weed fabric. And was less and reduced the yield less than the eight pounds per acre. So that part of the changes that we made for 2021 and 2022 is that we planted the Teph or we decided to plant the Teph at four pounds per acre. And we decided to mold the alleys in this treatment at four inches height at a bloom. In this picture I want to point out that this is Teph and you can observe only few different weeds around there because the Teph is when established properly it competes very well against the weeds. This one is a picture of one of the early workers mowing the weeds. You can observe how many weeds we had in the alleys. And in this picture this is how the Teph looks like just after very close to harvest. All this organic matter gets incorporated into the soil and the root system that they produce it's very big I am going to show you a picture. So all that goes into the soil. Teph do not overwinter do not survive I was winter. So that is a very good option to control weeds. So in 2021 and 2022 we tested five different treatments. One steel was the weed fabric installed in between the alleys. We had a non-mode Teph planted at four pounds per acre. A mold Teph planted at also four pounds per acre. A mold bare ground and a non-mode bare ground. Here I am showing the multiple yield of the mows melon for 2021 and 2022. In the Y axis you can see the pounds per acre and in the X axis you can see the different treatments. For mows melon in both the years we observed that the mold Teph had a similar yield in comparison to the weed fabric which is very promising. So mowing Teph at bloom eliminates yield drag. Also here I am showing you the weed growth in between the alleys for the mows melon trials. And in here you also can observe that the mold Teph reduced the weed significantly. Here I am showing the grams of wheat drive wheat weight inside a 6 square feet quadra. So mowing Teph at bloom reduce the weeds. However in 2021 well acre and squash looms at a different time in comparison to the mows melon. So you show mows melon takes around 21 days to bloom. A acre and squash takes around 35 days to bloom. So in 2021 because we decided to mow at bloom because it's when we were moving the mesotoneal steenets we decided to mow at 35 days after transplanting this for the acre and squash. But you can observe that the markable yield was significantly lower than the weed fabric. So in 2022 we decided to mow earlier the Teph between the acre and squash and also the bare ground for the mowed seedlings. So in here you can observe what happens when we mow 21 days after transplanting. So mowing Teph and bare ground 21 days after transplanting reduce the yield drag in acre and squash. For the weed growth for the acre and squash. When we mowed 35 days after transplanting we observed a reduction of the weeds in comparison to the other treatments. But when we used Teph and mow it 21 days after transplanting that reduction was very similar to the weed fabric. So mowing Teph 21 days after transplanting reduce weeds. We also performed an A economic analysis. So we made a partial budget to compare between treatments. We used the cost of materials and labor that were different between treatments. And the yield resulted from the different treatments. As I show you before the same yield. So we made this use this formula which is the cost efficiency. It basically is taking the yield of a given treatment let's call it treatment A between the cost of that treatment. And we divided that between the yield and the cost of a second treatment that give us the cost efficiency. So for instance if the cost efficiency exceeds one that means that the treatment A is more cost efficient efficient than the treatment B. So this is a comparison between one treatment and the other treatment what it gives in yield in comparison to the cost. So the economic analysis for the mowing here in the Y axis you can see the relative cost efficiency rating. This baseline is at one and in the different in in the X axis you can see the comparison between the different treatments. So for instance NMB means non-mode background. MB means mode background. LF means landscape fabric. NMT non-mode depth and MT mode depth. So here we are showing different comparisons and we have three different graphs in each comparison. The one that has bricks that one is for 2021. The one that is that is pointed that is for 2022. And the one that has lines that is for the two year average. And remember the baseline is at one. So for the muskmelon basically the landscape fabric and the mold depth gives a very similar result. Meaning those two treatments are compared in the economic analysis. The cost efficiency of mowing depth was similar to use with fabric. And those were the treatments with the higher yield. If we jump to the acorn squash here I'm showing the same graph, the relative cost efficiency baseline and beam two years and the two year average. And the same treatment. For the acorn squash I want to point out that these two in 2021 and 2022 the mowing was done at different times. So I want to comment on the 2022. That is what is very similar between the mode depth and mode background in comparison to the landscape fabric. So the cost efficiency of mowing depth and background 21 days after transplanting was similar to using using with fabric. So in terms of how much is invested and how much is returned those two are similar. However, the labor requirements are different. And I think for this presentation in that that is important so farmers can make decisions based on what they have available. So in here I'm showing the labor time in hours that we spent in our 30 feet mesotlunas that in the Y axis and in the X axis we have the different weeks that we had or experiments on place. The yellow lining here is with fabric. The red one is more tough and the green one is mode background. So I want to point out that with fabric had to fix on labor. One is the installation which was higher than the other treatments. And mode background didn't have any installation is basically having or with the which that were in place, which might be different in comparison to other places. But well, that is not the point. And mowing test or the mode test treatments we had to land the test as I mentioned before. So that had some labor involved, but not as much as installing the fabric. Then we had some labor here to mold the mode treatment, but here to remove the landscape fabric, I think that is the most significant fix on labor because we couldn't let those on place during the winter we have to remove it. So the labor for mowing test or background was much less than the weight of fabric. So has a summary. Mowing test three weeks after planting eliminated the yield draft in most melon and reduce it in acorn squash. Meaning that using tech and managing this step might be a good option to control weeds under the system and even not necessarily with the mesotonyms by themselves to control weeds. The most cost efficient treatments were the landscape fabric, followed by motive in most melon and motive and mode background in acorn squash. And leaving mulches reduce erosion builds soil organic matter and have no disposal disposal problems, unlike the wheat fabric. So some of the considerations that might be important to, well, some of the things that might be important to consider are these other services that using a living mulch represents and the amount of labor and so many other factors that you might want to consider. This is the picture of the tech, the tech roots under the plastic mulch. In 2020, I think he has moved the plastic and he observed all these roots from the tech going and under the plastic mulch. So all these roots, first, they can compete against the crop because they are very massive. But that is one of the reasons why I think by mowing it, you are also controlling the whole plant, meaning also the roots, and then that might be one of the reasons why they are not that aggressive with mulch. And I also want to mention on this picture, these naked soil line, like alleys that you observe in here are the ones in which we removed the landscape fabric. So I want to point out that in that treatment that soil was going to be naked for the whole winter. In comparison or in contrast with using the other treatments, which were TEF and the mowed burial, that those treatments are going to be protecting the soil in order. Some take home messages, TEF has promised has a living mulch for organic food production, and TEF has also been used for pumpkins. That is, we found this information from Rhode Island University and we use this to come up with this possible for this research. So if you want to continue reading about TEF and some of the considerations that you want to consider, that work might be of your interest. Mesotunals showed profit potential for organic must-mown production in the upper Midwest, but less or less so for the apron squash. I know that I'm not showing this information in here, but I invite you to read some of the publications that we have so thus far, because that might be something to consider. Basically, the must-mown, the pressure of the cucumber beetles and the disease that they carry is very high in Iowa, and it's not that high for the apron squash or the squash box and the... it could be yellow vine disease. This might change, this might not change, but it's part of the research that we have done. Mesotunals results can vary with geographic region. That is something that we observe, because part of this research was done... or this research was done in Iowa, that is the results that I am presenting, but we have some colleagues that made the same experiments or similar experiments in New York and in Kentucky. So you might see differences with the mesotunals, with the pollination, with control, everything. So that is something that you might be interested in checking. For future research, we think that... or we have here from farmers that extend mesotunals to other crops might be something interesting. I remember one farmer using or trying to use mesotunals for broccoli. So if someone incorporates mesotunals on their theory toolbox, using it in different crops might be something interesting. And grow multiple mesotunal crops in the same years, in the same year. That might be something interesting too. I invite you to check on the tips for using mesotunals. This is a growers manual that was put in place for more group. This is the link to get to the growers manual. I'm sure that you are going to have access to this presentation, and you also can Google current COVID and you will find that information. Some test recommendations. Seed and water at crop transplants. Watering is especially important if the days are too hot, if the soil is too dry, you might want to water a little bit. We have water with the mesotunals in place. We have water just about with a hose. So that is something that you can try if you have it. Something that I haven't mentioned that I think is very important too, is we tried to plant a head, like one week ahead, transplanting the main crop, and that didn't work that well. Because the head was coming, we smoked plants, and with the tractor they got damaged and they didn't come up. So after we came up with this option in which the soil was prepared, the plastic rows were put in place. At that point, the same day we transplanted the head, and then just after that the tractor came and transplanted the main crop, and then we closed the mesotunals. If it didn't rain in the coming days and the soil was too dry, then we watered. So something to mention, we have tested different options and that was the best one. We also recommend mowing two to four inches 21 days after transplanting for both of the crops, the muskmelon and the acorn squash, and we recommend using a clay mower on a busy start. Some acknowledgments that I want to give Dr. Wendon and Dr. Nian Chen, they were the researchers in charge of the economic analysis. These economic analysis gave us a better idea on what to recommend. So we want to acknowledge their contribution and to Jose Gonzalez, which was the lab manager at the time. He made it possible, a lot of the research, he was a very important person to make this possible. And he also held all the groups to coordinate like Iowa's group with the Kentucky and New York group, which was a very rich research. Here, a picture of some of the early workers that helped us from 2019, in which we had made some mesotunals in research to 2022. Here, you can see it. And we want to thank our funding resources, which were a USDA NIFA and North Central SAR. And thank you for inviting me to give this presentation. I will be happy to answer any questions right now or you can reach to my Iowa State email. I will be very happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you, Sharon. Appreciate that information. It's always fascinating to me to be able to see how well the TEF did in growing and I know I especially enjoy visiting when I'm out at the farm. So a couple of quick questions. One was if you were planning to continue this same type of research or transition to something else or is your project, your portion of the project complete? My portion of the project is complete. Right now I'm working, or I will continue working for my PhD in biocontrol of Erwinia trachefila, which is the causal agent of bacterial wilt in moss melon. But if someone is interested on the TEF research, I am aware that some people will continue doing research on this area. So, I think he will continue researching on this. And I am aware that the Iowa State Horticulture Farm, they incorporated the TEF in many different areas of theory. Like to manage weeds, I remember that they were using it in areas that were not being used for crops. So, I think TEF at least is being used and people will continue doing research on it. Thank you. One other question was did anything really surprise you in your research? Thank you for that question. Yeah, the picture that I showed of the root system for the TEF, it didn't occur to me to check on the roots. And Kefos was the one that out of curiosity he moved the plastic and we observed that massive root system. So, that is something that surprised me. But after talking and after thinking about it was like, okay, this TEF comes from an African country. I think it was Ethiopia and it's very resistant to dry conditions. So, it makes sense that it makes these massive roots to survive these conditions. So, yeah, that is one of the things that surprised me a lot. And, well, something else is, I am an agronomist, so I am used to be in work in the field. But it surprised me also how much effort we need to put in order to grow things and the pressure that that is. So, that is something else I want to point out that I admire all that effort that people put in their house. Thank you Sharon. I really appreciate that and appreciate the questions that we had. And I really appreciate your flexibility and willingness to present this remotely.