July 17, 2025
Discover how to elevate your microgreens operation in this expert-led webinar with Francesco Di Gioia, Associate Professor of Vegetable Crop Science in Penn State’s Department of Plant Science. Designed specifically for microgreen production, the session will highlight current research on optimizing light quality, intensity, and duration to boost yield and enhance crop quality in controlled environments. Whether you're just starting out or refining your current system, you'll gain practical strategies to improve efficiency and results.
June 24, 2025
Participants will explore alternative production systems—including greenhouse and vertical indoor setups, with and without substrate—while examining their advantages, limitations, and overall efficiency. The session will also address key considerations for selecting growing media and managing water and nutrients in both organic and conventional systems. With growing interest in micro- to large-scale indoor farming, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, this webinar offers timely guidance to help producers make informed decisions and optimize their operations.
February 27, 2025
This webinar will provide basic information on emerging soilborne pest and pathogen issues affecting specialty crop high tunnel production systems in Pennsylvania and the use of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) as a sustainable management strategy to help with mitigation. Attendees will learn about i) key emerging soilborne pests and pathogens affecting high tunnel cropping systems; ii) how to implement ASD in high tunnels on a commercial farm and the effect of clear and black plastic on soil physicochemical properties and iii) the efficacy of ASD in suppressing plant parasitic nematodes and fungal pathogens. Results of the research conducted in Pennsylvania on different commercial specialty crop farms will be presented
November 11, 2024
This webinar covers topics including seed quality, sourcing, origin & selection; preserving and testing seed quality; managing seed quality issues.
October 24, 2024
Understanding seed quality, how commercial & nutritional quality standards are evolving according consumers needs; how quality traits can be used to create new market opportunities
March 21, 2024
This webinar will provide basic information on the opportunity to integrate the use of cover crops as a carbon source for the application of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) in organic vegetable production systems. Attendees will learn about i) the benefit of using cover crops as a carbon source; ii) the principles to follow for selecting different cover crops or cover crop mixes; and iii) how cover crops should be incorporated in the soil as carbon sources for the application of ASD. Results of the research conducted in Pennsylvania on sustainable and organic specialty crops will be presented.
