Gordon Johnson, Extension Vegetable & Fruit Specialist; gcjohn@udel.edu
May and early June planted lima bean fields are being cultivated at this time. As cultivation season progresses, lima bean growers are reminded that harvest recovery can be affected by cultivation practices. In research by Dr. Jim Glancy and Ed Kee, they found harvest losses as high as 25% when ridging was 3 inches or more. A large part of this was due to pods left on plants that could not be harvested. It is therefore important to have the most level conditions possible. Cultivating too deeply, at too fast of speeds, when fields are too wet, or in ways that create ridges and valleys in the field will reduce harvested yields. Excessive wheel tracking in fields for other operations such as sidedressing or spraying can also cause losses.