I studied agriculture at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in 1984 and completing my M.Sc Agric. in 1998. . My love for "Controlled Environmental Agriculture" (CEA), started in my third year when I was exposed to the Welgevallen Research Station. There Prof. P.C.Maree showed us what hydroponics consisted of. It was awesome. There were no large tractors involved, no dusty fields, no uncontrollable storms to destroy your crop (well that is what I thought).
Since then I put hydroponics to much better use, not just farming. We solved pollution problems by cleaning mines effluent with hydroponics and aquaculture. They were used to remove toxic metals to produce clean water (which we sold and make more money of than the produce). What I learned from 1987 I tried to compile in this website and I hope it is from some value to the serious commercial farmer that wants to take the journey into Commercial Hydroponic Farming.
Description Thrips tabaci and western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis are sap feeders. Common thrips as in the main image; Order: Thysanoptera, Family: Thripidae. They are...
Nutrient conditioning is the process of managing the nutrient content of seedlings in the nursery for optimal growth when they are transplanted. This sounds easy,...
Light and temperature are two crucial factors in greenhouse hydroponics. Plants use a very small range (only about 5% of visible light) in the total...
Quality is one of those elusive characteristics upon which so much depends but about which is so little known. The number of definitions for quality...
Description Russet mites (Aculops lycopersici, Aculus lycopersici) are so small that a 14X hand lens is needed to see them. Because of their size, these...
Plusia looper description Plusia looper, also known as Cabbage looper or more correctly Trichoplusia ni are light green caterpillars with white or pale yellow stripes...
Bollworm description Bollworm, also known as tomato fruit worm or American Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, are small caterpillars (about 30mm long, slightly more than 1 inch)...
Physiological disorders caused by low temperatures Low temperatures injury only occurs with fruit that are in storage (either in transit or in storage rooms). Small...
Selecting a cucumber pruning system The question arises which system should be used. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages according to the ability and...
Sweet potato whitefly description Sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci, order Hemiptera and family Aleyrodidae) is a sap feeder. The adults are about 4-5mm long with...
Red spider mite description Red spider mite, of the genus Tetranychus urticae, are sap feeders. Although there are several species of spider mites which attack...