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.
Pruning tomatoes is an essential activity during the maintenance of the tomato crop. Just as the plants should be trellised every week, so should each...
Trellising tomato plants is only required when growing indeterminate types in greenhouses. Although trellising tomato plants it is labour intensive and must be done weekly,...
Zippering symptoms Zippering are thin scars running from the top of the shoulder of the fruit down the length to the blossom end. These longitudinal...
Tomatoes originated in tropical America. Tomatoes were first exported from Peru to Italy, then to Northern Europe and finally to the USA by 1781. In...
Blossom drop Symptoms Blossom drop (flower buds abscise) occurs prior to anthesis under stress conditions. The early indications of blossom drop are the yellowing of the...
Blossom-end-rot (BER) Symptoms This physiological disorder looks like a typical fruit disease. The symptoms generally occur at the blossom-end of the fruit and begins with...
Sunscald or sunburn causes Sunscald may appear on foliage and fruits. The disorder is caused when the temperature of the fruit exceeds 40°C. An imbalance...
Good pest and disease control in hydroponic systems is crucial for a successful hydroponic farm. Soon after the plants have been transplanted, pest and diseases...
Fertigation of peppers is sometimes more of an art than science since plant requirements change as the weather/climate change. Learn how to read your plants...
Temperature and humidity regime for peppers. Temperature and humidity go hand in hand. Quite often increasing the one has an effect of the other. So...
Trellising sweet peppers is common practice in commercial greenhouses. Although labour intensive, it increases quality and quantity of fruit yields, so it cannot be ignored....
Pruning peppers will have a significant effect on yields over the production life of the crop. The correct pruning method will also increase ventilation and...
Planting density in bag culture systems Pepper & tomato planting density influences yields, diseases and quality of the end product. Get it right the first...