Lettuce pests can be controlled in large commercial plantings. Due to the high planting densities and large fields, scouting is often neglected. Most pests are found near a specific location or concentrated in an area close to either other crops or forests. If these areas are sprayed first and regularly [...]
According to botanists the current variety, Lactuca sativa, was developed from Lactuca scariola, which is a common weed in Europe, Abyssinia, East Asia and the USA. Lettuce is very important in a diet because of its high-quality content of Vitamin A and C. There are three basic commercial types: Curly [...]
Pumpkins and squashes belong to the family cucurbitaceae and are related to calabashes, watermelons and muskmelons. Pumpkins and squashes probably originated in America from where they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Pumpkins were introduced to South Africa when the first Europeans arrived and they imported the [...]
Green bean seed germination is epigeal. that is the cotyledon is pushed above the soil surface together with the young leaves. From planting it takes about 6-10 days for the seedlings to appear, depending on the soil temperature. At an optimum soil temperature of 24-30°C the seed will germinate rapidly [...]
The basics of green bean fertilization Green bean fertilization is quite easy as it has a short growth season, but if neglected can have a significant effect on yields. Proper preparation of the soil and an adequate amount of well-balanced nutrients are essential for good yields and a large proportion of [...]
Maximising farm profit starts with a lot of things and one of the is the right variety for the production system. The right variety will provide the grower with the right product for his market and climate. The most important is climate. If the variety is adapted to the farm [...]
The nutrient uptake of vegetable crops are used to determine very rudimentary fertilizer recommendations if you have nothing else to go by. A lot of purists will be up and arms of these guideline tables, but none of them can come up with a simple method of determining fertilizer recommendations [...]
Substitution is takes place when one products price is to high or becomes unavailable and households find a new product to substitute it. A classic example is butter and margarine. The price of butter started to increase up to a point where the manufacturers found it feasible to add colorants [...]
Each household has a limited income. This income is usually fixed if at least one person has a job. The total household income is limited. A household cannot decide one month to spend all its money on milk and the next month on bread. There are various fixed cost items [...]
All products have a life cycle. Even your standard tomato variety. Note I said variety not the tomato itself. It is a lot like fashion, fashion comes and goes. There is a reason it is a cliche, because it is true. In the case of varieties its because of science [...]
