Characteristics of each chemical group differs from each other so it is important to know to what group a herbicide belongs before applying it to a plant. Active ingredient will also provide an indication of lead time before a crop can he safely harvested. There are so many ways of [...]
General classification of weeds Most farmers use a different method of classifying weeds since it is easier to understand and separate each weed from another in order to control them. Classification according to growth season length Annuals: These weeds complete their life-cycle in one year. Due to the abundance of dormant [...]
Biology of weeds is important since it covers all aspects of their establishment, growth and reproduction. All climatic factors have a significant effect on biological processes. A good knowledge of the biology of weeds will ensure that the grower and researcher will be able to apply technology correctly to control any [...]
As the pressure increases to develop safer and more economical herbicides, the Government is forced to either withdraw or restrict some of the older chemicals. Table 3 provides a list of the restricted and banned herbicides used in South Africa. It is important to have this list handy so that anybody [...]
Application and Herbicide drift If pressure is used to apply herbicides, there will always be some herbicide drift through the air. If there is no commercial crop in the vicinity, spray drift will have no effect, however, when weeds have to be controlled between rows of a commercial crop, any spray [...]
It sounds strange to think that weeds do have advantages. This way of thinking is made difficult by our perception and definition that weeds do not have any use. Plants classified as weeds are often removed without evaluating the environment first. By removing one type of weed in an area does [...]
Determinate variety tomatoes need to be trellised. Unlike processing tomatoes which are not trellised and in most very large commercial farms, harvested by mechanical means, which means processing tomatoes are only harvested once. Determinate fresh tomatoes ( such as the standard beefsteak tomato varieties) are harvested during a period of [...]
Tomatoes are warm season crops. So unless your winters are warm, you will not be able to plant in the winter. The average farmer will plant as early as possible so that he can be first on the market. So being first is good for the bottom line, but there [...]
Harvesting field grown tomatoes is a labour intensive process. Unlike processing tomatoes which can be harvested mechanically, field grown trellised tomatoes has to be harvested by hand. The sorting can be done mechanically. Tomato fruit ripen according to temperature. The ripening process is initiated by the hormone ethylene. In long [...]
Solving the mystery of the two main types of tomato plants Indeterminate tomato varieties will grow 'forever'. So they can grow over two seasons. Determinate varieties die after about 100 days. If you have a very short season to grow your tomato crop it is cheaper to buy a determinate [...]
When Jan van Riebeeck landed in the Cape on the 6th April 1652, one of the first priorities was to establish a vegetable industry to provide passing ships with fresh produce. It was not until the 19th century, with the discovery of gold and diamonds, that the vegetable industry started [...]
