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 seed from Brazil. An interested [...]

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 and the seedlings emerge after [...]

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 first grade pods. The nutrients [...]

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 climate, a higher portion of [...]

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 that an average non-scientific farmer [...]

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 to margarine and sell it [...]

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 that households have. Items such [...]

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 and technology. It is better [...]