Plant
How to calibrate a spray rig
All too often, I come across farmers who are not accurate enough with their sprayer calibration.
Plant
Choose the right onion variety
Choosing the right type of onion can be difficult, as the variety has to suit both the area and the planting seasons.
Planting dates for onions
Onion growing will keep you on your toes! Yet when all the hazards are avoided, it becomes routine and easy.
Learning about onion production
Onions are not usually eaten for health benefits, but for their culinary attributes. These added advantages make onions an even more attractive crop to grow.
Cabbage Aphid
Common name: Cabbage Aphid, Scientific name: Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus), Family or class: Aphididae
Beware those aphids in your cabbage crop
The recent announcement that aphids and not leaf hoppers are the vector for the spread of the brassica stunting disorder virus (BSD) makes sense.
How to water-treat seed
It is sometimes advisable to treat seed in order to remove a pathogen, or as a precaution before sowing. For example, capsicums (chillies and peppers)
How to grow blackcurrants
Find out how to grow a delicious crop of blackcurrants, in our practical guide.
Ensuring good germination
Germination is influenced by various factors, starting with the temperature of the growing medium
Striving for a happy medium
There is no single ‘ideal’ method for growing seedlings successfully and economically – conditions vary too much – but there are guidelines that can help
Seedlings and seedling trays
Some farmers think that seedlings should not be kept too long because they will not be as productive. They are partly right, but age matters less than physiolog
Hardening vegetable seedlings
A Highveld farmer I knew once desperately needed seedlings and turned to a supplier in another region. I still recall his shock when the consignment arrived
How to deal with big-vein virus and tipburn in lettuce
Lettuce big-vein disease is transmitted by the soil-borne fungus (Olpidium brassicae).