Understanding tomato taste and flavour
Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) is the world’s most valuable fruit and essential greenhouse crop. They deliver vital nutrients to our diets and serve as a pivotal...
Category Archives: Crops
Not all crops are suitable for commercial hydroponic systems. Most plants however can be grown hydroponically for fun.
The effect of high intensity radiation on plant growth in greenhouses.
High intensity radiation is more common in equatorial regions than cold weather climates. This is because of the angle the sun rays hit the soil...
The effect of radiation on growth and yield
Understanding the effect of radiation on plants will help identify weaknesses in your greenhouse. The effect of radiation can be divided into three parts; its...
Trellising cucumbers in greenhouses
Trellising and training of greenhouse cucumbers Trellising of cucumbers should not be confused with pruning. They do go hand in hand, but are very different....
Understanding nitrogen dynamics during cucumber growth season
We all know the basics of nitrogen in plants. The good and the bad. Every grower and student knows nitrogen is important for good looking...
Fertigation of cucumbers – the basics
Cucumbers are sensitive to water stress (to little water) and to water logging (over watering). Any of these two conditions will reduce plant vigour and...
Solution heating of a tomato crop has limited effect on early yields
Heating the nutrient solution of a NFT hydroponic system may sound like a lucrative option for early yields. Tampering with the nutrient solution temperature is...
How to grow spinach hydroponically
Spinach or Spinacia oleracea L. belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family. The Chenopodiaceae family also includes crop such as beet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) and...
When to harvest tomato fruit
The ripening stage when tomato fruit are harvested will depend on the variety, the market segment (do they want red full ripe tomatoes or does...
Seedling transplant tolerances and germination characteristics
Seedling susceptibility to various climate conditions is important to growers, especially those wanting to venture into new crops. We all know that microclimate is crucial...
Manganese levels in nutrient solution do not influence tomato growth
The concentration of manganese (Mn) can vary significantly in re-circulating nutrient solutions. Crop uptake of manganese cannot be explained to this high variation and the...
Heating nutrient solution increases growth rate of tomatoes
Heating the nutrient solution in order to increase growth rate can provide growers an edge over competitors. This applies to all business categories. Heating up the...
How to predict when lettuce are ready for harvest
Lets face it, lettuce is one of the fastest growing crops from transplanting to maturity. What makes it even more crucial is that the whole...
Nutrient uptake of cucumbers depends on light intensity and air temperature
When it comes to fertigation programmes or recipes, most commercial growers have a good indication of what is required. The nutrient program is either obtained...
How important is the ammonium/nitrate ratio
The ammonium/nitrate ratio in the nutrient solution is important since it can have a significant effect on the quality and total yields of the tomato...
