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...
Tipburn in lettuce
Tipburn in lettuce has been a problem since the first farmer planted lettuce. Any grower will at some stage have the problem occur to some...
How to get good iceberg lettuce head development
An iceberg lettuce head that is solid will always sell. Just watch people buying lettuce, they always feel the compactness of the heads first and...
Lettuce deficiency and toxicity symptoms of macro and micro elements
It is often quite difficult to identify a deficiency or toxicity symptom in the field because they never really occur as a single element deficiency...
NFT is ideal for hydroponic lettuce production
Lettuce was cultivated in 4500 B.C. in the Mediterranean basin. Only in 1543 was the first know head lettuce produced in Europe. Lettuce was first...
Onion thrips
Description Thrips tabaci and western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis are sap feeders. Common thrips as in the main image; Order: Thysanoptera, Family: Thripidae. They are...
What is nutrient conditioning?
Nutrient conditioning is the process of managing the nutrient content of seedlings in the nursery for optimal growth when they are transplanted. This sounds easy,...
The effect of light and temperature in plant growth (Advanced reading)
Light and temperature are two crucial factors in greenhouse hydroponics. Plants use a very small range (only about 5% of visible light) in the total...
Increase container size for higher yields early in the season
This is all about getting higher yields early in the season when you can get higher prices. It’s about going into the market with a...
Why do Green Pepper grow so slowly
If you have grown peppers with other crops, you might have noticed that green peppers grow slower than most others. Even the seedlings take about...
Are organically grown vegetables better – The real truth behind it all
There is a hype about organically grown vegetables or any other foodstuff for that matter. Here is the irony in it all, the people that...
What is the nutritional value of vegetables
The nutritional value of vegetables is easily answered by the popular media, just slam a couple of very average numbers next to a couple of...
Quality of vegetable crops
Quality is one of those elusive characteristics upon which so much depends but about which is so little known. The number of definitions for quality...
Tomato russet mite
Description Russet mites (Aculops lycopersici, Aculus lycopersici) are so small that a 14X hand lens is needed to see them. Because of their size, these...
Plusia looper
Plusia looper description Plusia looper, also known as Cabbage looper or more correctly Trichoplusia ni are light green caterpillars with white or pale yellow stripes...
