Pistotita:


Better you go for mulch. Though if I see a responsible farmer, I can recommend a procedure. But I cannot write such here. Readers will abuse it. Stick to mulch.

I'm fascinated to know the type of mulch that is cheap, readily available, & easy for farmers to gather for use in Southern Nigeria. By the time you clear a mini forest for cucumber farming, there's very little available in the form of mulch. Most of the vegetation is often giant broad leaf plants that are no good for mulching. Grass, which would make a good mulch is often no where to be seen in these forests.

Sawdust, which is cheap & readily available is not an acceptable mulch for cucumber.

Please o, can you mention one mulch that fits the criteria I mentioned above, most importantly that is free & readily available in a farm environment.

If one has to pay for mulch, pay for Labour, pay for insecticides & fungicides, fertiliser or even pay transport to pack chicken poop from a poultry, pay for this, pay for that and on top of all these, face too much sun, too much or too little rain, contend with disease infestations, it's no wonder, making tangible return on investment in vegetable farming is tough.

kripen:
Please this is a pilot project. Any sachet foliar spray I can use in this small farm. Great farmers am I doing it well from the pix

What are you trying to achieve with foliar spray? Fight viral, fungi, bacterial infection? Prevent abortion, micronutrient, enzymes? What exactly do you want to achieve?

DeLaRue:



I'm fascinated to know the type of mulch that is cheap, readily available, & easy for farmers to gather for use in Southern Nigeria. By the time you clear a mini forest for cucumber farming, there's very little available in the form of mulch. Most of the vegetation is often giant broad leaf plants that are no good for mulching. Grass, which would make a good mulch is often no where to be seen in these forests.

I have seen farmers who used grasses to mulch more than 3 plots effectively. And they told me that they have guys who do it. First the guys will look around where to get grasses, and plan how to use bike to move them. But I was not interested in it. So, I did not try it. What is hard for you is easy for someone else sir. And why say southern Nigeria? Oh! You also agree that labor is terrible in thr region. Lol. You have just buttress my point. Perhaps, while trying to reduce cost of what you buy, you end up many times relying more on labor ehich is more expensive. lol. It is like magic. lol. You are talking about gathering this, packing tgat....lol. Is it not that labor you want yo avoid you are relying more on?

Sawdust, which is cheap & readily available is not an acceptable mulch for cucumber.

Though, I have not tried sawdust, but never say it is not an acceptable means. For you, yes, but never say never. I don't do it. The human mind us so elaborate and creative. Never say never. So, I am taking this as you cannot find a way to use it, And Not OTHERS cannot . Period. I have accepted things I cannot do myself at some particular point in my life. It is why outsourcing is a good business tactic. Do not try to do all by yourself. Search for pros where you are weak, and use their services. Use tech to reduce labor.

Please o, can you mention one mulch that fits the criteria I mentioned above, most importantly that is free & readily available in a farm environment.

Your questions are vague and still broad. I want you to break them down. Using 1 plot as our reference:
Cheap : How much to you is cheap?
Readily Available : Available for purchase, available free, or what?
easy for farmers to gather If you want me to consider cheap stuff, I am not sure how I will relate it with this one. Cheap and easy to gather? Do you still gather what you buy? Or is it logistics that is your challenge? It is confusing. How can one kind of mulch be cheap and easy to gather? Not clear. Kindly elaborate further.

If one has to pay for mulch, pay for Labour, pay for insecticides & fungicides, fertiliser or even pay transport to pack chicken poop from a poultry, pay for return on investment in vegetable farming is tough.

How do you pay for what (mulch) you gather?

Pay for labor - Is labor cost not what we are trying to reduce? Hmmmm! I know many people reading can spot something here, but I want you to elaborate first.

Insecticides and Fungicide - Please be specific. Kindly list out the ones you usually buy and let us cost it. Then, we see the price here. I like talking with facts and figures. I am not aware the cost here is so high except you are going organic. And it's why organic farmers are complaining.

Fertilizer - Tell is the kind of fertilizers you use, let us do the cost analysis too. I want yo see the amount of fertilizer you use for 1 plot of cucumber. Cos which high cost are you talking about here? If organic farmer is complaining, I can understand, but not inorganic..

Animal dung - How much do you pay per bag? How many kg per bag? How many bags fo you use per plot? How much do you pay for logistics?

pay for this, pay for that and on top of all these, face too much sun, too much or too little rain, contend with disease infestations, it's no wonder, making tangible return on investment in vegetable farming is tough.

hahahaha to pay for this and that. Please, you have to mention specifically the "this and that". Nothing like "this and that" in costing. I believe it is miscellaneous you are talking about which you must allocate a reasonable amount. So, let us know the cost of this and that. If you cannot give this which many farmers cannot, then, that is failure before you start.

My readers, you can see why I insist that theory is necesary. You just don't jump too far away in the bush, and then you realised you do not have enough to take the project to the expected end. Didn't you do business plan? Of course, most do not do it. If I do a plan, and the business is not profitable, I don't do it. It is different from a profitable business but challenges along the way which I call Force Majeure resulted into loss. This is an acceptable loss cos it is beyond your control. And even modern business consultants are tasked to see ahead these kinds of factors, and prevent them.

Tangible return on investment - Hmmmm! If you do not make a business plan, you may not succeed. You have highlighted many issues, kindly respond and let us figure out what may be wrong. Keep your mind opened. There is no shame in it. I have written my own failures too, and how I swallowed my pride. It was not that vegetable wasn't highly profitable that I made losses, but some other issues.

Necessities in Organic Farming Production
There are mix conceptions about organic production. Let me be straight forward with you, it is better than inorganic. Inorganic commercial farming has changed many things.

1. Inorganic has bent the rules negatively. For example, mono crop farming. The right ways are
a) Mixed crop farming to check diseases
b) Crop Rotation
c) Mixed farming itself - Rearing animals and crops together. Dung is hard to get if you do not have your farm near a pig farm. Poultry farms want to sell manure which I can never pay for. Look for pig farms. Better you practise mixed farming. Start with just 2 to 5 rabbits. You will not regret it. But most of you gat no time for this, yet, you wanna be successful. You will surely rush out the way you rush in. Oh! You do not like me again? lol. Continue reading, you will hate me more. hahahaha!

I believe organic farming can feed the world if we go back to its basics
A rule for myself is going back to the olden days for things that are going bad. For example, How was farming done in those dsys? The 3 criteria up must be fulfilled. Mix cropping, Crop rotation, and mixed farming. But chemical farming has changed it. You keep shouting that you cannot pack manure bla bla bla. What stops you from doing animal husbandry too? What stops you from producing compost yourself? Yes, I believe more in natural farming that inorganic after a deep research. I do not condemn inorganic farming. I am just against farmers who do not follow the rules. They are in organic farming too. Infact, most humans fo not want to follow rules. Maybe you need to read about the nuclear explosions. But you still will not learn. You learn when you are dead already. That is human for you. So, when I see someone arguing with me, I try to understand the person. But when I am sure the person is wrong, I don't say much, I just pity the walking dead.

Basics of Organic
1. Organic matters in the soil
2. Mulching
3. Microorganisms

Believe me, without the 3 above, earthworms, good insects and worms, microbes in the soil are already dead. What does using tractor do? It destroys the ecosystem of the soil.

The soil Eco System
When you destroy or interfere with the habitation of soil living organisms, you have destroyed the soil. Have you ever noticed how cool the soil is, how black it is, how worms operate in the soil that does not have tractor worked on? If course if using tractirs, there are rules for it. Even we have mostly weed smokers who parade themselves as tractor drivers. Their eyes are always red. lol.

Readers, this (good ecosystem ) is what we want to create in organic farming. If you can recreate this system, waooooo!

Hustlers should keep off farming
99.9% of you here are hustlers. Keep the heck out of farming. Yours is to get the fastest approach. To get the shortest way with no plan to avoid the bad consequences. Yours is only about how to make huge profit. Yours is about you, yourself, and yourself only. Yourself, Yourself, and again yourself.

The Walking Dead
When the dead have already almost destroyed the land, Rick and the guys had to find a way out to start feeding themselves. And funny how other groups like Rick started thinking in the same direction. Someone even drew a complete working ecosystem that they are presently using. Funny how they just do without chemicals when they were no more available. They went back to the basis, which is organic production.

Crop and Animals go together - The bitter truth .
People shy away from the truth and they want to force it. I laugh. I always laugh. How many good farmers have you noticed practise mono cropping? The good farmer or gardener gets to the point he realises that he will be limited, his cost of production will be extremely high, and then, he moves into animal production too. Same with the other guy at the other end. He realises he is having too many dung in his compound, and he wants to get rid of them. And then he just starts doing cropping. This is the Ecosystem in a well balanced state.

If every farmer can follow these principles, I believe we can feed the whole world with organic farming. It is just to find the means.

The hunger for profit
Those producing chemicals will never want you to do the right thing. Believe me. You destroy your land with herbicides and you keep asking me what you should do. How do they do it in those days? Ask yourself. I always ask myself these questions. Do they put chickens in prisons like we do today? The fulani's meat is free from chemical. Believe me. LoL.

Today you use DDForce, Tomorrow, killFastForce, RidOfTheWeed, and you still cannot think and reason that you are destroying yourself.

I still use herbicides till date
By the grace of God, I am versatile. I understand many. You Wana go inside the bush and rush out with some millions. Of course, yeah. Yiu can do it. I have done it many times. But I always go on trials. I ask questions so much. There are hebicides that will not work without rain, and there are that you must spray when it is not raining.

Let me tell you a story. I asked someone to get me a land, and he got me a trouble attached land. THE dispute on the land was too much. I saw it, and I knew it will be unwise to have long term. So, I called I went on short term. I used herbicides on the land. And it was in August. That year if you see the rain In September and October, Hu LA LA LA. Too heavy. But these people kept coming with their problems, so I quit the land without using it after preparing it. Hahahaha. I know when to quit. 18 months later, I was invited for a baby naming ceremony and I honored it. That was how I saw a gentle man approached me. And after questioning him, he was the son of the one of the land owners. And he said......"bros, A wan learn from you. Ha! Weed started growing on that your land in November oooooo. Papa dey look for you" I just looked at him and laughed. And he got my number. His father phoned me, and that was how I asked him to pay damages done. The man over paid. And then, I gave him a fake formular and left. I don't teach useless people like that any thing. I did not collect money for the new service I only told him that I wasted so and so on the land, pay me before zi teach you. He did, and I taught him a good lesson. Made him do it on a very big scale and gave him wrong stuff. Next time, he will not behave like a mad man. I am sure he made real loses, or he spent so much money on managing weed.

Anyway, my point is that I can use herbicide. If I should give you formular for it here, you will abuse it. So, I will not. People who gave me some of these formular (I added mine too) did not just trust me over night. And I do not know you all personally. Why should I write what I know are harmful if used wrongly? Why? And I know desperation to make profit will make even wise men abuse it. LOL.

Upon all we have said about cancer, readers (they are not farmers) here too don't even care. Hahahhahaha. See, it is when you are already dead, and the doctor tells you that you are left with 40 days that you will understand. Human being learn by experience and most times, it is already late.


Human beings over do things. You are not all farmers..If you are farmers, there will be passion in you. You will want to try the tricks I have been giving you here, and see how they work on very tiny scale. I still do not know how you want yo farm without having your garden for pratising. But you want to force the easy way out. and the easy way out is burning you. Yet, you do not want to give up. You read the truth here, but still become a slave to that old lose in the bush. God! You are losing seriously, but you do not want to accept it. Tomato Jos uses biofertilizers too. She confirmed it. But you want to use NPK and you still complain it is expensive. Yet, the person who buys bio fertilizers which are like 5 times more expensive than your synthetic, and uses more, pay more for logistics is smiling. Yet, you are crying and still do not get it that your approach is wrong.

You have no time to do it well. This is the truth. You just want to rush in and make 50 million naira profit. hahahhahhhaa. Yes, you will be burned.

My last word on pruning
You are lazy and will never be a good farmer if you still ask me if pruning is the way to go or not. What is wrong with you? I have given you the pros and cons, and another cucumber farmer has given you his views about it, yet you are still asking. What stops you from going on a trial and see what works for you? If you still ask me such question, it means you are a lazy fellow. Though, I will answer you politely again and again. No stress about thst. I have learned to keep responding. hahahhahah! But seriously go on trials. Stop "Rank Xeroxing". What is even wrong with you? This is why I used to slam people who come to me. Why? Are you daft? Seriously. Let us be frank. Are you a fool?

When you read reviews, opinions, and concepts, the right thing is to go on trials. But you want me to give you the holy way out. Guess what, the holy way out is using the three concepts in organic farming I have listed here.

My recommendations for vegetable farmers
1. Production of dung is necessary
2. I find rabbits more useful. use their urine as pesticides and fertilizers
3. Practice producing compost and tea made from worms. You will see the big difference in your farm as the microorganism populating on your farm will increase exponentially.
4. Learn Fishery, and make sure your fish are healthy. Use the waste water as a good source of Nitrogen.
5. Do small, make it good.
6. Let it be closer to you.

I am not saying using some % of inorganic is bad, you can. NPK and Urea do not just kill all microbes. There are approaches to it. Some organic farmers are extremists too. Yet, they have no solution to the big debate.

Nigeria and Africa are in a bigger mess
I used to say that our researchers are useless, but when I started moving closer to them, I realise these guys are trying. If you hear that USAID or any international company sponsors any department or any professor here IN nigeria, just go quickly read his papers and see the huge difference. What about doctors? What amazes me is how these professionals improvised and do the job muchj better. So, the condition of operation is terrible here. Our system is bad.

No passion
Most of you have no business with agriculture. If you find a better job, you will quit agric today fast. If you can find a job that will give you N100,000 per month, you will leave. Lol. So, you have no passion. You are there to just make profit. So, you care less. The easy way out is what you are looking for. And believe me, you will be a loser for life.

You don't even care about our health. So why blame the hausas and the market men and women?. Do you care?

I am for good and healthy feeding. See, I made up my mind to find a good place and buy 6 to 15 plots and fence it round in a residential area. Then, practice odorless animal production, free range poultry, wine orchard, have trees and roots there too. And I am building the market gradually now. It is not a fast project, but I will get there. My main targets are people who value organic and they are mostly expats. So, embassies are my first targets.

Organic farmers should ask questions here too, and do not let inorganic people (these people are mostly not farmers) intimidate you. How can you still ask me if pruning is a better practice having seen someone attach a research paper here? Did uou even try to read the paper? Am I the one who posted it? LOL! You dey read it life, and you are stil asking. God! Anyway, I dont argue with people. The only issue you should ask yourself is that: Is it profitable for me? Most big farmers ditch it cos it is not feasible to do it. But is your farm big enough not for you just to try it? If you are presently doing 4,000 crops, go on a trial to see if doing 1,000 with pruning mulching, etc can be more profitable. Ask questions instead of coming forward too bold and too forceful trying to prove what you do not understand. Every farmer has got his own style. Why don't you find the style that is ok for you instead of asking which way to go. Find out the many ways out there, and go on trials. Stop being lazy. Wake up!

Please, I am not saying you should not ask questions about inorganic, but I think when we tell you an approach is bad, try to be polite and let us discuss why we say is bad, and we find solutions or alternatives. It us why we are here.

If you have failed, accept it. That you are a failure does not mean I am. But my point is: Don't come here to sow the seed of failure. And if you have got the balls to go on a debate, I am here for you. We will know the practical farmer and the Internet farmer between you and I. I am always ready. "I full ground by the grace of God, no shaking"

Organic farming is suitable for small holders on lands that they intend to farm continuous,using manure on a farm of 1 hectare is almost impossible expect you have a very big poultry or piggery farm as in the case of eagle foods, organic farming is good no doubting it, because the land we planted cucumbers now has seen cukes planted 3 times every year for 5 years now,the reason the soil is still productive,and believe it or not that soil fertility is increasing after each cropping because we add both poultry and piggery waste,due to we have a piggery farm nearby,we go to town with applying the waste.if you factor in the logistics and manpower needed to apply manure on 1 hectare in the deep bush you will see that the cost is very prohibitive,also in certain crops especially veggies that require a certain percentage of nutrients at a particular time,using only organic could backfire because the nutrients composition of manure is not constant and easily verifiable, many factors can degrade manure like weather,feed fed to animals,storage,etc,that's why I advocated for growing veggies in batch's that are more manageable,like my friend that planted 10 acres without staking or irrigation,he should have done a properly managed 1 acre and proceed to another 1 acre if the first site starts flowering,and he will continue like that until the portion he will do during dry season will be close to the river for irrigation.

okoroemeka:
Organic farming is suitable for small holders on lands that they intend to farm continuous,using manure on a farm of 1 hectare is almost impossible expect you have a very big poultry or piggery farm as in the case of eagle foods, organic farming is good no doubting it, because the land we planted cucumbers now has seen cukes planted 3 times every year for 5 years now,the reason the soil is still productive,and believe it or not that soil fertility is increasing after each cropping because we add both poultry and piggery waste,due to we have a piggery farm nearby,we go to town with applying the waste.if you factor in the logistics and manpower needed to apply manure on 1 hectare in the deep bush you will see that the cost is very prohibitive,also in certain crops especially veggies that require a certain percentage of nutrients at a particular time,using only organic could backfire because the nutrients composition of manure is not constant and easily verifiable, many factors can degrade manure like weather,feed fed to animals,storage,etc,that's why [b] I advocated for growing veggies in batch's that are more manageable, [/b ] like my friend that planted 10 acres without staking or irrigation,he should have done a properly managed 1 acre and proceed to another 1 acre if the first site starts flowering,and he will continue like that until the portion he will do during dry season will be close to the river for irrigation.

Good, there you have answers in your post. My brother, you have actually given solution. But first, I can confirm that you do not need a very big poultry for 1 ha. Believe me, you do not need it. You need to ask yourself why do we add manure? I have given the answers many times, but many people take it for granted. Do you think manure is for nutrient? If nutrient, NPK should do it well. No, it is the enhancement of quality life for friends of crops. So, I do not doubt your claim that your land is fertile. But so you think. If you jam a very good pro natural farming guy, you will see fertile land. You will see where 1 plot produce more than 15 (1 ha). And you will not consume much manure. Let us get the concept right first. Let us leave that.

This is how I want to respond to your comment. And the area I want to point your attention to are bolded.

Let us look at your friend you mentioned. He planted 10 acres, he did not stake, he is using only fertilizer. I saw the pics too. Not sure if he spaces so wide (acceptable), meaning that his plant population is not like staked 10 acres. And he will definitely not replant. So, he might have wasted seeds so much. Also, you can check the number of times he is going to put fertilizer. They would do just two rounds of fertilizer when we dont have skow release fertilizers. Meaning that the cost he is spending is lower than even 2 plots with drip irrigation and well staked, etc. But in his mind, he is doing 10 acres and expecting millions. Million indeed. In deed millions. Yeah! he can, if God is on his side with rain. But Christ! Cucumber and no plan for irrigation?

Let us be realistic
All these people here shouting it is hard to mulch 1 ha, it is not possible to do 1 ha organic, can they afford more than 1/2 plot of land? People talk to me daily. You read comments from someone bragging and asking how 1 ha is possible, but when he comes privately he can only afford N20,000, yet thinking of 3 acres. What? And you have the mind to be talking rubbish on the forum? Shame on the person. But I am always polite.

How many can afford to manage 1 ha? Why do you think I keep saying smaller plot of land. They always make reference to an area that is too big for them. Let them start from where they want can do. Let us forget inorganic and organic debate, how many of them can afford just 1,000m of drip? Let us be realistic. And they will be shouting here 1 ha. Let them start with gardens. It is not how big, but how well.

Watermelon as an example
How many people stake watermelon? That is a crop if you do on just 1 plot, you will rake in some profit. Very easy to manage after set up. Not stresful like cucumber at all, and very proditable. If not more profitable than cucumber cos too many people are in cucumber now. Ha ba! Not even so prodotable again. A bag is like N2,500 to N3,000, and not N5000 again. But they just leave wateelrmelon flat on ground. Why? They cannot afford watermelon stake. Not like cucumber stakes cos it has to be very strong. They do not realise that they will make more money if well staked. Their mentality is that the bigger the land, the more the profit. hahaahahhaha!

Finally, I stated from the beginning that I still permit synthetic in the soil cos I know it is very possible to use it with microbes I'd one knows the formular. I take NPK and other synthetic as supplements, but there are ways to do this thing.

1 plot is enough for most farmers here. 99% cannot afford more than a plot. So, they are not farmers. They are gardeners. This is the truth. When I asked some the number of workers, they said 3. But I will install 1/2 plot of land and those 3 workers will struggle to keep up, but they want 3 workers to handle 15 plots. That is the power of intensive farming. 1 plot like 30 plots. This is the sermon from Holland and Israel. Use 1 plot like it is 30 plots of land.

So, if a new comer who is rich starts with 3 plots, it is not bad at all. Of course Dangote can start with 50 ha of land and do it well. Are we all Dangotes?

okoroemeka:
Organic farming is suitable for small holders. Using manure on a farm of 1 hectare is almost impossible expect you have a very big poultry or piggery farm as if you factor in the logistics and manpower needed to apply manure on 1 hectare in the deep bush you will see that the cost is very prohibitive.

Good observation.

Dismissing the cost & challenges of gathering & using something as basic as a chicken poop is just bone headed arrogance.

I have a 2 hectare land, but a large portion of the land is just not good for arable farming, but I've had to manage using a small portion at a time
.
To grow cucumber, which has proved to be most sensitive to poor land, we often have to dig holes (dry season) into mostly hard clay, then hire Dyna to collect rotten saw dust from a sawmill more than 10 kilometres away. For 1000 plant holes, we need 4 loads of Dyna. That's 10k gone. If the Dyna owner wasn't my neighbour, it would be even more costly. Then there's all the other other expenses. Seeds, Labour, water pumping, security (herds men challenges!), fertiliser, fungicides, insecticides etc

If we plant 1000 plants every 4 weeks or so, you can imagine the cost.

Now, the other gentleman said mulch is readily available. I asked him to please suggest one that is readily available on a farm, as my farm for instance mostly has broad leaf vegetation, not grass. He suggested that grass is everywhere, if I don't have it on my farm, I could get Okada to get from another location. Wth How much grass can I move from several kilometres away to mulch 1000 plants on a rolling 4 week basis. That'll require hiring a Dyna yet again to move grass to my farm!

I said organic farming is not realistic for everyone. The nearest poultry to me is more than 10 kilometres away. So, another huge expense to be packing chicken poop up & down. All for cucumber that the price go up & down like a yo yo. His response is that some people are lazy & looking for quick profit in farming He can't understand why a farmer shouldn't rear animals on the side for manure. But what if the farmer doesn't want that additional cost or is just not interested in animal husbandry?

Is this guy an internet farmer or what?

He talks of organic farming citing Israel & Holland. But less than 10% of the foods produced in these countries is organic.

He talks of mixed cropping & all, which is all nice & good, but is not particularly suitable for large farms.

People need to realise & respect the fact that every farm & farmer's situation is different. Some have the luck of a reasonably good land. Grass for mulching & manure might be within easy reach of their farm. But we are not all that lucky. And when people are sharing personal experiences, the least we could do is read & respect each farmer's situation & not be patronising.

Being told, by someone who refuse to acknowledge that each farmer faces peculiar challenges, that you are not doing this or that because you're looking for quick profit is laughable.

DeLaRue:


Good observation.

Dismissing the cost & challenges of gathering & using something as basic as a chicken poop is just bone headed arrogance.

I have a 2 hectare land, but a large portion of the land is just not good for arable farming, but I've had to manage using a small portion at a time
.
To grow cucumber, which has proved to be most sensitive to poor land, we often have to dig holes (dry season) into mostly hard clay, then hire Dyna to collect rotten saw dust from a sawmill more than 10 kilometres away. For 1000 plant holes, we need 4 loads of Dyna. That's 10k gone. If the Dyna owner wasn't my neighbour, it would be even more costly. Then there's all the other other expenses. Seeds, Labour, water pumping, security (herds men challenges!), fertiliser, fungicides, insecticides etc

If we plant 1000 plants every 4 weeks or so, you can imagine the cost.

Now, the other gentleman said mulch is readily available. I asked him to please suggest one that is readily available on a farm, as my farm for instance mostly has broad leaf vegetation, not grass. He suggested that grass is everywhere, if I don't have it on my farm, I could get Okada to get from another location. Wth How much grass can I move from several kilometres away to mulch 1000 plants on a rolling 4 week basis. That'll require hiring a Dyna yet again to move grass to my farm!

I said organic farming is not realistic for everyone. The nearest poultry to me is more than 10 kilometres away. So, another huge expense to be packing chicken poop up & down. All for cucumber that the price go up & down like a yo yo. His response is that some people are lazy & looking for quick profit in farming He can't understand why a farmer shouldn't rear animals on the side for manure. But what if the farmer doesn't want that additional cost or is just not interested in animal husbandry?

Is this guy an internet farmer or what?

He talks of organic farming citing Israel & Holland. But less than 10% of the foods produced in these countries is organic.

He talks of mixed cropping & all, which is all nice & good, but is not particularly suitable for large farms.

People need to realise & respect the fact that every farm & farmer's situation is different. Some have the luck of a reasonably good land. Grass for mulching & manure might be within easy reach of their farm. But we are not all that lucky. And when people are sharing personal experiences, the least we could do is read & respect each farmer's situation & not be patronising.

Being told, by someone who refuse to acknowledge that each farmer faces peculiar challenges, that you are not doing this or that because you're looking for quick profit is laughable.

So many issues you brought up which if I reply will not end well. But let me state the following:

1. I never wrote in my posts that people are not facing challenges. And I respect everyone.
2. I have stated that I do not want to go into the inorganic and organic debate. So, please, leave me out of it. If inorganic is your styke, best of luck. And those practising organic, good luck too. I am only expressing why we need to feed more on organic food. And how soil with organic approach is better.
3. I do not look for cheap and free stuff. I do not go for readily available stuff. An adage says if Mohammed does not go to the mountain, the mountain will move towards him. My destiny forbids cheap stuff. My head forbids cheap materials. I go for quality materials, scout for the best price, and I plan toward getting them. I start small and grow big. I don't cities anyone whose head, destiny, and life is about cheap stuff. For me and my household, no matter how bad the economy is, we will never scout for cheap matetial. Amen. If you choose to also scout for cheap, free, and hard things, good luck. I buy good mulch to stop paying too much on logistics. If you choose to continue doing activities which require labor, good luck. Some people know how to do it and they cut down expenses.You do not know it, and you are forcing it. I know a farmer who has a very old truck which he moves to pick up materials, and things are cheap for him. You do not have truck, you have no means to make it cheap, yet you are crying it is expensive. My brain tells me that if I want to do orgsnic and move materials, it is are foolish idea to pay for logistics. Oga, because I want to spend less on logistics, I will first get a truck. You cannot afford a truck, you cannot afford bike, you cannot afford necessary materials to make things cheap go you, yet you want to go into agric. O boy! You have a long way to go. And continue complaining. Someone like you whose destiny wants cheap stuff will never buy greenhouse. Lol. While people whose destiny do not want stress are making good cash, you will be arguing on nairaland. It is your life bro. Continue scavenging for free materials.
4. I do not go inside bush looking for free grasses. And I never suggest you do it. I only said that you cannot do it does not mean someone else cannot. Just the way you said people face different challenges in your last paragraph, people solve them differently too. And I have told you that you cannot use grasses snd sawdust to solve your challenges, does not mean another person cannot do it. I think my point is clear enough. You are just pushing to start a debate.
5. I go for very thick mulch which can prevent any kind of weed. What is available around are recycled materials. I go for new materials with very good thickness. I still have some. If you can pay the way bill, I can offer you sample. I want to use it, even if I tell you to come take it for 70% discount, you will be able to afford it. Oga, someone picked 11 (50grsms) of okra from me, and I can tell the person to come online and support this claim. This internet farmer you have met (that is me) alwsy buy seeds in cartoon. Do you hear that? While you are compaling that seeds are expensive many still buy in cartoons for personal use. It is your choice to wallow in tough way of practiaing agric. Na this same world we are in, same Nigeria, same industry. If you like continue complaining. I have no time for your debate.Ok?
6. I do not wait for what I need to be available. I go for them. While you are attacking me, there are people contacting me for trials on their farms, and I am trying to see how things will work. It will shock you when you see cultivars you can never buy in Nigeria and nairalanders are posting pictures on this thread soon. Continue complaining. My thread is not for people like you. Oga, carry your wahala elsewhere. Iave no time for you. Many are silent reader and gaining from this thread, but you are arguing and you want to debate. See, the strength in me is to teach, and show people who are learning the right way. I do not have the strength and energy to waste on any debate with you. You with free, readily available, and at the same time cheap materials for your farm, goodluck in your Gulder Utimate Search. May God make your search for grasses, sawdust, or any free materials come true. Amen!
7. While you wait for it to be available here, I go for it. I make it available for people like you. And guess what, it is this same internet I use. So, if that is called being an internet farmer, so be it. So, who is smarter between you and I? And if I decide to sell to you, I will add more profit for myself. lol.

The Challenge
I am offering you free chemical protocols.

a. You want to use herbicides. I am ready to give you. I know it is knowledge you want but instead of you to ask politely, you are using aggression to force it out.

b. I am willing to give you the following protocoks:
herbicides, pesticides, powerful fungicide. Of course there will be conditions attached to its efficiency. I am very sure, it will work cos I will ask someone to even show you if possible. Guy, you will spray very well ooo. You will spray. Forget it, You will spray chemicals. ha! You will spray. And you will get high yield..If you do not get a certain yield, I will be liable as long as you can prove that the process was my error and fault.

conditions are:
1. Sign 10 years contract with me
2. You and your family must consume regularly what you produce. I will personally ask for what your children enjoy most, and we will give you the chemical solutiobs to get it right. Trust me, I will monitor it. You will be shocked how I can pull it off. You and your family will consume them heavily. I assure you that you will not last 4 years before you all land in hospital. And you will buy the chemicals yourself so you don't say I add something else to kill you.

Just read this:
https://www.nairaland.com/5221213/temitayo-abayomi-lawal-battles-cancer
The article was posted earlier today on front page so people can donate for him.
And I suspect the boys immune system is weak, so his body cannot fight well. See, your gut flora and good bacteria will first be washed away, like how you flush them in your farm. Then auto immune diseases, and if you are lucky, you do not get cancer. Auto immume disease is mad too I do not pray it for my enemy. if you do get cancer, just know that your extended family will come beg for money on social media to treat you and your family. Your embarrassing pic on bed will be spread on social media. But people do not know you like that man called Baba Suwe, or Christian Chukwu that were saved by the public. O boy! People will just say "with an that a pity". You will have your life to fight for. You can choose to look for cheap means of treatment too through native doctors, cos I know cheap stuff is what you are looking for. And then, you can cry out that health care is expensive too. So, you are free to look for free places you will not pay too . Oga, My head rejects free free free things. My head rejects cheap things. No matter how hard the economy I have a sufficient God. He has never failed me. He is Jehovah Jireh. God, my provider. So, I do not conplain. Isaac made his millions when there was farming in the land. When others were nagging, Isaac was making his millions. Oga, my head rejects cheap things I say it again. If cheap and free things are for you, I have no problem with it. Good luck.

If you are sure inorganic is okay for you, accept this challenge. I want to show you what you are giving your consumers.

If you cannot accept this challenge, stay silent, and keep enjoying the thread. You are getting no more response from me. Good luck looking for free materials, free logistics, free workers, cheap hoes, cheap cutlasses, cheap mulch, etc. I will not still criticism you. Those who want to use my pattern will. So, kindly leave my thread and look for where threads that teach scavenging for free stuff on nairaland.

Goodluck.

Pistotita:
Cucumber

My position:
I used to cultivate minimum of 1 acre of vegetable farm. Of course, I invested so much in irrigation and other equipment. Well, it was profitable; however, there was a big limitation. It is extremely hard to train farm helping hands. And gradually, it became unprofitable. Therefore, I changed my style.
1. I can do 1/2 plot conveniently without employing anyone.
2. I can maintain 200 to 1,000 plants without any assistance if (a) I do not use side dressing nutrient application, (b) I do not engage in weeding, (c) Irrigation is automatic.

Target:
Ratio of open field to my new approach is 1 : 4. Meaning, if I used to produce 50 bags of 40kg each (2 tons) on open field; I should make 200 bags (8 tons) on the same size of land. But of course, the system has a potential of ratio 1:10.

Requirements
1. Moisturized roots everytime
2. Nutrients must be available always
3. Get my nutrient precisely to N : P : K 3:1:2 during vegetative, and 2:1:3 during fruiting. Give plants amino acids and micro nutrients.
4. Maintain close to optimum climate condition 30C +/-5C
5. Disease free environment
6. Excellent pruning and staking
7. Scheduled harvesting

8. Sales at premium prices

My Decisions:
1. Pathenocarpy variety. To be sure I can pull off as many fruits as possible on a plant. Of course it depends on the sizes of harvest. Two varieties on my mind - Long Dutch varieties and Beit Alpha. Pickling is not a choice for me since it is fat and most groceries prefer thin and medium sizes fruits. Even, I must be careful with Beit Alpha to not make it fat. For the purpose of this thread, I have chosen Beit Alpha. It has the potential of 120 tons per acre. And from my personal experience, it is possible to pull out an average of 25 cukes as a limited garderner. If under proper management, pulling out 120 fruits of 240grams average fruit is an understatement. Hahahaahah! You are shocked. Yes. Also, this guy is tough that you hardly get bitter taste even if subjected to the worst weather. Unlike CU999 that most people complain of bitter taste. This guy is an innovation of the dons of vegetables - My Jewish friends in the middle east. They made it to produce even under 40C temp. This is the power of Beit Alpha varieties. Unfortunately, the market for it is limited in this part of the world. But we are educating farmers to take the opportunity. Shoprite, Spar, HubMart, etc have no choice. They will start taking in more of this variety.

2. Hydroponic - What is what doing at all is what doing well. It easily meets my requirements. Makes life extremely easy for me.

3. Start with inorganic soluble nutrients. Later, I will digress into organic. I am beginning to shift gradually to organic since I became a mini plot gardener. Let me put it like this: I want to be a rich gardener instead of being a struggling farmer. Lol.

4. I feed nutrients only via root. And I treat plants with organic nutrients, amino acids, and enzymes via leaves. All those fertilizers Haifa bonus, potassium nitrate, npk 20-20-20 powder and liquid, maxiforce, etc are all potential cancer givers. It took me years to accept this fact. Well, it is possible to use them well, but from my experience farmers do not use them well. So, let me just come up with my system which is almost chemical free. Very soon, it will be 100% chemical free.

5. Try as much as possible to not use chemicals in the leaves and fruits. No pesticides like action 40, no dimeforce, no imiforce, No cabriduo, no wormforce, no mancozeb, no Ridomil Gold, no crazyforce, no badhealthforce, no cancerforce, no no No!

For now, it is just synthetic nutrients I will use, and it is via root. All other things sprayed are organic via leaves. Gradually, I will shift to 100% inorganic.

I just got into farming this year (Rice) and wanted to try Cucumber in my back yard using sac. Dont know how to go about it. This thread might help my hustle

Pistotita:


What are you trying to achieve with foliar spray? Fight viral, fungi, bacterial infection? Prevent abortion, micronutrient, enzymes? What exactly do you want to achieve?

I am trying to boost and maintain their growth and the leaf greeness

garux:


I just got into farming this year (Rice) and wanted to try Cucumber in my back yard using sac. Dont know how to go about it. This thread might help my hustle

Rice farming is tough especially with birds. I guess you did not make much profit.

It is a welcome idea to start at your backyard. Why sack? You must have reasons; and not just because others are doing it, I am doing it too. Pictures on nairaland are not reality and are not 100% truth. But when you read well, you can know who to talk to.

If you need any help, feel free to ask.

kripen:


I am trying to boost and maintain their growth and the leaf greeness

Personally, I would not spend too much on your project if I were you because I cannot see any form of irrigation in your garden. Your plants are not robust enough. I suggest you find a way to improve your irrigation, and give them more nutrients via roots for 1 week to see changes before you think of any foliar boosting method. No matter how excellent the foliar spray you use, if you do not irrigate well, your plants will not perform well. You should use only insecticides, fungicides, and micro nutrients for now on the leaves.

Lastly, get rid of those weed fast.

Pistotita:


Personally, I would not spend too much on your project if I were you because I cannot see any form of irrigation in your garden. Your plants are not robust enough. I suggest you find a way to improve your irrigation, and give them more nutrients via roots for 1 week to see changes before you think of any foliar boosting method. No matter how excellent the foliar spray you use, if you do not irrigate well, your plants will not perform well. You should use only insecticides, fungicides, and micro nutrients for now on the leaves.

Lastly, get rid of those weed fast.

Thanks for the response. I think I am relying for rainfall for now because it rains 3 to 4 times a week which I understand it is OK for cucumber.

I will try and give them nutrient via their root. Hope urea will be OK on this?

For the weeding I will do that asap.

Op please don't be so annoyed about people contributions. People have right to their different views and it should not deter your good heart from what you know will help farmers and the country at large.

kripen:


Thanks for the response. I think I am relying for rainfall for now because it rains 3 to 4 times a week which I understand it is OK for cucumber.

As soon as you notice rain break, and ground is dry, act fast on irrigating the plants. So, please get your water pump, hose, drip, or sprinkler near by. If you just notice ground dryness, act fast. Just 12 hours stress can make you lose 10 female flowers or more on each plant. By the way what is the name of the cultivar you are using?

I will try and give them nutrient via their root. Hope urea will be OK on this?

How many days old are the plants? I need the name or flowering pattern of the cultivar.

For the weeding I will do that asap.

Op please don't be so annoyed about people contributions. People have right to their different views and it should not deter your good heart from what you know will help farmers and the country at large.

Thank you for your kind words. I have learned to stay away from profitless arguments and debates. If the debate is yielding me profit, I would have torn him apart with points that he will run away from nairaland, never to return. But what is my gain in arguing with someone who might even not worth talking to? You meet some people in real life, and you just kick yourself in the head that why did you engage with such person?

Tactics I used to reduce costs when I was doing 1 acre and above veggie farms

1. Logistics: I don't buy into riding on bike before gaining access to my farms. Infact, one of mine was right beside a big major road that was tarred very well. Drivers were always happy to render me services. Do not let anyone trick you into going inside deep forest if you are doing veggie. For grains, tubers, cash crops, of course you may consider such land. Also, I used to make sure there is a nearby market for my products in case of emergency. Yeah. I deal with big open markets, but I would try to get local markets around. I may need to sell few bags like 3 bag, and going on long trip could be tough. At times, by the time I removed logistics and sales agent fee if sent to big markets, it may not worth it. I would just schedule harvest in such ways that local market can accommodate all my harvests if possible. I always think ahead . But of course I was not so lucky at times.

Rainy Season and Manure/Compost
One principle I will not change is buying a land I have not worked on previously to know everything relating to it, from the head if the family to least in the family. Lease first, buy later. I learned this very early. Of course, my first farm was inside one bush that rainy season is always a disaster. Logistics went up too in rainy season. But God is a faithful God. I did my best to survive it, (I was pushed to buy, but I was fortunate to meet an elderly man who used wisdom to tell me to lease first). That man was God sent. And I had to return to take him out of that location he was trapped for so long. You can be trapped in a place. Believe me.
It was first week in May I sowed seeds, and everyone was expecting rain. Do not bring irrigation, oh! bring heavily boots, but no one told me that ha! Moving out products was he.ll. It was the 7 days non stop rain in June that opened my eyes. Dam.n! Flood everywhere, even bikes refused to move inside my farm. Christ! You enter the farm, you are trapped for 2 weeks or even a month cos no bike will come pick you. I had to get a database of almost all bike riders and cab drivers that are tough, stubborn, and would not mind picking you 12 midnight as long as you can pay tear fare. When I need to move out, I would offer N1,500 instead of the standard N400. And they would jump to come carry me. I started studying who among them are cool headed. Gradually, I would tell them, guy, "na N2,000 dey my hand, but I gat enough Waka for town, a beg manage this N850". Later, "guy, a no get kobo, a go call you later" of course, I had cash in case the head of the bike man sparks, just finding my way out. And so on.

The God who always answers prayers held rain in July like 3 weeks before my harvest came out. It started with sudden death of the community royal father, and as usual, they held rain so they can perform all rituals. Before I realised it, all farmers started complaining, and I moved out my drip irrigation. When planting, I gave planters (men who sow my seeds) 50cm sticks to use so that it will be easier to irrigate my drip as I was using 50cm emitter distance. No one taught me these tricks, it was just my "common sense". Cos I checked out many scenarios before sowing my seeds. And that was how logistics was not so high. Readers, I ran away from that location, and I did not force another round. I forgot all stakes, bamboos, binding wire, rope, etc. I just moved away. I did not recover all money invested, but Christ, it was just 3 months after set up and I recovered over 80%. How many business can recover 30% after 6 months these days? And then, that was when my eyes opened that if I could find solutions to the challenges I faced, I would make over 150% on every round. Mind you, I could not use manure since logistics was cra.zy . I did not complain, I just knew I must move out. Why force a location which is not profitable? If I had bought the land, trust me, I would be trapped. And so, for all my vegetable farms, I preferred paying tips every year, or after every harvest to the head of the family to secure my long stay if I like the land. I made up my mind never to buy. Readers, I was running like 5 leased locations simultaneously cos I was always about nearness to piggery (poultry manure is unreasonable expensive while piggery is affordable) nearness go main road, good road network, etc. would take 3-plots land that satisfied my criteria, and rejected 1 ha far inside. Learn from me.

Other sources of manure, and Labor
I sticked to piggery dung for many years until I started looking into aquaponics. But when I first carried out a pilot on using mulch, I realised I needed new strategies. First, it was impossible to mulch large expanse of large at a go. And I still went ahead to do it on 1/4 plot. And then, what I saw shocked me. My yield was like "ma.d, ma.d, ma.d high". Why? I had this guy doing fish beside me, and I studied him that he was using less antibiotics, and flushes water daily up till date. So, I connected his outlet to my and I fixed a filter at my inlet. Mehn! Yield was crazily ma.d. That was how I went back to drawing board to see how the cost of fishery can be added. Continue shouting you need loads of trucks to carry manure, while others are finding way out. Those reading are learning while you are complaining. Na inside epistles I will slot in tricks. You are lazy to read it, that is your business. I will not put it out there where lazy people can read it fast.

Do you think I am stupid? Do you know how many people still write me based on old tricks I gave out? And they returned after months that "oga, your principles are savers after trying them, a beg, can we roll anything together?" I always have this joy inside reading from such people. And I always ignore noise makers like that one. They always come when I am writing, and trust me, they will always be silenced. Even consultants steal my ideas. But do I care? No. Like I said, I am 10 steps ahead of what I put out. It is either the tricks are obsolete for me, or I just feel like doing good. Like this one, I have zero large farm at this moment. I gat 2 plots I am supervising (Via whatsapp) in an area in Ikorodu presently as I am talking, and my partner has moved some cucumbers bags to maket this morning. I do not need to post pics to convince you. And you do not need to be convinced that I am saying the truth. If you are a true farmer, you will know that I write with experience. I think the guy is a struggling, frustrated, and self acclaimed practical farmer. Who am I to question whatever he chooses to call himself. I pity him.

And then, when I started implementing hydroponics, I moved into the world of rabbits. Right now, I gat no rabbit, but as I am writing I gat a colleague in IB who can supply me fortified rabbit urine at reasonable price. And if it is unfortified I want, he can. He is one of the farmers God used to make me see the benefits of small farms. After many years of being a victim of workers, he too dowsizee to 1/8 plot of land according to him, and gradually scaled up to 2 plots. And he realised that he does not need any worker anymore. His 2 plots are in the middle of the city of IB. And he is making profit neatly. He goes out for consultancy every weekend. Lol. I just don't fancy consultancy jobs, but I respect hs decision to do consultancy jobs. When I did not understand the concept of small farms, I persuaded him so hard to do things with me, but he declined all professionally. And when I returned to him that I needed hel to start smaller plots, he laughed so much. But he assisted me. Thank God for good people. They are still around. What if I had attacked him that he was doing useless small plots and he needed to grow when I had poor knowledge about intensive farming? Would he had shown me more tricks? Cos I used to feel that way about him, that he was keeping himself refined to a corner. Hmmmmm!

More epistles are coming, stay tuned, and keep reading. Ask questions, and feel free to drop comments. We will get to practical and pictures soon, but allow me lay good foundation of what I do excellently now. Don't rush me, as I don' respond to being pushed.

Pistotita:


Rice farming is tough especially with birds. I guess you did not make much profit.

It is a welcome idea to start at your backyard. Why sack? You must have reasons; and not just because others are doing it, I am doing it too. Pictures on nairaland are not reality and are not 100% truth. But when you read well, you can know who to talk to.

If you need any help, feel free to ask.

This is my first yr into the rice farming (yet to harvest), i wanted to explore additional crops (vegetables). Please what breeds of cucumber ll grow well here in the North and how do i access them.

Notice
It seems the rush to go into cucumber is seriously high. In Mile 12, I was told the market price dropped to N3,000 per bag. Funny. And then like a abrakatabra, someone called me now that one hausa agent sold big bags for him at N1,200 to N200 each. I was so shocked. One of my boys actually went to market today also, and I want to compare the price.

This is the major reason I quit slicing cucumber, and I am focusing more on supplying malls and groceries. It is interesting how Nigerians rush into same business when they hear about it. Just be careful, it seems the price of cucumber has really crashed. For those of you rely on rain, just be careful. Anyone with updates or better info can help here. Also, I am trying to confirm if truly there was glut today, or not. Obviously, I know the best price was around N3000 to N3500 over the weekend. But N1,200 for excellent cukes quality? Still funny. But perhaps the agent was not faithful.

garux:


This is my first yr into the rice farming (yet to harvest), i wanted to explore additional crops (vegetables). Please what breeds of cucumber ll grow well here in the North and how do i access them.

I hope the backyard farming is for practising, and not thst you want to use it as your major start up production. If it is for practising, get different varieties and test the best one for you location if you are not doing soil test.

There are many kinds around. Also you need to check your market (if it is for profit) to know the kind that is acceptable. Light green skin, or dark green skin? Which commands higher price - big size, medium size, or small size? How fast can you sell your harvests? quickly or gradually? Return with answers to these questions and I am sure someone can make a very good recommendation for you. Finally, where is your location?

And if it is for your personal consumption, you should choose very sweet, light skin, seedless, any color cultivars especially the ones grocery stores accept. You will never return to open market to buy cucumber again if you eat these kinds.

[quote author=Pistotita post=78979994]
As soon as you notice rain break, and ground is dry, act fast on irrigating the plants. So, please get your water pump, hose, drip, or sprinkler near by. If you just notice ground dryness, act fast. Just 12 hours stress can make you lose 10 female flowers or more on each plant. By the way what is the name of the cultivar you are using?

OK I will do that



How many days old are the plants? I need the name or flowering pattern of the cultivar.

3weeks plus. I bought it from jobaili agro. It is darina seminis that is written on the sachet. It is hybrid

kripen:

OK I will do that

How many days old are the plants? I need the name or flowering pattern of the cultivar.

3weeks plus. I bought it from jobaili agro. It is darina seminis that is written on the sachet. It is hybrid

At 21 days, Darina should start having flowers if you feed them well. But the most important is that there's no major disease out break yet.

Sure give the plants urea, they also need other nutrients. Give each plant 1:1 of Urea/NPK151515. Five to 7 grams per plant. You should use Urea so the plants can gain massively fast. Quit Urea as soon as the plants have picked up well.

Of I were you, I would Bombard the land with compost after weeding.

Well done Bro, let the good work continue. He who have ear should listen to what the spirit is saying. I also have about 3 plots of tomato farm. I planted platinum F1 tomato

Adeoye007:
Well done Bro, let the good work continue. He who have ear should listen to what the spirit is saying. I also have about 3 plots of tomato farm. I planted platinum F1 tomato

Nice work. I applaud you bro.

Looks like there is no irrigation? How did you cope in April and May before this June that we are experiencing rain. Or did you irrigate? I am just curious.

Please, if your crop will cross over June and July, please be up and doing with management of foliar diseases. 2 years ago when we had merciless rainfall in May, almost all tomato farms that I kniw collapsed, except one guy GOOD JOB bro!

Adeoye007:
Well done Bro, let the good work continue. He who have ear should listen to what the spirit is saying. I also have about 3 plots of tomato farm. I planted platinum F1 tomato

Wow!!! I'm impressed. Good work bro!!
I do have a few question about the staking method you adopted. Are you tying the twine or rope at that angle? Is it tied to the plant stem or pegged to the ground? And how efficient is this method. Do you have any shortcomings with this method you adopted and would you do it differently with your next planting? I need a model to work with.

I was thinking of a different staking method until I saw this one. Or is it a proper way to stake platinum F1 tomatoes? cc Pistotita

Thanks.

jidestroud:


Wow!!! I'm impressed. Good work bro!!
I do have a few question about the staking method you adopted. Are you tying the twine or rope at that angle? Is it tied to the plant stem or pegged to the ground? And how efficient is this method. Do you have any shortcomings with this method you adopted and would you do it differently with your next planting? I need a model to work with.

I was thinking of a different staking method until I saw this one. Or is it a proper way to stake platinum F1 tomatoes? cc Pistotita

Thanks.

Will actually like adeoye007 to give you his reasons.

There are two styles. Horizontal and vertical. The vertical is like staking cucumber. Actually, it holds the crop firmly. Since it is platinum he's doing it might be easy for him, just 1 rope per lateral. But if Rio Grande which is your favorite breed, you will have some serious work to do during fruiting. Or how did you stake it the last time?

The third option which one can use is use a pole by the sides of each plant. But this is for scanty variety. If you have a variety that spreads far, it nay not work well..And I think this method might be expensive if poles are not available on your farm.

I just do horizontal. That is move rope horizontally to hold the plants. Very easy. So, what I do is to get good poles like his at 4 to 5m distance. And if I do horizontal, and see that the load is still heavy especially when fruiting, and most of the plants are dropping, I would get binding wire (he uses bamboo on top too, might be too much work for me to cut bamboo on top, so I prefer binding wire, and I always use galvanised which can last 3 years or more outside) and install on top and stake again like his. I might pick 3 laterals per plant to tie to it. And I will still continue horizontal too. That's how I do mine. For most semi determinates cos they can be heavy (3,000 - 6000 plants per acre), I use both horizontal and vertical. But if I was doing plantinum, I would probably use horizontal cos I know it does not produce heavy fruits. Just scanty and each fruit is less than 100g.

I hope I have thrown more light into this. But I believe Adeoye007 has more to say on this.

Pistotita:


Will actually like adeoye007 to give you his reasons.

There are two styles. Horizontal and vertical. The vertical is like staking cucumber. Actually, it holds the crop firmly. Since it is platinum he's doing it might be easy for him, just 1 rope per lateral. But if Rio Grande which is your favorite breed, you will have some serious work to do during fruiting. Or how did you stake it the last time?

The third option which one can use is use a pole by the sides of each plant. But this is for scanty variety. If you have a variety that spreads far, it nay not work well..And I think this method might be expensive if poles are not available on your farm.

I just do horizontal. That is move rope horizontally to hold the plants. Very easy. So, what I do is to get good poles like his at 4 to 5m distance. And if I do horizontal, and see that the load is still heavy especially when fruiting, and most of the plants are dropping, I would get binding wire (he uses bamboo on top too, might be too much work for me to cut bamboo on top, so I prefer binding wire, and I always use galvanised which can last 3 years or more outside) and install on top and stake again like his. I might pick 3 laterals per plant to tie to it. And I will still continue horizontal too. That's how I do mine. For most semi determinates cos they can be heavy (3,000 - 6000 plants per acre), I use both horizontal and vertical. But if I was doing plantinum, I would probably use horizontal cos I know it does not produce heavy fruits. Just scanty and each fruit is less than 100g.

I hope I have thrown more light into this. But I believe Adeoye007 has more to say on this.

I get the picture now.
The pictures below clearly shows how I pulled through; adding additional lines as the plant grew taller. But doing this on more than a plot could be a little tasking that's why I was asking

I didn't account for the heavy tomato fruits initially so I had to stake each individually and still made an horizontal cross along each plant to keep the fruits off the ground as the plant started fruiting (last picture). But this was just a few plant.
Thanks for the tips.

jidestroud:


I get the picture now.
The pictures below clearly shows how I pulled through; adding additional lines as the plant grew taller. But doing this on more than a plot could be a little tasking that's why I was asking

I didn't account for the heavy tomato fruits initially so I had to stake each individually and still made an horizontal cross along each plant to keep the fruits off the ground as the plant started fruiting (last picture). But this was just a few plant.
Thanks for the tips.

My brother, pilot is so good. You are able to measure your capacity. In my post on your thread about Rio Grande, I wrote about 2 plots batches transplanted every 30 days till 1 ha is covered. I have my reasons sir.

Let me tell you why. If you use any of the tomatoes around that are planted 2 rows on beds and 30cm btw plants, you will have 1,666 plants on a plot. Think of the staking, ropes, etc. But if you choose a heavy variety, 1 row per bed with 80cm to 1m spacing, and around 1.2 to 1.8m between rows, you are having only 666 plants per plot. On 2 plots you will have 1332. And on 3 plots, you will have 1998 plants. If you can pull 1,666 on a plot, believe me, you can pull 1,332 on 3 plots at the same time if you use mulch or you can get help for weeding. The work of 3 plots for such heavy cultivar is like 1 plot of these scanty ones.

These are solutions for optimization that I came about by myself after deep thought. Cos I was like: to fertilize 1,666 per plot is like 3 times the cost of fertilizing 666. More labour more poles, more everything. And at the end of the day, I will have better harvest from my giant cultivars. So, I just dump all these 10,000 population per acre. Whenever I hear plant population is 10,000 per acre, I don't near such. lol. I am not saying they are bad, they are not just for me. And I think you are beginning to reason like me too.

Bro, na so everyone wey dey do pilot dey think. And not people who just jump to farm after listening to seed sellers who know nothing about farming. And they come here on nairaland to ask varieties without testing if it favors their style of farming.

Lastly, if you cultivate the habit of using poles of 5.5ft to 5ft + 1 ft that is buried, and at 4m - 5m distance (not short poles like yours), it will be nice. Cos you may need to re-enforce from the top if the load is too heavy for the plants. Like the strong poles used for cucumber.

Again, if you complain about horizontal style you are doing, you will never want to do vertical cos that one is a killer. Lol. But just think of how easy it is to do 666 plants on a plot instead of 1,666 of another cultivar on the same plot.

I like the way you address our farm challenges and also letting us know we can get more if we aspire to go higher in making more profit as result of broadening our knowledge to seek for ways to achieve high yields. I've being okay with 50bags on a plot but getting to hear the stats that you outlined and with a brief research I know its possible but frankly speaking its a tall order. Please sir can you give us detailed outline or a direct path to follow with little guidance and maybe people like us will take it up from there. Actually I'm planning on going into 1hectare cucumber and 1acre pepper of all verities. Though I have being on a. 4plot of cucumber for some time now and I think its time to expand but my target yield has changed with the info you just gave out to us now. Please sir your kind gesture's towards helping farmers attain high yield will be most welcome by people like us....thanks

Pistotita:


I hope the backyard farming is for practising, and not thst you want to use it as your major start up production. If it is for practising, get different varieties and test the best one for you location if you are not doing soil test.

There are many kinds around. Also you need to check your market (if it is for profit) to know the kind that is acceptable. Light green skin, or dark green skin? Which commands higher price - big size, medium size, or small size? How fast can you sell your harvests? quickly or gradually? Return with answers to these questions and I am sure someone can make a very good recommendation for you. Finally, where is your location?

And if it is for your personal consumption, you should choose very sweet, light skin, seedless, any color cultivars especially the ones grocery stores accept. You will never return to open market to buy cucumber again if you eat these kinds.

Yeah it is for practicing, i want to see if it is viable/simple for me to go into next year.

pipi84:
I like the way you address our farm challenges and also letting us know we can get more if we aspire to go higher in making more profit as result of broadening our knowledge to seek for ways to achieve high yields. I've being okay with 50bags on a plot but getting to hear the stats that you outlined and with a brief research I know its possible but frankly speaking its a tall order. Please sir can you give us detailed outline or a direct path to follow with little guidance and maybe people like us will take it up from there. Actually I'm planning on going into 1hectare cucumber and 1acre pepper of all verities. Though I have being on a. 4plot of cucumber for some time now and I think its time to expand but my target yield has changed with the info you just gave out to us now. Please sir your kind gesture's towards helping farmers attain high yield will be most welcome by people like us....thanks

Every secret of mine are written in my posts, but I will summarize again

Note: Everyone has his style, so you must find what works for you.

For me, the following work:

1. I attack soil diseases aggressively with 3 options
a) If doing pathenocarpic and I know I can harvest for 5 months, I fortify them with grafts and microbes. Dem no bone any soil disease. Also, vigor is increased too. I increase yield by 15% to 60% depending on the variety. But this approach is expensive. Like joining two plants in one. Seeds are expensive. It's not per bag, but per kg I sell.
b) I fortify my manure with Micro - organism from from the start. I Bombard land with fortified manure. I prepare manure for minimum of 21 days. They fight fungi and bacteria in the soil mercilessly. Anyone who.comes here to ask..van I use only NPK is killing his soil. Can never get high yield. Better use those stuff. 1kg per plant is my standard. And I add basal nutrient.
c) I innoculate seedlings with 5 strains of microbes so they can use nutrients well.
d) I stay off soil and do hydroponics when doing parthenorcarpic. Another style. this is complete eradication of soil. I use only nutrient water.

For most people option b) together with c) seem cheaper


2. I spray fungicides (organic or inorganic). I battle viral diseases. Leaf miner is also a disease I don't joke with. My main secret is what I learned from a colleague. Spray what kills the pests and not just anything. Yellow card traps are set to catch pests. Then, I spray exactly what kills the insects in the traps. You must research chemicals or organic spray well. Not asking here what to spray. If fruitflies sre disturbing you ask yourself what kills fruitflies nicely? What kills thrips? Know all the pests and diaeases for your crop. When I started improving, I picked books to research seriously. I may have like 6 types of pesticides. and might spray each just once through out the planting season. Keep the bottles till another time. I always buy in bulk and store. Agric is theory first bro. Forget those practicals. Study the dam stuff yourself..Improve at your pace. Will they teach you all these in all those trainings? I did not study Agric, and I never for a day attend any training. Recently, I started travelling (esp abroad) for conferences, just to network. In one of my travels, I met a bad as.s Israeli guy in seed making. I'm going to Tel Aviv soon to met him cos there are crazy tech.he has shown me. That's me. People always say I buy expensive things. lol. nope, I buy what I need. Simple.I gat my own laboratory where I propagate.

3. Micronutrients, Amino Acids, and Enzymes are my.real secrets to super high yield. But if.you can't keep diseases off, or manage tgem, it's a waste to use them. I prepare my micronutrients myself. Brother, I import many things. I always do. No one has the raw materials I use for preparing these 3 stuff. Deep research I made. Very deep. It was even by luck I stumbled on it. And I bought samples. When I saw the difference, no one told me to get back to buy more.

4. Knowledge of flowering pattern is very vital. I spray enzymes acvordimg to the flowering pattern..I don't joke with prunning. That is one thing I do well. I don't use everyone to prune. Would pick three boys and train them. Them would go round to check them every sec they are doing it. But when it gets to the top of the trellis, I let the plants blow without prunning. That time, the plants are strong enough.

6. I wear new cloth to farm daily. And my boys, I bought them overall for them cos they can never wash their cloths daily. The psychology that the cloth are overall forces them to wash them daily. Use per day and wash. 3 overalls for each person..As you finish today's work, go and wash them. Again, before they start, I make sure they sterilize their hands and shoe soles before entering my farm.

These are my top secrets. I can go on, but for me to release these ones, I have moved 10 steps ahead. I don't do all these again. But will work for anyone. If doing large farm, it may be hard. I don't think you should expand yet. Do that 4 plots again on a new land, and see how to move yield up very well.

At times, I get lazy too to check these things. And when I am not in farm (I dont go to farm again), those dem.ons would not follow protocols. And where you always sterilize, and you fail to do it for some days, that disease spreading like Usain Bolt. Better not to.even try it. So, I just told them all to.go sit down, and I presently manage my one plot myself. I still get help from partime workes, and pay weekly. .

It is not how far, but how well. Dem consultants are reading. And would use the tricks to collects thousands from many. I don't care. God blesses me more as I dash out things..I don't hide stuff. When I chat with some of these so called consultants, they would even be using my tricks that I wrote on public forums to try get money from me I just laugh that, look at this "mufu". He doesn't even know who he is talking to.

I was taking to one seed seller one time. "Just give me nutrient formular you use", the person said it was his secret. I laughed. Fast forward 7 months, he forgot how he denied me and was asking me some protocols..I just laughed again. Just imagine. And not that I don't know what I asked him, I only tested him, and he failed.

Bless you bro!

garux:


Yeah it is for practicing, i want to see if it is viable/simple for me to go into next year.

So buy the following: Murano or Monalisa, Greengo or Darina, Cu999, or another (I have just forgotten it's name). Will give you the name when I remember.


The above are grouped according to their flowering pattern. Try one from each group, and see which you like best. Yiu may combine two on a plot. I alway combine too.

My 1 year Schedule for Tomato

Why must it be only cucumber?

Difference between Tomato and Cucumber
1. Cucumber is fast paced, while tomato not.
2. Cucumber brings faster return while tomato at the right time brings heavy, slamming, and unbeatable profit.
3. Cucumber requires more handiwork, while tomato requires more mental work.
4. Cucumber cannot just be eradicated 100%, but 100 ha of tomato can be destroyed. As the main man on site, you must be alert.
5. Cucumber can be rushed, but my suggestion is move gradually into tomato. Therefore, I came up with a year plan.

June - September
1. Scout for varieties which appeal to you. Sterilize your soil and get around 3 pots for each varieties. Start learning
2. Go for soil test of the sites you want to use.

October
1. Do your first nursery systematically for all the varieties just for a plot of land (scale up or down as it suits you). You will be doing nursery every month. Until you get the best for you. This is if you do not do soil test.

2. If you do soil test, you start working on fortifying or getting varieties that can with stand all the soil pathogens you get from the result. I call this Systematic trial and error.

November to January
I believe you should continue with 1 plot each month. By end of February, you should have known the best for you. Hmmmm But this is tricky as you have been working in dry season, but about to break into rainy season.

I work on getting another variety and combine it with the one I want to use. Two varieties. One to tackle the soil, the other for fruiting and to tackle environmental diseases. It is why I posted somewhere that most good seeds for advance nations do not take deadly soil pathogens found in Africa into consideration too much. It is Asians that try to add soil and air diseases tolerance in seeds. Advance nation rarely do it. Nematode, Verticillium, Fusarium 0, 1,2 are common diseases. But most varieties resist only nematodes well. The rest, they resist weakly, but the manufacturer always just list both weak, intermediate and high tolerances together without telling you the details. Also, production of smaller fruits is the opportunity cost for the combo of air and soil diseases from my observation. I think its the reason the likes of platinum, cobra produce less than 100grams fruits. This is why I ditched all Asian seeds. But going by advance style which I use, all soil diseases with bacteria wilt are super highly resisted.

In addition, I check for vigor. If the original plant is like 30cm spread, mine can be 40cm after fortifying them. If vigor is increase, a variety which produces 140g - 220g can give me more 210g -250g with few 300g fruits. Thats the power of making the fruit stronger. Again, I innoculate the soil with microbes that will make them feed bastardly. So, if the maker tells,me to use 30kg of anything, I increase it to 40 to 50kg.

I also love fortifying for drought tolerance during dry season, and flood tolerance for rainy season. Flood is a problem which will kill the best seedlings during rainy season. If you submerge my seedling in water for 72 hours, that is 3 days, they will never wilt. I believe if there is any area of the farm with flood, 3 days can be used to quickly correct it. But if you don't have that be ready that within 12 hours, if your root is soaked in water, that can destroy all your plants. And what if it happens at night?

You can replicate some seedlings by intentionally creating artificial drought or flood during trials from August to November. You intentionally use overhead to irrigate some at 6pm so you watch how they can resist environmental diseases. And many more...

These are common sense procedures I developed by myself. No one taught me.

February to early April
Move ahead with the nursery of your main production. Do it in batches also.


Note Operation is easier and smoother when you do soil test. I don't joke with it. But where to really do it in Nigeria is what I do not know. I have tried couple of places but they gave me terrible results with flaws.

You should be able to make significant amount from May to August with this approach. It depends on your style. You don't wanna use mulch and drip, please downsize drastically. This is just a guide as I expect you to adjust it to suit you.

You should continue doing cucumber, habanero, watermelon, etc for operational cost covering. Half plot is ok if you get it right. And you move around your farm to observe crop rotation. Doing a project from October to April before getting good sales is not easy. Let cucumber assist you in running your farm. My view is that 3 times continious cultivation on same spot should be the worst case scenario.

I love watermelon. And will write the intensive approach soon. Hmmm! Let me keep this one for now. Maybe in the future. Believe me dry season watermelon on just 1 plot with intensive approach is mad profit But start up is high. So, harvesting 1/2 plot every 2 weeks is like ritual money.

But the major hindrance is bad workers. No matter how good your plan is, if you don't have reliable workers, forget it. Learn from me. I have given up on them. If you think you can pull it up using them, good luck. But not me.

Pistotita:
My 1 year Schedule for Tomato



Note Operation is easier and smoother when you do soil test. I don't joke with it. But where to really do it in Nigeria is what I do not know. I have tried couple of places but they gave me terrible results with flaws.

Have u tried Lagos state material testing centre at ojodu berger? Our firm used to send samples of construction material there and d results used to be OK.