OluchiDelly:


seems there are 2 rows of the manure holes per ridge? are u sowing directly inside those those black spots(manure) or u are still going to mix them with soil?

we use high pressure water jet to fire on the manure,it breaks the manure in pieces and mixed it with soil

tpben:
@ boss Okoroemeka. What's the active ingredients of the saaf fungicide you do buy 1k for 250g?

mancozeb + carbendazim

Good evening! I want to start tilling my land(lease) close to river. The land is fill of red sand. I am afraid because I don't know if cucumber will do well in red sand. The red sand was heap there during road construction.
Please will cucumber do well in red sand?

okoroemeka:
we have done a second green beans site,we found out that irrigation on a flat bed without drip is a pain in the ass,we have reviewed our irrigation system by doing holes on top of the ridges to accommodate manure, fertilizer and water every well,and come next dry season we are surely leaving water pump/hose behind and porting fully to drip irrigation for all our projects next dry season,it's time to work smart

.
Prepare to tackle whiteflies. They can be very stubborn. Sprinkling water on leaves help to knock off and kill their eggs and nymphs.

okoroemeka:
ok,for no 1 it's good news,you have a good soil and your management is good that's why u are having dense foliage,the only drawback is that it will delay in producing female flowers initially but the delay is worth it because it will give a good yield.for 2 that colouration is caused by the burning effect of fertilizer/manure,top dressing helps to heal the injury,for 3 use courage,imiforce or laraforce gold, these have low toxicity to bees

.
Imidacloprid is very toxic to bees oo. Many countries are banning it.

Pls I need some advice here. Is it wort growing maize the dry season with irrigation?

FarmTech:
Pls I need some advice here. Is it wort growing maize the dry season with irrigation?

It is, if you can get the population right. It is profitable

Idemujoseph:
Good evening! I want to start tilling my land(lease) close to river. The land is fill of red sand. I am afraid because I don't know if cucumber will do well in red sand. The red sand was heap there during road construction.
Please will cucumber do well in red sand?

please oo

FarmTech:

.
Imidacloprid is very toxic to bees oo. Many countries are banning it.

if an insecticide without any smell is highly toxic to bees,what can u say about action 40 or magic force,but this rainy season there's almost no insect around.

FarmTech:
Pls I need some advice here. Is it wort growing maize the dry season with irrigation?

I think maize is a seasonal crop,it performs well in certain temperature range,I doubt even with irrigation that maize will yield anything from Dec to Feb,when temperature are hovering around 35c to 40c.

Idemujoseph:
Good evening! I want to start tilling my land(lease) close to river. The land is fill of red sand. I am afraid because I don't know if cucumber will do well in red sand. The red sand was heap there during road construction.
Please will cucumber do well in red sand?

that red soil is confirmed acidic soil and poor in nutrients,but it can be amended if you have access to organic manure

okoroemeka:
that red soil is confirmed acidic soil and poor in nutrients,but it can be amended if you have access to organic manure

thanks sir! I don't think I will continue with the project anymore. Since the soil is acidic and poor in nutrients, I can not risk my money!

FarmTech:
Pls I need some advice here. Is it wort growing maize the dry season with irrigation?

Yes, sure n good market in dry season guaranteed.
Farmers in my area do flood d river shores wt corn during dry season, by now d 2nd set harvest is done, 1st set in Feb/March.
Someone mentioned population, work on that. Its just like a printing press job, d higher copies u print, d lesser ur expenses.
Reduce planting distance so that by by 5th week, "canopy" wl reduce soil evaporation n weeding. But feed them well. I know u have mountain of manure in ur disposal
It depends on ur environment, prepare to fight armyworm. It more rampant in dry season. I have seen several acres of maize farm destroyed by armyworm some years ago, very resistant to most insecticides.

OluchiDelly:


Yes, sure n good market in dry season guaranteed.
Farmers in my area do flood d river shores wt corn during dry season, by now d 2nd set harvest is done, 1st set in Feb/March.
Someone mentioned population, work on that. Its just like a printing press job, d higher copies u print, d lesser ur expenses.
Reduce planting distance so that by by 5th week, "canopy" wl reduce soil evaporation n weeding. But feed them well. I know u have mountain of manure in ur disposal
It depends on ur environment, prepare to fight armyworm. It more rampant in dry season. I have seen several acres of maize farm destroyed by armyworm some years ago, very resistant to most insecticides.

Bro permit me to add this: the standard dimension Monsanto gave African small scale farmers which I also researched well, and concluded that it is reasonable enough to compete with commercial farming in any part of the world is 21,333+/-10% per acre. Better to be on the + side, and
feed the plants well like you said to quickly develop canopies. Therefore, do not compromise using planters, or you will never get good population. From experience using manual planting style is waste of time. Those human planters always jump, and at the end you have scanty population, and enough left over seeds. You pay them again to replant after some weeks, and you have non uniform germination rate which is the main cause for low yield. Why? There is a stage you go with low irrigation with corn, and there is a stage you bombard it with water. The difference between corn cobs that are filled with grains from the tail end to the top and those scanty is lack of water to push nutrients, esp Nitrogen into the soil at this particular period. As soon as you cross the stage, just leave your corn. You are getting super high harvest.

Corn is commercial for me with tractor bombarding the land. I am not sure how poultry manure can work on large farmland. Well it may. But commercial farms use more of green manure. Meaning they must have first grown legumes, then plough inside the soil, and leave to rot very well, before ploughing again. Just 10 ha of well planned farm, of course, legumes first is worth doing. Even 1 acre is worth doing, and you can use manual style (without tractor), but make sure your voice is loud to control the boys politely. lol.

So, three recommendations:

1. get a good tractor driver and formulate your ideas with him prior to the project,
2. get your planters and side dressing fertilizer applicators (not so efficient using people, but you can try, just that applying nutrients to over 50K plants while bending up and standing per ha is not easy, those workers will definitely skip many plants)
3. be ready and practice well with your planters and fertilizer applicators, and make sure they can work on soil ploughed by tractor, and get your irrigation, pesticides (organic or inoganic) nutrients ready.


Bro, how do you fight army worm? Kinda tough.

Pistotita:


Bro permit me to add this: the standard dimension Monsanto gave African small scale farmers which I also researched well, and concluded that it is reasonable enough to compete with commercial farming in any part of the world is 21,333+/-10% per acre. Better to be on the + side, and
feed the plants well like you said to quickly develop canopies. Therefore, do not compromise using planters, or you will never get good population. From experience using manual planting style is waste of time. Those human planters always jump, and at the end you have scanty population, and enough left over seeds. You pay them again to replant after some weeks, and you have non uniform germination rate which is the main cause for low yield. Why? There is a stage you go with low irrigation with corn, and there is a stage you bombard it with water. The difference between corn cobs that are filled with grains from the tail end to the top and those scanty is lack of water to push nutrients, esp Nitrogen into the soil at this particular period. As soon as you cross the stage, just leave your corn. You are getting super high harvest.

Corn is commercial for me with tractor bombarding the land. I am not sure how poultry manure can work on large farmland. Well it may. But commercial farms use more of green manure. Meaning they must have first grown legumes, then plough inside the soil, and leave to rot very well, before ploughing again. Just 10 ha of well planned farm, of course, legumes first is worth doing. Even 1 acre is worth doing, and you can use manual style (without tractor), but make sure your voice is loud to control the boys politely. lol.

So, three recommendations:

1. get a good tractor driver and formulate your ideas with him prior to the project,
2. get your planters and side dressing fertilizer applicators (not so efficient using people, but you can try, just that applying nutrients to over 50K plants while bending up and standing per ha is not easy, those workers will definitely skip many plants)
3. be ready and practice well with your planters and fertilizer applicators, and make sure they can work on soil ploughed by tractor, and get your irrigation, pesticides (organic or inoganic) nutrients ready.


Bro, how do you fight army worm? Kinda tough.

I have nt really experience its full invasion in my farm. Some pple said army force n neem oil can fight it.
When I noticed it in my maize farm, I was looking for how to go about it, but a heavy rain fell d following day and they were washed off my plants, that's how my plants regain their freedom.

okoroemeka:
if you read the thread carefully you will know more about cucumber fertilization,get ridomil gold copper or Cabrio and start using weekly from 2 weeks old

Is this to be used speculatively or if symptoms are noticed?

okoroemeka:
Another site prepared and manure applied,we will use cu 999 only,the rainy season is much and Downy mildrew is not smiling,we are not experimenting with any unproven variety,moreover we wanted to plant mydas F1 alongside to see the performance,then we saw the cost #7,500 naira for 200 seeds +waybill,my brother,na wa ooo!

When I did something like this, fowls came and scattered EVERYTHING, I think they were seeking for the worms that were in the manure, even destroyed my ridges and my Cu999 seeds. Only the murano I planted in bags survived, 7days old now.

FarmTech:

.
Prepare to tackle whiteflies. They can be very stubborn. Sprinkling water on leaves help to knock off and kill their eggs and nymphs.

This is so true. I didn't notice much whiteflies in my last planting. They were only observable on those plants which were allowed to grow alongside the cucumbers

FarmTech:

.
Prepare to tackle whiteflies. They can be very stubborn. Sprinkling water on leaves help to knock off and kill their eggs and nymphs.

for now whitefly,leaf miner ,aphids and co are on holidays because of heavy rains are interrupting their life cycle,the crops we have now was just sprayed once with insecticide at 2 weeks, since then God is using rain to chase our enemies away.until dry season comes.

okoroemeka:
for now whitefly,leaf miner ,aphids and co are on holidays because of heavy rains are interrupting their life cycle,the crops we have now was just sprayed once with insecticide at 2 weeks, since then God is using rain to chase our enemies away.until dry season comes.

Please help my ugu Ministry. I have these spots and burns on my ugu leaves

Degis:


Please help my ugu Ministry. I have these spots and burns on my ugu leaves

apply npk 201010+urea on that,it will outgrow that ,we have seen something similar,just fertilizer it with everything u have organic +inorganic,you will see a big difference and they love urea.

good even.i need that gold pack of #14,000,am in abia state,pls give me ur number

Mr Okoroemeka, I sprayed liquid fertilizer and pesticide but it rain after an hour.
Do I need to respray it?
Good morning!

Idemujoseph:
Mr Okoroemeka, I sprayed liquid fertilizer and pesticide but it rain after an hour.
Do I need to respray it?
Good morning!

u have to watch weather when u want to spray anything,it has to stay at Least 4-6 hrs to dry properly,u have to respray

[quote author=okoroemeka post=79279935]u have to watch weather when u want to spray anything,it has to stay at Least 4-6 hrs to dry properly,u have to respray[/quote/]

oga okoroemeka......pls what foilar fertilizer can i use for a optimal yeild in cucumber

Pistotita:


Bro permit me to add this: the standard dimension Monsanto gave African small scale farmers which I also researched well, and concluded that it is reasonable enough to compete with commercial farming in any part of the world is 21,333+/-10% per acre. Better to be on the + side, and
feed the plants well like you said to quickly develop canopies. Therefore, do not compromise using planters, or you will never get good population. From experience using manual planting style is waste of time. Those human planters always jump, and at the end you have scanty population, and enough left over seeds. You pay them again to replant after some weeks, and you have non uniform germination rate which is the main cause for low yield. Why? There is a stage you go with low irrigation with corn, and there is a stage you bombard it with water. The difference between corn cobs that are filled with grains from the tail end to the top and those scanty is lack of water to push nutrients, esp Nitrogen into the soil at this particular period. As soon as you cross the stage, just leave your corn. You are getting super high harvest.

Corn is commercial for me with tractor bombarding the land. I am not sure how poultry manure can work on large farmland. Well it may. But commercial farms use more of green manure. Meaning they must have first grown legumes, then plough inside the soil, and leave to rot very well, before ploughing again. Just 10 ha of well planned farm, of course, legumes first is worth doing. Even 1 acre is worth doing, and you can use manual style (without tractor), but make sure your voice is loud to control the boys politely. lol.

So, three recommendations:

1. get a good tractor driver and formulate your ideas with him prior to the project,
2. get your planters and side dressing fertilizer applicators (not so efficient using people, but you can try, just that applying nutrients to over 50K plants while bending up and standing per ha is not easy, those workers will definitely skip many plants)
3. be ready and practice well with your planters and fertilizer applicators, and make sure they can work on soil ploughed by tractor, and get your irrigation, pesticides (organic or inoganic) nutrients ready.


Bro, how do you fight army worm? Kinda tough.

About machineries, will power tillers help? tractor isn't easy to acquire for many small holders. Have you had any experience using power tillers? can it really fill in for tractor in small holders land preparation?

hoyze24:

About machineries, will power tillers help? tractor isn't easy to acquire for many small holders. Have you had any experience using power tillers? can it really fill in for tractor in small holders land preparation?

As soon as you cross 1 acre, they might not really serve you well. And not the types imported here. Waste of money. Only two brands I know and are from the US and Italy. The rest are not worth it.

Small farmers should think more of intensive smaller plots instead of going on massive 20 ha they cannot manage. Just 1 ha if done well is ok. Just try to get to the potential of 10 tons per ha. If I have the right resources, I will get that. How many of them have the patience of first cultivating legumes to fix Nitrogen? How many of them put irrigation installation into consideration? Mind you, big farms have their ways of making rain fall when they want. Or they go for drought tolerated seeds.

My brother, I don't do what I cannot afford. I don't force it. Once I check the optimum condition, and I know within myself I cannot afford it, or the resources (like tractor) are not available, ai do not force it. I don't go about looking for cheap ways.

Pistotita:


As soon as you cross 1 acre, they might not really serve you well. And not the types imported here. Waste of money. Only two brands I know and are from the US and Italy. The rest are not worth it.

Small farmers should think more of intensive smaller plots instead of going on massive 20 ha they cannot manage. Just 1 ha if done well is ok. Just try to get to the potential of 10 tons per ha. If I have the right resources, I will get that. How many of them have the patience of first cultivating legumes to fix Nitrogen? How many of them put irrigation installation into consideration? Mind you, big farms have their ways of making rain fall when they want. Or they go for drought tolerated seeds.

My brother, I don't do what I cannot afford. I don't force it. Once I check the optimum condition, and I know within myself I cannot afford it, or the resources (like tractor) are not available, ai do not force it. I don't go about looking for cheap ways.

Quite enlightening. You should understand that mechanization is a necessity for our agricultural system to ensure food security. However, considering the finance of small holder farmers who make up majority of farmers, it's uneconomical to utilize tractors and draught animals have got its own downside too. I recently researched on the capabilities of the tillers, they could be good alternatives for small land holdings but quality of the machineries remain a problem. in fact, some have irrigation capabilities. Like you mentioned, if the quality ones could be obtained and made available to farmers on hiring basis, we will be moving a step closer to food sufficiency and reduced reliance on human labor.

hoyze24:

Quite enlightening. You should understand that mechanization is a necessity for our agricultural system to ensure food security. However, considering the finance of small holder farmers who make up majority of farmers, it's uneconomical to utilize tractors and draught animals have got its own downside too. I recently researched on the capabilities of the tillers, they could be good alternatives for small land holdings but quality of the machineries remain a problem. in fact, some have irrigation capabilities. Like you mentioned, if the quality ones could be obtained and made available to farmers on hiring basis, we will be moving a step closer to food sufficiency and reduced reliance on human labor.

You are right. The American spec has irrigation, wood chip machine, planter can be attached to it, it can plough, can do many other things. But it is still for a small farmer. 1 acre is small to call commercial farming bro. But that same 1 acre can be done without tilling.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good tool. But if Nigeria does not allow us to buy these good equipment, we look for alternatives. Our economy is bad. Guess what? With the kind of attitude I have seen, 99% nairaland user would still not buy farming equipment if they had the money. They would still go for labor intensive approaches.

If you want to really buy a tractor you can do it. It may take time, but you will eventually buy it if you can improve productivity and sales gradually.

The cucumber test site between cu 999 and monalisa is 41 days today and final results are out ,comparing the vegetative growth,number of lateral shots,size and greenish of leaves,the size of fruits,number of fruits per plant of CU999 against ML is like comparing a D10 bulldozer to a Chinese bicycle,the growth and production of the ML is so poor that I pity who will plant it alone on a commercial basis,the two crops received equal treatment and dosage of fertilizer,manure and co,but I decided not to post any pictures until the day of first harvest,so every one will see how completely embarrassed monalisa will get,there are simply some cukes varieties that are not meant for commercial farming and monalisa is one of them,let me reserve my comments till first harvest in 4-5 days time.

okoroemeka:
mancozeb + carbendazim

Please I noticed some of my plants (5) suddenly wilted. From the tip to the root. Had beetle infestation last week and applied insecticide. Cut the stem 2 check if its sticky but nothing. No beetle currently seen on the farm. What else could it be?

funsoul:

Please I noticed some of my plants (5) suddenly wilted. From the tip to the root. Had beetle infestation last week and applied insecticide. Cut the stem 2 check if its sticky but nothing. No beetle currently seen on the farm. What else could it be?

it's fairly common,that's a result of injury to the delicate stem when it's small,it may be caused by heat,manure or fertilizer burn to the stem,it will not show then but when it grows and the nutrients/water requirements of the crop rises the injured stem/roots simply crumbles,that why it's good to keep cucumber stem well irrigated to prevent heat damage.