gold soil

Grape planting

By Rufas Chege

Like any other fruit grown by farmers ,grapes almost take the same angle to establish their farm.

Plant dormant, bare-root grape vines in the early spring.
Construct a trellis or arbor before planting.

Grape vines will need to be trained to some sort of support to grow upward. This will also cut the risk of disease.

Most grape varieties are self-fertile. To be sure, ask when you are buying vines if you will need more than one plant for pollination.

Before planting grapevines, soak their roots in water for two or three hours.Select a site with full sun. If you don’t have a spot with full sun, make sure it at least gets morning sun. A small amount of afternoon shade won’t hurt.

Your soil needs to be deep, well-drained, and loose. You also need good air circulation.
Space vines 6 to 10 feet apart (16 feet for muscadines).
For each vine, dig a planting hole 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Fill with 4 inches of topsoil. Trim off broken roots and set the vine into the hole slightly deeper than it grew in the nursery.

Cover the roots with 6 inches of soil and tamp down. Fill with the remaining soil, but don’t tamp this down.
Prune the top back to two or three buds at planting time.
Water at time of planting.

Grapes

By Rufas Chege
Grapes are often ignored in home gardens, and yet are one of the most widely produced fruit in most of the parts all over the world as well as beautifully ornamental plants.

Grape vines not only produce sweet and versatile fruits, they add an element of drama to a garden or landscape. They are vigorous growers, and with the proper pruning, they will produce fruit with ease and can last longer than 30 years.

There are three different types of grapes: American (V. labrusca), European (V. viniferia), and North American native Muscadine (V. rotundifolia ). American grapes are the most cold-hardy, while European grapes, usually more for wine than the table, do well in warm, dry, Mediterranean type zones.

Hybrids are available. Thick skinned Muscadines thrive in the South.

Make sure you purchase grape vines from a reputable nursery. Vigorous, 1-year-old plants are best. Smaller, sometimes weaker, 1-year-old plants are often held over by the nursery to grow another year and are then sold as 2-year-old stock. Obtain certified virus-free stock when possible.
Grape farming will give farmers good cash.

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Cabbage Propagation

Cabbage is cool season crop that grows best in cool, moist conditions.

The plant will grow best at temperatures between 4 and 21°C (40–50°F) allowing it to be grown in both Spring and Fall.

Cabbage will grow optimally in a rich, moist, well draining soil With a pH of 6.5. The plant requires at least six hours of direct sunlight every day.

Sowing seeds Cabbage can be direct seeded or started indoors to produce transplants. The optimum soil temperature for germination is between 12 and 24°C (55–75°F). Cabbage seeds can be planted outdoors 6–8 weeks before the last spring frost date in a cold frame and transplanted to their final location approximately 4 weeks before the last frost. If planting for a fall harvest, cabbage can be direct seeded 6–8 weeks before the first frost date. Prepare the soil for planting through the addition of nitrogen in the form of bone meal or composted manure.

Plant cabbage seeds 6 mm (0.25 in) deep allowing 10–15 cm (4–6 in) between plants in the row and a 0.6 to 1.2 m (2–4 ft) between rows. Thin seedlings to a final within row spacing of 45–60 cm (18–24 in). Keep soil moist during germination to prevent a crust from forming on the soil surface as this will cause uneven germination.

Transplanting Seedlings started indoors or in a cold frame are ready to be transplanted when they have 3–4 leaves and the daytime temperature has reached 10°C (50°F). Seedling should be planted at the final spacing for seeds (45–60 cm/18–24 in between plants and 0.6 to 1.2 m/2–4 ft between rows). Plant each seedling slightly deeper than it was previously.

The plantings can be staggered in 2 week intervals to prolong the harvest. General care and maintenance Cabbage should be kept evenly watered to ensure the development of tight heads. Uneven watering can cause heads to crack.

Application of mulch around plants helps to conserve soil moisture. Cabbage plants have shallow roots and in order to avoid damaging them, it is preferable to hand pull any weeds growing around the plants.

Cabbages are heavy feeders and require the addition of fertilizer to meet their growth requirements and develop optimally. Fertilize the plants when they are beginning to form new leaves and starting to develop heads.

Harvesting Cabbages are ready to harvest when the head is fully formed and feels firm and well-packed when squeezed. Cut the head away from the stalk with a sharp knife. Leaving the stalks in the ground will result in the formation of several smaller heads which can also be harvested and eaten.

Cabbage Nutrient Requirements.

Generally, cabbage needs the following nutrient requirements: 93kg nitrogen, 20kg phosphorus and 20kg potassium.

If you do not know what the fertility status of your soil actually is, feeding these amounts of fertiliser might create or worsen nutrient imbalances in your soil. That is why soil testing is key to successful fertiliser application and, thus, farming.

It is worth noting that adequate compost manure application will offer 36kg of nitrogen, plus the nutrients from phosphorus and potassium.

Fertiliser applications should be split into two; at planting and top dressing or even into three after every six weeks. Application of homemade liquid fertiliser made from comfrey leaves at transplanting and when the heads begin to form will give the crop an extra boost.

Cabbage has high water needs, which peak after they start forming heads. Therefore, the crop is best grown under irrigation to ensure steady water supply. If the soil dries out and then a high amount of water is given suddenly, the heads tend to crack.

Cabbage

Cabbage Farming in Kenya has been one of the most profitable enterprise for farmers for a long period of time.

There are three varieties of cabbages in the country that is smooth-leafed green, smooth-leafed red, and crinkled-leafed green, also known as savoy cabbage.

Cabbage grows well in full sun, but being a cool-weather crop, it can tolerate some shade during the day. It especially likes cool nights with morning dew. In highland areas, cabbage can be grown all year round by successive sowing after every two months.

You can sow cabbage directly in situ or grow seedlings in a separate seedbed and then transplant.

Cabbage seeds take four to 10 days to germinate and if grown in a seedbed, they should be transplanted after five to seven weeks. They, thereafter, take 80 days to mature and harvest.

So, for a July or August harvest, you should plant your seedlings in March or April. But you can also plant them on any four-month cycle as long as you avoid sowing in October or November if you are in a hotter area.

The recommended spacing is 50 by 50cm to 70 by 70cm for larger varieties. In a square-foot planting system, plant a single cabbage per square foot.
The crop is what we call a “heavy feeder”. Cabbage needs adequate nutrition to grow those heavy heads.

Therefore, it is preferably grown in soils with some clay content, but the soil also needs to be deep and rich in organic matter with a high water retention capacity. This is the ability of the soil to hold rain or irrigation water for longer periods.

To achieve this, loosen the soil deeply before planting and dig in 12 to 20 tonnes of high quality compost per acre six weeks before planting.

Cabbage also needs well-aerated soil, so loosen the soil regularly and apply mulch. A thick mulch layer of 15 to 20cm deep will help to keep the soil moist and cool. Shortly before head formation, heap up the soil around the root or stem area. This will increase root and plant growth.

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Goats

By Rufas Chege

Goats are some of the simplest livestock animals to rare and especially if you are not consistent on buying livestock feeds.

They are hardy animals and can survive in almost all kinds of climatic conditions as long as there are shrubs to feed on.

Goat farming in Kenya for meat or milk- You can focus on either
Goats can be kept for their milk and meat, depending on what you are interested in.

Commercial goat farmers may pick a side because the care of dairy and meat goats will differ slightly in ways that affect production. Besides, whichever goat venture you choose also influences the variety of goat that you’ll keep. For instance, dairy goat farming in Kenya has seen the exploitation of the Toggenburg breed which is known for its high milk production.

When you are starting out in goat farming venture, it is advisable to visit the dairy goat association of Kenya to learn more about the different breeds of milk. It is especially crucial for farmers who are looking into doing this for commercial purposes.

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Physiological Maize Diseases.

By Rufas Chege

Plants do have almost same response of nutrients deficiency to human body.

The following are some of nutrient deficiency associated with maize.
Nitrogen deficiency The typical symptom of nitrogen deficiency is the plant turns pale green; a ‘V’ shaped yellow coloration on leaves. This pattern starts from leaf end to leaf collar. The symptom begin from lower to upper leaves.

Zinc deficiency Upper leaves shows broad bands of yellow coloration and later turn pale brown or gray necrosis. The symptom first appears in the middle of leaves and progress outward.

Phosphorous deficiency The deficient plants are dark green and lower leaves show reddish-purple discoloration.

Sulfur deficiency Symptom appears on younger leaves where we will see yellow color striping or interveinal chlorosis.

Potassium deficiency The leaf margins turn yellow and brown coloration which appears like firing or drying. The symptoms progress from lower leaves to upper leaves.

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Maize Farming.

By Rufas Chege.

Maize being the staple food of Kenya, is the most grown crop for both cash generation and subsistence purposes.

This crop grown almost in all areas of the country, with different varieties being developed for different climatic regions. The aim is to come up with a variety that is resistant to diseases and bad weather conditions so as to register high yields .

Maize in Kenya is planted by small and large-scale farmers. While subsistence farmers may not be keen on having a business plan for each season of planting, commercial maize farming requires a detailed guide for success.

Maize crop production in Kenya has faced a lot of challenges over the years especially in recent times.
Diseases and pest attacks have brought down yields and in some areas destroyed the crop completely, leading farmers into encountering serious loses.

The government machinery may have tried to salvage the situation, but have been unsuccessful as the problems crops one after another. This does not mean that farmers should give up.

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Onions.

By Rufas Chege

er 50 percent of the red onions in Kenya are imported from outside and a huge of them comes from Tanzania, as noted by Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) 2014 report.

Kenyan Farmers have been doing their best to address the demand and close the gap, but there is still more supply to be achieved. This makes the Red Bulb Onion a very attractive commercial investment for the Kenyan market at the moment, since local production is not enough.

Major types of onions farmed in Kenya are spring onions and red bulb onions. The best areas suited for farming being Karatina, Naivasha, Mai Mahiu Emali and Kieni.

Bulb onions take 3 to 4 months to reach maturity. Short rains are great for bulb onions since they can be harvested between January and February.

Local farmers are able to benefit during this time period, since there is low supply of onions from Tanzania at this time of the year.

Recent market analysis , shows red onion prices in Mombasa are going at Ksh 1,174 per 15 kg bag while the highest prices are in Eldoret, at Ksh 1,491 per 15 kg bag.

Spring onions are easy to plant. You can even plant them at your kitchen garden. They are commonly used in vegetable salads or as seasoning in soups. Some of the health benefits of spring onions include lower blood sugar and decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Of the two types, bulb onions are more popular than the spring ones due to their long shelf life and sweet taste.

Currently, there are two different varieties of bulb onions in the market. There is the small, thin and firmly layered onion that has a strong pungent smell from Tanzania. The second one is the big loosely held variety that is grown locally, in Kenya.

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Arrow Roots.

By Rufas Chege

To grow arrowroots, it is essential to have a perpetual clear source of moisture, probably a stream that can offer the rootstock plenty of coolness to sprout from the ground.

The plant grows on any elevation as long as it is 300 meters above sea level, but with plenty of moisture to compensate for lack of altitude. The plant sprouts from suckers that, with regular watering and manuring conditions, will mature in half a year.

It is essential to provide spacing of about 30 by 20 centimeters square with a planting depth of 20 centimeters.

Trenches act as the best way to allow harnessing of water for the plants to grow without competing for the vital resource.

The maturity of Kenya arrowroots begin with the onset of color depreciation in the elephant-ear light green leaves with visible vines that run across the broad surfaces. When they change to either a wilted condition, brown or yellow color, this signifies that they are ready to uproot.

Harvesting of Kenya arrowroots begins by excising the deep-seated tubers from their waterbeds using a hoe or blunt machete. Farmers usually keep an eye on the root to reduce damage on the tuber.

To eat arrowroots from Kenya and other tropical countries is a treat. Indeed, the original home of the plant in the Americas, where it had been under cultivation for over 7 millennia, had the indigenous people there refer to the plant as ‘aru-aru,’ meaning meal of meals because of its richness and use as a staple food.

In Kenya, the arrowroot or nduma in Kikuyu language commonly features in family meals in mashed, salad, boiled or roasted form. It is a delicacy around the globe in a number of ways.

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