***THE FARMERS CHED***

[cutthroatInt]

Will post dem little later. Interested to get some info on venturi use for fertigation with the drip system as well.

[dude2014]

Will post dem little later. Interested to get some info on venturi use for fertigation with the drip system as well.

The Venturi is a valve that has a small tube to one side. This goes down into a bucket with a mixture of water and fertilser. When the water supply is turned on the flow of water causes the water from the bucket to be sucked in at a pre determined rate for fertigation purposes. NB: You must use a 100% water soluble fertiliser as residue will clog your emitters on the Drip Tubing. This will cost to be removed as you will have to use a flushing compound. If you are using Drip Hose with barbs, they can be taken out and cleaned or flush as above.

I am reading that you installed drip tape? The emitters are usually fixed and the close spacing may mean that you are wetting/fertigating areas that are not productive (ie 1600 hundred plants on two acres) and really treating the grass that is about to sprout/already growing with a FIVE STAR menu. Of course grass does not have to be the enemy, as it can prevent erosion, cool your acreage, provide a mulch when brushcutting is done.

On the other hand, drip line allows you to drill and install spaghetti tubing with barbs causing the water to be delivered where it is needed and when necessary fertigate. The above resource personnel/agencies can be surveyed for a venturi set up.

Porter Agri which used to be upstairs KO Agri at the corner of Charlotte Street and EMR has moved to Tunapuna on the Street behind Auzonville Mall or on the south side of Auzonville Park. Their prices are competitive and they have expert equipment ...............

[cutthroatInt]

It's drip tape I have. Would like to see first hand venturi in use if any farmer willing to show me their set up. Yes it's 1600 plants at the moment. I don't irrigate where I don't have plants. I have mains and submain with isolation valves. But yes @ 8 and 12" emitter spacing I will be watering and fertigating an empty spot along the line. More seedlings to be planted soon. Still weighing out the pros and cons of the drip fertigation. But it will definitely save time for a one man operation..

[cutthroatInt]

Inbox ur contact if u want to converse via watsapp incase this is just becoming clutter on the thread

[cutthroatInt]

Just some quick details on the set up as requested... the(usable) land was odd shaped due to the river course.
Flat land Approx 300ft wide... and the longest bed was about 400 ft down to 200 ft.

Advice was sought from porter agri. And hardware from the same. I would recommend them. I got good service and considered the cost of set up as an investment.

I have 17 beds approx 12 ft - 8 ft wide. And lengths from 400-200ft as mentioned above.
There is a 2" main that runs the width of the land and every 3 beds I made a submain that is broken down from 2"- 1.5". And that submain is further broken down to 1" - 3/4" with flush valves at the ends of both sides of each submain.
So one submain supplies 3 beds
The submain was done due to the length of the beds and that I plan 4 rows of plants per bed.
The supplied grommet and fittings was installed and drip tape connected.

As it stands I get water at all the plants per 3 bed submain from top to bottom of the bed. (Flat land)
I cud irrigate 5 submains at a time so far.

Pump is a 2" honda chinee pump. That pulls from river and discharges via a 100micron filter to main line via 100 ft 2" flat hose up an incline wit an estimated 15ft head.
The gauge installed on pump has to be around 25-30 psi for me to get the required pressure in the drip tapes at the end of the beds.
This conveys to about 1/2 throttle on this pump.

The drip tape system requires 8psi to operate efficiently. Regulators are available but I have been managing so far witout.

[cutthroatInt]

Sample pic of submain

[cutthroatInt]

Pic doesn't seem to want to upload.

Points to note. Leave about 4ft extra drip tape at the ends of rows to cater for shrinkage and expansion. And secure with a peg and tie it down.
At intervals tape has to be pegged to the ground to prevent blowing in the wind.

[cutthroatInt]

Land is being re prepared to accommodate 4ft beds... it was done the way it presently is for my last vine crop.

There are different emitter spacings from 8"- 60" apart. Choose accordingly.

So basically I'm at the stage I want to utilize this ting to add fertilizer now in the correct and proper way. If it means I have to buy the venturi.

[cutthroatInt]

If u have an abundant supply of water and can deal with controlling weeds, fountain tape i believe is the more affordable choice. But my water supply is limited at times so I opted to go this route. And it's probably about 10 times more expensive(exaggeration). I was desperate as I had plants in the ground already and it needed water asap. At first I was going to set up for only the plants that I have and rally tru the dry season. But went ahead and set up for the entire land..

[dude2014]

Generally I would consider granular fert. For short crops Yarra 12.11.18 is good as it tends to dissolve easily. For longer term fruiting crops blaukorn 12.12.17 can be used as a longer release time of nutrients. Liquid ferts can be easily leached out, especially during the rainy season.

Just remember to get your soil test and you can amend the fert requirement before planting .........

[cutthroatInt]

Man I am waiting on soil test results from since last year April.

Will check out the yara salt.... been using mostly fersan 12 24 12... and blaukorn 12 12 17 + 2 .... also yara nitrabor

[NR8]

What's the recommended distance to space out peas seedlings when planting?

[russian123]

Good day,

I have approximately an acre of land, previously rice land so natural lagoon soil. I am thinking of planting dasheen bush and also cleaning a pond on the land to deal with water supply. Any advice on how to prepare the land in terms of banking, rotovating , actual planting of the dasheen bush . Novice to this so any input will be appreciated.

[dude2014]

Re: Dasheen - Check the guys on Freeman Road, St Augustine. They are the experts. Also contact NAMDEVCO, they can assist.Do the course in Dasheen Production at Farmers Training Center.

Re: Peas. Check the Min of Agri Extension Office in your area as peas grow differently in different soils and different areas. Cultural practises can also influence spacing growth and yield. There is different spacing. The Local variety is planted at 6' to 8' both directions with two plants per hole. There is a dwarf variety that used to be planted by Caroni Ltd which would carry a smaller spacing.

Re: Soil test. Blaukorn is a slow release salt and suitable for crops doing upwards of 6 mths. Also because of the make up of the inner core, the breakdown sometimes causes Phosphorous to build up in the soil. It is not very mobile and will not leach out, resulting in high levels of P which can cause problems with nutritional imbalances, resulting in less than optimal plant growth and yields. PM for more info.

[NR8]

^^ Thanks

[Bosse]

Guys I had a Julie mango tree for about 5yrs now, it was bearing nice up until a month ago when it just started to dry up from the center of the tree outwards until it eventually died as pic below:



I had to cut it down cause the entire tree dried up

I notice while digging out the root to plant a new tree that some part of the root was yellowish in color with a pungent smell like this:



Any idea what caused this?

[dude2014]

Guys I had a Julie mango tree for about 5yrs now, it was bearing nice up until a month ago when it just started to dry up from the center of the tree outwards until it eventually died as pic below:



I had to cut it down cause the entire tree dried up

I notice while digging out the root to plant a new tree that some part of the root was yellowish in color with a pungent smell like this:



Any idea what caused this?

This is most likely caused by a fungal infection to the roots. Since the leaves are the youngest part of the tree, it will not be able to survive the attack and lead to the eventual demise of the plant. If you are planting another tree (which is not advised as it can succumb to the same disease.

However you can treat the hole with a fungicide combo of Banrot and Rizolex, together with dusting the soil with Ag Lime before planting. Regular treatment maybe required thereafter.

The root source of the problem can be from an infected stock or graft to create the plant. It remained dormant until the plant started to flower and bear. As the tree was stressed during this period, it easily succumbed to the disease.

Be sure to burn the old plant (or I hope you did) ............

[dude2014]

Guys I had a Julie mango tree for about 5yrs now, it was bearing nice up until a month ago when it just started to dry up from the center of the tree outwards until it eventually died as pic below:



I had to cut it down cause the entire tree dried up

I notice while digging out the root to plant a new tree that some part of the root was yellowish in color with a pungent smell like this:



Any idea what caused this?

This is most likely caused by a fungal infection to the roots. Since the leaves are the youngest part of the tree, it will not be able to survive the attack and lead to the eventual demise of the plant. If you are planting another tree (which is not advised as it can succumb to the same disease.

However you can treat the hole with a fungicide combo of Banrot and Rizolex, together with dusting the soil with Ag Lime before planting. Regular treatment maybe required thereafter.

The root source of the problem can be from an infected stock or graft to create the plant. It remained dormant until the plant started to flower and bear. As the tree was stressed during this period, it easily succumbed to the disease.

Be sure to burn the old plant (or I hope you did) ............

[*KRONIK*]

Yes allyuh

Ducks for sale

Local muscovy.
Sizes vary from 5lb hens to 13lb drakes.

25/pound live. You have to come for it. Sangre grande.

31/processed (pluck, gut, roast, cut up on poultry saw). Delivery can be arranged.

708-0101

[falken]

good day, looking to acquire some plantain plants. i am looking at around 50 plants for now. any assistance on where it can be sourced will be greatly appreciated.

[dude2014]

good day, looking to acquire some plantain plants. i am looking at around 50 plants for now. any assistance on where it can be sourced will be greatly appreciated.

Check Ministry of Agriculture, County Office in your area. They can advise as they have propagation Stations that do different types of plants. There are the normal tall ones and a dwarf variety .........

[pugboy]

Hey dude2014,

I just cut down a lime tree which was dying after it had been weakened badly with roundup when trying to kill some bird vines nearby. It would somehow catch mealybug and whitefly very easily and require constant systemic chemicals.

I have another young lime seedling 3ft which I plan to put in same area.
Should I treat the soil with anything before planting this young one ?

[X_Factor]

chive 7 days after transplanting 5 crates tota
one drench with 10-52-10 and liquid litter
think it worth buying bio 20 and cytoplex?

[nick639v2]

Looking for good planting top soil in Freeport area.. If you guys know any links lemme know

[dude2014]

Hey guys, just a heads up on:

1. Top soil can be over rated at $300. 00 per cubic yard. You can buy overburden sand at $400.00 to $500.00 per load at 10 yds and condition it to act like virgin soil, full of the necessary nutrient to power your plants to optimum health and productivity. Follow this recipe and tell how it goes. 4 barrows O/B sand, 1 barrow sharp sand and two concrete buckets of cow manure (i.e. about 20 to 24 litre - big pigtail bucket full). Also dust with Agricultural limestone (Ag Lime to reduce acidity. Mix well so to allow a "light airy soil" which will allow roots to easily penetrate and absorb nutrients for growth. If you have access to Hydroponic spent pro mix add 20 litre to improve water holding capacity and the organic content therein. It also has nutrients which is ideal for seedling which is old enough to be planted out.

In three gallons of water, add two well heaped tablespoon of banrot and rizolex each with 30 to 50 ml of diazonon. This will give good protection against Southern blight, Phytophthora and other fungal problems. If you are using Chicken manure or other manure which is prone to infect plants with bacterial pathogen, then hydrated lime can be used instead of Ag lime to mitigate this threat. The diazonon is for ants, mole crickets, cut worms etc.

This will not prevent Lassie or Garfield from romping in the soft soil created. A good therapy to prevent this is to cut they tail near the planted area and a sound warning is sometimes enough to keep them away.

If that is too much head ache, you can try DN Maharaj on Calcutta Rd #1, that is west of the intersection of Calcutta #1 and Calcutta #2 ............

2. Bio 20 is a 20 20 20 formulation with seaweed extract. It promotes larger leaves, improves flowering, and all round performance of the young plant which grows up to be a healthy and productive adult due to the amino acids and micro nutrients from the seaweed.

Cytoplex on the other hand is a biostimulant and contains Gibberellic Acid which encourages bunching especially in chive and increase in stalk length of chive and celery together with the added bonus of root development.

You will also need to use Agrical as chive suffer with tipburn and celery with black heart rot which is symtomatic of a calcium deficiency ..........

The answer is yes to the above as 10 52 10 is high in phosphorus for root development in young plants and liquid litter encourages the growth of the good micro flora for the proper functioning of the roots. Some of the chive seems to be stressed as some are green while others are a little yellow. The celery looks good. JUST REMEMBER THAT THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF YOUR PLANTS WILL CHANGE GRADUALLY WITH TIME .........

3. Sorry about the lime tree. While Roundup caused the demise of the lime tree, it does not remain active in the soil, except if the spray mix was very high. Flood the area so it will dilute the Roundup and reduce the toxicity very quickly as the water soaks away. Wait about three weeks before planting the new plant. The mealy bug and white fly can be controlled using BIONEEM. Sometimes lime and other citrus gets infected with scales and you may need something stronger and systemic like Rogor. The scales may be what may have killed the tree as my lime tree has a lot of dry branch which is a combo of the three

We do need to plant more lime in Trinidad and remember that we seem to be having a dry season that has been going on and on for the past seven years or so. REMEMBER TO WET YOUR PLANTS .........

FACT: Miniture Pommecythere can bear year round provided that the tree is wetted during the dry spells ..........

[nick639v2]

Thanks man I feel I'll go the mixing route since I have the land space to get loads and yards stored

[dude2014]

You can use plain regular dirt and substitute it for the overburden sand. There are some trucks working down in Grant Trace, Beaucarro Road. Needed some dirt to back fill. they quoted me $300.00 per load around the area. Saw some dirt from the top in another area with the grass and such but it was filled with rubbish, galvanize, rubble, etc. Stay away from that crap.

Make sure the dirt is clean so you do not give yourself extra work. For mixing you can use a Ransom (concrete mixer) and load by shovels of each material. Store to one side for use later.

If you are interested, check the Min of Agri, Chase Village to register as a farmer or the County Office in which the acreage is located. There are certain conditions to be met to do so. There are quite a number of incentives which new and existing farmers can benefit from .............

Or you may need the soil to do a lawn.

Keep on mixing and planting .........

[pugboy]

Thanks, btw what do scale and on citrus look like ?

[dude2014]

Thanks, btw what do scale and on citrus look like ?

Scales generally looks like a rash on the branches. It may appear sometimes like oysters growing on the bark of a tree. There are different colours and maybe called by different names. It seem to like citrus a lot. Caribbean Chemicals has a device called the the DigiLab that can further magnify the suspected problem.

Call them at 638 GROW, ask For Ms. Diane Ali and how you can get help.

Also MAFAS is a company in South. One of the Principals do a lot of consultancy in Central America on citrus and other crops. Ask for Marcus Mycoo. Hope he can help you and other 2NRS who may need his services.
Posted their numbers before, so collect # for now and future reference ...................

[hong kong phooey]

For those who use it
what is a good (gaspowered) mist blower and the best price ?
on the sthil brand of tools are they all the same ? i am seeing(the same ) tools from at least 3 different countries America , Germany and Mexico (i think)