I’m pleased to introduce you to Rimani Chatama from Zimbabwe.  Mr. Chatama has 25 years of experience in agriculture, with a wide variety of products. He has been a farm manager both for commercial crops and animals, goats, sheep, and poultry, but mostly cattle. After Mr. Chatama retired from farm management, he started working on his own projects.  First, he had a small plot of land where he cultivated cauliflower, but he did not find the land suitable, too small to sustain a productive farm, so he acquired 5 hectares of land in a different location.  Mr. Chatama’s intention was to grow [...]

As mentioned, Mr. Chatama decided on English cucumbers because they are easy to market.  Also, by harvesting three times per year, he can maximize the yield. Mr. Chatama’s greenhouse is 320 m2, and he has planted 500 cucumber plants there.   English cucumbers are sweet, slender, and straight, and have fewer, less noticeable seeds than many other cucumbers. You’ll also see them called greenhouse cucumbers, hot house cucumbers, European cucumbers, and seedless cucumbers. English cucumbers are about 14 inches long and about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. They’re grown off the ground, hanging or on a trellis, to get their characteristic shape. [...]

Even if you are a professional and know what you are doing in the garden, you will find challenges.  Mr. Chatama had to prepare for several challenges when he started his English cucumber project.  There are several pests constantly seeking to make their life on or in your plants and vegetables.  In the case of the cucumber, there are four types of insects that are especially dangerous. These are the Fruit Fly, the White Fly, the Cucumber Beetle, and Red Spider Mites.  All these insects attack the plant by laying eggs in it like the Fruit Fly, sucking the plant sap, [...]