Feedback: A-Z of growing field tomatoes

GROWING FIELD TOMATOES

Kindly educate me on how to grow hybrid tomatoes on one acre from seedlings to maturity.

Washington, Bondo

Propagation and planting: They are propagated through seeds, which are sowed in a nursery and transplanted when 8-10cm tall to well-prepared beds or ridges.

Plants may also be raised from cuttings (suckers that are virus-free). Shelter may be needed to protect seedlings from wind, exposure to sun and excessive rainfall.

Spacing: Use 60-90cm between rows and 45-60cm within rows. There are other measurements but spacing to be adopted will depend on cultivar, soil fertility, training and pruning to be done, and type of spraying to be used. Direct seeding is recommended in areas where bacterial wilt and meloidogyne are endemic.

Seed rate: Use 200-500g/ha depending on spacing and viability of seeds.

Fertilisers: Use farmyard manure at 20 tonne/ha before transplanting, 200kg/ha DSP (10g/plant) at planting, then top-dress with 100kg CAN/ha applied in two splits.

First split is done when plants are 20-25cm and second at 3-5 weeks later. Excess N application results in more vegetative growth at the expense of fruit production.

Training: Training in tomatoes involves both pruning and support. These practices are important when dealing with indeterminate tomato varieties.

Pruning would involve removal of axillary buds to end up with the desired number of shoots per plant or removal of excess flowers or fruits.

This improves the quality and early yields of fruits but may reduce total yields compared with the same planting density of unstacked and unpruned plants.

A support system is usually established when the plants are about 50cm high. Support can be by staking or trellising.

Pruned and supported tomatoes tend to suffer more sun scald compared to unpruned bushy tomatoes. In pruning, care should be taken not to damage the remaining plants or over expose the fruits.

Irrigation: Necessary in off-season or greenhouse crop. Crop has a high demand for water throughout the growing period.

Irregular watering together with lack of calcium may lead to blossom end rot. Erratic irrigation may also result in cracking and splitting of fruit skin.

Weeding: Frequent shallow weeding should be done. In untrained plants, weeding should be stopped after the crop forms a good canopy. Mulching is also effective in weed control.

Harvesting: It can start 70-100 days from transplanting for indeterminate cultivars or after 60 days for determinate ones.

During wet conditions, green mature fruits are harvested and ripened at warm conditions for several days. Tomatoes can be harvested at different stages of maturity: mature green stage, breaker stage — 10 per cent pink/red, turning stage — 10-30 per cent pink, pink stage — 30-60 per cent pink, light red stage — 60-90 per cent pink/red, red stage — 90 per cent red and table ripe — entire fruit is red.

For processing, harvest when fully ripe. For fresh market, the stage of harvesting will depend on distance from production to market, consumer preferences, transport system and handling facilities and time between harvest and sale.

Grading of harvested fruits is based on size and colour. Ideal storage temperature will depend on the stage of maturity at harvest like mature green is best stored at 18°C. At temperatures of less than 10°C, colour development is affected while ripe fruits can be stored at 2-4°C.

Carol Mutua,
Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOOD TECHNOLOGIST

What are the opportunities for a food technologist and could you connect me to a company for attachment or internship?

Dennis Mutembei, student at TUM

Try Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute. I would also recommend start-up firms and groups that do value addition and processing in Mombasa County.

Ruth Imbahale,
Department of Dairy, Food Science and Technology,
Egerton University.

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FARMING GARLIC

I would like to grow garlic in Kitengela on one acre. I do not know where to get seeds/seedlings. Also, I do not know how to grow it. Please assist. I am preparing the shamba for October rains.

Esther Gathoni

Garlic is a hardy perennial crop grown for its condensed flattened stem enclosed by papery scale leaves. Cloves are separated and mainly used as the propagation material because the crop does not produce seeds.

Cloves are sowed in drills, 30-40cm apart and 10-15cm within the rows. Production requirements for garlic are basically like onions except that with garlic, a side-dressing of nitrogen at the onset of bulbing is desirable.

You can get garlic seedlings from Garlic and Pepino Farm, Nakuru, contact them on 0723 713642.

Carol Mutua,
Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University.

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SELLING KIENYEJI EGGS

Where can I sell Kienyeji eggs? I'm based in Ruiru near the Rainbow Resort.

Nancy Wawira

Chickens are the most kept poultry worldwide. They play a major role for the rural poor and marginalised communities with respect to their income and further offer nutritious eggs and meat.

Ruiru is a densely populated area which gives you a niche market for your eggs. Since I am not sure how many Kienyeji birds you have, I’ll give you options both for small-scale and large-scale production.

If you are doing small-scale production, less than 300 chickens, it’s good to combine efforts with other farmers so that you can get bigger market, bargaining power if you are buying farm inputs, and consistency of supply of eggs.

If you are doing large-scale production, you can visit the local supermarkets, schools, shops or even open a shop for eggs. Kindly note that consistency is paramount in terms of supply of eggs.

Dennis Kigiri,
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.

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BEST VARIETY OF FODDER TO GROW

I have a three-acre farm in Juja and I would like advice on the best variety of fodder for hay that I can grow together with the best process of doing so. The farm has a dam on site that can be used for irrigation during the dryspell.

Kiambuthi, Juja

Hay is one form of conserving forages that is then offered to livestock during periods of shortage. Some forages that can be grown for hay include Rhodes grass, Kikuyu grass, African foxtail grass and lucerne.

Commonly, farmers use Rhodes grass, which is a vigorous, perennial fodder and is drought tolerance. Varieties of Rhodes include Boma, Elmba, X-Tozi, Mbarara and Masaba.

Lucerne, on the other hand, is a very palatable protein source that can also be harvested and bailed as hay. Seeds can be got from various Kenya Seed outlets.

Felix Akatch Opinya,
Department of Animal Science, Egerton University.

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I NEED MACADAMIA SEEDLINGS TO PLANT

I would like to know more about macadamia because I have an acre in Ol Joro Orok and the place is very cold that I doubt if they can do well.

Martin Kuria

Macadamia seedlings are in high demand that you can only make orders to get them. The seedlings can be found at KALRO Kandara (Horticultural Research Institute).

This station does grafting and sales of quality seedlings. Please contact 0723759230 (expert in macadamia research at Macadamia Research Institute).

Peter Caleb Otieno,
Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University.