Growing capsicum in polyhouse - my experience

[Viks]

Aman,
CARBENDAZIM(Bavistin) is a systematic fungicide.

i use that at a regular interval. but as i had missed out on my fungus treatments, and the infection is major, i want a quicker and faster result. i opted to make a combination of systematic + contact.

and yes, every chemical/molecule has different characteristics. so one needs to know the right combination.
eg, there are 10 types of treatments for fungus, but every treatment has some effects and some side effects. so depending on the plant stage, climate, severity, purpose etc, i make the combinations to get a better and faster result. and which is cost efficient as well.

and why are you changing the watering pattern? and moving the plants in the open sun ?
are your little new plants too tall?
i am keeping my next lot of indra, which is due for plantation in 2-3 days, really short from germination stage. will post some pictures i clicked today.

and what about the cakes i told you about? arent you including them in your dose?

post pictures of your development aman. better to get an idea that way.

Vivek

[Viks]

recently (10-15 days back) i was getting my free land prepared for open farming, so i did a lot of modification to my existing drip,fogging,venturi system, so i could irrigate the whole 7 acres of land from a single place. and i messed up the existing working system, and lost 4 days to get it in place. the pipes would burst due to the high pressure, or the joints would slip etc. so my plants were without any water or any fertilizers for a total 4 days!
on top of that, i shifted my spraying machine in the free land, and while shifting, the diesel engines alignment got disturbed. which noone was aware of. so when the machine started, the belts would slip once the wheel got hot, it got worn out, broke and curled onto the wheel and damaged the piston valves.

and just before that, i was out for diwali for 3 days, and unfortunately, my main guy in the farm had some serious family issues and was on leave. so during those 7-8 days of time, my plants were totally left alone and were on themselves.

and now (from about a week) the climate has changed again. it was chilly (10 degrees) then, and suddenly it rained, and the climate got warmer. and the fungal attack covered about 25% of my plants.

this is totally wrong on my part, and the result and consequences i am already facing in terms of flower drop and fungal attack.

one little silly mistake, and things can go bad.

till now i have taken Captan and Hexazonazole (24 Nov), Ziram (27 Nov) and have got good results.

Today i am declaring an open war against the fungal attack by taking a heavy dose (meaning full plant wash) with Propineb (contact) (400gm/200litre water) and my next spray would be of Tebuconazole (systematic) (100ml/200 litre water) and i am sure the attack will be gone completely.

also i have added a Silicon Rapid Protector spray for tomorrow. i do use silvet in each foiler spray, but tmrw is again a heavy dose of Silicon for the leaves. this will make a coating on the leaves, make it rough, and prevent fungal damage.

any suggestions?

Vivek

[amansohaney]

Viks,

I have contacted few suppliers of the cakes and everyone quoted me the rates of 12/kg and more, plus they do not have the reAdy supply. I have asked everyone of them to send me the samples of their material, which i guess will be arriving to me soon. Also, i was kind of getting late for the bed preparation, so i have planned to do the top dressing of the cakes+different cultures once the sample is finale and they supply me the material. I think the whole process will be tAking a weeks time.

I did call up to discuss about this.

Syngenta marketing people visited me and i went to few of the nurseries where they taught me this plant hardening process.
What they do is, when the seedling attain 2-3 leaves, they do not water the plant until the leaves starts wilting This process they continue for a week.
Also, they shift the plants outside in the sun for 2 hours on the first day and then again get them back inside the shadenet/polyhouse For a week they gradually increase the duration of the plants in the sun. This is what they call acclimatization.

COMMENTS !!!

[ak1]

@amansohaney

Viks,

I have contacted few suppliers of the cakes and everyone quoted me the rates of 12/kg and more, plus they do not have the reAdy supply. I have asked everyone of them to send me the samples of their material, which i guess will be arriving to me soon. Also, i was kind of getting late for the bed preparation, so i have planned to do the top dressing of the cakes+different cultures once the sample is finale and they supply me the material. I think the whole process will be tAking a weeks time.

I did call up to discuss about this.

Syngenta marketing people visited me and i went to few of the nurseries where they taught me this plant hardening process.
What they do is, when the seedling attain 2-3 leaves, they do not water the plant until the leaves starts wilting This process they continue for a week.
Also, they shift the plants outside in the sun for 2 hours on the first day and then again get them back inside the shadenet/polyhouse For a week they gradually increase the duration of the plants in the sun. This is what they call acclimatization.

COMMENTS !!!

yes Mr aman you r right . this technique is known as seedling hardening. this helps the plants to be hardy so that they can withstand unfavourable conditions . otherwise the plants may be lanky and without much strength. ---------- then inyour older post u had told that u r mixing —psb— in the beds . pl explain what is psb. thank u

[rana2013]

@Viks

Hey Rana,
nice nursery setup.

why make the arcs and pull the polythene over to protect from rains? why not have a rainproof sheet on the shadenet itself?

in the arcs - cost of iron arcs + more sheet (as the area is curved) as compared to the flat roof of the shadenet.

i dont get the point. plz explain if i am missing out on anything.

and Pavan,
the bend arcs are to pull the sheet you can see on the top of them to protect the plants from rains.
and the carpet you are talking about are the growing trays

Hi Vivek, good question. we normally use the GI Pipes as walk-in tunnels during the winter, so we already had them on the farm from previous seasons. Same with the plastic. So we used them for the nursery for rain protection as there was no extra cost. Otherwise, yes it would make more sense to just cover the shadenet directly.

[ak1]

hi mr viks pl explain abt --Silicon Rapid Protector spray–. its effects and uses. i have not heard such a material in our area. which company is producing this? any harmful or side effects ??
then regarding fungal attacks---- there is one product AMISTAR . I HAVE USED THAT TO CONTROL DOWNY MILDEW . THEY CLAIM THAT IT kills many types of fungii. it is also a bioproduct produced from a fungi that is produced on some forest trees. hope that this info is useful

[rana2013]

@amansohaney

Viks,

I have contacted few suppliers of the cakes and everyone quoted me the rates of 12/kg and more, plus they do not have the reAdy supply. I have asked everyone of them to send me the samples of their material, which i guess will be arriving to me soon. Also, i was kind of getting late for the bed preparation, so i have planned to do the top dressing of the cakes+different cultures once the sample is finale and they supply me the material. I think the whole process will be tAking a weeks time.

I did call up to discuss about this.

Syngenta marketing people visited me and i went to few of the nurseries where they taught me this plant hardening process.
What they do is, when the seedling attain 2-3 leaves, they do not water the plant until the leaves starts wilting This process they continue for a week.
Also, they shift the plants outside in the sun for 2 hours on the first day and then again get them back inside the shadenet/polyhouse For a week they gradually increase the duration of the plants in the sun. This is what they call acclimatization.

COMMENTS !!!

Hi Aman - The hardening off procedure Syngenta discussed with you is what I follow for my capsicum / pepper nursery as well. The point is to train the seedlings to adjust to reduced frequency of watering and harsher climatic conditions (e.g. direct sunlight for many hours, humidity) when they are transplanted to the field. This processes reduces plant mortality and stress upon transplant.

[amansohaney]

@ak

yes Mr aman you r right . this technique is known as seedling hardening. this helps the plants to be hardy so that they can withstand unfavourable conditions . otherwise the plants may be lanky and without much strength. ---------- then inyour older post u had told that u r mixing —psb— in the beds . pl explain what is psb. thank u

Ohh sorry, by psb i meant phosphate solubilising bacteria !!!

[amansohaney]

Capsicum seedlings bomby qnd orbelle. This photo was taken on 22nd november and the seedlings were planted on 2nd november.
Will post the latest pictures soon. Currently they are going through hardening process.

[amansohaney]

Hello viks

With your due permission i would want to post some of my gerbera pics so that you guys can share your views about its health, deficiencies, growth etc. these plants were planted on march and since then its growth is stunted because of many factors

1. Due to my other commitments i could not visit the farm for about 3 months, this was the biggest mistake.
2. Polyhouse construction company took the turn key project and were suppose to construct polyhouse, prepare beds, installing drip and foggers, purchasing and planting gerbera plants and providing consultancy for a year. But frankly none of them happened as said. Drip was not installed correctly, they tried to save their money by installing 60 cm inline dripping instead of 30 cm as required for gerbera, they did not follow the standard practice for preparing beds which resulted in water stagnation and no aeration for roots. Due to wrong drip line installed every 2 nd plant was left unwatered and the other plants would get excess water resulting in water storage and frequent fungus attacks. No consultancy was provided.
3. I have started looking the project from past 2 months and the plants condition have improved.
   I have added sand, ruce husk, neem cake to loosen the soil a bit. Have started weekly fungicide treatments, following fertigation schedule, visiting my farm daily.

Posting the recent pics below.

Please comment and provide your valuable suggestions.

Aman

[Viks]

Aman, its not my post, plz feel free to post anything you wish.

i remember earlier, you said you would shift the plants in grow bags, and then prepare the beds, and shift them back. have you finished doing all that?
cause there are empty spaces in the beds, so i am guessing its not done yet.

the plants look good and health to me atleast. but remember Aman, i have zero experience in Gerbera. just love the flower

Vivek

[Viks]

i don like the fungal attack! really bugged up.

taking all possible measure to get it under control ASAP.
did the second lower (useless) leaf trimming in the past 3 days. got 3 feet of stem height cleared from the soil. now there is better air, sun exposure/movement.

Vivek

[Viks]

Little Indra Plants

the plants are all ready to rock and roll.
will be shifting them provably on 6 of this month.

Aman, i have noticed a few difference in Palladin, Bomby, Orbelle, Indra, NS 280 & NS 281.
Indra is first time, so i am very excited, the plants are more greener as compared to all the others.
i am keeping the plant height less from start only. lets see how it goes.

Vivek

[Viks]

Aman, i am considering switching to a different crop now… lot of tough competition coming up

no honestly, today, the condition near my region is everyone is growing capsicum. and syngenta (red,green,yellow) seeds are same price. so the grower has lots of options to play with.

i was hoping the rates to be more like 350-400 +, but its really sad that they have dropped drastically. anyways.

and growers here all are expanding their setup by almost 100-200% and more into shadenet setups.

Shimla Mirchi, will soon be known as Nasik Mirchi

Vivek

[amansohaney]

@Viks

Little Indra Plants

the plants are all ready to rock and roll.
will be shifting them provably on 6 of this month.

Aman, i have noticed a few difference in Palladin, Bomby, Orbelle, Indra, NS 280 & NS 281.
Indra is first time, so i am very excited, the plants are more greener as compared to all the others.
i am keeping the plant height less from start only. lets see how it goes.

Vivek

Hello viks

Their is lot of difference between your indra nursery and my bimby/orbelle nursery. Your plants looks much more greener, healthy, mature etc. when did you plant the seeds and what is the temperature that you are maintaining for them/ what’s the local temperature at the moment ?

And yes, i did not shift my gerbera plants yet because it proved out to be a very hectic and long process, it would have also disturbed my roots. So i chose otherwise and decided to go for other treatments. Surely their is a lot of improvement but still no match. I hope to recover within next month, fingers crossed.

Also, about shifting to a different crop. Do you have anything in your mind yet
Nasik mirchi is surely increasing its area almost daily. I see lot of people starting it in this region under shade net as well.

Aman

[rana2013]

@Viks

Little Indra Plants

the plants are all ready to rock and roll.
will be shifting them provably on 6 of this month.

Aman, i have noticed a few difference in Palladin, Bomby, Orbelle, Indra, NS 280 & NS 281.
Indra is first time, so i am very excited, the plants are more greener as compared to all the others.
i am keeping the plant height less from start only. lets see how it goes.

Vivek

That is a very healthy nursery, Vivek. Are you growing it in cocopeat? What else are you mixing in it to provide nutrition?

[Viks]

@ak

hi mr viks pl explain abt --Silicon Rapid Protector spray–. its effects and uses. i have not heard such a material in our area. which company is producing this? any harmful or side effects ??
then regarding fungal attacks---- there is one product AMISTAR . I HAVE USED THAT TO CONTROL DOWNY MILDEW . THEY CLAIM THAT IT kills many types of fungii. it is also a bioproduct produced from a fungi that is produced on some forest trees. hope that this info is useful

Greetings Mr.Ak,

silicon makes a very thin layer on the leaves. this helps prevent sucking pest problems, and fungal problems. makes the leaves more rough.

i am using silvet (silicon based spreader) in my daily foiler sprays (20ml/200 litre water), and specially taking Silicon spray (500gm/200 litre water) for better results.

Silvet is my favourite as it is the best spreader i have used and tested. it is on a higher price side, but the results, i love them.

as long as we are discussing spreaders and penetrators, whats the difference in them? and are they required in each and every spray/drip ?

Spreaders basically have the job of spreading the spray i am taking on the leaves, or in the soil (in case of drip), whereas on the other hand, penetrators have the job to penetrate the chemical/molecule i am spraying in the leaves (in foiler spray) or in the roots (in drip).

eg, if i am taking a pesticide (contact) then it is wiser to use spreaders. and incase of pesticides (systematic) i prefer penetrators.

so the purpose of these both are different. now the next question is can i use them both in foiler and drip? well, i use them both for both use (spray and drip).

next question, are these helpers (spreader / penetrator) required in all molecules?
well nope. some products (pesticides/drip etc) have inbuild bonding/spreading agents. eg Zirate, this molecule already has good spreading tendency, so there is no need for spreaders in such cases.

Vivek

[Viks]

Hello Rana,
well, growing/germinating the seeds is a different type of farming altogether. different practises, different setup, different science altogether.

as i have told earlier, we have many nurseries who expertise in this area. so we (farmers) prefer getting the seeds grown from such service providers. as it saves a lot of headache for me atleast.

there are different nutrients / sprays during the germination/growing stage and then different nutrients/sprays after plantation. so i am focusing more on the second part.

the growing cost is 80 paisa / grown plant. so i find this very cheap and affordable.

i provide the nursery person with a organic certified product called “Germinator” in which the seeds are dipped initially, then the seeds are mixed and cleaned (for giving a light coating) with the extract i get from my water pond, and then sown for germination.
my grandmother, told me once, that when she was a kid, during those times, farmers would coat the seeds with Poita (high nutrient soil from rivers) and then plant them. this light coating would provide the seeds with all the necessary nutrients it would require for the next 15-20 days.

it sounds silly, but then i am doing it.
and yes, the nursery fellow uses coco-peat as a growing media for germination. and as Aman and you were discussing the hardening process, this is not practised by the nursery fellow. Apart from this, i really don’t know about the details about what he does.

Vivek

[Viks]

IMPORTANCE OF LAYOUT

Attaching visuals for the two different layouts/setup i have for growing capsicum.

can someone tell whats wrong in them?

Vivek

[amansohaney]

@Viks

IMPORTANCE OF LAYOUT

Attaching visuals for the two different layouts/setup i have for growing capsicum.

can someone tell whats wrong in them?

Vivek

in the carnation setup i see that the beds are made parallel to the top pipes. i think we should make the beds parallel to the gutter. In the capsicum setup, i can make out anything .

aman