There is a company that does it, it was done for my brother on His farm land in moniya, Ibadan
cbrass:
Is there a company that builds this green house or it's something one can do ?
Also how will the plants get adequate sunlight in the greenhouse?
OP i commend your effort and time in creating this Thread , currently I own and run a 20k capacity layers farm in Imo state , I’ve tried to diversify into vegetables as well but I’ve had little or no success on open fields . Lately ive been considering greenhouse, I would like to get some tips and advices from you before venturing into it .
This is today's photos and videos of our Bell Pepper and Habanero Pepper project. The
plants are doing alright. But we're facing a challenge with flower/fruit abortion, just like someone pointed out in the comments section.
Despite this setback, the plants' overall health looks good. We'll continue monitoring and adjusting our care strategies.
Any advice or insights from fellow gardeners / farmers are welcome.
Yesterday, I mentioned that our pepper plants are experiencing abortions.
For those who don't know, in horticulture, 'abortion' refers to premature flower or fruit drop, which hinders plant development.
These are the common causes:
1. Insufficient pollination
2. Water stress
3. Nutrient deficiencies
4. Pests or diseases
5. Poor spacing
In our case, poor spacing is the cause, and the farm manager is to be blamed.
iykbethany:
Yesterday, I mentioned that our pepper plants are experiencing abortions.
For those who don't know, in horticulture, 'abortion' refers to premature flower or fruit drop, which hinders plant development.
These are the common causes:
1. Insufficient pollination
2. Water stress
3. Nutrient deficiencies
4. Pests or diseases
5. Poor spacing
In our case, poor spacing is the cause, and the farm manager is to be blamed.
your crops are super and it will be a sacrilege to leave such healthy and good crops to fate,it is not yet late to properly intervene,what I will advice is this,if you still have empty land clear out a portion that you feel will contain at least 30-40 percent of the habanero in the greenhouse,after clearing,dig holes that will be the width and bredth of a shovel blade and one foot deep at straight lines,give it 3 ft spacing in between holes,also each line will be spaced by 3-4 ft from the next you can use nylon twine to make it straight, apply manure inside each hole and turn with shovel.,the holes will serve to conserve water during the dry season,a good containment for manure, fertilizer and manual irrigated water and save stress of ridge making.
Next go inside the habanero green house after serious irrigation , use shovel to remove every next crop,,this will be done in the evening when the sun is down,they will first use the shovel and punch the four corners of the crop and dig in deep from one side,all the root mass will come up in a nice square shape intact,they will carry it outside with the shovel and placed inside the hole and watered,next morning it will be irrigated before sun comes,nothing will happen, to it,we even retransplant fruiting pepper crop,if you leave that habanero farm like that I am seeing it might be a serious problem that is easily still aviodable,and pls don't even think about pruning as an alternative it will make the crops triple or quadruple in size and grow so many extra stems and foliage that you might mistake your greenhouse farm to be the congo rain forest in a few months time
okoroemeka:
your crops are super and it will be a sacrilege to leave such healthy and good crops to fate,it is not yet late to properly intervene,what I will advice is this,if you still have empty land clear out a portion that you feel will contain at least 30-40 percent of the habanero in the greenhouse,after clearing,dig holes that will be the width and bredth of a shovel blade and one foot deep at straight lines,give it 3 ft spacing in between holes,also each line will be spaced by 3-4 ft from the next you can use nylon twine to make it straight, apply manure inside each hole and turn with shovel.,the holes will serve to conserve water during the dry season,a good containment for manure, fertilizer and manual irrigated water and save stress of ridge making.
Next go inside the habanero green house after serious irrigation , use shovel to remove every next crop,,this will be done in the evening when the sun is down,they will first use the shovel and punch the four corners of the crop and dig in deep from one side,all the root mass will come up in a nice square shape intact,they will carry it outside with the shovel and placed inside the hole and watered,next morning it will be irrigated before sun comes,nothing will happen, to it,we even retransplant fruiting pepper crop,if you leave that habanero farm like that I am seeing it might be a serious problem that is easily still aviodable,and pls don't even think about pruning as an alternative it will make the crops triple or quadruple in size and grow so many extra stems and foliage that you might mistake your greenhouse farm to be the congo rain forest in a few months time
Thank you very much for providing this solution. I'm going to work on this immediately. God bless you
okoroemeka:
your crops are super and it will be a sacrilege to leave such healthy and good crops to fate,it is not yet late to properly intervene,what I will advice is this,if you still have empty land clear out a portion that you feel will contain at least 30-40 percent of the habanero in the greenhouse,after clearing,dig holes that will be the width and bredth of a shovel blade and one foot deep at straight lines,give it 3 ft spacing in between holes,also each line will be spaced by 3-4 ft from the next you can use nylon twine to make it straight, apply manure inside each hole and turn with shovel.,the holes will serve to conserve water during the dry season,a good containment for manure, fertilizer and manual irrigated water and save stress of ridge making.
Next go inside the habanero green house after serious irrigation , use shovel to remove every next crop,,this will be done in the evening when the sun is down,they will first use the shovel and punch the four corners of the crop and dig in deep from one side,all the root mass will come up in a nice square shape intact,they will carry it outside with the shovel and placed inside the hole and watered,next morning it will be irrigated before sun comes,nothing will happen, to it,we even retransplant fruiting pepper crop,if you leave that habanero farm like that I am seeing it might be a serious problem that is easily still aviodable,and pls don't even think about pruning as an alternative it will make the crops triple or quadruple in size and grow so many extra stems and foliage that you might mistake your greenhouse farm to be the congo rain forest in a few months time
Very good suggestion..
He should do a serious pruning as well...The farm focused it's energy on leaf production ..
Pepper and Tomato are too sensitive things to grow if you fail to master how to switch them from vegetative growth to flowering and fruiting stage.
He should do a serious pruning as well...The farm focused it's energy on leaf production ..
Pepper and Tomato are too sensitive things to grow if you fail to master how to switch them from vegetative growth to flowering and fruiting stage.
From experience I think hot peppers need to be pruned or topped once if you like from 30-50 days the growing tip will be pinched out and it will bring out more extra branches,this is usually enough,,even this will push back the maturity period by 2-3 weeks,if you continue to prune it like tomatoes you might end up with a crop that will take 200 days to mature,hot peppers are hardy and tougher than tomatoes by far and naturally when the crop starts out the Y branches in 60-70 days it will start flowering,this is when to switch foliar application to flower and friut booster with higher P and K than N,but to me the single most important step in pepper farm is the variety,if it is not resistant to viral diseases it is a waste of time
okoroemeka:
From experience I think hot peppers need to be pruned or topped once if you like from 30-50 days the growing tip will be pinched out and it will bring out more extra branches,this is usually enough,,even this will push back the maturity period by 2-3 weeks,if you continue to prune it like tomatoes you might end up with a crop that will take 200 days to mature,hot peppers are hardy and tougher than tomatoes by far and naturally when the crop starts out the Y branches in 60-70 days it will start flowering,this is when to switch foliar application to flower and friut booster with higher P and K than N,but to me the single most important step in pepper farm is the variety,if it is not resistant to viral diseases it is a waste of time
Actually the pruning is done few weeks after transplanting from the nursery.
This allows for more branches at the top, rather than the usually branching from stem closer to soil.
Then, ones flowers set, just like you said attention will leave N(nitrogen), and focus on P(phosphorus) and K (potassium). Then irrigation shouldn't be less or more..A farmer must strike a balance.
Here are todays pictures. We will most likely harvest this weekend.
I did experiment with planting both habanero and Bell Peppers on the open field and surprisingly, they all survived.
So in my opinion there's no need wasting millions on a greenhouse if they can survive in an open field.
I will like the experts to share their opinions on this
Actually the pruning is done few weeks after transplanting from the nursery.
This allows for more branches at the top, rather than the usually branching from stem closer to soil.
Then, ones flowers set, just like you said attention will leave N(nitrogen), and focus on P(phosphorus) and K (potassium). Then irrigation shouldn't be less or more..A farmer must strike a balance.
Variety matters a lot.
If one is thinking of commercial.
well it depends on choice and management style but a few weeks after transplanting is a flowering crop and you don't want to stress it at that stage, we don't even like prune or top it causes bigger bushy plants and pushes forward the maturity date,there is a section we planted 1500 crops and ground squirrels cut off all the growing tips,even at 4 ft spacing it is already growing tight and some are touching each other,,we also have another 1500 of same crop planted were squirrels didn't attack it,we are already harvesting from the unpruned batch while the pruned side are still busy growing bushy large,from my observations the pruned batch will yield more when it eventually starts but the interesting question will be ,will the yield difference worth the extra wait? only time will tell
iykbethany:
Here are todays pictures. We will most likely harvest this weekend.
I did experiment with planting both habanero and Bell Peppers on the open field and surprisingly, they all survived.
So in my opinion there's no need wasting millions on a greenhouse if they can survive in an open field.
I will like the experts to share their opinions on this
my opinion is that green houses and nylon row covers are two of the most uneseccary things to use for farming in tropical Africa,this things are made for countries with cold climates to provide a warm climate for the crops and heat the soil during winter,even the greenhouse cannot stop insects attacking pepper because mites thrips and mealy bugs are almost microscopic and will fly through that net without stopping,,row cover is another test case we saw how teribble it can be if used i with no space for rainfall to dissolve the salt from fertilizers naturally,the evaporation of water traps this salts under the row cover and it cause salt crusts to form on the soil with higher PH levels,we are battling this in a Clients farm and they have swore to remove the damn thing next season,the only advantage I see in greenhouse is that due to no humidity on the leaves,the incidence of bacterial leaf spot will be reduced but I rather use 3% of the greenhouse money to buy fungicides and control any fungal or bacterial infection and plant my crops open field
iykbethany:
Here are todays pictures. We will most likely harvest this weekend.
I did experiment with planting both habanero and Bell Peppers on the open field and surprisingly, they all survived.
So in my opinion there's no need wasting millions on a greenhouse if they can survive in an open field.
I will like the experts to share their opinions on this
There are unique varieties with unique markets that need that greenhouse better...yellow bell pepper will have served you better, but the Ten million naira questions is do you have the experience for greenhouse production?
No be to buy greenhouse, na to know wetin to target, and when to target be the issue...
okoroemeka:
well it depends on choice and management style but a few weeks after transplanting is a flowering crop and you don't want to stress it at that stage, we don't even like prune or top it causes bigger bushy plants and pushes forward the maturity date,there is a section we planted 1500 crops and ground squirrels cut off all the growing tips,even at 4 ft spacing it is already growing tight and some are touching each other,,we also have another 1500 of same crop planted were squirrels didn't attack it,we are already harvesting from the unpruned batch while the pruned side are still busy growing bushy large,from my observations the pruned batch will yield more when it eventually starts but the interesting question will be ,will the yield difference worth the extra wait? only time will tell
Yes. Pruning usually delay early harvest. But trust me, it pays more later.
Plus a longer HARVEST time. The pruned plants will produce more over time.
I also noticed, some hot pepper variety, after fruiting for a while with being harvested, tends to slow down a bit, then rejuvenate the next year around same time they were planted the previous year. And this time around will flower and fruit beyond expectations.
Hello poster, can you share your email? Some of us intending to venture into this will like to consult you on how to. Or please shoot me an email on [email protected]
Yes. Pruning usually delay early harvest. But trust me, it pays more later.
Plus a longer HARVEST time. The pruned plants will produce more over time.
I also noticed, some hot pepper variety, after fruiting for a while with being harvested, tends to slow down a bit, then rejuvenate the next year around same time they were planted the previous year. And this time around will flower and fruit beyond expectations.
I have no doubt it will pay later ,with careful once pruning,but what we have is uncontrolled pruning by squirrels,they cut off the growing tip if it produces 5 more stems they will cut that too,until we found a solution to chase them by then some crops have 10-15 stems and the average height is 5 ft,the 4ft spacing we gave is obsolete and forgotten,I know it will pay later because my boy started counting the fruits on one crop and gave up at 400,this is not what we planned but the yield may cause us to adopt a more refined squirrel pruning next year
HMarshal:
Hello poster, can you share your email? Some of us intending to venture into this will like to consult you on how to. Or please shoot me an email on [email protected]
I thought the s don't like this. I once shared my email on a Vietnam importation guide and they kept deleting it.
My handle here (iykbethany) is my name on all social networks
iykbethany:
As an entrepreneur, I’ve always looked for ways to invest in the agricultural sector because agriculture offers more than just business opportunities. It's a way to create jobs, generate wealth, and contribute to food security.
I ventured into agriculture many years ago to create jobs, create wealth and food security so iykbethany farms is a project that is very important to me, but the journey hasn't been easy at all. There have been trials and errors along the way and I have been documenting everything so others can learn from the process, my mistakes and struggles.
I already have other farms for banana, plantains, oil palm and pineapples but one other venture that really caught my eye was greenhouse farming due to its immense potential to improve crop yields and maximize the use of limited land.
The Decision to Venture into Greenhouse Farming
The idea to invest in greenhouse farming came from my observation of Nigeria's agricultural sector.
Agriculture remains a critical part of our economy, yet many farmers still rely on traditional open-field farming, which is vulnerable to weather fluctuations, pest infestations, and inconsistent crop yields. With greenhouse farming, I saw an opportunity to leverage controlled environments to optimize crop growth, especially for high-value crops like habanero peppers.
Initial Setup and Consultation
The first year I ventured into agriculture, I went into Plantain and cassava farming without consulting any professional so the project failed woefully. So these days I do a lot of research and I consult widely. Since greenhouse farming was a new venture for me, I knew that consulting an expert was critical to ensuring the project's success. So I turned to a greenhouse expert I met on Nairaland. After several discussions, I hired him to oversee the construction of the greenhouses and other necessary infrastructure on the farm.
The project plan included:
Setting up two greenhouses: One dedicated to habanero peppers (Habanero F1) and the other for bell peppers (Hercules F1 red and Abbey F1 yellow).
Constructing a water tank stand: This would two large water tanks that were crucial for the irrigation system.
However, it wasn’t long before we encountered a significant setback.
Unfortunately, the tank stand collapsed on the very day we filled the tanks with water. It turned out that the contractor used inferior materials, specifically low-quality metal, for the structure. As a result, the tank stand could not the weight of the filled tanks, leading to its collapse.
Damage and Financial Losses
When the tank stand collapsed, the two water tanks were severely damaged, leaving them unusable. This resulted in unexpected financial losses, as I had to buy two new water tanks.
Moreover, the entire tank stand had to be reconstructed from scratch but this time I used manual labour and I decided to use blocks and cement.
The total damage and reconstruction costs included:
The cost of buying two new water tanks.
The expense of reconstructing the tank stand with stronger, more reliable materials—this time, I opted for a tank stand made from concrete blocks and cement instead of metal.
Lessons Learned from the Setback
While the setback with the water tank stand was a major hurdle, it also taught me several valuable lessons about managing a greenhouse farming project. As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to not only focus on the potential profits but also to be mindful of the process, quality of materials, and the people involved in the project. Also, I have found out that water tank stands made of block and cement are stronger than those made of metals. And it is cheaper as well.
After completing the greenhouse construction, I decided to hire a farm manager/agronomist to help oversee the operations. I will never repeat the mistakes I made years ago when I planted cassava and other crops without proper supervision. So I found someone from UNIPORT who had the knowledge and skills I was looking for. Since he’s still a student at Uniport, he requested free furnished accommodation on the farm, along with cooking utensils, to make it convenient for him to manage the farm while continuing his studies.
This is a pilot project so I am still learning and documenting the whole process.
Phase 1: Seed Germination and Nursery
- Raised 1,000 seeds each of red and yellow bell peppers and habanero peppers- Germination occurred after 7 days- Nursery duration: 28 days before transplanting
Phase 2: Farm Preparation
- Cleared the farm
- Created ridges
- Installed irrigation system
- Opened holes for planting
- Applied manure and NPK 15.15.15 fertilizers
Phase 3: Transplanting and Greenhouse Setup
- Transplanted seedlings into two greenhouses:
- Habanero F1
- Bell Pepper (Hercules F1 red and Abbey F1 yellow)
- Set up:
- Binding wire (upper and lower lines)
- Staking rope
Conclusion
Greenhouses are a valuable tool for improving agricultural productivity in Nigeria, especially for crops like habanero peppers and bell peppers. By providing a controlled environment, greenhouses help farmers overcome the challenges of traditional farming, such as unpredictable weather and pests. The structured approach to farming, from seed germination to transplanting and feeding, ensures high yields and quality produce.
Most Nigerians do not know that the reason foodstuffs are expensive is because of insecurity in the North. Northern Nigeria is our food basket but sadly bandits and terrorists are attacking farmers on a daily basis. In some Northern states, farmers cannot access their farms without paying hefty ramson to bandits and there is no guarantee you will come back alive even after paying the ransom.
If the government can tackle insecurity, food prices will drop dramatically.
iykbethany:
This is today's photos and videos of our Bell Pepper and Habanero Pepper project. The
plants are doing alright. But we're facing a challenge with flower/fruit abortion, just like someone pointed out in the comments section.
Despite this setback, the plants' overall health looks good. We'll continue monitoring and adjusting our care strategies.
Any advice or insights from fellow gardeners / farmers are welcome.
Is it an open pollinated pepper?if that place is enclosed no insect will get in to pollinate it,if not pollinated it will drop off instead of forming fruits.
Is it an open pollinated pepper?if that place is enclosed no insect will get in to pollinate it,if not pollinated it will drop off instead of forming fruits.
Insect is not the only agent of pollination, breeze/wind can also do. Pepper belongs to the category of plants with bisexual flowering pattern. Meaning it can easily self-pollinate by cool breeze or slightest shake.
Occasionally, as one is moving along the farm, one can slightly shake the rope(stakes) to induce pollination manually.
Is it an open pollinated pepper?if that place is enclosed no insect will get in to pollinate it,if not pollinated it will drop off instead of forming fruits.
We harvested our Bell peppers and habanero peppers on Friday last week.
We will be harvesting again this Friday.
Harvest Day is truly a farmer's happiest day. Nurturing crops from seed to maturity is not an easy task.
With the success of this pilot project I'm now converting every empty land to a pepper farm. For example, there's this empty space in my sister's restaurant that I started clearing since Monday.
It's just one plot of land but going forward, we will get all our peppers, ugu, vegetables, water leaf, ukazi, uziza, bitter leaf and even tomatoes from that small parcel of land. From farm to fork
We harvested our Bell peppers and habanero peppers on Friday last week.
We will be harvesting again this Friday.
Harvest Day is truly a farmer's happiest day. Nurturing crops from seed to maturity is not an easy task.
Congratulations
With the success of this pilot project I'm now converting every empty land to a pepper farm. For example, there's this empty space in my sister's restaurant that I started clearing since Monday.
It's just one plot of land but going forward, we will get all our peppers, ugu, vegetables, water leaf, ukazi, uziza, bitter leaf and even tomatoes from that small parcel of land. From farm to fork
We harvested our Bell peppers and habanero peppers on Friday last week.
We will be harvesting again this Friday.
Harvest Day is truly a farmer's happiest day. Nurturing crops from seed to maturity is not an easy task.
With the success of this pilot project I'm now converting every empty land to a pepper farm. For example, there's this empty space in my sister's restaurant that I started clearing since Monday.
It's just one plot of land but going forward, we will get all our peppers, ugu, vegetables, water leaf, ukazi, uziza, bitter leaf and even tomatoes from that small parcel of land. From farm to fork
..