Grow it right, from seedling to harvest.
Step-by-step guides for 15 common crops for South African small-scale farmers — spacing, fertiliser, watering, pests, diseases, harvest and post-harvest care.
- Spacing & planting
- Fertiliser programmes
- Watering
- Pests & diseases
- Harvest tips
- Post-harvest & cold chain
Crop guides
Green Peppers
Sweet Pepper / Bell Pepper
Capsicum annuum
- Spacing
- 45cm x 45cm
- To harvest
- 70-85 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, consistent
Lettuce
Loose-leaf or Head varieties
Lactuca sativa
- Spacing
- 25cm x 25cm
- To harvest
- 45-70 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun to light shade
- Water
- Frequent, light watering
Tomatoes
Versatile, high-yield garden staple
Solanum lycopersicum
- Spacing
- 50cm x 60cm
- To harvest
- 60-75 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- Deep, consistent
Baby Marrows
Zucchini / Courgette
Cucurbita pepo
- Spacing
- 90cm x 90cm
- To harvest
- 45-55 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- Deep, regular
Cucumbers
Slicing or pickling varieties
Cucumis sativus
- Spacing
- 30cm x 100cm (trellised)
- To harvest
- 50-65 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- Deep, frequent
Cabbage
Dense-heading cool-season staple
Brassica oleracea var. capitata
- Spacing
- 45cm x 60cm
- To harvest
- 70-100 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6+ hrs/day
- Water
- High, very consistent
Swiss Chard
Spinach beet — cut-and-come-again greens
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
- Spacing
- 30cm x 40cm
- To harvest
- 55-65 days to first pick
- Sunlight
- Full sun to light shade
- Water
- Moderate to high, regular
Carrots
Sweet roots for deep, stone-free soil
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
- Spacing
- 5cm x 30cm
- To harvest
- 70-110 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6+ hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, very even
Beetroot
Sweet roots plus edible leaves
Beta vulgaris
- Spacing
- 10cm x 30cm
- To harvest
- 60-90 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6+ hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, even
Green Beans
Fast, soil-improving warm-season pods
Phaseolus vulgaris
- Spacing
- 10cm x 50cm
- To harvest
- 55-70 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, critical at flowering
Butternut
Sprawling squash that stores for months
Cucurbita moschata
- Spacing
- 90cm x 1.5m
- To harvest
- 110-130 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 8 hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, deep and infrequent
Onions
Long-season bulbs that store all winter
Allium cepa
- Spacing
- 10cm x 30cm
- To harvest
- 120-150 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6+ hrs/day
- Water
- Moderate, even until bulbing
Potatoes
Hilled tubers from certified seed
Solanum tuberosum
- Spacing
- 30cm x 75cm
- To harvest
- 90-120 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 6-8 hrs/day
- Water
- High, very even during tuber set
Sweet Potatoes
Tough, drought-hardy runners from cuttings
Ipomoea batatas
- Spacing
- 30cm x 1m
- To harvest
- 120-150 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 8 hrs/day
- Water
- Low to moderate, drought-tolerant
Sweetcorn
Block-planted cobs, best eaten the same day
Zea mays var. saccharata
- Spacing
- 25cm x 75cm
- To harvest
- 75-100 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun, 8 hrs/day
- Water
- High at tasselling and cob fill