Hello everyone,

I’m a new farmer who’s really taken by hydroponics. My goal is to do it on a commercial scale, but for now I have a 7m x 13m high tunnel to work with. I would like to produce sweet bell peppers and lettuce, and have actually tried. I had planted red peppers in February which I have just removed because they had been infested by aphids to an unmanageable point. Also I think there was some nutritional problems because the peppers produced were deformed and suffered from either blossom end rot, late blight, early blight, or all. I’m not sure. I was able to only get two good harvests (quality wise not quantity wise) from them, then it all just went downhill. At first I thought the problem was the weather because by July we had gotten into Winter. So I pruned all of them, hoping they’d recover well. As it got warm again, they looked promising, but then deteriorated until I decided to just remove them last week. I want to start again and am asking for some pointers and guidance. Hydroponics is not popular in my country (Lesotho), so I don’t really have anyone I can ask for help. Can you guys please give me any pointers to try avoid the loss I’ve suffered this time around. I really want this to work because I think it could positively influence farming in my country. But people will only buy into it if it works. So please help. By the way, I use sawdust as a medium (it’s easier and cheaper to find).
Thanks a bunch :)