Baby leaves and herbs

Baby leaf crops will grow on most soils but frequent access to the crop is needed by machinery. Light free-draining soils are best suited to intensive production but attention to nutrition is needed as light soils may have low nutrient retention. 

Fine seedbeds are required for uniform emergence of baby leaf crops. This can be achieved using power harrows following discing. Baby leaves are commonly grown in beds to minimise compaction and aid harvesting. 

Baby leaf crops are grown at high seed rates and seed cost is a significant production cost. For example spinach will be drilled at 120-140 seeds/m Crops develop quickly and can take 21-28 days from emergence to harvest. The size of the crop at harvest will dictate the market with crops grown for micro, baby and teen leaf specifications. Crops may be covered by fleece to hasten emergence at the start of the season. 

Ideally crops will be grown in a field one year in three. It is common for multiple crops to be grown in the same field within a year. Consideration should be taken of mixed fields, i.e. where leaves of different plant families such as brassicas and lettuces are being grown. 

Baby leaves and herbs are attractive to a wide range of pests especially aphids, leaf miners, caterpillars and slugs. The contamination of the crop with insects is also a commercial issue. Seedling diseases can affect the crops such as Pythium and Rhizoctonia but the main disease is downy mildew which can lead to complete crop loss if untreated. Resistant lines are available for some of the larger volume crops like spinach but downy mildew evolves new strains rapidly and plant breeders are always playing catch up . 

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Water is very important for germination and crop uniformity. Micro-sprinklers are commonly used as they ean apply small amoimts of water frequently. Large droplet sizes can damage the fohage so fine mists are often used. The short crop cycle means that baby leaves and herbs have shallow roots 20-50cm deep. The water source used needs to be free of human pathogens that would contaminate the crop. 

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