POLE SITAO PRODUCTION GUIDE

Pole sitao is a vegetable in demand by housewives. A bunch of it is enough to make healthy menu. Producing them is easy if you know how to take care of them.

It is important to till the soil properly to fine texture. Alternate the plowing and harrowing to the soil 2 to 3 times to have good tilt. Determine first the kind of soil in your field so that you will know beforehand if vegetable is suitable and best fitted for production. Soil analysis helped you to determine what particular fertilizer to use.

Plant them in rows 100 centimeters x 50 centimeters distance drilling a hole between hills accessible in maintaining care to the growing plants. Cover the seeds with fine soil. Plant 2 to 3 seeds per hill. Water the seeds in hill for immediate emergence.

Use the normal application of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus per hectare. In one hectare you need 7 bags. If your area is only ¼ of a hectare, all you need is less 2 bags of that size. Cover the applied fertilizer with fine soil to avoid exposure to the sun that will lessen its potency.

If the soil is lack of phosphorus, you can use side-dressing of phosphorus fertilizer only 20 kilograms per hectare or if ¼ of a hectare, use 5 kilograms enough for that size.

If the plant emerges from the soil in 10 days period, start reducing the seedling by maintaining 1 seedling per hill. The planting of 2 to 3 seedlings per hill is for you to select the best and healthy seedlings to care. It is also needed if some seeds failed to germinate and will not emerge in due time.

Maintain weeding the plants after 2 weeks of planting. Early weeding will free them from damaging weeds that later on will harbor pests to live in the plants.

Water the plants every week or if the need arise especially if the plants begin to wilt due to dryness of the soil.

Hill-up the plants every 4 weeks to loosen the soil around the seedlings that will restrict its growth. From time to time, you can do spot weeding to ensure cleanliness around.

Use bamboo trellis measuring 2 meters in length as medium for climbing vines. Additionally, use vertical support of bamboo (single trellis) or wood for the vines to spread.

Maintain the normal application of water weekly around the plants importantly needed during the development of pods. It is also to ensure that adequate moisture level is attained during the flowering and pod development.

To harvest young green pods, pick them after 10 days from flowering stage. After 10 days, regularly pick the green pods every 2 days to avoid the pods to mature.

GARLIC PRODUCTION GUIDE

It grows best in areas of mild climate. In the early stages of its growth, it requires a cooler environment. During maturation, a dry weather with moderate high temperature is required.

Garlic can also be grown from sea level or above. It can grow in all types of soil but they prefer a sandy loam, silty loam and clay loam. Consider to have a fertile soil, rich in organic matter. It should be a well-drained place. It is a necessity to maintain a good soil moisture supply during its growth and development.

A hectare area need 1,000 kg. of garlic seedpieces. The land should be properly and thoroughly tilled. It should be well-prepared 6 weeks before planting. Plow the field 3 to 4 times at 7 days interval. The purpose is to improve soil texture. You have to apply animal manure before the bed preparation. Mulch it with 3-5 cm layer of rice straw after planting to conserve moisture and control weeds.

Cut straw and weeds close to the ground after the rice is harvested. The soil should be dry in a desired moisture level. You can construct small canals around the rice paddies to ensure that no standing water will stay in the paddy after an irrigation is made due to heavy rain.

A one hectare area need 7 bags of complete fertilizer (14-14-14), 2 bags of urea (46-0-0), 2 bags of superphosphate (0-18-0) and a bag of muriate of potash (0-0-60). Apply superphosphate and complete fertilizer as basal fertilizer prior to planting. Another combination of urea and muriate of potash 30 days and 70 days after planting.

Irrigate lightly but frequent to provide continuous presence of uniform moisture supply throughout its growing period. Regulate watering during bulb formation to have a proper ripening. When the tops begin to fall over, then stop the irrigation to avoid rotting, reduced quality and watery bulbs.

Select only a healthy planting materials. Control humidity in the field with lower planting density and proper irrigation. Control foliar disease by spraying the proper control measures. Remove all infected leaves. Harvest only mature bulbs. Cure it properly. Maintain good ventilation and air circulation during the curing, packing and storage.

To prevent army worm, used overhead irrigation by spraying water and soap solution. Remove infected leaves. An extract from pepper can be use to spray the plant. The use of ash around the plant can control this pests infestation. Further, you have to manage weeding properly to have sufficient presence of natural enemies against insect pests.

Harvest when it is already 80% of the leaves to turn yellow while started to fold over. The bulbs should be pulled properly from the soil 100 days after planting.

Harvested bulb are to be cured 14 days under dry shade. Proper drying method is needed to reduce the presence of diseases during the storage. This is also to have a good skin color.

After the curing, cut leaves 12 cm from the top of the bulb. You can select a good bulb according to its size and quality of the bulb in a well-ventilated area to keept it dry.