DRACAENA PRODUCTION GUIDE

        

It is shrubby, herbaceous and evergreen plant. It grows 2 meters tall. As they grow, they will start forming a clump where the suckers are produced. Its stem is slender. It has strap-shaped sheathed leaves. They are flexible arranged in spiral.

The taller the plant the chance of bending is possible. They will bend if there is strong wind. It can be affected also during heavy rainfall because of top heavy foliage unless there is support that can hold them. If there is none, they can easily topple down.

It is best grown in pottery or clay pot. It has been used as ornamental plants. It can be propagated by cutting, the easiest way to raise them. The shoot tip or top cutting will root fast in the planting medium. In 4 weeks’ time there will be a solid foundation of its rooting system. Place in tap water, the tip cutting of the shoots will start to grow in 12 days. The cuttings should be in diagnosed cuts below the node of the plants. See to it that it is healthy, clean and disease-free.

Place layer of wax at the top of the stump were the cuttings was taken for purpose of preventing the entry of water and micro-organisms that will cause disease to the plant.

The dormant buds along the stem will sprout slowly. New shoots will form in a month. After 6 months it can be harvested as shoot tips cuttings. This will be subject to further propagation where the new sets of dormant buds will start to grow.

During your potting, place 3 plants in the same planting medium. It grows denser or thicker after several months after potting. In the pot, it should contain equal measures of sawdust and burst rice hull. Sand and coconut coir dust can also be used. Pure soil has limited use. It should be mix in the same quality with coconut choir dust.

The leaves of the ornamental plant are very sensitive to bright, indirect light. Using fine-mesh net is helpful to reduce heavy light penetration. It can also prevent direct exposure to sunlight. Too much heat will cause leaf burns. The leaves will become yellowish and brownish. The cuttings should be rooted in a spade away light exposure. The new transplanted rooting cutting will remain in the shade more or less 7 days before they are slowly exposed to bright light.

During dry months or hot days, water the rooted cuttings regularly once daily. Don’t use the heavy chlorinated water or salty water as it affects its growth and the color of the leaves.

Fertilize the plants one week after transplanting to clay pot. Use 1 tablespoon complete fertilizer (14-14-14) in every 1 gallon of water. Do it 3 times every month. Additionally, fertilize it with 1 tablespoon urea (46-0-0) every 1 gallon of water once in a month. You also have to use complete controlled release fertilizer with the rate of ½ teaspoon per pot for height of 6-inch plants only 1 every 3 months. You can increase the frequency according to the height and the size of the plants in the pot.

In case of insect infestation, spray the plant systemic insecticide or meticide and spray it to the affected plants. Most infestation is common during dry season. To give complete protection, application of insecticide is necessary to ensure the plant will grow insect-free. Additionally, by washing it regularly, it helps prevent the pests to live in the leaves of the plants.

Always keep the surroundings of the placed cuttings clean free from weeds and other damaging grasses. 

Apply fungicides if you find the presence of fungus in the soil. The disease mostly appeared during wet days. It is important not to expose them heavily in the rain as root rot and stem rot are common causes for the plants to die. If there is weak or unhealthy plants in the pot, reduce its population and remove them. It will only affect the healthy one if allowed to remain in the pot.

If all this given procedures is honestly followed you can have a nursery of good and healthy ornamental most sought by buyers for their landscaping needs and indoor placements.

AMPALAYA PRODUCTION GUIDE

The popularity of ampalaya spread into many regions of the world. The discovery of being best herbal alternative for the treatment of diabetes builds strong position in the markets.

Pharmaceuticals are busy manufacturing ampalaya into powdered capsules and took control in the distribution of their manufactured products. As they were now grown commercially in large scale, the benefit was staggering. The lowly vegetable is now the phenomenal star of all seasons.

The fruits and leaves of ampalaya found to contain iron, calcium, carbohydrates and vitamin B. If regularly included in simple dish, may help to avoid insulin deficiency.

Planting ampalaya needs utmost care, effort and unlimited attention because of the easy susceptibility to nematode. If the soil is mostly deficient, the fungus will create haven in the soil destroying what has been planted there.

It is important to take the soil for analysis to determine the correct soil condition so that if deficient, necessary application of fertilizer is carried out. This will be the first step of preventive action through fertilization.

One way to correct these is to apply basal in-raw compost, animal manure and organic fertilizers in addition to application of tri-calcium phosphate fertilizer.

Select variety that is resistant to nematode infestation. Consider also variety that is short-term to mature 64 days from date of planting the seeds. Ampalaya can be harvested earlier during wet season within 62 days.

In order to increase yield of production, pre-germination of seeds found to have more benefits than direct seeding.  One seedling should be planted 1.50 meters apart in a row. The distance between rows should be 2 meters.  The purpose is to allow penetration and exposure to sunlight because of wider spacing.

Germinated seeds are more economical as it only needs one seedling per hill while in direct seeding, 2 to 3 seeds are needed because not all seeds can germinate in the soil.

Seedlings for transplanting can easily adapt to transplanting stress without affecting the regeneration of the roots.

If the seeds are pre-germinated, it shorten the waiting time compared to direct seeding that will take little more days before it emerge in the soil. It needs one night to pre-germinate the seeds by soaking it with clean water.

To allow germination, spread the seeds in damp cloth for 3 days until the seedcoat is broken. Keep the cloth moist and maintain moisture until the seeds germinate. Transfer the seedlings to prepared hills.

As the seedlings grow longer, prepare trellis made of bamboo poles every 1.5 meters. Then tie the plastic string from pole to pole to serve as climbing medium for the vines.

Prune the tips of the branch of the established seedlings to grow multiple branching and increase yield. The lower node of the branches will grow and bear fruits. It can be done by pinching the main stem inducing growth of primary or secondary laterals.

If it bears many fruits in the stem, you have to reduce it and thin out to few numbers so that the fruits can grow bigger and longer as it controls food competition.

To control pests in the plant, spray it with pesticides to remove the threat that may affect the fruiting. Another way to protect the young fruits is by using paper bags or polyethylene bags for the insects not to damage the fruits or from contamination (toxicity) from pesticide and fungicide.

As normal cultural management, spraying the plant with fungicide may help prevent nematode to infect the roots and root system.

PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION GUIDE

Pineapple was the star among many countries. It was widely known by anybody. The sweetness penetrated deeply in our senses. It participated in making the body healthy as the fruit itself is heavily laden with vitamins and minerals especially vitamin C known to be anti-oxidant. Pineapple was commercially produced.

There are many consumer products produced using pineapple as raw materials. They are manufactured in cans, tins and tetra packs or freshly cut for sale. It is best alternative for weight loss and other benefits related to health.

Planting pineapple is good farming practice. Maintenance and care is not as complex and vigorous if you have the interest and patience of waiting the day of fruiting and harvesting.

In rural areas, it is easy for a community to plant pineapple in their backyard for personal consumption and able to harvest without proper care to it. To have better and bigger pineapple size, proper maintenance to the plant is necessary.

To plant pineapple for commercial purpose, you need to know the many helpful points to be able to have higher yield and success in producing them.

Select a better place to plant pineapple. Test the soil pH to be able to arrive to correct application of fertilizer to use. Pineapple can adapt to any type of soil but loamy soil is the best.

Prepare the land, tilling it properly. Plow and harrow 3 times alternately to loosen the soil until the soil has good tilt.

Select the best slips and suckers as your planting materials. You can procure it from other commercial pineapple farms selling planting materials to interested buyers.

Treat planting materials first to ensure that they are free from diseases. It can be protected by curing and dipping it to fungicide solution.

Select planting materials that has high recovery rate or survival rate in the field or a variety that can grow faster.

Curing the slips and suckers is done by direct exposure to sunlight for the period of 4 weeks before the scheduled planting.  It enables the cut basal portion called the butt end to heal and form callus where the root system starts to form. At the same time, it helps to prevent fungal infection because of the long exposure to the sun during the curing process.

Another way is dipping the planting materials (butt ends) directly to fungicide solution. This will be the effective prevention against fatal fungal disease like heart rot and bud rot.

Without necessary protection, the fungal disease will appear within 3 months after planting. If diseased, the base of young leaves will slowly rot including stem, buds and heart of the plant. If not treated, planting materials will die.

The application of fertilizer is important aspect of plant’s life to grow healthy, robust and with vigor that can stand against fungal infection. It is also induces pineapple to flower especially the appearance of red bud and starts of flowering.

Use 10 grams of ammonium sulfate (nitrogen), 10 grams of muriate of potash (potassium) per plant. Fertilization played key role in the growth of plants. After the application, the plants started to fruit. A healthy fruit weigh 1.80 kilos, 16 centimeters in height with the diameter of 12 centimeters as they matured.

Observed the following:

-While preparing planting beds in the farm. See to it that it has enough drainage system to remove the excess water in the field. The beds should be raised 30 centimeters from the ground.

-Plant the slips and suckers before wet season. Space the plant closely to increase concentration of suckers and slips in one hectare.

SQUASH PRODUCTION GUIDE

Bush sitao can be raised in both lowland and upland areas. It can adapt to any soil type but best to plant in sandy to clay loam soil. It can tolerate acidic soil but it will not produce high yield. It can grow in low and high rainfall but only briefly as it will rot due to water-logging. It can survive only if the dry season is brief and not too long. For long dry spell, scheduled watering is needed to preserve or conserve moisture in the soil while the plants are growing.

In selecting a variety, give emphasis the duration of growth, the yielding capacity, tolerant against pests and diseases and easily adapt in extreme weather condition.

Plow and harrow the land 3 times. Loosen the soil well to be able to have good soil condition. Every time there is emerging weeds, remove them through plowing or harrowing.

Inoculate the seeds with Rhizobium before planting. Plant 1 seed per hill. Spacing is 30 centimeters apart or 75 centimeters between rows.

As fertilization is necessary to keep plants healthy and give higher yield, do the following:

In one hectare land:  30 kilograms urea during planting, 100 kilograms single superphosphate at planting time, 60 kilograms muriate of potash at planting time, 5 bags complete fertilizer (14-14-14), Superphosphate (side-dressing 3-4 weeks after germination).  Organic fertilizer (decomposed dry leaves, straws and animal manure 56 tons per hectare, if available). In acidic soils (4 tons of lime one month before planting to good soil pH)

Water the plant during intense dry season for the plants to give higher yield. Bush sitao can tolerate drought but watering may protect it from dryness in the soil or lacking moisture content that may affect the fruiting of the vegetable. Watering may be done during planting, early seeding or first 15 days, at flowering and pod setting (50 days after planting).

Use furrow irrigation in 10 days interval. Watering induce the plant to grow fast, healthy and high pod setting.

Control pests and diseases are normal farming practices. Without it, the plant has stunted growth, damage leaves and fruits, lower yields.

Most pests that attack bush sitao especially after germination of seeds are pod borers, leaffolders and aphids. Spray the plants with insecticides as soon as the pests started attacking the plants. Spraying with pesticides is the only way to get rid the enemy of the plants.

Bush sitao still has another threat in its growing days. The plants are subject to many diseases like fusarium wilt, cowpea rust and leaf spot. Spray the plants with fungicides to remove the infection. Another way to minimize the effect of the virus is to look for resistant variety.

Include weeding as part of your cultural practices. Remove the weeds every now and then if found to germinate to clean the field from the hazard that later on will affect the health of the plants. Schedule the weeding of the plants 3 times for one season. Additionally, enforce spot weeding every time weeds appear.  Hill-up the plants to loosen the soil 3 weeks after planting.

Harvest the plant 12 days after the flowers open. It may be done if the pods reach the required maximum length and width but not to allow young pods to mature as it can no longer sealable to market. The second and succeeding harvest should be done every 3 days to ensure that pods still young and fresh.