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Manila Bulletin, Agriculture,
Thursday, July 15, 1999 |
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Experts
Gives Pointers on Growing Exotic High-value Fruit Trees
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by Zac B.
Sarian |
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Planting
the right variety and taking care of them properly are the
main keys to successful production of high-value fruit trees
not only in the countryside but even in urban farms and
gardens.
According to Dizon, one reason why some people are
reluctant to plant fruit trees is because they think that
fruit trees take a long time before they bear fruit. Another
reason, he said, is that some growers are disappointed when
the trees they grew from seedlings don't have good eating
quality.
Actually, Dizon said, exotic fruit will fruit in just a
matter of three or four years from planting if they are
asexually propagated (grafted, inarched or budded) and are
also taken care of properly after planting.
Grafted durian, for instance, will start fruiting in
just three years after planting. So is grafted mangosteen
which he has been producing in big numbers and making them
available.
Dizon is also an advocate of the multiple rootstock
system which, he says, hastens the growth of the fruit trees
and also their fruiting.
One advice that he emphasizes is that the fruit tree
should be grown in fertile, well-drained soil. If there is
waterlogging, the trees will suffer from root rot.
Very heavy soil can be improved by adding animal manure
as well as rice hull to make the soil fertile and porous. |
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