Project Jackfruit.

Looking into planting of Jack fruit trees. As there are 2 matured trees at our little farm, propagating should not be a problem. We started by collecting the seeds and germinating it on raised beds. I find that it germinate better with the seeds soaked for a couple of hours and planted in about 3 cm deep. The soil help to moist the seed, preventing it from drying up. Should the seeds dried up, it no longer can germinate.

I transfer it as soon as it germinate (once it reached more than 3 cm). The roots are deep and fragile. We carefully dig it up without damaging the roots. The survival rate is usually good. I guess we have more than 50 seedlings now.

Grafting the the seedling is difficult as there are latex once the stem is cut. Tried grafting on 3 trees, but had not been successful yet. I read that Cleft grafting and modify side veneer is more appropriate for Jack fruits trees. Cleft grafting give a very strong union and can withstand strong wind. Need to work on my grafting technique as I'm not getting it right yet. More on my learning of grafting on another post.

Some of the seedling should be right for grafting. It is suggested to be "pencil" thick, so I guess maybe 1.5 cm. Facing lots of obstacle in grafting due to my in-experience and learning through read ups and you-tube on the internet. Also the fear factor of damaging the root-stock.

The newer seedlings. Hopefully we could germinate many seedling, graft it then transfer to the rubber plantation, Parcel 1, 2, 3 and 6. Planning to plant it at the ridge and road sides. Jack fruit having tapper and deep roots should be able to withstand the strong wind. 

Mother Nature, The Bad Weather Continue with 4X4 Off Road

The Weather must be playing a joke on us. It continued to rain, heavily. The rain had soften up the soil. Experiencing lots of topple over of plants in our Rubber plantation, Parcel 1, 2, 3 and 6. The rain also cause pressure on over access roads within our plantation. Soil erosion, water running off the road, causing heavy erosion. 
After doing our weed management for Parcel 1, 2 & 3, were doing our round on 14th July, this was a very memorial day. Our adventure started early in the morning. Our plan was brought forward (from 16th July as the weather forecast was favorable for 16th) to today as our helpers had ran out of food supplies. Our chore was simple, send in food supplies to our helper in Parcel 1, collect our equipment, spraying pumps and bush cutters, proceed to Parcel 6 and clear some weeds along the terrace.

The Slope taken on a sunny day.

Access to Parcel 1 is pretty straight forward  as road are in the process of being upgraded. The bad section is about the last few kilometers to our plantation. Our helper had locked up the store and went off to work in Parcel 3. Our Hilux got stuck at the middle of the up hill slope. The steep gradient at the lower right of the picture. We couldn't make a u turn and had to reverse all the way down the muddy & slippery slope. Jamming the brake is of no use as the tires are slipping like if you were on butter. Note we are already using knobby off road tires. Slide in to the side drain, on the hill side to control our decent. Finally made it to the bottom.
After collecting our equipment, we travel though the back road to Parcel 6. These roads are connecting road, between Palm Oil estate, ex logging track and some not too bad tracks public tracks. We had to transverse very slowly as it had been a while since I've used this road. Again we slide to the side, hitting the banks of the slope during a couple of descend. This time it's not too bad as there are banks on both sides. We managed to reach Parcel 6 in the early afternoon. Parked the truck by the road side and proceed with our work. By mid day as we were working deeper into our plantation, drove the Hilux down to our shed as the ground had dried up. Continued with our work.
Then came a sudden down pour at about 2.30 pm. We didn't have time to drive our Hilux back to the main track, which is just about 500 meters. We got stuck at the slope with high incline. We made lots of tries under the heavy rain. Then we heard some lorry noise and ran out to the main road, seeking help. They 5 ton lorry carrying palm seed is also stuck and had slip to the bank, blocking half the road. Found out from the driver that another 4X4 5 ton truck is on the way. Unfortunately, it also got stuck next to the 1st truck, making it impassable. They called for help and a heavily modified Hilux was send. Manage to pull out the 4x4 5 ton truck but not the 1st truck. They then decided to form a train, the 4x4 tuck, pulling the Hilux, then pulling the 1st 5 ton truck. Managed to free the 1st truck after many tries. The 2 truck left as they were heavily loaded and wouldn't want to go risk going down the slope again. With the power heavily modified Hilux equipped with huge knobby mud tires & winch, all of us figured that it should be an easy job as our truck was just lightly loaded.

Unfortunately our access road was too narrow, muddy, slippery and angled wrongly, slanting toward the cliff side. The Hilux gave up after 4 tries as it was slipping toward the cliff side and the driver feels it's too dangerous. He too has difficulty getting back to the main track as his truck keep slipping.

Had no choice but to abandon our truck. Trek out about 2 kilometers to the tared road to wait for our partner to take us home. While waiting, we chance upon another Toyota Land Cruiser (HZJ79), deems as the 4X4 work horse. It house a 4,200 cc diesel engine. Again we went in hoping to free our truck. The driver deem it to be too dangerous as it's still raining too muddy, slippery and angled towards the cliff. Suggested to wait till the ground dries up before attempting.

Abandoning out truck for the second time. We went home, totally wet, tired and feeling dejected. Our hope is to wait for the ground to dry up in a day or so. Then try again.

 Next day, which is a Sunday, manage to get a friend to help. A heavily modified Hilux, latest model, with a winch. The rain had stopped at dawn, ground had dried slightly, but still slippery. We waited till mid day. The Hilux manage to dislodge us from the slope with it's winch. Problem came when the Hilux was trying to reverse out. It nearly fell off the cliff side 3 times. Use our truck as an anchor to winch itself back onto the track as there were no large tree in the correct position. Each time, pulling us along as the track is still very slippery.

Agfer aligning the Hilux, we used spades and cangkor, to level slightly the track, hoping that it would not make the vehicle slip off the cliff side. We then chance upon another Toyota Hilux on the main track and requested his help to pull out the heavily modified Hilux. The Hilux made it out on it's own this time after leveling the track. It also used the bank side as a guide.

All of us made it out, back to the tared road. It is my first heavy duty 4X4 off road adventure. It was Man & Machine verses Nature & Weather. What a day! Experience gained in using winch and recovery of stranded vehicle. This is what real adventure is like, not like those planned trips with lots of backup vehicles and equipment.

The section where the 2 trucks were stuck.

The section where we were stuck.

We went back the next day to complete our work. As it was raining the whole night till dawn, we dare not risk driving down the incline even on the main track. This time we parked at the top and trek down the main track to Parcel 6. Had finished off trimming the weeds on Parcel 6. Shall need to drop by again next week to administer herbicide. Hopefully the weather shall improve by then.

The section where our rescuer almost fell off the track to the cliff side on the right.

Papaya Farm

Our test batch of Papaya are bearing fruits. We had used these to test out the market. Feedback is pretty encouraging. We had gathered planting, caring, harvesting, post harvesting, transporting and marketing experience from these. Have 31 trees so far.

Germination of Papaya seeds is less than 14 days. Growing for about 6 weeks, the transplant to field. Flowering shall set at about 2 ~ 3 months. Another 3~4 months till harvesting. Good harvesting can last to more than 3 years.

After much considerations, we are now planing to to do a Papaya farm. Stage 1 we hope to have 200 Papaya trees at our little farm, Parcel 6.  Started a nursery and germinated seeds from local and imported source. Getting good germination from the local source, but only manage to germinate only 4 plants of Solo Mas, from the 10 grams seeds that was purchased.
Our initial trial, we germinated on trays and raised beds, then transfer to poly bags just after they had germinated. Plants are left to grow at the poly bags till they are about 20 ~ 30 cm before being transfer to the field.
Getting poor results during transferring to poly bags. Watering is critical during this stage as too much water promotes stem rot.  
Am trying out germinating straight in the poly bag on the third batch to save labor.Putting 3 seeds (local) per bag and latter either do some transferring or elimination.




Stem rot, the stem at the soil level is attacked by virus and nutrient gets cut off and the plant die off. Had devised a method to help plants at the early stage. Fold down the poly bag to the soil level, keep the plant on a brighter side with more sunlight and more wind. The idea is to let the top soil to dry off.



Test out a few methods with transplanting to the field. As it was the end of the raining season, was worried about plant-lets drying up. Did some shades initially. Then just transfer without shades as the roots are well established and if the roots are not much disturbed, then it should establish well.

Am trying to keep the soil moist for this plant, as it is drying up. The 4 Mas Solo, had transferred it close to the nursery and am hoping to use it for propagation when it fruits.

Am trying to look for other clones like Taiwanese and Eksotica 2 for future planting.

We had planted more than 130 plant-lets so far. We had it next to the road, next the creek and this last area which is the largest. Should be hitting our targeted plants of 200 by next month.

Our next stage is to germinate about 500 plant-lets for Parcel 1~3. More updates in a few months' time.

Project Avocado

 Had decided to start the Avocado Project after doing a research on the market and initial trial.
 The initial trial was planted in September 2010, the small plant between the two markers on the left. Had visited some land with Avocado trees and most of it are healthy. We also have four trees at our little farm which we had been harvesting since we had taken up the farm.

Data collected from the local and city markets are very encouraging. Demand is strong as Avocado is very nutritious favored by both the locals and foreigners. As with all fruits, Avocado is seasonal and good grades of fruits fetch good prices.

We now certain that our local condition does meets the requirement for Avocado.

Our initial plant from seed had grown till this size @ Parcel 1. The tree is healthy and had pruned it a couple of times. The pruning technique that I used was wrong as for Avocado, we need to prune branches and top it so that it shall have more branches. Avocado fruit at the tip.












These are the 4 Avocado trees in our little farm. We collect the rejects and dropped fruits for the seeds. Bigger seeds have a better germinating rate. We germinate the seeds till they sprout and roots before transferring them to poly bags. We care for the plant and water them regularly.

We have slightly more 120 plant lets at the moment. Most of them are growing steadily.







Stage 1 Project Avocado.
  Our target for Stage 1 is 200 numbers of Avocado plant-lets of about 450 mm tall.

2012 Redevelopment Parcel 6 Batu 11

Year 2012 shall be Redevelopment. We are moving back to our start up point and this time we shall do things all over again, basing on the data acquired. Through this inductive action, we shall improve on things there were done initially and add on things that was not done. We shall start with Parcel (Rubber) that has the easiest access.

Parcel 6 Batu 11, planned to do a weeding session soon. Waiting for a dry window for us to do a herbicide spray followed by a fertilizing run. Traditionally January & February we should be having low average rain fall, but the rain are still being carried forward. We had already added lots of Banana trees, some Avocado and Breadfruit trees ending December. This Parcel was started in July 2011 and there is not much idle land here, as those remainder as very steep, towards the creek in the middle and a valley with water run off to the same creek. Redevelopment here shall most probably be very slow, estimating running to 4 to 5 years as we need to "reclaim" back the land feet by feet. It has to be done with manual labor as it's too steep for the bulldozer to move in.
Estimated harvesting of Bananas should begin 3rd quarter of this year, in time for year end. Breadfruit 2 to 3 years, Rubber 3.5 to 4.5 years and Avocado 4 to 6 years down the road. A small quantity of groundnuts shall be ready around March but shall be kept as seeds for future corps. We shall also work on the in-between terrace, hope to plant some mid term crops here. The feedback from our neighbor (planted his rubber trees here 6 years ago) that he has tested lots of short term crops with no success. Hope we have better luck. Outlook for Parcel 6 for year 2012 shall be negative as with the targeted harvest of Banana during the 3rd quarter may not be sufficient to cover for the expenses for the whole year. We therefore need to work out some successful short term crops here. Let's see what we can come out with.

A Day At Parcel 6

We started off early as with previous visit as we are doing some rubber tapping. The yield is higher if tapped in the early morning due to the cooler weather (the latex coagulate slower). We can not take it to the max as these are only for trials. Tapping should be done before daylight (anytime after 1 am) and fixed to a regular time. Our helpers also found that we have to make a thicker cut, as opposed to the fine cut. Reason is that we do not tap these trees on a regular basis. I noticed that the leaves are falling for this area. Shall monitor how long it last. Our neighbor at the rear had stopped tapping due to the leave fall, they had turn the collection cup over to prevent water storage. We had a higher yield than the previous visit.
We had finished planting banana trees for the half lots. Today we planted more than 100 banana trees. Hoping to have a bounty of harvest. With a combined harvest, we hope it shall be feasible to ship it to the city for a higher value.

A check on the ground nuts shows goo results. Estimate maybe more than 90 % germinated. Ground nuts required low Nitrogen fertilizer, otherwise it shall form less nuts. We applied Chicken dung this time as we want the vegetative growth first, also we did side dress with a higher dosage as most probably is the only time we are fertilizing it.

Could only find 4 pumpkins germinated from our second seeding. Wondering what gone wrong wrong.
Check on those first seeding, was surprise that we found more, some had just germinated, having only 2 to 4 leafs. 
Am suspecting that the seed are hibernating and would not germinate due to insufficient moisture / water. This area did not experience much rain lately. Another option, we could try germinating, and transplant, buy with no water at site, the new plants might die off due to drought. Guess we shall wait for another 2 weeks to see if we have more germinates. In the mean time, planning to try other crops like Field Corn and Sweet potatoes, which are more drought resistance. Shall also source for more ground nuts seeds as we had ran out.

This parcel 6 is particularly windy. Most of the rubber plant-lets are blown side ways. Beginning to stake the plants but ran out of strings. Shall have to continue on the next visit. We need to straighten the plants so as to have a straight and clean trunk. This shall provide a bigger tapping area.
Hope to see better results on our next visit.

Parcel 6 executing.

Parcel 6 in the morning. Filled with fog at 7.00 a.m. It starts to clear by 9.30 a.m. I wonder if this is a daily event. It's so cooling with a small breeze blowing through the valley. We managed to saved some fruit and old rubber trees planted previously, about 50 of them. Planning to leave the old rubber trees for training of our tappers later on. In the mean time, one of our helper started to tap.

We had finally manage to terrace and cleared the said land. Now we have an immediate issue of land dispute, we have people now claiming to 'own' part of the land. These people are making big claim and demanding high compensation. We had forwarded this issue to the land department and as it's the Ramadan Month, they can only dispatch surveyor to check out the issue after the Hari Raya holidays. As the land comprise of 2 plots, we shall continue to work on the "safe" lot. We had started to plant banana trees. Bored holes for rubber trees and planting pumpkins. Other crops that we are planning to propagate are Sweet potatoes, Groundnuts, Papayas, Pineapples and Avocados. There is a small creek at the bottom of the valley, but the water run off is very small. After rain, there are pools of trap water. Am planning to build a Yam patch or plant any 'wet' plants.

Making of Parcel 6

Setting up Parcel 6 for execution. Parcel 6 is a hilly land going down a slope, possibly a stream at the bottom and raise up back the opposite hill. The shape is slightly rectangular. This is a failed farm that had been cleared 2 times before. There are also some rubber trees that we think is an encroachment. One side is a new rubber plantation (suspected encroachment). Second side borders a mutual rubber plantation and palm oil plantation. Third side is another mutual rubber plantation. Fourth side is the access road. This picture was taken at the corner of the first and fourth side.

We find this parcel to be easy access as there are already mostly tared road in placed, even thought it's not maintained fully. Only the last few Kilometers (maybe 3) are clay road. Since it's a failed farm, almost all big trees had been cleared, which translate to some savings for us. Our immediate priority now is to locate the marker stones, we found 1, still need to find the other 5 (comprising of 2 lots, total 6 markers). We shall need to verify the encroachment and if true, sort it out with our neighbor. We had planned to locate all the markers and mark again with a pole, painted with bright colors. This shall ease the clearing and terracing of the land. Had already fixed up with the clearing contractor who has some bulldozer nearby, ETA 1st week August. We plan to built a worker's quarter and a store on the fourth side (access road side). Confirmation of seedlings need to be done on August. We intend to go for high yielding clones. Once clearing has started, we intend to start planting. We plan to finish off latest end of December. Lets hope that all goes well.