Grapes, grapes and grapes.

Feeling ecstatic starting on my journey into grapes. Was talking to a few friends and yes, team up to start a grape farm, here in Selangor, Malaysia.










Currently starting off with some cuttings and a couple of rooted plants. Plan to start off a small area, about 24 plants as mother tree. These shall contribute scions for future grafting. Currently already have Isabella, IAC, Jupiter and Dixon in hand. Would like to increase the varieties and see which perform best in lowland. I can still recalled that I killed 2 grapes plants before so am treating this with more caution.

My strategy is to establish a small size plot of mother tree. Create more planting material via cuttings for future planting. Area had been identified and work shall start pretty soon.



Grapes should be a good crop to compliment the Figs that we are currently having. In terms of marketing, it's just an add on. Production and care is pretty similar too, so our helpers should not find this too difficult.

Health benefits from Grapes are pretty high. And being a healthy fruit, it goes in line with our "Farm to Folk to Wellness" Eco-tourism concept.

This is also a good opportunity to showcase some of the products that I am an Ambassador of, such as MARDI BioRichar, BlackGold, AgroSol, BioJadi and etc. I only realized that on our packing of MARDI BioRichar there are grapes pictures on it.

 Some planning of establishing the planting.

 Sending some of the mother trees for dripping via fertigation.












The cuttings are very matured and can start flowering soon. Hope to get some grapes next year .
















As usual, grapes are not spared from pest. Would like to minimize the use of pesticide, almost chemical free so that my wife can enjoy the grapes, just like she is enjoying our minimal chemically grown figs. (my wife is a Interstitial Cystitis patient).

Happy Grape planting,. 

Farming In The City

We are on TV!
https://youtu.be/sjZ7ZhGoBCY

Starting Fig Cultivation In Malaysia.

Cultivating Fig in Malaysia is an expensive game. Ever since I wanted to start on Fig 2 months ago, I had been trying to get some cuttings to start off. Getting cuttings from Malaysia is rather pricey (personal opinion). Also I feel that most are moving from cuttings to air layering. As with roots and leafs, it is even more pricey. Some are moving to potted plants, the bigger the plant, higher the price.

Black Mission.

LSU Gold.

Was thinking of keeping the cost down as I wasted to start off with some cuttings to expedite the incubation time. So I look into bringing in cuttings on my own. Brought in a couple of batches, some were good, most are not. Things to consider while bringing in on your own.

Black Jack.

Seller,
A reputable seller should knows how to handle the cuttings, packaging and shipping. Depending on where it's from, shipping takes a long time. An experienced international seller would had all these issues sorted out. Unfortunately it's difficult to find.

Time of buying,
Depending on where it's shipped from, freshly cut budding cuttings are important. Some sellers cut and store the cuttings. Early part of the year is a better time to buy as the trees had just came out of dormancy. Some better seller does tell you, no not this time.

Shipping,
Look into shipping cost. There are EMS, International Mail and etc. Courier is the fastest, but cost is highest. You'll need to work out between cost & speed. Being in East Malaysia is even worst as all shipping has to go to central for custom inspection, then ship again to East Malaysia.

Portugal.

Another major factor is that being a newbie, I just don't have the experience of taking care of Fig, let alone sick Fig. Some batch arrived DOA (dead on arrival), and you don't even have any chance of nursing it.
Other risk as customs confiscation, lost in transit....& etc.

My opinion is that for a newbie and if you don't want to over spend your budget, just try to get 1 locally, a potted growing plant. Even with a high cost (since it's just 1). Play & learn with it. Get the cheapest that you can find.

For me, I choose bringing in on my own, it is fun, adventurous and a very good challenge. A great experience. Yes, you does end up using more funds but then the joy & grief  outweighs it. Moreover you get to go on a fantastic journey. As with all hobbies, be caution, it is ADDICTIVE. Just do it at your own pace and limitation.

More FIG.

Had found more sources for FIG from overseas, but have to stop for a while, get these planted first.

LSU Gold Fig.

 LSU Gold is a huge bright golden fig with amber flesh that is tender and very sweet. It is a vigorous grower. LSU Gold produces large flattened green figs that ripen to greenish yellow, yellow, or yellow blushed with red. The flesh is pink to amber and is very sweet with excellent flavor.

Made an order for LSU Gold Fig. Unfortunately it was held up while in transits and arrived 1 month later.

Great packaging.

Zip lock bag, individually wrapped.

Packaging were great. Paper shred, zip lock bag, each cutting individually cling wrapped.

Unfortunately, most are dried and the heat had caused them to fermented. Soak them over night in clean water.

Dead cutting, dried & woody.

I still see some green in the skin.

Rotted tip, dried cutting.

Next day, I cut off the rotten part. Clean off some of the sealing wax. Planted them on the raise bed next to the avocado cuttings. As I shall be away for the next 10 days. Don't have any expectation for this batch as 6 of them are real dried. The other 4 may have a tiny chance.

Black Mission Fig.

Let's start some serious Fig work. My Turkish Figs are growing, but unfortunately most Turkish Figs needs caprification. Also I don't now what variety am I having. The special wasp is not available in Malaysia. Hence the flower may not get pollinated and drop, not setting into fruit.

Ordered some Black Mission. It arrived rather quick. Why Black Mission? I had never tasted any fig before, so no  special preference, just a trial run and it was available. Also I had checked with some friend at Ficus Carica for everyone 
 Black Mission is self fruiting, can be grown in our local weather & is easy to manage.

Black Mission
Among the most esteemed and available fig varieties in the world, the Black Mission is believed to have originated from a seedling tree somewhere in the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. The variety, once known as the Franciscana, became the chief fig of the Catholic missions — and as the variety was adopted by the growing fig industry of California, the name Black Mission was born. This fig is smallish, with dense pink flesh heavily studded with seeds that give a pleasant crunch to the silky flesh. The texture of a perfectly ripe one is sticky and jammy — and those left extra long on the tree, where the sun dries them out like prunes, are extra sweet and gummy.

 Some were rooted & budding when I received. Let them acclimatise to our local weather. Spread them out on a container, with lots of wet toilet papers.

 Took out the rooted cutting for potting. Got 6 of the rooted cuttings.

 Potted them and left them at the nursery.

The rest I keep them at a dark corner in my room.

Temperature here recently is getting hot & dry. I think a temperature of 28 ~ 30 degrees C and a humidity level of 70 ~ 90% should be good. Was experiencing a high temperature of up to 34.5 degrees C and a low humidity of 40%. As my room was facing west, the afternoon hot sun created an oven effect.

Increased the humidity by putting the container into a plastic bag and keeping the bag up. Over the next couple of days, there were no much progress. Decided to try rooting hormone. ( more on this on the next post).

As I'm going on leave, I potted all of them as there is no one to look after.

Let's keep track of their progress when I return in May.

Avocado Cuttings Trial 2.

Did a second trial for the Avocado cuttings.

This batch was bigger and more. I didn't pay to much attention on cutting selection as it's of no cost to me, but I do discard those that I feel that do not stand a chance, like section where there are no buds or new growth especially tip.

Started to use the rooting hormone liquid from Thailand, unfortunately has used up and have to use back the local available powder type. Should had bought more in Thailand.

I started off just sealing the top. I then apply more liberally on the tree dressing to seal up more of the cutting especially the side.

The other thing that I did was to increase the density.

 While I'm at it, I tried some mango cuttings too. Shall check back on these middle of May. I was figuring if this works, then I may have an alternative to propagate more planting materials.

Propagating Avocado Cuttings.

Saw in the internet that a couple of guys did propagating Avocado via cuttings. All mentioned that the successful rate is very low. After much consideration, I think it could work. As whatever I get is a bonus as I have scions, but no more graft-able rootstock.

Was very excited over this. I initially planned to put this on trial in April after my vacation. I just couldn't contain my excitement and put it on trial.

Left over scions.

I used the left over scions, after grafting a10 avocados. The cuttings are about 6 inches in length. Sealed up the top with wax, made  2 cuts at the bottom. Apply rooting hormone. Stick them on a loosen patch and watered them.

Since I was at it, I collected more cuttings from our plantation. I prune the 2nd flowering tree as it is too dense. I manage to seed just a few fruits about to set. I avoided those branches..

I also tried out Tree Wound dressing. This is a tar based dressing. Good for working on large or plenty wounds / cuts. I feel wax still has it's use, like sealing the graft tapes ( as I'm reusing them). Limitation of wax is strong wind, it dries fast, heat too high for young scions & etc.

Nufarm Tree Dressing.

Instruction for use.

After pruning.

Collected about a gunny sack. Cut them up, slightly longer this time, 6 ~ 8 inches. Seal top with Nufarm tree dressing. Tried from no cut to various cut on the bottom. Apply rooting hormone and stick them into the patch. The patch is under a 70 % shade netting. Water regularly to eep moist.

Done. Avocado cuttings.

On leave for a month. Shall see how they can withstand when I'm back.