Progress Of Avocado & Jackfruit February 2014.

February, being the shortest month, leave much to be done. I had only about 16 days in our farm for this month. The weather is also bringing heavy rain with super hot afternoon and very cold nights, which disrupted our schedule.

Bagged all the previously germinated seeds from December / January.

Prepared Avocado seedling and transfer all of them into poly bags. Managed to collect more quality seeds. Preparing to germinate them to create more rootstock.

Managed to collect these seeds when I was about to give up. The scions are for grafting the 10 plants.

 Organize the grafted Avocados. Shutting down my ICU as shall be away for a month. Shifting back all my patients to the nursery for logistic reason. Shall have to make more drainage holes on the bags.

"Amulance" awaiting.

These grafts had 'taken' but the scions are dying from the top.

Snipped off the died parts and re-seal with wax.

Didn't do a good job, a small edge was not sealed properly, causing the scion to dry further. It's a goner.

Thank you, at least I got 1.

Was thinking there may be other methods of cloning. Considering air layering and cuttings. As the fruiting trees is large, I feel that it's rather difficult to do air layering. Also my previous experience wasn't good. Fear of heights and falling (ladder on soft ground) is also another factor. Only found a handful of article on propagation Avocado through cuttings. Successful rate are pretty low, but I think may be worthwhile to try. As at the moment after grafting 10 plants, I don't have anymore graft-able rootstock. Shall try to slot in after all my schedule, if not then on April.

Harvested a Jackfruit from our mother tree of J31, estimated to be about 10 ~ 12 kg. Feed back is that the fruit doesn't taste good. Fibrous, not crunchy and not sweet enough. Even though am using it to practice, am deciding to stop cloning it. Have about 50 trees of J31 and J29.

The 4 J33 Tekam Yellow is still too young to contribute scion. So far only managed to clone 2. I feel the scion is too young and do not process the reserve to 'take'. Shall let them grow for the time being and access them again in April. The surviving CJ3 and  J35 Mastura (made a mistake of labeling this as J37) is struggling but after patience care I think they shall survive.

CJ3 and Mastura, shall be transferring back to the nursery.

Manage to graft some Jackfruit using scions from a neighbor's tree.

Grafted Artocarpus.

On the Mango, there was this plant that refuse to bud even though it had 'took'. Gave it a bend to force it to bud. Yes, it bud 3 days later.

Force a bend, to force a bud.

Bud begin to grow 3 days later. New leafs has appeared by now.

Another 7 days latter.

Mango, scions were taken from our plantation, We have 2 fruiting trees, 1 Apple Mango and a Philippine Mango, Manila Super Sweet.

Manila Super Sweet, size of this unripe fruit is about 7 ~ 8 inches. 

Sent in 50 Soursop, 13 Mango, 9 Avocado and 12 non grafted Jackfruit from CML and 18 grafted Jackfruit for field planting.

On Transit, awaiting field planting.

Managed to organize the nursery before I go. My prized procession, Jackfruit.

Artocarpus Cultivar CJ3, Mastura & Tekam Yellow.

I had left the best spot in the nursery for the Pomegranate, and S. Avocados. This spot has 70% shaded morning sun and 90% shaded afternoon sun.

Pomegranate, #Avocado Anna, Betty & Cat.

 Prepared some seedling of Soursop.

Soursop Seedlings.

Rootstock for Mango & Jackfruit.

 More seeds to germinate #Avocado.

Avocado rootstock, waiting for it to grow to graft-able size.

It's a pretty exhaustive trip, as after the long Chinese New Year holodays, I came back and started on a relax pace. As my leaving date draw nearer, I need to do more to complete my nursery. Did all I could for this trip and thank you for the progress made. Leaving for home in the morning, then off to vacation in Turkey with my lovely wife.

Project Jackfruit 2014, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Nangka, 婆罗密.

Planning to launch my project Jackfruit into a higher gear. Had delivered 30  grafted Jackfruits on December for field planting and about 10 had been planted. Have about 15 more, almost ready for delivery. All this while the grafted were from clone J29 & J31.

Mother Jackfruit Tree J29.

Jackfruit J29
Fruit Size Medium to large (11-15 kg).
Fruit Characteristics Round, yellowish green skin, coarse spines, well-spaced, big seed.
Flesh Characteristics Medium-thick yellow orange flesh, fine texture, sweet, with strong aroma. Flesh recovery 33.3%
Notes  Fresh consumption cultivar registered with DOA in 1973. Originated in Sungai (River) Chua, Selangor.

Mother Jackfruit Tree J31.

Jackfruit J31
 Fruit Size Medium (8-12 kg).
Fruit Characteristics Elongated to roundish, 45-55 cm long. Green skin, moderate thickness, a lot of latex, spines closely spaced, big pulp units.
Flesh Characteristics Medium thick flesh, yellow, crispy, sweet, strong aroma with fine texture. Flesh recovery 31-35%. 
Notes Previously known as NS1. Dual purpose cultivar suitable fresh as well as canning.

These are the older clones, and I have access to scions from my previous little farm. Also it gave me the opportunity to learn Jackfruit grafting. Thank you to them.

As I shall be moving into the newer clone, the Honey Jackfruit Range. Starting off with Tekam Yellow J33. Had planted 4 back in August 2013. 1 wasn't doing well and was relocated back in October 2013. 3 of them are producing scions which am already using. The 1 that was relocated is still recovering with minimal growth and I can't harvest any scion from it yet. After many tries, I manage to clone it. Clone Number 1 was planted in the field on 13th Jan. It replace the Avocado that had died, with a location by the roadside, I figure it should give me easy access to harvest more scion from her. This location we have planted Avocado twice and was never successful, so hopefully it's more suitable for Clone Number 1. Should have a couple more which shall be 'taking' soon. Was doing a projection that should I produce about 15 more clones of J33 then I should have endless supplies of scions later part of the year. This shall be my top priority.

The relocated Tekam Yellow, still recovering.

Honey Jackfruit Tekam Yellow, already contributing scions.

Another contributor, Honey Jackfruit Tekam Yellow.

Jackfruit J33, contributing scions.

Jackfruit J33 Tekam Yellow, Honey Jackfruit
 Fruit Size Large (12- 25kg).
Fruit Characteristics Elongated, yellowish green skin, dented shoulder.
Flesh Characteristics Medium thick flesh, yellow, crispy, very sweet.
Flesh recovery 31-35%. 
Notes Long shelve life, suitable for export. Very popular for fresh consumption.

Other clones of Mastura, CJ3 and SongSang Red. Due to the drastic change in weather, am only left with 1 X Mastura, 1 X CJ3, and another very weak Mastura, in ICU, most probably shall not make it. As these are still in a very infancy stage, still in poly bag, I don't expect them to be able to produce scion in the near future. It shall be another 9 months to go. May work on acquiring more of these on my trips home.

Clone Number 1 Tekam Yellow.

Too small and need time to grow.

 More heavy rain forecast till 25th Jan. Decided to move the 2 Jackfruit plants to the ICU.

Jackfruit at ICU.

During the transfer, quite some water had drained off. When parked at ICU, water drained within minutes. I already cleared some soil from the colar and replace with rice husk to create a faster drying day before.

I am Number 2, the second J33 Tekam Yellow clone.

I am Number 3, the second Honey Tekam Yellow clone.

Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties (Transporting Jackfruit Sapling) Part 2.

Previously from Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties.

The transported Jackfruit saplings, from Temerloh, Pahang to Keningau, Sabah, day 1. They look ok.

Jacfruits sapling, Day 1 after transporting.

 Day 2, things don't look well. The leafs and stems start to dry up.

Jackfruit Day 2, drying up.

Jackfruit sapling drying up.

Jackfruit sapling drying up.

Bag up Jackfruit saplings.

I immediately bag up all the Jackfruit saplings.
Day 9, some Jackfruit show signs of budding. I removed the bags of those.

Some bags removed.

 Day 12, I figure that after 12 days, things are stabilized now. I then decided to remove all the bags.

All bags removed.

Day 17, Those that are not well are turning worst. Decided to re-bag again.

Re-bag the Jackfruit saplings.

Did a stock count.
SongSang Red Transported 5, 1 budding.
CJ 3 Transported 10, 3 budding.
Mastura J 37  Transported 10, 4 budding.
Leaving them as they are as I'm on leave from 20th Nov. Shall be back on December to check on them. Hopefully more can recover.

Summarizing for a better transport
Sapling has to be very healthy, with lots of established roots.
Soil removal has to be done with care, without damaging the roots.
Maintain high humidity at all times, in a cool dark environment.
'Pot' it as soon as possible. Water thoroughly and regularly. Keep under shade.
Remove all new leafs, leaving maybe 2 ~ 3 matured green leafs. Bag up the plant, to keep humidity high for a week then slowly reduce humidity.
Then 'harden' it.
Ready for field planting.
Good luck.
Happy transporting.

Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties (Transporting Jackfruit Sapling).

Jackfruit, I love Jackfruit. Had been going banana over Jackfruit lately. Since I was having difficulties in getting various varieties of Jackfruit clone in Keningau, Sabah, I decide to acquire it from Peninsular. On this trip home, I tried to source for these. Pricing is definitely much cheaper over here.

Had planed to acquire Mastura J 37, CJ-3, CJ-6 and the New Red Jackfruit. I started on area closer to Kuala Lumpur, but unfortunately was not successful. Was on the verge of giving up, but thank goodness I manage to locate most of these ex-stock at Termeloh, Pahang.

Called up the owner for a final confirmation as it's quite a distance from Kuala Lumpur, about 140 KM. Started off 8 in the morning.

Along the way, I found some Jackfruit trees at the R&R Hentian Lanchang. As I came out of the Gents, I noticed quite a numbers of trees at the rear.

 I think these could be the Mastura.

Reached Tapak Samaian Suzi at about 10.30 am. Locating it was easy, exit the Pantai Timur highway at Termeloh, turn left at the T junction toward Termeloh after the toll plaza. It's about 300 M on the right. There is a small white signboard. As the owner had gone out station, Suzi's mum was at site to meet me. Makcik is a very nice lady, I took some plants and managed a short chat with Makcik. Was granted permission to take a couple of photos. They have a mid size nursery at the road side and they concentrate more on Jackfruit. I manage to acquire Mastura, CJ-3 and the Red Jackfruit.

I managed to load about 25 plants onto the MyVi. As this is a trial these shall do.

Reached home in the late afternoon and transferred these to the balcony.

Wavy leafs, Mastura.

Preparation before traveling
I started to pack up the night before my flight. Flight is next morning 7.50 am. hence I need to start off from my home about 4.30 am. I started packing early 7.00 pm the night before as this was my 1st time.Thank goodness for that as there was no working space in my small home. It's a small apartment located on the 1st floor. I did prepare by watering these plants regularly a couple of days before, but it's still difficult to separate out the soil. I tried on 2 Mastura and found that I broke many of their roots.

I then tried dunk the whole bag into a pail and try to bath the soil out. This is much better, but still not a perfect method, but giving the circumstances and time, it's the best that I can do. Getting rid of the soil is very messy as I need to walk thru' the living hall, dinning hall and kitchen, then out of our home and down the stairs. Being wet and muddy, it left a trail of messy dirt & footprint. Thank you to Alice my wife who help to clean up after me. Have to dispose the soil for every plant. Alice even brew tea for me. How lucky of me with a supportive wife. Couldn't get more photos as my hands were too muddy.

Packing Jackfruit sapling for transport.

I only manage to finish up at 11.00 pm. That is 4 hours of packing. I'm sure that doing it in a farm with proper equipment shall be much faster. I line the plastic bag with old news print, spray it moist. I need to seperate the different varieties in different bags, Mastura, CJ-3 and Red Jackfruit.

Packed and floor cleaned.

I bag all these 3 bags into a larger yellow bag. Cover the top with another bag. I tried to stuff this into my backpack, but it's slightly too long. Had no choice but to bend it slightly.

Traveling with my Jackfruit.
Zip up my bag, off to catch my flight with AirAsia As am hand carrying, was afraid that I may have issues with the custom department. Well it went smoothly. Was only queried on the content and is there any soil.
I tried to take care of the sapling through out my journey. On the bus and in the airplane. Today being traveling day, the sapling have to withstand approximately 40 hours before I can replant them. I pray that they can survive the long journey. I immediately open the top bag for inspection upon arrival to my place.

Arrived safe, Jackfruit sapling.

 I found that one of sapling was damaged. The old news print is still moist and some leak out to my backpack. Shall add in some water to keep them moist as it's already evening.

Damaged Jackfruit sapling.

Took them to the farm 1st thing in the morning. Immediately started to " pot" them.

Welcoming our new members upon arrival at our farm.

 I started with the Red Jackfruit, we only had 5 saplings.

Done, I marked them SR Songsang Red.

Next comes the Mastura. We have 11 of them.

Done, I marked them M37.

Next and lastly the CJ-3. We have 10 of these.

Done, I marked them CJ3.

Since I still have time, I germinated the Honey Jackfruit seeds from CML trading which I bought from AEON Jusco. These tasted very sweet, strong jackfruit aroma with strong after taste, crunchy and golden yellow color. I reused the disposable packing for the seeds, which have been clean of the sack and soak in water. I left some water there to keep them moist for the journey as Jackfruit seeds drys superfast. Let's see if I can identify this variety when they grow up.

Arrived still moist.

Have 22 seeds. I marked these S cml.

Finally got it all done. "potting" them was much easier as I'm in the farm and I have tools at my disposal. I shall keep all of them in the shaded nursery, let them recover, grows then only transfer.

Say cheese for the Jackfruit album.

Let's have a group photo for our album. With these we now have 6 varieties of Jackfruit in our farm. J 29, J 32 Mantin, J 33 Tekam Yellow, J 37 Mastura, CJ-3 and Songsang Red. Let's wish every one of them a speedy recovery so that they can be planted in the field and do their variety proud by manifesting their variety. This complete our story on our Jackfruit Journey, from Temerloh, Pahang to Keningau, Sabah. Stay tune for their outcome on their migration.

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it”
― Gautama Buddha