Hello dear friends and everyone in the #homesteading community. It feels great this week and I hope we are all enjoying our weekend.
This morning, after carrying out some cleaning activities at our front yard, I was able to gather some photos of our newly staked coconut tree. There are many varieties or should I say species of the coconut plant and I would say this one we planted is probably the Malaysian dwarf coconut.
This coconut variety was brought home by dad when he traveled to when he attended a certain carnival and tasted the coconut and loved it. So he purchased it and brought it home for planting.
There are many special features this Malaysian dwarf coconut possesses.
Here are the features:
1: SHORT STEM:
Just like the name implies, Malaysian dwarf coconut, it possesses a short stem which helps us to access from the roots to the fronds.
As compared to coconut species like West Coast Tall, Jamaican Tall, Tiptur Tall and VHC1 coconut, which have tall stems, the Malaysian dwarf coconut won't give stress during time of harvest as one can stand and access the fruits.
2: YIELD:
From the picture, one can see how bountiful the yield of this special coconut species is. The fruits are good looking and very satisfying to every farmer that owns it. Many passersby often ask us to sell to them so they could plant in their homes.
The fruits are so many that the weight they are exerting is bending the short stems and that's why we had to stake them with bamboo sticks.
3: FRONDS:
There are certain things I noticed about these coconut plant fronds when I compare it with others around. The fronds are not too long and not too short to be too exposed. Though we often trim the coconut fronds once in a while, I can say the fronds will still look cool without that frequent trimming.
4: LIFECYCLE
Lastly, I would love to talk about the life cycle of this coconut species we have. With these special features it possesses like short stems, the growth of this plant is very rapid compared to others.
Come to talk of the period between one harvest and the growth of another fruit, I would say it's very manageable.
One special practice and/or care that must be taken to ensure a cool harvest of this coconut plant is staking. As the fruits begin to get bigger, the weight on the stem becomes heavier as well. Staking helps hold the fruits together and lessen the weight on the plant stem. This task was beyond our capability and dad had to hire a laborer to hold the fruits together.
The coconut plant is propagated by only one method and that's by burying the whole fruit. I can remember when Dad was planting this coconut and he mentioned certain things to take note of. He really emphasized how the coconut should be placed, it should be placed standing straight. The point where the shoot will grow or is growing should face upwards and the hole must be reasonably deep to avoid being washed up by flood.
Thanks for stopping by friends, enjoy your weekend.