COMMON DISEASES

A. Damping Off-is a fungal disease. The severity of the attack usually increases with increase in soil moisture.
Damping off can occur before germination, after germination and during pricking. The fungi attack the seedlings
at soil level and cause rotting.

Condition favorable for the spread of disease:

 High sowing density
 Over watering
 Using soil with partially decomposed materials
B. Powdery Mildew – first, small white powdery patches are formed on the leaf surface and later the whole
surface of the leaf is covered with white powdery mycelial colonies. Damaged leaves gradually defoliate. This
affects the growth of young seedlings. Control-fallen disease leaves should be buried in soil or burned and the
young seedlings sprayed with Benlate.
C. Wilting – this is a dying bark of the main shoot of a seedling. It is mainly caused by overcrowding. Separating the
seedlings or immediate planting out can help control it.

TYPES OF PLANTING MATERIALS

Methods of Plant Propagation

a. Propagation by seeds – the use of seeds is the most practical and even the cheapest way of propagation.
Rootstocks that are used in grafting are propagated by seeds.
Examples: jackfruit, papaya, guyabano, coconut, cacao
Advantages:
 Most practical and cheapest way
 Stronger anchorage( for fruit trees grown from seed) which makes the tree resistant to strong winds

Disadvantages:
 Fruit trees take a longer time to bear fruits
 The resulting plant does not retain the characteristics of the parent because of gene segregation
 Plants tend to grow into large trees

Seed Quality /Viability

Seeds can be categorized into two types based on the initial moisture content during extraction and the
way viability is influenced by reduction in moisture while at storage.
1. Recalcitrant seeds – here the moisture content is initially high and the loss by drying below the critical level
(20%) will lead to rapid loss of viability. Examples are mango, lanzones, santol, jackfruit
2. Orthodox seeds - these seeds can be dried to prevent respiratory processes and placed in air tight containers to
exclude oxygen. Refrigeration and the use of desiccants in ordinary room storage will ensure viability to be
extended for a year.

Germination Test
One way of assessing the viability of seeds is by performing germination test. Most seeds especially fruits and
plantation crops are enclosed by a hard seed coat or a mucilaginous material that prevents the entry of water into the seed.
Water inhibition or absorption is the first step in seed germination. Mucilaginous materials normally contain germination
inhibitors. To stimulate seed germination, the following steps can be done:
1. Scarification – this procedure can be done chemically (dipping in sulfuric or hydrochloric acids for less than minute),
mechanically (soaking the seeds in plain water until the seed swell), dipping in boiling water for around 5 seconds;
use of nail cutter to remove a small portion of seed to allow water to enter; physical cracking or rubbing the seed in
sandpaper.
2. Removal of the mucilaginous substance by soaking the seeds overnight; rubbing with fine sand paper.

b. Vegetative or Asexual Propagation

The planting materials used here are vegetative propagules obtained from roots, leaves, stems and
asexually propagated seedlings.

The advantages in the use of vegetatively propagated materials are

1. They produce true-to-type plants
2. Suitable for plant species that do not normally produce seeds or may also produce seeds but are difficult to
germinate
3. Trees are smaller compared to those propagated by seeds and they bear fruits much earlier
4. Highly useful for species with distinct maleness and femaleness(rambutan)