METHODS OF APPLYING FERTILIZER

Deep Soil Application

Organic manures are sometimes placed on the surface of soil and incorporated into the soil with a plough or rototiller before planting. Fertilizer can also be applied in bands at the bottom of plough furrows or broadcast or spread on top of ploughed soil that is then worked into the soil with a harrow before planting.

Broadcasting

You can use a walk-behind drop spreader or hand-held spreader with a crank to scatter granular or bulk fertilizer on the ground. This method, called broadcasting, is good for flowerbeds, lawns, trees and vegetable gardens. Fertilizer may be broadcast on of the ground before planting and then tilled or watered into the soil. If it is broadcast on growing plants and watered into the soil, it is called topdressing.

Banding

To fertilize a row of flowers or vegetables or to get plants started, place the fertilizer 2 inches to the side and 2 inches deeper than the seed furrow. This is called banding. When you irrigate with furrows, place the band of fertilizer between the irrigation furrow and the seed furrow. Place bands of fertilizer on each side of the furrow. When you irrigate with a drip hose, place the fertilizer under the emitter. You can also place the fertilizer on one side of a seedling or on one side of a plant mid-way through its growing period. This is called side dressing.

Liquid Application

Water-soluble fertilizer can be applied with spray cans or applied with sprinklers or furrow irrigation. Small amounts of liquid fertilizer applied to young vegetable plants at the time of transplanting is called a starter solution. Some plants require micronutrients such as zinc and iron that they cannot get through the soil, but their leaves can absorb them. Water-soluble fertilizer is usually sprayed on leaves when they first show signs of nutrient deficiency and in periods of drought when the soil is to dry to absorb the nutrients. There are drawbacks. If you use a solution that is too strong you might burn or scorch the leaves. You can only apply a small amount of nutrients in a single spray. This method is costly unless you combine the fertilizer with pesticides to control insects or disease.

Greetings!!! from kenfarm to our esteem customers and followers....find below a link directing you to an updated post on How to set up plantain plantation, Management, pre planting operation, post planting operations, etc.

this link is intended to enlighten those just starting their plantain plantation.
Info here in is not for sale or pirating.

https://www.nairaland.com/3763350/step-by-step-procedures-establishing-newly-acquired

Check below a research discussion carried out by a research Institute in collaboration with kenfarm

The outcome is of great interest to our esteem client especially at this raining season when the Number of suckers per stand multiply increasingly

This research outcome has clearly shown that the number of suckers allowed to grow alongside the main plantain plants significantly affected the growth and overall yield of plantain in the study area. The more the number of suckers per plant, the lower the yield obtained. While taller plants were obtained in the multiple suckers than the zero or one sucker plants, bigger stems and higher number of leaves were obtained from the zero or one
The results obtained from bunch weight, finger weight and number of fingers per bunch and other yield factors consistently showed that multiple sucker plants performed lower than either the zero or one sucker plants. These results agree with those earlier reported that average bunch weight increased with decreased planting densities ( Robinson and Singh 1974, Kesayan et al. 2002, Nalina et al. 2003 and Abdallah et al. 2010). It had also been pointed out that manipulation of plant spacing gave direct influences on plantain finger size and low yeild
(kenfarm et al., 20169)

Hence, we advise our esteem followers and client to desucker their plantain plantation farm leaving only 1 or 2 suckers per stand. It an avenue for you to make more cash by selling of the excess suckers or transplanting them.

If you need suckers that multiply at a very fast rate per stand?
Contact kenfarm today
via the number on my signature or through email: kenfarm2020@gmail. com

may interest you to know that the following also destroy soil fertility:

1. Erosion: Erosion wash away the top soil which is rich in organic content there by exposing the top soil to high rate of era transpiration. It also wash away nutrients in the soil making the soil loose and lack essential nutrients. If the soil has not been put to use for 50yrs, have you been preventing erosion on the soil for 50yrs?

2. Poor organic content in the soil

3. High percentage of sand and low percentage of clay in the soil
4. Climatic condition of the farm location

5. Reduced Microbial activities on the soil as a result of intense bush burning during land preparation or due to unfavorable environmental condition.
6. Etc
Contact kenfarm for a detailed soil analysis 09091405861 or kenfarm2020@gmail.com

Study outcome of interest to your plantain plantation

Studies by Obiefuna and Swennen and Wilson showed that mulching gave higher and more sustained yield in field-grown plantain than did unmulched controls. According to Bhattachrayya and Madhava Rao soil covers are beneficial to the plantation crops such as plantain because of their capacity to conserve moisture and make the moisture available over a longer period. IITA (10) reported a yield increase of about 400% of a mulched plantain plot over that of unmulched fertilized plot (22.8 t/ ha vs 4.8 t/ha) at the end of the fourth year.

We at kenfarm is committed to bringing to your notice info capable of enhancing your yield for a bountiful harvest.

cheers!!

kenfarm esteem customers, we wish to inform us that we are still in the Biz of supplying viable hybrid suckers and establishing/Management of your farm. Hurry to make your order now!!!

kenfarm was in one of our esteem customers 150 hectare farm at Imeko for soil sampling. No mater how large your farm is, we can handle the Soil sampling cum soil analysis and soil management.
Kenfarm2020@gmail.com
08038623884

Our viable sucker has stand the test of over 7years and still fruiting. The planting season is facing out......make hast while the sun shine....place oder for our hybrid sucker today by calling or Charing the number on our signature


pix below is our 2days ago supply to Iwo, Osun state

To restore fertility, the organic matter in the soil should be raised as high as possible during the fallow period by planting an improved fallow (for example, a leguminous cover crop. You can also leave the uprooted weed on the farm land. The weed decompose leading to microbial activities which improve the soil Organic content.

We are still in the Business of selling improved variety hybrid suckers @afordable price.......contact us

Pruning is a method of detaching the withered/old leave from the sucker stem with s sterile cutlass .....this is done to allow the old leave give way to new leaves to further increase photosynthesis.

The pruned leaves can be left on the farm soil to protect the soil from direct sunlight to reduce evaporation of water from the soil. This act is called mulching. Mulching is a practise that makes the soil moist at all time.

Mulching also reduce the rate at which weed grow on the farm land. This is why mulching is considered a method of controlling weed.

Consult kenfarm today for viable Nematode free plantain sucker that could stand the test of time by multiplying and producing fruit for over 10 year with care of the soil.

contact our 2/4/7 customer care line on 08038623884
visit our upgraded web on ... www.kenfarm.com.ng

Greetings from kenfarm to our esteem followers and customers...we are pleased to inform you all that we are writing a book detailing all you need to know about cassava value chain as a cassava farmer. We are consulting research institute, Agroresearch firm, Plant nutritionist, Agronomist and experience farmer with years of experience in cassava farming.

It is going to be available in a couple of weeks and we are sure it will help all new cassava farmers.

For those of us who had bought and will buy your stem from kenfarm, the price will be reduced by 30%. Information is the key to success. a plant cultivation has gone pass the era of just burying seed and going to sleep hoping to return at harvest day.

WATCH OUT FOR KENFARM CASSAVA E-BOOK!!!!!!

Kenfarm has more than enough plantain suckers to plant on your farm land regardless of the farm size........ We advise our esteem potential customers to make haste as the planting season is unfolding with the rain gradually subsiding.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST NEMATODE IN PLANTAIN PLANTATION

A couple of client/farmers has contacted me in the resent past to enquire on how best to make your plantain plantation Nematode free. Nematode is one of the pest that obstruct the growth pattern of your sucker. It a wormlike micro organism that bore into the root of your plantain destroying the root and preventing nutrient uptake. A sucker that is affected by this worm usually dies off gradually. The worm is capable of spreading fast so that under a short period of time the whole plantation is destroyed.

Now that we know how devastating the effect of Nematodes can be on our plantation, it is pertinent we bring to your notice those simple common Agric practice that eradicate or prevent the activities of these pest on our plantation.

To avoid Nematode, do the following:
1. Plant a Nematode free Sucker like that sold by kenfarm
2. When planting your sucker, make a very deep hole of 30-40cm before burying the sucker. When the sucker root is deeply rooted into the soil, it prevent activities of Nematode around the root environs.
3. Apply treated and pest free organic fertilizer like poultry dunk or cow dunk to your farm. This practice will increase the level of organic matter in the soil. When the level of organic matter is increased, it at the long run increase the rate of water retention by the soil. Research done by kenfarm has shown that a soil which has a high water retaining capacity prevent the activities of Nematode. This is so because the presence of water in the soil prevent Nematode activities.
4. Plant your Nematode free sucker on a well drained soil
5. Apply pesticide 3x in 9months with an interval of 3months
Nevertheless, as simple as the above preventive measure is, it can be difficult to observe especially when a farm is of the 10century farmer who compromise standard believing the crops will survive with or without care after all the weed are surviving.

Information is power. If you do not pay attention to details like this and as such you experience the outbreak of Nematode in your farm, blame it on yourself. Kenfarm suckers has stand the test of over 6years of producing fruit and sucker and still counting. But if the above practice is not taken into consideration when cultivating your plantain plantation, I can assure you that with outbreak of Nematode, after the first fruit harvest, the suckers will die off gradually.

It may interest you to know that Out of more than 100 species of Nematodes, the following ones are found to be more destructive and widely distributed affecting Banana:
Burrowing nematode
Root-lesion nematode
Root knot nematode
Spiral nematode
Cyst nematode
Reniform nematode

SYMPTOMS OF NEMATODE
If your sucker is affected with Nematode, you will observe the following on your plantation:
 Red/Black lesions on the roots and decaying of roots.
 Infected plants have much lower number of secondary and tertiary roots.
 Stunted growth of plants (Plants exhibit poor health).
 Yellowing of leaves. Foliar symptoms of nematode damage are mostly similar to the conditions attributed to water logging, weed competition, nutrient deficiency Etc.
 Affected plant may bear small bunch or choked bunch.
 The infested plants also topple over and uproot easily during wet and windy weather because of inadequate anchorage.
 Premature leaf drop and an increased tendency to wilt or dieback during dry periods.
 Root knots (galls), lesions on roots, stubby roots or splitting of roots.Cheers!!

picture of a Nematode infested Sucker and a picture of a matured Nematode

A mature Nematode

Kenfarm 12weeks old experimental farm. Let do same for u

Please how often does a plantain tree fruit? Like after it matures

6 REASONS WHY SOME FARMERS FAIL

People don’t just fail. People fail because they fail do certain things that they ought to do. The farming industry is replete of many farmers who have given up. Let’s quickly explore the six vital reasons why they failed.

1. They are absent. Absentee farmers will always fail. To succeed in farming, you must be around your farm most of the time one way or the other.

2. They do it alone. Those who do the farming business just by themselves without meaningful and proper interactions with farmers that matters will pack up sooner or later. No one can succeed alone. A smart farmer knows that there are webs of interactions with farmers, vets, nutritionists and other notable professionals that will make farming successful.

3. They like cheap inputs instead of going for quality. A cheap mentality at the expense of productivity will always lead to frustrations. When a farmer is fanatical about cheap inputs, he is digging his business grave.

4. They bite more than they can chew. Some farmers, in a bid to make it big fast will take on more than they can handle financially and technically. And of course they will crash!

5. They don’t keep proper records. Structures and order usually bring increase. What you don’t measure may not grow and may even die.

6. They focus more on work than science. One Israeli prime minister once said that agriculture is 95 percent science and 5 percent work. When a farmer focuses more on activities than the laid down scientific obligations, he is bound to fail.

Number 3 is more common and applicable to those who compromise standard. When you go for cheap sucker thinking you are playing smart, often time at harvest you will realise you have made a huge mistake.

Happy Mubarak to my Muslim customers....we at kenfarm wish you many returns

feran15:
Please how often does a plantain tree fruit? Like after it matures

I must say very often. How often is dependent on so many factor like
1. how fertile your soil is
2. how moist your soil is
3. how well you control weed
4. what fertilizer you apply, what method of application and what Qty you apply
5. the population of the plantation
6. how many children sucker standing around the parent sucker
7. how viable was the sucker you planted initially
I can go on and on

so consult kenfarm for a viable hybrid sucker capable of fruiting bountifully for over 10 years

Many thanks to those sharing this vital info....together we can make more food available in the market.

Also, pls if you find kenfarm thread edducting and though provoking do share the link. you may be helping a Brother from Another Mother!

visit our blog on www.kenfarm.com.ng

Kenfarm just accomplish the establishment of one of her esteem customer farm in Ogun State with the planting of our viable plantain suckers. We can do same for you. Contact us today.!!!

I have planted plantain twice but non did well,and am still interested in having a plantain plantation but am still yet to be convinced on hw to get a good sucker that will do well and bear big and good fruit.

nzedon2:
I have planted plantain twice but non did well,and am still interested in having a plantain plantation but am still yet to be convinced on hw to get a good sucker that will do well and bear big and good fruit.

Am sorry about the poor yield. But I must say how well your sucker grow, depends on the following factors:

1. the nutrient composition of your soil. Plantain produce high yield in a soil rich in Potacium...did you do a soil analysis to ascertain the level of NPK in your soil?
2. How well your farm soil retain moisture enough to sustain the sucker through the dry season
3. The variety of sucker u have been planting. Our suckers is Musa spp and has stand the test of time
4. How well you fertilize the soil
5. The population of sucker on the farm land
6. The textural class of your soil
7. The soil PH of your soil....if you are planting plantain on an acidic soil, your plantain will never survive. Plantain strive better in alkaline soil.

So in all, my advise is do all you can to keep these above factors to your advantage and a bountiful harvest is yours.

You can get the soil ready for the next planting season by first hiring us to help you testing for the fertility of the soil. The test outcome will indicate what treatment your farm soil needs.

good luck

ok but can organic manure do alot good to the soil to get it ready for the next planting season?.
cos I have enough poultry manure thanks

nzedon2:
ok but can organic manure do alot good to the soil to get it ready for the next planting season?.
cos I have enough poultry manure thanks

Very good idea....if you have a well treated poultry manure just apply. it will improve microbial activities in the soil and increase the agonic matter in the soil. It will also Introduce NPK at the long run. Avoid bush burning if you have to clear the farm land.
cheers!!

Thanks alot God bless.but pls hw do I treat the manure?

Thanks alot and God bless but please how do I treat the manure?

nzedon2:
Thanks alot and God bless but please how do I treat the manure?

just apply pesticide by spraying the poultry manure and the dry it up before application.

Thanks alot for your response.
but am planning to distroy the old suckers and replace with an improve sucker but that should be next planting season, so please can u give me the step by step procedure on how to improve my soil nutrients and water holding ability before the next planting season thanks.

nzedon2:
Thanks alot for your response.
but am planning to distroy the old suckers and replace with an improve sucker but that should be next planting season, so please can u give me the step by step procedure on how to improve my soil nutrients and water holding ability before the next planting season thanks.

If you want to clear of the sucker there to replace next planting season, it OK. That means the right time to clear off the unwanted sucker is now that the soil is still wet. After clearing with Bulldozer, plough the soil and add treated poultry manure. The poultry manure will increase microbial activities during the dry season thereby increasing the organic matter/content of the soil leading to a well moist soil.

On the other hand, if i want to be professional in my advice, I will say after clearing off the unwanted sucker, run a soil fertility test on the soil. The test we do will indicate what treatment to give to the soil. The test we do will indicate your soil :
1. Soil PH
2. soil textural class
3. Soil moisture level
4. Particle size analysis
5. soil level of micro nutrients
6. Soil level of macro nutrients
If all these is known then will can deduce why the former sucker did badly. If you do not try to ascertain the fertility of the soil, it may erroneous to just start treating the soil.

A good viable and hybrid sucker is not only the condition that ensure increased yield, but also condition of the soil cum environmental factors.

We hope this help...otherwise feel free to ask further Qs .
cheers!!

Thanks alot and God bless. I will let u no wen I need help again. tankx once more.