Seed Preparation and Germination
1. Select seeds from desirable mother trees that are heavy bearers of sweet fruits.
2. Clean seeds by removing the mucilage and thoroughly wash in running water.
3. Sow the seeds in seedbeds containing fine and sandy soils 3-5 cm apart, about 1 cm deep. It will germinate after 2-3 weeks.
4. Do not store seeds for long time. Delay sowing will cause low germination percentage.
5. However, in case sowing will be delayed, air dry the seeds, place in polybags store up to 14 days in the refrigerator at 4-6oC.
Transplanting and Care of Lanzones Seedlings
1. Because seeds are polyembryonic which produce 2 or more seedlings per seed, wait until the seeds have at least a pair of mature leaves before transplanting.
2. Separate the seedlings when they have their own root systems and transplant individually.
3. Transplant the seedlings in polybags containing soil media composed of garden soil and compost. Plant in nursery rows with a space of 30-50 apart.
4. Keep the newly transplanted seedlings under partial shade.
5. Apply nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer for proper growth and development.
6. Water seedlings regularly especially during dry months.
Land Preparation
1. For backyard planting, dig a hole wide and deep enough to accommodate the plant with a ball of soil.
2. For medium to large scale planting, prepare the land thoroughly.
3. For second growth forest, trees are cut down, and burn the trees as they dry. Leave the stumps to decay and plant without plowing.
4. In open land and under coconut, do the deep plowing to loosen the soil followed by harrowing.
5. As soon as the land is ready, make a stake a distance 5-7 meters. Under the coconut, set the stakes at the center of the squares formed by the coconut trees. Since coconut trees are usually spaced 8 m apart, the resulting distance for lanzones is also 8 meters.
6. Dig holes at the positions previously occupied by the stakes.
Planting
1. Set the plants in the field, in polybags or balled from nursery rows. Prune the leaves to reduce transpiration.
2. Plant at the onset of rainy season or when irrigation water is available.
3. Cover the bases of seedlings with topsoil mixed with compost and pack gently for better anchorage.
Shading
Provide the newly planted seedlings in the open field with banana leaves of coconut fronds to protect them from sunlight, or plant madre de cacao and ipil-ipil between lanzones trees. Prune shade trees regularly as this will cause the lanzones trees to grow lanky and tall. Under coconut, it is not necessary to provide additional shade since the trees grow satisfactorily in partial shade.
Fertilization
During the first year, apply about 400g ammonium sulfate per tree, apply in 2 installments, one month after planting and before the end of the rainy season. As the plants grow bigger, correspondingly increase the amount of fertilizer to be applied each year. At fruiting stage, trees need additional phosphorous and potassium. Apply one kg of complete fertilizer per tree during the first year of fruiting. Increase the amount every year as the tree grows older and bigger and as the fruit yield increases. At the peak of fruiting, an annual application of at least 2 kg complete fertilizer per tree may be required.
