Tend eucalyptus seedlings for three months before re-planting
Mar 25, 2007
HIS peers call him “<i>muleefu</i>’’ because he is so tall. The towering Ernest Kaddu turns into a dwarf when he walks in his plantation. He set out to grow eucalyptus trees from small seeds as tiny as a sugar grain about four years ago. Now they have turned into giants.
By Gerald Tenywa
HIS peers call him “muleefu’’ because he is so tall. The towering Ernest Kaddu turns into a dwarf when he walks in his plantation. He set out to grow eucalyptus trees from small seeds as tiny as a sugar grain about four years ago. Now they have turned into giants.
He got tips from farmers at the National Forestry Authority who told him that an acre of eucalyptus yields about four million shillings.
He says eucalyptus is of different species, estimated to be about 200. The most common species in Uganda is eucalyptus grandis, which is commonly planted in southern Uganda and eucalyptus tereticornis, which does well in northern Uganda.
Eucalyptus grandis was introduced in 1912. It is well-known to Ugandan farmers and is a common cash crop for fuel and poles. It is commercially grown as fuel wood crop in tea estates.
Kaddu says the best seed source is the Uganda Tree Seed Centre.
He prepared a nursery (a small garden prepared for germinating seed and tending them, until they are ready for planting). He says a seed bed should be one square metre. The nursery should be located on a sloping landscape to avoid water logging. It should be fenced to limit the intrusion of stray animals.
Kaddu says fertile soil with a lot of organic matter from a garden or forest should be put in the seed bed. Then the seeds should be mixed with sand (the mixing rations should be one gramme of eucalyptus to two grammes of sand). This will help to separate the seeds and avoid clustering. Then the mixture should be broadcast (spread) in the seedbed.
After about a week, seedlings should be removed carefully and put in a polythene container filled with soil.
Kaddu says the time of removal should be when the seedling has two or three leaves. Once put in the pots, the seedlings should be watered for three months.
For The New Vision readers, he advises that they should keep the seeds in a cool, airtight, dry container until June. This means the seedlings will be ready for the rainy season from September to November.
Kaddu also advises on the following:
Spacing: for fuel wood and small poles, the recommended spacing is two and a half square metres, though two metres is acceptable. For timber, the spacing should be three square metres.
Establishment: Eucalyptus grandis is very sensitive to competition, especially early on in its life and thus should be kept weed-free until the canopy closes. It needs a lot of light.
Common pests and diseases:
The eucalyptus should be planted on a good site and well-tended to avoid attacks by the chalcid wasp that is ravaging eucalyptus trees in eastern Africa.
Termites are also a problem in hot, dry areas and are not good for the eucalyptus grandis.
Other issues: Complaints of excessive water use are periodically blamed on eucalyptus grandis. Rapidly grown plantations of any intensively grown crop may negatively affect catchments. Therefore, care should be taken when selecting sites for large scale tree planting.
Kaddu says eucalyptus should not be planted in wetlands. The trees will be exposed to diseases and pest attacks.
HIS peers call him “muleefu’’ because he is so tall. The towering Ernest Kaddu turns into a dwarf when he walks in his plantation. He set out to grow eucalyptus trees from small seeds as tiny as a sugar grain about four years ago. Now they have turned into giants.
He got tips from farmers at the National Forestry Authority who told him that an acre of eucalyptus yields about four million shillings.
He says eucalyptus is of different species, estimated to be about 200. The most common species in Uganda is eucalyptus grandis, which is commonly planted in southern Uganda and eucalyptus tereticornis, which does well in northern Uganda.
Eucalyptus grandis was introduced in 1912. It is well-known to Ugandan farmers and is a common cash crop for fuel and poles. It is commercially grown as fuel wood crop in tea estates.
Kaddu says the best seed source is the Uganda Tree Seed Centre.
He prepared a nursery (a small garden prepared for germinating seed and tending them, until they are ready for planting). He says a seed bed should be one square metre. The nursery should be located on a sloping landscape to avoid water logging. It should be fenced to limit the intrusion of stray animals.
Kaddu says fertile soil with a lot of organic matter from a garden or forest should be put in the seed bed. Then the seeds should be mixed with sand (the mixing rations should be one gramme of eucalyptus to two grammes of sand). This will help to separate the seeds and avoid clustering. Then the mixture should be broadcast (spread) in the seedbed.
After about a week, seedlings should be removed carefully and put in a polythene container filled with soil.
Kaddu says the time of removal should be when the seedling has two or three leaves. Once put in the pots, the seedlings should be watered for three months.
For The New Vision readers, he advises that they should keep the seeds in a cool, airtight, dry container until June. This means the seedlings will be ready for the rainy season from September to November.
Kaddu also advises on the following:
Spacing: for fuel wood and small poles, the recommended spacing is two and a half square metres, though two metres is acceptable. For timber, the spacing should be three square metres.
Establishment: Eucalyptus grandis is very sensitive to competition, especially early on in its life and thus should be kept weed-free until the canopy closes. It needs a lot of light.
Common pests and diseases:
The eucalyptus should be planted on a good site and well-tended to avoid attacks by the chalcid wasp that is ravaging eucalyptus trees in eastern Africa.
Termites are also a problem in hot, dry areas and are not good for the eucalyptus grandis.
Other issues: Complaints of excessive water use are periodically blamed on eucalyptus grandis. Rapidly grown plantations of any intensively grown crop may negatively affect catchments. Therefore, care should be taken when selecting sites for large scale tree planting.
Kaddu says eucalyptus should not be planted in wetlands. The trees will be exposed to diseases and pest attacks.