Source: Manila Bulletin
Now that the rains are just around the corner, prepare your fruit tree planting materials. In doing so, don’t just get any available seedling. Fruit trees take several years before they bear fruit so it is important that what you plant are the varieties with superior fruits.
Here are a few pointers you might consider. Of course, you should plant grafted planting materials to make sure your trees bear fruit early and that you know before hand the kind of fruit you will expect.
Here are a few varieties you might consider planting these coming weeks. Say you want to plant avocado. If so, select a variety that produces fruits with excellent eating quality. One such variety is the so-called Super Avocado which produces fruits that weigh as much as one kilo and the flesh is fine-textured, yellowish and sweetish, and without fibers.
If you are going to plant rambutan, you might as well plant the varieties with proven productivity and with excellent eating quality. There are three that we particularly like. One of them is the R-5 which produces big red fruits with very smooth white flesh that separates readily from the seed. Another is the Super Red which is also very attractive, high-yielding and with good eating quality. Another variety that is highly adaptable to local conditions is the Rongrein which originally came from Thailand.
What is good about rambutan is that the trees always bear fruit every year as long as they are taken care of. And one can stagger the fruiting, just as we have done with our own trees. Right now, we are harvesting from three trees. Several other trees will be harvestable in a month’s time. And there are some that are just flowering.
Chicos are also a favorite of many Filipinos. If you want something that is decorative and is very prolific, plant the variegated chico. The fruits are small but they are very sweet. Then there is the Mapino variety, a selection by the Institute of Plant Breeding. This produces fruits that weigh 120 grams each or more and the flesh is so smooth and fine-textured. Another good variety is the Yusepeng chico which was named after the late Carlos Yusepeng, a rare fruit collector from Gen. Santos City.
In any case, being a superior variety is just one consideration. What is equally important is to take good care of whatever fruit tree you plant. Fertilize them adequately. Don’t allow them to be overtaken by weeds, especially when they are still small.