Sustainable agriculture

shriveling fruits are common for passion fruits, especially ripe ones when they fall to the ground. But, if this happens earlier, it could be due to fruit fly damage, sucking insect damage, poor pollination, lack of boron, and insufficient irrigation when the heavy crop is set. Ensure your vines are provided with the proper nutrients for maximum and full growth, free from pests and diseases.

It may be a sign that your vines have been infected with the passion fruit woodiness virus. It can be caused by magnesium deficiency, nitrogen deficiency on sandy soils, or extremely cold weather combined with low humidity. Due to the lack of nutrients, vines turn yellow differently depending on the stage of leaf development. For example, sulfur (S) or copper deficiency is always evident if your new leaves have yellow veins. However, if the yellowing affects the area between the veins, it indicates insufficient iron (Fe) or Molybdenum (Mo) deficiency.

Yellowing of old leaves, especially between the veins, is a sign of magnesium deficiency. A fertilizer rich in magnesium (Mg) is a suitable treatment for this problem. On the hand, yellowing the veins in old leaves is a sure sign of nitrogen deficiency and should be corrected accordingly. There are situations where both the old and new leaves of your favorite fruit vines turn yellow. The best fertilizer for passion fruit vines is Granulated fertilizer, Urea, Potassium sulfate, Diammonium phosphate and Organic fertilizers like manure and vegetable compost.

Premature fruit drop can be due to one of the following reasons. Irregular watering can cause the fruit to fall off because when the fruits are near maturity, the ripe fruits need more water. Fruits dry out and fall off as a result of water stress. Continuous irrigation and increasing organic matter in the soil can significantly improve water availability for vines. Other possible causes include fungal diseases, nutrient deficiency, and loss of fruit flies and mites.

Once the passion fruit reaches the age of 12-13 months, it will continue to bloom throughout its life. As other flowers turn into fruits, other flowers are formed. It will continue for 3-4 years then its productivity will start declining. The fruiting phase will start from 12 or 13 months and continue for 3-5 years. As the plant ages, it will increase the number of fruits until it reaches its peak in the 4th year. Then, it will start to reduce the number of fruits produced.

Spring is the best time to plant passion fruit vines. Before planting, prepare your soil by applying chicken manure and compost in an area one to two meters wide. Mulch around the plant base with sugarcane, bark chips, or pea straw, but do not let it form around the stem.

Here, I mentioned the few reasons why to consider high density planting. The main benefit of high-density planting is that you can plant multiple varieties in a small space. Low cost per unit production, Allows mechanization in fruit crops. Improved fruit yield and quality. Efficient use of applied and natural resources.  Induces precocity, increases crop yield, and also improves fruit quality. Enables the mechanization of fruit crop production. Best utilization of land and resources with high-density planting ensures quality fruit production and increased yield per unit area. Easy for intercultural, plant protection, and harvesting. Obtain export quality of the harvest. It is amenable to modern inputs application methods such as drip irrigation, fertigation, mechanization. Early economic returns.

Fruit trees can be planted very close in high density planting. There are many ways to plant in a limited space and will depend on the desired look of the orchard. Multiple trees planted close together in the same hole.  Trees planted close together to practice a hedge. Trees trained as an espalier to grow along a narrow area. To evaluate the potential offered by high density planting application, it is necessary to take into account tree size control, and also the training system most suitable to obtain high crop yield and good fruit quality. The main tools for tree size control are rootstocks, summer pruning, root restriction, growth regulators. Also, the main Peach-growing countries of the world, to investigate the extent of utilization and the main aspects characterizing Peach and nectarine HDP orchards, are summarized.

The training systems for HDP are Fusetto, Tatura trellis with their interaction with soil fertility. Fusetto allows a maximum planting density of 1200-1500 trees per hectare. It is necessary to adopt some training systems in extremely fertile soil. The first alternative (palmette) allows maximum planting densities of about 700-900 trees/ha. For orchards with planting densities greater than 1000-1500 trees/ha, the Tatura trellis and its variants appear the most appropriate. The right choice of training system will have to be made based on careful economic analysis, taking into account the greater costs involved for the establishment and also for the management of HDP.

For planting Peach through seeds, plant the seeds in a pit at a depth of about 4 inches deep and then cover it with a mulch, about 1/2 inches deep. Provide water just after planting Peach seeds in the pit. Then, give water based on plant need. After some time, a seedling will appear in the container or pot. However, in commercial Peach farming, this crop is propagated by grafting and rootstock method.