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Fruit tree growing guide
Santol seed must be sown fresh, straight from the fruit. Cleaned seed sown in warm, moist sand usually sprouts within a month, but seedling trees take five to seven years to flower.
Each fruit holds three to five large brown seeds, about 2-3.5 cm long, tightly attached to the pulp. Rub and rinse the pulp off and sow the seed the same day: santol seed has a short life and loses viability quickly once out of the fruit.
Not needed. Fresh santol seed germinates readily without any treatment.
Not needed and harmful. Santol is a tropical tree, and cold storage kills short-lived seed.
Not needed. Clean, fresh seed sown into moist sand takes up water on its own.
Sow in warm weather. Santol grows in hot, humid lowland tropics, so outdoor sowing suits most of South India and coastal areas; in cooler places use a warm, sheltered spot or a heated propagator.
Press the seed into the sand and cover it with a layer about as thick as the seed.
PROSEA describes a seed-bed of fine sand with seeds 5 cm (2 in) apart. Because germination is high, you can also sow one seed per container in a free-draining mix.
Keep the sand evenly moist but not waterlogged. Seedlings in the nursery can be blighted by Phytophthora, so avoid soggy, crowded beds.
Light is not needed for germination. Keep the bed in light shade.
Fresh seed starts to sprout after about 16 days and most is up by day 31; PROSEA gives about 20 days. Germination is epigeal: the seed leaves rise above the soil.
Move seedlings from the sand bed into individual containers once the first pair of leaves has matured. Seedling growth is fast.
In a year or less seedlings reach about 40-50 cm (16-20 in) and can be used as rootstocks for budding or grafting, or grown on as seedling trees.
Plant at the start of the rainy season in loose, friable clay loam or sandy loam rich in humus. Allow 8 x 5 m to 12 x 12 m per tree, or 4-6 m in high-density orchards.
Seedling trees flower after five to seven years; budded or grafted trees flower three to four years after planting. Fruit takes about five months to ripen.
Commercial growers bud or graft named varieties onto seedlings for earlier and more uniform fruit.
Santol is grown from sea level to above 1,000 m and copes with a long dry season without irrigation.
Santol can grow very tall with buttress roots, and fallen fruit makes litter, so keep it away from buildings, paths and parking areas.
Sow santol seed fresh in warm, moist sand and pot the seedlings on as soon as the first leaves mature.
No. Santol seed loses viability quickly, so clean it and sow it as soon as it comes out of the fruit.
Usually five to seven years. Budded or grafted trees start in three to four years.
Yes. Sentul and santol are two common names for the same tree, Sandoricum koetjape.
