Author Topic: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?  (Read 1634 times)

Daintree

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why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« on: September 07, 2018, 01:42:39 PM »
So, I buy jackfruit from the local Asian market. If it tastes good (I like them sweet and crunchy), I plant the seeds.
They always sprout and do really well until they are about a foot tall.
Then all the leaves fall off and they die.
Sometimes the leaves turn yellow, but this problem has been fixed by keeping my water acidified down to about 6.0.
But sometimes, the leaves are still green, and they just fall off.
I keep them wet but not in standing water, and in full sun.
I have moved the three remaining seedlings into shade and they seem to be doing better.
Any thoughts or ideas?
I'd take a picture, but all I have right now are healthy plants...

Thanks!

00christian00

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Re: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2018, 02:04:55 PM »
Post some picture. I have found jackfruit very easy to grow.
It's very important to have two things:
1-Very tall pot, they grow the taproot very quickly and if they cannot go further they get stunted.
Ideally 25cm at least from day 0.
2-Very light soil. Since I switched to coco coir and perlite for all my tropical I never had any issue.
Use like 40% perlite and 60% coco coir, without compacting it, you will see the roots grow at incredible speed and fill the bag in 6-8 months.
If you want to go extreme use even taller pots. I use poly bag for this reason, I stack them when the roots have reached the bottom.
Mine were 4 feets tall in few months.

Daintree

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Re: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2018, 03:23:10 PM »
Here are some photos.
Do you think they need bigger pots? You can't see the pots very well in the picture, but they are about 6 inches deep.
And, I can add more perlite tot he mix if they need a lighter soil.

Thanks!




DurbanDude

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Re: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2018, 02:21:52 AM »
The jackfruit taproot is aggressive. 10-14" tall grape vine pots give the taproot more room to establish. I've had growth stall by staying in a 10" pot for too long (over 1 month) but I haven't had leaves fall off when they stalled so it might be a soil issue.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 02:30:15 AM by DurbanDude »

00christian00

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Re: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2018, 04:58:14 AM »
Consider that this is 1 month old. The bag was around 20cm(because it was folded). It has already reached the bottom.


This is 2 months old. And they are growing slower because they are in the same pot(I don't advice it, I had run out of coconut coir that time)!
I stacked another full polybag below, so it's around 45 cm tall here.


You should repot them, but It would be easier to restart. Once they stop growing, they never fully recover. Will be slow forever.
That is true for most tropicals which have long tap root.
Do not put them in direct sunlight the first year, they sun burn very easily.

Regarding the leaves, mine did that too. The first leaves are papery and very delicate. They probably need more humidity to stay healthy too.
Once they switch to the normal leaves these are much easier to keep nice.

« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 05:01:13 AM by 00christian00 »

Seanny

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Re: why do my jackfruit seedlings always fail?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2018, 12:10:34 AM »
Daintree, you should bare root your tree then cut its tap root where it started to coil.
I did that to my jackfruit last Spring.



This is mine 5 months after removing tap root.