Cocoa Seedlings

Most cocoa farmers often rely on aging, unproductive cocoa trees, often without suitable input to invest in planting new trees to regenerate their farms. It takes around five years from planting for a tree to mature, so a long-term view is needed. Replanting must be carefully planned, since replacing old but still marginally productive trees reduce cocoa production and income until the new trees start producing cocoa.

We offer the hybrid variety of cocoa seedlings estimated at 2-6 months of age.

Cocoa Seedlings

Hybrid pollinated cocoa seedling that starts bearing flowering from 18 months. We offer pollinated cocoa pod which are disease-free with high yielding ability

LAND PREPARATION: slash your bush and leave the grass to decay on the farm as it will add to the fertility of the farm and after that is do your farm layout.

HOLE DIGGING: separate the topsoil from the bottom soil leave the hole for one week for it to loose after that put your topsoil at the bottom of the hole mix it with dump/manure and your bottom soil to cover it after planting.

Transplanting Seedlings

Seedlings should be removed from the main nursery by lifting with a spade and the roots carefully cut. Seedlings should never be lifted from the soil by pulling the leaves or stem.

It is important to keep the seedlings in the shade and out of the sun and to have them planted as early as possible after removal from the main nursery.

Growing seedlings in polythene bags

For seedlings grown in polythene bags, advantages include (more vigorous seedlings with a better root system, better establishment, and early bearing, transplanting shock is greatly minimized since there is no root damage, the early establishment of transplanted seedlings.

Seedlings can be retained longer in the nursery when conditions for field planting are not favorable, weeding, watering and elimination of unwanted seedlings, as well as seedling selection for planting out to field, are more easily accomplished.

Polybags are preferably black, UV resistant for durability and measuring 40 – 45 cm wide with 8 – 10 holes at bottom and sides are half-filled with soil and compost mixed at a 50:50 ratio.

Decomposed sawdust, corncobs, rice hull, and other organic materials can be used so as to reduce the weight of the half-filled polybag and improve drainage and soil fertility.