GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF COCONUT PALMS AND THEIR RELATION TO FERTILISER APPLICATION

Observations were initiated in 1979 at the Coast Agricultural Research Station to study the growth habits of 15 year old Kenyan tall coconuts and to relate this to fruit yield.
The effect of three levels of calcium ammonia nitrate, single superphosphate and muriate of potash was tested on the yield and other plant characters in a three-factor experiment on a poor loamy sand soil with a pH of 5.5.

The data indicate that one palm produced 0.94 leaves and 0.98 inflorescences per month.
Pollen shedding started on average 5.19 days after inflorescence emergence.
All male flowers were lost after 24.95 days, whereas the female flowers opened after 24.50 days, leaving little chance for self pollination.
Observation at the end of the year showed that on average the height of the palms was 5.83, with 97.54 leaf scars, 29.58 leaves and 17.07 inflorescences.
The data was compared to the baseline data taken at the start of the experiment.
The overall yield of the trial was low (24 nuts per palm), possibly because of the serious attack by cereid bug and other losses.

The only significant response obtained was a PK interaction with yield, the number of leaf scars and the number of inflorescences.
The experiment is continuing.

IX African Symposium on Horticultural Crops

A.S. Abubaker

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1985.153.39