EntrePinoys Atbp.

CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower is of European origin. Considered as the aristocrat of the cabbage family, it is grown for its white, tender head formed by the shortened and thickened parts of the flowers called curds. The curds are commonly utilized as salad, either alone or in combination with others and in the preparation of pickles. The young leaves are sometimes included in the preparation of vegetable stews.

Varieties:

F1 Hoggar - Heat resistant early maturing 55-65 days from transplant. Curd is white, medium round, weighing 8 to 1 kg. Dark green leaves with medium frame.

F1 Farwa - very rustic hybrid and large scale. Climatic adaptation: for November to February. Curd - deep white, round shape - closed cover. Other Tropical varieties include: Snow Ball Y, F1 Monte Pearle, F1 Blanca F1 Palma, and F1 Jana.

Adaptation:

Soil and Climatic Requirements - Cauliflower is sensitive to high acidity. Where soil reaction ranges from pH 5.5 to 6.6 maximum yields could be obtained. It grows best in rich heavy loamy soils, although it thrives fairly well in light soils. Low and well-drained bottom lands give good results if climatic conditions are favorable.

Cauliflower requires a cool, moist growing season. It can not withstand either low temperatures, or too much heat, dry weather and low humidity. It succeeds better when the days are short.

Cultural Requirements:

Seed Requirements - About 200 to 300 g of seeds are enough to plant one hectare. The seedling are taken cared of in the same way as in cabbage, although greater care must be exercised by providing moderate rich soils and disinfecting the seedbeds or seed boxes. Although pricking is uncommon among growers, it is a must operation in cauliflower growing to produce uniform and stocky seedlings for field planting.

Land Preparation and Fertilization - The land should be well-prepared before the seedlings are set in the field. The field is plowed as many times as necessary, each followed by harrowing, until a fine filth is obtained. Cauliflower requires greater fertility than cabbage. It obtainable, large amounts of rotten manure may be use to advantage especially in light soils. With about 5 tons of manure per hectare, the application of about 100-45-45 kg. of N-P-K fertilizer mixture per hectare may prove beneficial. The application of 150-45-45 of N-P-K fertilizer mixture per hectare would give good results.

Transplanting and care of plants - Seedling, pricked or unpricked, are ready to be transplanted 35 to 45 days from sowing. The seedlings are set in double rows at intervals of 50 cm apart. Each double row is 100 cm apart. Newly-set seedlings should be watered and/or irrigated by flash system to prevent the occurrence of too many missing hills. As soon as the developing plants are about 15 cm. tall, they are topped dressed with nitrogen fertilizer at the rate of about 20 kg. of the pure element per hectare, after which the double rows are bedded either with the use of machines equipped with a ridge or with a plow. Bedding the double rows is advantageous in that the plants are provided with a soil mulch which curtails the growth of weeds, completely eliminates cultivation and facilitates irrigation by merely allowing the irrigation water to play in-between beds until the desired soil moisture is reached.

A perfect cauliflower head is pure white. This whiteness of curd can be obtained by blanching. While the heads are still small, the outer leaves are brought up over the head and fastened together with a bamboo toothpick for a period of two to three days. The outer leaves fastened together should be opened after three days as prolonged blanching may result in discoloration of the curd.

Harvesting, Curing and Storing:

The curds should be harvested as soon as they reach the proper size and before discoloration begins. Since the curds mature rather fast and sometimes irregularly, harvesting should be done frequently and regularly. The head or curd should be cut with one or two circles of outer leaves to protect the curd from bruises and damage. The curds are packed with the outer leaves untrimmed.

Control of Pests and Diseases:

Pests and their Control:

The most common insect pest of cauliflower are cutworms (Spodoptera litura Fabr.) cauliflower worm (Crocidolomia binotalis Zeller), diamondback moth (Plutella Xylostella Linnaeus), and root grub (Leucopholis ittorata). For the control of cauliflower worms and diamond-back moth, spray the plants with any of the following:

• Foliafume 1 tbs. per gallon of water
• Sevin 1 tbs. per gallon of water
• Malathion 1 tbs. per gallon of water

Root grub can be controlled by treating the soil with Alder 2 at the rate of 1 tbs. in 1 gal. of water.

Diseases and their Control:

Cauliflower, like any other vegetable, is subject to the attack of plant diseases. The most common diseases are club root, soft rot, bacterial leaf spot, downy mildew and root knot of vegetables. The first it can be controlled by sterilizing the soil with mercuric bichloride or formalin (1:1000) and/or lime application in the soil. Bacterial leaf spot and downy mildew may be greatly minimized by foliar sprays with copper fungicides at the rate of 3 to 5 tbsp.per 5 gallons of water at 7 to 10 day intervals.

Generally, crop rotation, use of well-drained soils, good management practices and avoiding heavy seeding in the seedbeds help prevent the occurrence of plant diseases.

CELERY

Celery is native to the Mediterranean and adjacent areas. The plant is a strong-smelling biennial. The thick petioles, curved in cross section, are long and grooved on the external surface. The stems bearing the compound leaflets are attached to the apex of the long petiole at a point often called the joint. The flowers are very small, white and borne in compound umbels in the leaves of the branched seed stalks which maybe 60 to 90 cm. in height.

As a salad crop, celery ranks next to lettuce. Like lettuce, celery has been growing in importance and popularity. Salads have become increasingly common on the menus of most Filipinos, and the supply of this important crop has to keep pace with the ever-growing demand.

There are no statistics on the production of celery in the Philippines. The only known areas producing the crop are Baguio, Trinidad in Benguet and to some extent, Davao.

Varieties:

Elne -Foliage are tall, dark and green the while the stalk are thick, smooth and fleshy. Can be harvested 2 to 3 months from transplant.

Tall Utah - Foliage are sturdy, dark green with long, thick, smooth stalk.

Adaptation:

Climatic and Soil Requirements - Celery is distinctly a cool season crop. Large, tender petioles are produced at relatively cool temperature. A monthly mean temperature of about 15 to 18 degree C up to maximum 20 degree C is considered ideal for the production of good quality and
quantity celery crops.

Successful production of celery can be had in soils that are either muck or peat. Sandy loam soil well-supplied with organic matter is also preferred. Acidic soils are normally avoided. The pH range of soils considered ideal for the production of celery is from 6.0 to 6.8.

Elevation - Stalk celery production is limited to the higher elevation but soup celery can be grown at close to sea level.

Months of Planting - Celery is planted the year round but quantity crops are planted from January through April.

Nutritional Requirements - A crop of celery from a hectare of land would be able to absorb from the soil 313.6 kg. of nitrogen, 80.6 kg. of phosphorous, 711.2 kg. of potassium, 295.7 kg of calcium and 39.2 kg of magnesium. Essentially, in view of the restricted root system of celery, an abundant supply of nutrients must be available in the root zone during the last month or before the expected time of harvesting, if a good crop of high quality is desired.

Cultural Requirements:

Seed bedding and care of seedlings - To induce quick germination of the seeds, they should be soaked overnight in water. Sowing may be done early the following morning. As the seed is slow to germinate, soil moisture in the beds should be kept close to field capacity. Pieces of moistened burlap can be spread over the area in which seeds have been sown thinly at a very shallow depth. This aids in preventing washing out of seeds during the watering and also keeps the soil from dying out rapidly.

Since the celery plant grows rather very slowly during its seedling stage, care must be taken to keep the weeds on the beds under control. These weeds compete seriously with the seedlings for the uptake of nutrients available in the soil. It takes from two to three months for the seedlings to reach a suitable size for transplanting in the field.

Transplanting and Spacing - When the seedlings have attained the height of about 15 cm., they are transplanted in the open field. Beds about 1m. wide are prepared in the field. The usual size is 1m wide and 15 m. high in the dry season and 30 cm in the rainy season. It is quite common in Trinidad Valley in Benguet Province to make the beds 90 cm. wide with a 30 cm. high furrow between the beds.

Two rows of plants are then set on the bed. The rows are about 40 cm. apart and plants are spaced about 20 cm. on the row. The soil between the rows can be mulched with dried grasses to prevent rapid evaporation of soil moisture and to smother the weeds. It is necessary to prune the seedlings before transplanting them to the field. Recovery from the effects of transplanting would be more rapid with the plants which receives less pruning of the tops or roots.

Effort must be exerted to select only those seedlings of good size for transplanting. Small seedlings would normally produce the light plants at harvest time. It is well, therefore, to discard these seedlings as they are considered genetically less vigorous.

Cultivation and Irrigation - With celery, cultivation must be confined almost to the surface, scraping the soil in order to avoid injury to the roots which are within the 15 to 30 cm. zone from the base of the plants. Thus, mulching the surface of the beds between the rows with either well-dried grasses or rice straw helps prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil and smothers the weeks. Frequent irrigation is very important. Lack of water can cause serious losses in crop yield and quality.

Fertilizer Application - in Baguio and Trinidad Valley in Benguet, it is customary to mix a truckload of chicken manure or compost with 600 to 800 kg. of 15-15-15 or other complete fertilizers per hectare of beds before transplanting. This is followed with side dressing of from 100 to 150 kg of ammonium sulfate at 10 to 15 day intervals.

Side-dressing is applied in solution along the rows at the rate of 100 to 150 gr. of fertilizer in 5 gal. of water.

Control of Pests and Diseases:

Pests and their Control

Cutworm, Aphids, and Mites are the few insects that attack celery in the Philippines.
1. Aphids, Aphis sp. These are small greenish insects, which are either winged or wingless. They reproduce every rapidly. The insects sucks the sap from the leaves causing curling, distortion and stunting of the plant.

Control - Diazinon and Malathion at concentrations recommended by the
manufactures are examples of effective insecticides.

2. Cutworms, Prodenia litura Fabricius. The larva of the insect is a brown worm about 5 cm long. the adult is dark pale-brown and its outer wings have transverse light brown bands. It is about 2 cm. long. The eggs are laid on the lower surface of the leaves in a mass of several hundreds and covered with matted hairs. During the day, the worms hide in the soil where they pupate. At night they come out to feed on succulent leaves and stems.

Control- The soil surface along the plant row can be treated chlorinated hydrocarbons such as Aldrin, Dieldrin, etc. at concentrations recommended by the manufacture.

3. Mites, Tetranychus truncatus Ebara. These are tiny pests difficult to see with the naked eye. They cause stippling and wattling of leaves.

Control - spray with either Tedion V-8, Diazinon, Kelthane or Chlorobezylate at concentrations recommended by the manufactures.

Diseases and their Control:

Celery is susceptible to several diseases, which are of real concern to the producer of this market crop.

1. Blight - There are three distinct blights infecting celery, but since they are all controlled by the same means, it is well to discuss them together. Late blight (Septoria apii) is characterized by small, brown, circular lesions on the leaves and stems. Black fruiting bodies of the fungus later appear in these areas. In the case of early blight Ceriopora apii, dead, ashen-gray velvety areas develop in the foliage. The bacteria ( Bacterium apii) produce lesions that are more reddish brown that those cause by late blight, in addition to a yellow halo. No black fruiting bodies are to be seen in celery infested by bacterial blight. Plants can affected by these diseases at any time during their life span.

Control - control by cultural methods and fungicide sprays is similar for each of the blights mentioned. The organism causing both late and early blight can survive on plant refuse in the soil so two to three rotations are desirable. These fungi can also survive in the seed.

Two to three year old seeds are recommended for planting because at this stage the fungi are no longer viable. New seeds can be soaked in hot water at a temperature of 48 degree C for 30 minutes to kill the seedborne fungi. Then the seeds are dried and treated with Thiram dust
before planting.

Spray application should start in the seedbed and repeated every 7 to 10 days until harvested. Dithane, Zineb, and Nabam plus Zinc sulfate are effective materials. Label directions should be followed religiously.

2. Damping-off of seedlings - The most common soil-borne organisms causing this disease are: Pythium debaryanum Hesse, Rhizoctonia solani Khun and Scelrotium rolfs Sacc-all fungi. Seeds infected with the disease may either decay before they germinate; sprouts are killed before they reach the soil surface, or seedlings may develop lesions near the soil level and fall over.

Control - Disinfecting of the soil in the seedbed or seedboxes is usually desirable. Watering the beds in the day so that the soil surface will be dry at night will help reduce infection.

Seeds can be placed in the cloth sack and soaked until moistened in a solution of 1 oz. of Calomel (mercury chloride) in 1 gal. of water. Another method is to coat the seed thoroughly with either Captan, Chlonil or Thiram dust at the rate recommended by the manufacturer. Such treatment should be used on hot water-treated seed.

3. Bacterial Rot - is caused by a bacterium, Erwinia carotovora Holland. Small lesions appear on the fleshy petioles and rapidly enlarge. Finally, a soft, mushy rot develops.

There is no specific stage of maturity at which celery must be harvested. If cut too early in the season, the yield would greatly be reduced. However, celery can be cut when a little over-mature, but not too late as to allow the petioles from becoming pithy, in which case, they lose their high quality.

In harvesting celery, the plants are cut below the soil surface with a large knife before leaving the petioles attached at the base. Tiller or suckers, short and prongy outside the petiole, and diseased or injured leaves are cut off before they are washed and packed in convenient containers.

Reference: Cultural Directions for Phil. Agricultural Crops., photos from mariquita.com, imbueytor.com

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