Paano Magtanim ng Santol: How to Plant Santol the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng santol? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant santol, step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant santol. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
How Filipino growers plant santol, either the old way from seed in the backyard or as grafted Bangkok santol for bigger, sweeter fruit to sell. It covers raising the tree, giving it room, shaping it while young, and picking the fruit in the rainy months.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for fruit and plantation trees. Then choose your seed or planting material with the santol varieties sold here. If the leaves turn pale later on, the santol nutrient deficiency guide helps you find what is missing. For more on the crop, read pagtatanim ng puno.
When to plant santol
Trees are planted as the rains begin, about May to July. Santol flowers in the dry months, about December to March, and the fruit is picked from about June to October, the peak in July and August.
What you plant
Backyard trees are often grown from seeds of a big, sweet fruit, but seedlings may give small or sour fruit and take five to seven years to bear. Growers who plant to sell buy grafted or budded seedlings of the Bangkok type, made on rootstocks one to two years old about as thick as a pencil. Before planting, the old leaves are removed and the big leaves cut by half so the plant loses less water.
Paano magtanim ng santol: grafted seedlings
This is the grafted seedlings way (Grafted seedlings (Bangkok santol, grafted)). Grafted trees usually flower about three to four years after planting and give the first fruit about half a year later. We count the first harvest at 48 months (1,440 days). The crop is ready about 4 years after planting.
Grafted seedlings: before planting (Bago magtanim)
30 days before planting: Dig wide holes far apart
Clear the spot and dig holes about 50 cm wide and deep, about 8 to 10 m apart, since santol grows into a big tree. Fill each hole back with topsoil mixed with rotted manure or compost.
Grafted seedlings: the nursery (Punlaan)
12 months before planting: Cleft graft your own seedlings
Growers who make their own Bangkok santol graft a shoot of a big, sweet tree onto a santol seedling. Grafting is the surest way to multiply a good tree, since seedlings often give sour fruit and marcots take months to root.
- Raise the rootstock from seed1 to 2 yearsSow seeds of any healthy santol in bags and grow them for one to two years, until the stem is about as thick as a pencil.
- Strip the budwood a week ahead1 week before graftingOn the sweet mother tree, choose healthy shoots about as thick as your rootstock and cut off their leaves while they are still on the tree, about a week before grafting, so the buds wake up.
- Cut the budsticks in the morningOn grafting day, cut the stripped shoots early in the morning, keep them in the shade, and do not let them dry out or bruise the buds.
- Top and split the rootstockCut off the seedling top at a height where the stem is still green and growing, then split the stump down the middle about 2 to 3 cm with a sharp knife.
- Fit the wedge and tie itSlice the base of the budstick into a short, smooth wedge and push it into the split so the bark lines up on at least one side. Bind the joint and the whole budstick with a strip of thin plastic and cover it with a small plastic bag against rain.
- Watch for the new shoots3 to 4 weeksNew shoots push out of the budstick about three to four weeks after grafting. Then take off the bag, rub off any shoot below the joint, and later unwind the plastic strip so it does not cut into the bark.
7 days before planting: Trim the seedling
Pull off the old leaves of the grafted seedling and cut the big leaves in half, so the young plant loses less water after planting. Water the bag well the day before.
Grafted seedlings: planting day (Pagtatanim)
Planting day: Plant at the start of the rains
On a cloudy day, cut away the bag, set the seedling in the hole at the same depth with the graft joint above the soil, firm the soil and water it. Tie it to a stake against the wind.
Grafted seedlings: care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 3: Mulch the base
Spread dry grass or leaves around the seedling, not touching the stem, to keep the soil damp and cool.
Day 30: First feed
A month after planting, scatter a small amount of ammonium sulfate (21 0 0), about 100 to 200 g a tree, in a ring away from the stem, and repeat every six months in the first year. Compost or manure works too.
Month 2: Remove rootstock shoots
Rub off any shoot that grows below the graft joint, and ring weed under the tree every month or two.
Month 4: Water through the first dry season
Water once or twice a week when the rain stops, until the tree has passed its first dry season.
Month 12: Shape the young tree
In the first two to three years, cut the tip and keep three or four well spaced main branches, so the tree grows wide and low. Remove branches that cross or rub.
Year 2: Feed the growing tree
Give complete fertilizer (14 14 14) twice a year, at the start and the end of the rains, increasing it each year as the tree grows, plus compost or manure around the edge of the leaves.
Month 42: Watch the flowers and leaves
Flowers come in the dry months. Check new shoots for leaf galls made by mites and for twig borers, and rake and burn fallen sick leaves.
Grafted seedlings: harvest (Anihan)
Year 4: Pick ripe fruit
The first fruit usually comes at about four years. Let the fruit ripen fully on the tree until the skin turns golden yellow, then pick it with a pole and net or by climbing, so it does not drop and crack.
Month 50: Prune and feed after harvest
After the season, cut out only dead, sick and tangled branches, and give the tree manure and complete fertilizer for the next crop.
From seed, step by step
This is the from seed way (From seed (punla mula sa buto)). Seedling trees take about five to seven years to bear. We count the first harvest at 60 months (1,800 days). The crop is ready about 5 years after planting.
From seed: before planting (Bago magtanim)
30 days before planting: Dig wide holes very far apart
Seedling trees grow very big, so dig holes about 50 cm wide and deep about 12 to 14 m apart. Fill them back with topsoil and rotted manure.
From seed: the nursery (Punlaan)
8 months before planting: Sow fresh seeds
Take the seeds from a big, sweet, fully ripe fruit, wash off the pulp and sow them soon, about 2 cm deep, in bags of garden soil and compost under light shade. Keep them moist until they sprout.
7 months before planting: Keep one strong seedling
Leave the strongest seedling in each bag, water often and keep the bags weed free.
From seed: planting day (Pagtatanim)
Planting day: Plant at the start of the rains
Set out seedlings about 30 to 50 cm tall on a cloudy day, at the same depth they grew in the bag. Firm the soil, water and mulch.
From seed: care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 30: Feed lightly
Give compost or manure, or a small amount of ammonium sulfate (21 0 0) away from the stem, and repeat every six months.
Month 4: Weed and water
Keep a clean ring under the tree and water once or twice a week in the first dry season.
Month 12: Shape the young tree
Cut the tip to make it branch and keep three or four main branches. Remove crossing branches.
From seed: harvest (Anihan)
Year 5: Pick the first fruit
Seedling trees bear at about five to seven years. Pick fruit when fully yellow and ripe on the tree. Taste the first crop, and if it is sour, the tree can be top worked with grafts of a sweet type.
Watering santol, stage by stage
Santol here grows on rain: young trees are watered once or twice a week through their first dry season and mulched, and grown trees are left to the weather. It is one of the hardiest fruit trees in the lowlands and bears even where the dry months are long. A pail or hose into a ring basin for young trees. Grown trees live on rain. Water in the early morning or late afternoon.
The first year after planting, above all the first dry season. Flowering and young fruits in the dry months, where water is at hand.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trimmed seedling before planting | 7 days before planting to planting day | Water the bag well the day before planting | Enough to soak the bag right through |
| Planting to 3 months | Planting day to month 3 | Water at planting, then once or twice a week whenever no rain falls | A good soak of the mulched ring around the stem |
| Rest of the first year | Month 3 to 12 | Once or twice a week when the rain stops, until the first dry season is over | A deep soak of the mulched ring |
| Years 2 and 3, before bearing | Month 12 to 40 | Left to the rain. Water only young trees that wilt in a long dry spell. Trees from seed stay at this stage until about year 5 to 7 | A deep soak of the ring under the leaves |
| Bearing trees: short leaf drop in the dry months (each year) | Month 40 to 42 | No water needed | None |
| Flowering and fruit set (about December to March) | Month 42 to 44 | Where water is at hand, a deep soak every week or two in the dry months | A deep soak of the ground under the crown |
| Fruit growth to harvest (about June to October) | Month 44 to 48 | Every week or two until the rains come, then the rain does the work | A deep soak under the crown |
Without irrigation. Plant as the rains begin and keep a mulch of dry grass or leaves around the young tree, off the stem. Santol grows in both dry and moist lowlands and bears without any watering even where the dry season is long. Only its first dry season needs carried water.
In the dry season. Young trees: once or twice a week through the first dry season. Bearing trees: nothing needed, or a deep soak every week or two from flowering to fruit growth where water is near. Water a young tree when its leaves droop in the afternoon and stay limp.
In the rainy season. Santol wants soil that drains. On low, flat ground, plant on ridges with ditches between the rows, as lowland orchards do. Long rains bring pink crusts of a bark disease on the branches. Cut out the cankers in the dry months so the trees enter the rains clean. Seedlings in wet nursery bags can collapse from blight.
- Too little water: Young leaves droop and stay limp, a young tree drops leaves early and stops growing, and a bearing tree drops many small fruits.
- Too much water: Yellow leaves and slow growth on soggy ground, and nursery seedlings that rot and fall over in wet bags.
To water better for a higher yield: Water the young tree faithfully through its first dry season. It is the one watering santol cannot do without. Where a well or creek is near, a deep soak every week or two from flowering to fruit growth helps the tree hold more fruit.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for santol
Spacing
Grafted trees about 8 to 10 m apart each way. Seedling trees, which grow much bigger, about 12 to 14 m apart. One seedling a hole. Backyard trees are planted alone, well away from the house.
Water
Rain fed. Young trees are watered once or twice a week through their first dry season. Older trees grow on rain alone and stand dry spells well.
Fertilizer
Compost and rotted manure at planting and each year. Farmers who buy fertilizer give ammonium sulfate (21 0 0) in small amounts every six months in the first year, then complete fertilizer (14 14 14) twice a year, more as the tree grows, to about 2 kg a time on a big bearing tree. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Ring weeding, mulch, watering young trees in the dry months, shaping the tree in its first two to three years, and after that pruning only dead, sick and tangled branches. Farmers rake and burn leaves with galls.
When and how to harvest
Fruit is picked when fully golden yellow, ripened on the tree, from about June to October. It is picked by hand with a pole and net so it does not crack, and sold within a few days.
Common mistakes when planting santol
- Planting seedlings from unknown fruit and getting small, sour santol after years of waiting.
- Planting too close to houses or other trees. Santol grows into a big tree.
- Picking the fruit green. It does not sweeten off the tree.
- Never shaping the young tree, so it grows tall and hard to pick.
- Leaving galled leaves and fallen fruit under the tree.
How to get a higher yield of santol
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Plant grafted or budded Bangkok type seedlings from a known nursery for earlier, bigger, sweeter fruit.
- Top work old sour trees with grafts of a sweet type.
- Test the soil and feed by the result, twice a year.
- Prune to keep the tree low and open for easy picking.
- Scout new shoots for mites and borers and use integrated pest management.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
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