Paano Magtanim ng Trigo: How to Plant Wheat the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng trigo? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant trigo (wheat), 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 trigo. 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.
Wheat is hardly grown in the Philippines, and nearly all the wheat for bread and noodles comes from abroad. A few highland growers and hobby farmers raise small plots in the cool dry months, and this short guide shows how they do it.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for corn.
When to plant trigo
In the highlands, small plots are sown at the end of the rains, around October to December, so the crop grows through the cool, dry months and ripens before the summer rains. Lowland heat gives weak plants and poor heads.
What you plant
Dry seed, usually brought in from abroad or shared among growers. It is sown dry without soaking.
Paano magtanim ng trigo, step by step
The crop is ready about 115 days after sowing.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
14 days before sowing: Dig or plow to a fine bed
Plow or dig the plot, remove the weeds and rake it to a fine, level bed.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Sowing day: Sow the seed
Sow the seed thinly in shallow rows about 20 to 25 cm apart and cover it with 3 to 5 cm of soil, or scatter it evenly and rake it in.
Sowing day: Fertilizer at sowing
Mix compost or manure and some complete fertilizer (14 14 14) into the rows at sowing.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 3: Water if dry
Water the plot if no rain falls, so the seed comes up evenly.
Day 21: Weed
Hand pull the weeds while the plants are young.
Day 28: Urea at tillering
Give a light side dressing of urea (46 0 0) as the plants start to tiller.
Day 60: Watch for rust and birds
Look for orange or brown rust spots on the leaves, and guard the ripening heads from birds.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 115: Cut when golden and dry
Harvest when the straw is golden and the grain is hard. Cut with a sickle and tie in bundles.
Day 117: Dry and thresh
Dry the bundles in the sun, then beat them to free the grain, winnow and dry the grain before storing.
Watering trigo, stage by stage
The few wheat plots in our highlands are sown at the end of the rains and live on the last of the rain. Growers water small plots by hand or by hose during dry spells. Hand watering with a can or a hose on small plots, in the morning.
Tillering, about day 10 to 45: dry soil means fewer heads. Heading, flowering and grain filling, about day 45 to 100: a dry spell gives light, shriveled grain.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing and coming up | Sowing day to day 10 | Water the plot right after sowing and every few days if no rain falls | Enough to moisten the seed rows, never soggy |
| Tillering | Day 10 to 45 | In dry spells, water about once a week | Soak the rows with a can or a hose |
| Heading and flowering | Day 45 to 75 | Keep the soil moist, watering when the topsoil dries | A good soaking of the rows |
| Grain filling | Day 75 to 100 | Water in dry spells until the grain is firm | A soaking of the rows |
| Ripening | Day 100 to 115 | Stop watering | None |
Without irrigation. Sow at the end of the rains, from October to December, while the soil is still moist, so the crop grows on stored moisture through the cool months.
In the dry season. The crop grows through the dry months, so water small plots about once a week in dry spells, more at heading and flowering, and stop once the grain hardens.
In the rainy season. Wet, warm weather brings rust and rotting heads. Plant on beds that drain, and do not sow so early that the heads come out in the rains.
- Too little water: Leaves roll and turn gray green, the plants stay short with few shoots, and the heads are small.
- Too much water: Yellow leaves, rust spots and moldy heads.
To water better for a higher yield: Water at tillering and at heading if you can water only twice. A light mulch between the rows keeps the topsoil moist longer.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for trigo
Spacing
Rows about 20 to 25 cm apart with seed sown thinly, or broadcast evenly over the plot.
Water
Grown on the last of the rains and watered by hand or by hose on small plots during dry spells.
Fertilizer
Compost or manure with some complete fertilizer (14 14 14) at sowing and a light dose of urea (46 0 0) at tillering. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Hand weeding in the first month and guarding the heads from birds. Rust is the main disease in warm, damp weather.
When and how to harvest
Ready in about 100 to 120 days, when the straw is golden and the grain is hard. Cut by sickle, sun dried, threshed by beating and winnowed.
Common mistakes when planting trigo
- Planting in the lowlands or in the rainy season, when heat and wet weather ruin the heads.
- Sowing too thickly, which gives thin stems that fall over.
- Harvesting late in the rains, so grain sprouts or molds in the head.
How to get a higher yield of trigo
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Get seed of a variety bred for warm climates.
- Sow only in the cool dry months in the highlands.
- Test the soil and lime it if it is acid.
- Keep the plot weed free for the first month.
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.
Members open this guide in the How to Plant tool and send every step to the Protocol Builder in one tap, each on its own day. There you can change the seed, the spacing and the fertilizer, then turn it into a cropping calendar for your lots.
Start from the traditional way, make it better, and let anee.io date every task from your own planting day. Free to start.
Start freeQuestions about planting trigo
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