AGRICULTURE – Page 54 – Philippine Tambayan

GROW BIGGER BANANA FRUITS

GROW BIGGER BANANA FRUITS

1. Apply plenty of compost in the hole where the banana shoot will be planted.

2. Always water the plant.

3. Remove the weeds around it; vegetables may be planted around the plant in the first sixmonths.

4. Allow only one shoot to grow in every plant when it is about 6 months old.

5. After harvesting the bunch, remove the plant and allow the upcoming shoot to grow.

6. Don’t allow any banana plant to fall.

7. Take care of every bunch of bananas by enveloping it in plastic or with banana leaves.

from PCARRD Farmnews Sept-Oct 1991

CUCUMBER

There are two kinds of cucumber: one is for preserving and the other is for raw as salad

The one for preserving is short and plump with white or black spikes, dark green in color that

turns whitish at the ends. If the spikes are white, these turn yellow or white as they mature.

If the spikes are black, this turns reddish when from end to end and has whit spikes.

PATOLA

Patola or luffa (scientific name) is commonly planted as vegetable or for food. According to

scientists, it contains calcium, iron and plenty of phosphorous.

There are two kinds of patola: one is the many-sided which is inherently ours and the other is

the cylindrical type, which is called “patolang Kastila”. Our local version is the sweeter kind.

POTATOES

Planting potatoes using growths has been tried and found better than using the root crop

itself. The former is more productive, and grows faster. This is possible with the varieties

Ackersegen and Mariella.