Planting materials

• Use grafts for planting
• For grafting, raise seedlings in polythene bags and when they are 9-12 months old, do inarching
• One month after grafting, behead the rootstock above the graft joint
• Epicotyl grafting can be undertaken successfully in jack
• Three to four month old, 10 cm long scions are grafted on five days old rootstocks in polythene bags by the cleft method during the month of June and keep under moist conditions
• The scions should be pre-cured 10 days before grafting by clipping the leaf blades and keeping the petioles intact on the twig
• The graft union establishes by 80 days after grafting operations
• A new method of approach grafting utilizing sprouted jack seedlings (maximum 20 days old) as root stock and tender shoot tips of 2 to 3 weeks old with one or two tender leaves as scion is successful, fast and cost affective

Planting

• Prepare pits of size 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm at a spacing of 12-15 m
• Fill pits with mixture of topsoil and 10 kg compost or FYM per pit to a level higher than the adjoining ground
• Plant the grafts in the same depth as they were in the containers, preferably in the late evening
• Deep planting results in poor growth of the graft
• Ensure that the graft joint is above the soil level
• Stake the plants to prevent snapping at the graft joints
• Excellent drainage and adequate watering result in better performance
• At no stage it should be exposed to drought or frost
• It is useful to provide some protection, especially to young trees
• Jack is rarely manured
• Even without fertilizer application, the jack trees come up well under Kerala conditions