Land Preparation

• Select partially shaded sites having adequate protection from high winds.
• Avoid exposed and shady locations. More than required shade delays bud formation.
• It can be successfully grown as inter-crop in coconut and arecanut plantations.
• In higher elevations, it can be mix-cropped with black pepper or coffee.
• Clove prefers partial shade and comes up well at higher elevations, having well distributed rainfall.
• Under Indian conditions, it is best suited for mixed cropping in older coconut or arecanut plantations or in coffee estates.
• In order to give a cool humid microclimate, intercropping with banana is ideal.
• In majority of cases, clove trees are planted in garden lands together with various other crop plants such as coconut, banana, jack, mango and others.

Propagation

• Clove is propagated through seeds obtained from fully developed fruits known as mother of clove.
• Collect fully developed fruits from high yielding mother trees.
• Dehusk the fruits immediately after collection by soaking in water and peeling.
• Prepare raised nursery beds with fertile soil rich in humus under the shade of trees.
• Sow the seeds flat at a depth 2-5 cm and a spacing of 12-15 cm.
• Water the beds regularly.
• Seedlings can either be retained in the nursery till they attain a height of 25-30 cm when they are ready for transplanting or potted when they are six months old and transplanted after another 12-18 months.

Planting

• Select 18 months old seedlings for planting.
• Prepare pits of size 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm at a spacing of 6 m x 6 m about a month in advance of planting.
• Allow to weather.
• Fill up the pits with mixture of burnt earth, compost and topsoil.
• Plant the seedlings during the rainy season, May-June or August-September.
• Provide shade and irrigation during breaks in the monsoon and summer.
• Banana or glyricidia may be planted to provide shade.
• Clove is generally grown as a mixed crop with coffee, coconut, arecanut etc.