PACKING TECHNIQUES EXPERIMENTED
| TEST # 1 with CHITOSAN | ||
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Seedlings
of SYNSEPALUM DULCIFICUM have grown 4 weeks in a light soil mixed with coco
fiber Synsepalum are hard to grow after they have been prepared for export and traveled several days bare roots
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After
washing out the roots with water ( a gently dip suffices, no soil particles
are firmly attached ), 5 plantlets are dipped in our CHITOSAN solution
and 5 are not. The two groups are wrapped in the same dry paper
3 days, our
temperature being 25 - 33 Celsius with high humidity : such conditions of
heat and lack of humidity put much stress on the plantlets, especially the
lack of humidity of the wrapping paper. On day 2, by
applying the hands on the paper we clearly feel that much less
evaporation has occurred from the plants treated with CHITOSAN . After day 3 the two groups are separately grown under plastic sheet in a a pot. Until day 4 it looks like all plantlets will survive. But on day 5, one of the non treated plantlets die. On day 6 the results are shown below : the group of the 5 untreated plantlets on the right side have not dried out yet but they are obviously on the verge of dying. On the left side ( a piece of bark separates the 2 sides ) among the 5 CHITOSAN treated plantlets, 2 are in a bad shape and 3 seem to have recovered definitely. |
On day 7 the result are as follows : the 5 non treated plantlets have died while in the 5 CHITOSAN treated plantlets ( with a yellow point below ), 3 have recovered. |
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| TEST # 2 with CHITOSAN | ||
| Here the idea is to test 20 Synsepalum sprayed with CHITOSAN a week before packing and see how they react to different packing conditions. The plants are 40 cm high and about 2 years old. | They were grown in a light soil mixed with husk of rice, both burnt ( black ) and not burnt. Clearly the soil adheres very loosely to the roots : it is a very well drained mix, not sticky and slightly acidic ( pH 6.7 ). | |
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In a tank of clean water ( not saturated with dirt ) |
the roots will be washed out most easily |
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| However dipping in clear water is not efficient if the plants must pass through strict phytosanitary control : many bits of soil and dirt are still attached to the roots ( the pink points below ); using hands to withdraw them would stress the roots and take time; whereas at this stage speed is the key to a good survival rate. |
In order to avoid delaying the wrapping of the plants we use a fine mist of water under pressure to remove all the attached soil particles |
The 20 Synsepalum are all dipped in pesticides and fungicide, then divided into 4 groups to test the effects of using CHITOSAN dipping and PLASTIC BAG for a 3 days stay in cartons. # 1 : CHITOSAN + PLASTIC BAG # 2 : CHITOSAN NO PLASTIC BAG # 3 : NO CHITOSAN + PLASTIC BAG # 4 : NO CHITOSAN NO PLASTIC BAG |
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| Plant gel and moist paper will prevent the roots from drying out during 3 days in the carton | On day 4 the 4 groups are unpacked and potted in a well drained soil mixed with coco bits , rice husk and charcoal. | |
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| From day 4 to day 10 the 20 plants are put with their pots under close plastic bags. ( a single big bag for several plants ). Our temperature ( we are in the rainy season ) is from 25 Celsius at night to 33 daytime. It rains long hours almost every day outside the bags. | On day 11 the plastic bags are open. We don't have the contrasted results of our test # 1 above with the plantlets lacking moisture during 3 days in cartons; in this test # 2 the plants without CHITOSAN dipping look slightly more stressed, but all of the 20 plants are in a very good shape, whatever be their group. Based on the results of our test # 1 we link this good shape to the spraying of CHITOSAN several days before packing. | |
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| TEST # 3 with CHITOSAN | ||
| In this test we have dipped two groups ( small size and big size ) of CODARIOCALYX MOTORIUS in in our CHITOSAN solution. After 5 days in cartons, the leaves of the 2 groups are all down but some small white roots have grown ( they can be seen on the picture below ). We repot them in a light soil. | After 10 days in soil covered with plastic bags ( hence without watering ) at outside temperature the survival rate is 100 %. Indeed CODARIOCALYX MOTORIUS plants in the 2 groups are doing well, with many new small leaves. Given the very fine stems of these plants, and their apparently fragile structure, plus 5 days in cartons at tropical temperature, a 100 % survival rate is quite noticeable. | |
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| TEST # 4 with CHITOSAN on FRUIT PLANTS | ||
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