Green India

SANDAL SEEDS : Sandal fruits are collected fresh from the tree or as soon as they have fallen on the ground during April-May and September-October. They are soaked in water and rubbed to remove the soft pulp. The wet seeds are dried under shade and dry seeds stored in polythene or gunny bags. About 6,000 seeds weigh to a kilogram. Fresh seeds take 4 to 12 weeks to germinate after dormancy period. Eighty percent of seeds are viable upto 9 months. Germination is about 80 percent under laboratory conditions and 60 percent under field conditions. Nursery Techniques : The seed beds are either sunken or raised and covered with straw which is removed when the seedlings emerge. When seedlings attain 4 to 6 leaf stage, they are transplanted into polythene bags, along with seeds of a primary host tree Cajanus cajan. SOILS TYPE : It is capable of growing in different kinds of soils, even in shallow rocky soils, but cannot stand water logging. It can tolerate very high temperatures. The plant is highly susceptible to browsing and fire.

Prepare soil before sowing the seeds, by mixing Agro peat or Manure with soil (30:70), this will help in germination of seeds. If you are not able to find good quality Agro peat or manure, you may also use the available soil. Care needs to be taken to see that the soil is clean from any weed or insect. Now open the seed packet on a white sheet of paper as while opening the seeds might fall, which are not visible to naked eyes. After preparing the soil, insert the seeds into the prepared to half (0.5) inch of depth. While watering, care needs to be taken to only sprinkling water through a sprinkler or manually using your hands hands, do not use pipe or a mug to water for the first week, as the force of water might damage the seed germination process. Germination may take place 10-18 days, depending upon different varieties.