Low cost household nursery

It is not always possible for people to purchase trees for household, farm or village planting programmes. And again, it is not everyone's interest to spend time growing seedlings especially in hotter/drier areas.

If you remember my Footsteps NZ - TZ blog about Mama Bustani, there are some people who will want to grow a few trees and may no have financial resources to put into the project.

A person may be able to grow only twenty trees and there are of course no limits.

 This small nursery site is designed to maintain moisture levels and assist the establishment of pricked out seedlings of cuttings.

The nursery site is dug into the soil [the soil dug out can be used in the pots - soil mix]. If some plastic sheeting is available, lining the excavated hole is an added benefit. Large stones are placed at the bottom and finer  gravel as a floor to sit the pots on and to level the bottom.

Use bricks or stones to hold up a removable shade-frame made from sticks, bush or any light material.

Pots may be reused polythene pots that are commonly in use, or any container that is suitable [with drain holes] or containers can be made out of banana trunk fibre [bark] or light similar material.

The fibre strip needs to be about 6cm wide and placed in a cross and stand a bottle in the center.
Fold the the strips up the bottle and tie a thin piece of banana fibre/string to hold in place. Trim with a sharp knife

The fibre takes the shape of the bottle and the bottle can be carefully removed then the cavity left is simply filled with soil mix.

A seedling can be pricked out into the pot, or a seed/seeds can be sowed directly. The pot can be set on the nursery site and grown on.
It is a good idea to harden the plants off - exposing them to harsher weather conditions - before outplanting.

There is no need to remove the fibre pot at planting, but the whole thing should be buried because fibre exposed to the air could act as a wick, drawing moisture from the plant.

Not every location has banana fibre available - other suitable materials are - sacking, fertilizer bags, old trouser material, cardboard.

It is always interesting to experiment.

Adansonia digitata

The Baobab is an icon of all Africa as is the flat-topped Acacia. Mbuyu in Swahili and is the tree in my story 'Ndoto ya Grace' Grace's Dream.

The Baobab differs in form throughout Africa but can still be recognized. 'The tree that God planed upside down' because for much of the year the tree is leafless.

It is one of the longest living trees in the world >1000 years! The tree is remarkably drought resistant and the pithy wood holds a lot of moisture - my main picture on the Footsteps NZ - TZ blog is of a Baobab with a hole in it made by elephants searching for water.

Description: I don't really need to describe the tree. A large, deciduous tree with a thick trunk >8m, with  the tree reaching >20m in height - thick branches. The tree is bare for as long as 9 months. The bark is smooth and grey, very thick. Leaves - like fat fingers for the name - and lightish green (and usually a long way from the ground). Flowers are large and white, opening at night to attract bats for fertilization - the nectar has an unpleasant fragrance. Fruit are large, hairy and yellow/brown on long stalks - easily seen on the bare tree. There are around 100 seeds lying in a white/pink powdery pulp, which is edible.

Uses: Fodder - the fallen leaves are eaten by browsing animals. Food - the leaves are eaten in some areas and the dry pulp in the seed capsule is cream of tartar - high in calcium and vitamin C. Made into drinks and coating for traditional sweets. Medicine from bark and roots.String and rope is made from fibre within the bark.

Propagation: There are + - 2 500 seeds per kg and propagation is best by seed. Germination rate is sporadic and can even take as long as seven years! Nicking the seed is beneficial and germination may occur within 30 - 50 days.

The tree grows quickly and is both fire and termite resistant.

Seeds are eaten by monkeys - and humans.

We never produced many Baobab trees for outplanting because they take up so much area when they grow. We did produce a few 'for fun' and they are growing well.

Corylus avellana

Corylus avellana in New Zealand is called 'Hazel Nut' and in America it is known as 'Filbert' , which is the way with common names.

We never grew Hazels in Tanzania, but it is a species that could grow in cooler areas. However the reason I want to discuss this species is that it is useful throughout the world and there is a story about it.

The production of hazel nuts was deemed to be a cash crop for people who have such and interest so at the nursery we decided to produce some for sale.
The idea was that roasted hazel nuts, coated in chocolate could be sold at a premium - especially targeting the Japanese market.
The 'demand' was that the nuts should be of a large, even size. So cultivars were produced and one called 'Whiteheart' was deemed to be the best. But the variety did not pollinate well because of the different ripening times of the male and female flowers. Several varieties of pollinators were identified.

We sought guidance from the academics Lincoln University and they could provide cutting material. Corylus avellana is difficult to propagate from cuttings, and were were advised that the cuttings needed to be set into trays at the very earliest instance. The cutting material was from suckers.
The first year we took the cuttings and packed them in water-retaining crystals and set the cutting into trays back at the nursery. Then sat them on heat and under mist. Out of all that, the result was a 10% take. Very expensive plants indeed, especially so because Lincoln University is some 300 km from the nursery and workers needed to be accommodated and fed.

The next few years, we ran a ferry service of filed trays to Lincoln where the cuttings were set and ferried back to the prop house at the nursery - all on the advice of the academics - but all very expensive. The take was not improved by doing this and the cost of production had to be subsidized by other crops. The pollinators were doubly difficult to produce and the cutting material was not available in good amounts.

When I returned from Tanzania the production of Corylus avellana was still lower than demand and the method had not improved. Below is the method I devised that results in a take of around 90%.

But I'm not all that sure that 'Whiteheart' are any better than than other varieties and for sure do not produce a large nut.
I like all nuts and particularly enjoy hazels, but I'm not much of an expert on confectionery. Those Ferrero Rocher chocolates are a testament to marketing with tiny hazel nuts that I would probably reject - and for me they do not rate when compared to chocolate scorched almonds!
So big nuts are not all that important when it comes to confectionery.

Description: A shrub or small deciduous tree up to 3 m. Many branched and often with suckers. Growing tips hairy. Bark is greyish and smooth - growing tips green. Leaves ovate and toothed >10cm but often smaller. Mid green. Make flowers are drooping catkins and female are inconspicuous, small, green. Nuts are in winged husks that open to reveal a hard shelled nut - sometimes in clusters of up to 4.

Uses: Mainly known for nut production, but provides good, low shelter shelter. Hot burning fuelwood and coppices well.

Propagation:

Well the pic isn't all that clear.

Grow stool plants and allow suckers to start. Place over two old car tyres and fill with sawdust [or other media]. It is reasonable to wound the suckers.
After the growing season, remove the tyres and strip away the media. This reveals rooted suckers that can be cut off and potted on.

Otherwise plants are produced by growing the nuts as a seed - I usually crack the hard shell.

Here in New Zealand aphids are attracted to the leaves but do not seem to do harm. However the aphids are able to move on to other plants.
In production orchards the suckers become a problem and are removed when small by using a chemical desiccant.

Albizia gummifera

Albizia gummifera has been called Peacock Flower but the Swahili name of Mkenge is more understood in Tanzania.

A tree endemic to East Africa but is also found in West Africa, Ethiopian Zaire and Madagascar. In Tanzania it is found in rainforest from around 600 m - 2 600 m above sea level. There was a very large tree behind out house at Makumira.

Description: A large deciduous [or partly deciduous] tree to 15 m, with branches ascending to form a flat top. Trunk diameter >1 m. Bark is grey and smooth. Leaves are shiny and dark green with leaflets being rectangular and the veins diagonal. Flowers white/pink clusters with prominent stamens. Fruits are pods in bundles and shiny brown, flat with raised edges >20 cm long [sometimes shorter] and 3 cm wide containing 8 - 41 flat, brown seeds.

Uses: Firewood, general use timber, household utensils [no taste to the wood], beehives, traditional medicine, fodder, bee forage, soil conservation, nitrogen fixation, shade, shelter.

Propagation: There are >15 000 seeds per kg which can be stored for a year if kept dry and insect free. Germination is quick, 4 -12 days and with a rate of >80%.
Fresh seed will germinate without treatment but stored seed will need cold water soaking for 12 hours, better though is to nick the seed coat.
In the pot the seedling grows well and needs [or performs best] shade when first out-planted.
The tree is fast growing in good conditions and will coppice.

The gum makes a lather/soap, but despite the name, gum is not harvested from the tree. The pale brown heartwood is reasonably strong and is easy to work.
The nectar in the flower attracts monkeys, and they eat the whole flower. Monkeys can be raiders and damage other crops.
The leaves quicken the ripening of bananas when layered in unripe fruit.
Generally it a an attractive tree.

Acacia xanthophloea

We did not grow Acacia xanthophloea in the nursery because the tree is associated with areas where there is a high water table, so we did not have areas to plant them - though they would be good at Muriet village.
The Swahili name is Mgunga but as well there are a number of tribal names. The English Fever Tree came about (a) because the local people used a bark infusion as a malaria remedy and (b) because early Europeans associated malaria with the tree because mosquitoes live in the water where they grow, so they recognised the association.

Village authorities generally tend to prohibit the cutting of the tree because it grows in groups and the latent belief that it is a malaria cure - which it is not, though who knows maybe it was, because the parasite becomes resistant to treatments as time goes on.

The tree is easily recognised by its green-yellow bark and the fact that it usually grows in groups.

Acacia mearnsii

Acacia mearnsii is the (English) Black wattle, or in Swahili Muwati.

The tree is indigenous to Australia and has a wide natural range - from the hot Queensland in the North to cool Tasmania in the South. In Tanzania it is planted at higher elevation, 1,500 - 2, 500m and is planted on many homesteads.
At Lushoto commercial plantations were established for the extraction of tannin, but the operation seems to be in limbo.

Description: A small tree up to 15 m high. The tree often leans because of the shallow root system. Bark is grey and smooth when young becoming black and fissured with splits and curling with age. The split release brown resinous gum. Leaves are feathery and a dull green, leaflets are small. The stalks are10 - 12 cm long and there is a gland at the base. Flowers are pale yellow, small round heads on branched stalks - sweetly scented. Fruit are pods, either straight or or bent 5 - 10 cm jointed between the seeds. The pods dry to a dull brown colour.

Uses: Very good firewood and charcoal. Poles, posts and tool handles. Good bee forage (pollen), soil conservation, nitrogen fixation, fibre (bark), gum, tannin.

Propagation: There are 50 - 80 000 seeds per kg, they are black and hard and store well.
Germination is >80% if hot water soaked or exposed to fire. Nicking is a sure method but is fiddly because the seed is small.
The tree grows well in nursery pots and performs well at outplanting - responds to super phosphate.

I have grown this species in the NZ nursery as it is used as a chipping crop. However it can become a pest and will even survive amongst P. radiata plantings.
My opinion is that green trees are always good in Tanzania and climate will control its spread. Fuelwood is in short supply so controlling its spread. It does not have thorns.
Thin strips of fresh bark (from young trees) make good cordage - especially in making wattle and daub buildings - drying to be very firm.
The tree grows quickly but tends to be short-lived.
Termites damage the tree from time to time and sometimes there are fungal attacks.
However the tree is useful as cash crop on small scale farms.

Acacia albida

Acacia albida is also known botanically as Faidherbia albida and the Swahili name we used was Mgunga, which is known a a strong upright tree.
Mgunga is indigenous to the Middle East and much of Africa - the drier, semi-arid areas, as well as riverine zones in Tanzania where it will grow to an elevation of 1800m. The species generally prefers well drained soils.

Description: Mgunga is one of the tallest of the Acacias - to 30m, with a high rounded crown. It is deciduous often spring to life just before the rains. The branchlets tend to zigzag and are shiny grey. Bark is dull grey, fissured with scales. Thorns are in pairs and often pointing downwards - straight about 2cm. Leaves are compound 3 -8 pairs of pinnae each with 5-25 pairs of grey/green leaflets up to 1cm - rounded and overlapping. Flowers are slender spikes to 14cm, creamy white and attractive to bees, fragrant and appear before foliage. Fruit are distinctive twisted pods, twisted and brown-orange to 25cm long, thick - especially the edges, containing >20 distinctive, hard seeds.

Uses: Timber - local construction, firewood and charcoal, posts, utensils, food flavoring (pods), stock fodder (especially the fallen pods), shade, nitrogen fixation (soil conservation).

Propagation: There are >9000 seeds per kg with 75% viability. Seeds are able to be stored for a long period if kept dry and free from insect attack.
Nicking the seed before direct sowing provides the most even germination. Treating with hot water and soaking for 24 hours is effective but needs to be repeated on seeds that do not swell on the first attempt.

The pods fall to the ground and are much liked by livestock. Of all the indigenous trees that we supplied, Mgunga was the most widely accepted. This is because it is useful and farmers liked the fodder supplied.
In some areas where the tree was unknown, we had to do some talking for the species to be accepted.

After outplanting, the tree grows rapidly - which is a good thing because it does not have to be protected from browsing animals for an extended period.
The species is good to shade crops because it does not compete and enriches the soil.