Special Cultural Practices

SPECIAL
CULTURAL
PRACTICES
M.C. MADRID
Special Cultural Practices
Special Practices/Special Cultural Practices
 refer to production practices that are regularly

done but are particularly applicable to a specific
crop or group of crops
Special Practices/Special Cultural Practices
 light management
 wind protection
 physical control of growth and development
 chemical control of growth and development
 Light Management
Approaches
 Regulation of light intensity and/or light quality
 Regulation of light duration/darkness

 Light Management (Intensity and Quality)
Shade-loving or Sun-loving or
Shade-tolerant Crops Sunlight- tolerant Crops
Shading imposed by: Light interception increased by:
Building shading structures Pruning and training
polypropylene plastic, net, screen, cutting of unnecessary branches trellising or
wooden slat, plant leaves, etc --- as structures for training
roofing/shading materials Manipulation of plant spacing or density
Manipulation of plant spacing Wider spacing to maintain optimum leaf area
or density index at full canopy stage
dense or close planting in monoculture Planting orientation
Planting orientation Row planting at east-west orientation allows
Row planting at north-south orientation maximum light interception throughout the day
allows shading at particular time of the Supplemental light in close or semi-
day close growing structures
Intercropping artificial lights --- e. g. fluorescent lamps
Planting of multi-storey crops --- shade-
tolerant crops are planted below taller
crops (usually trees)
 Shading
 for sciophytes, shading is required for normal growth and

development
 light control during light sensitive stages of a crop
e.g. seedling stages
 Shading
tunnels
 Shading
fishnet roofing
 Shading
bamboo slat frames
plastic string net

 Shading
intercropping
 Light Management (Duration)
 Light control during vegetative stage or when crops are
mature for flowering may induce or delay flowering
 Light control is based on photoperiodicity of a crop

- critical daylength of crops
 Light Management (Duration)
Shortening of Darkness Period Lengthening of Darkness Period
Imposed by artificial lighting at Imposed by covering plants with

particular duration opaque black covers (not
• Induces vegetative growth penetrated by light) at particular
in short-day plant duration
• Induces flowering in short-day
e. g.
Chrysanthemum and aster -- plant
interruption of the night period by 4 e. g.
hrs lighting (100W bulb at 10m Poinsettia --- flowers at <11hr
distances and 180cm above the daylength. Covering the plants at 2-3hr
plant) before sunset to impose a >13hr
daylength will induce flowering
 Windbreak Establishment
 windbreaks or shelterbelts are rows of trees and shrubs
established around the farm to break the force of wind
 use of windbreak is a practical and effective way of
managing relatively strong winds of about 40 to 50 km/h
 a windbreak can reduce

windspeed up to 20 times
their height
Benefits:
1. Less damage to plant structure

2. Less prone to disease
3. Less soil and plant drying
4. Improved pollination/fruit set
5. Less fruit drop
 windbreaks should have deep root system and dense
canopy
 examples: ipil-ipil, bamboo, pili, tamarind, narra,
eucalyptus, mahogany, etc.
 windbreaks should be planted perpendicular to the
direction of the wind
 for small areas, these are
planted along the borders
while for large areas, these
are planted every rows
of crop
 Pricking
 transfer of seedlings from overcrowded container to

another container
 Hardening
 exposing young plants slowly to the outdoor environment
 involves withdrawal of water and fertilizer and gradual

exposure to increased light and high temperature
 Rouging
 removal of off-type or diseased plant(s) or plant part(s)
 Mulching
 mulch is a protective layer of a material that is spread on

top of the soil
 mulching materials can either be organic (e.g. grass
clippings, straw, bark chips, etc.) or inorganic (plastic,
stones, brick chips, etc.)
 Mulching
 Benefits from mulching:
prevents weed growth
conserves soil moisture
reduces soil erosion

 Mulching
keeps fruits and vegetables clean
cools soil surface and stabilizes soil temperature

 Mulching
o adds organic matter to the soil if mulch materials are

organic in nature
o improves aesthetics of landscape
 Training
 directs the growth of the plants in terms of
shape, size, and direction
 may involve pruning, bending, twisting, and

fastening of plants to support structures
wire
 Trellising (Training)
 provision of structural support to plants to:

a. keep stem, leaves, and fruits away from the ground
b. allow better exposure to sunlight
 for viny crops

e.g. cucurbits, gourds, pole sitao, yam, grapes, passion
fruit, etc.
 for some other crops that cannot stand vertically

e.g. tomato, vanilla, black pepper
Trellising
support /anchorage of plant growth and
development in order to maximize the yield of the
crops.
Importance of trellis
1. Give support to the plants
2. Easy management
3. Assurance for quality fruits
Types of
trellis
1. A Type
2. Vertical Type
3. H-Type
4. Box/ Over head Type
5. X Type
6. Pole type
7. Fence type
Pole type
fence type
arbor or overhead type

Vine training
is assisting the crop to
anchor into the trellis.
 Pruning
o removal of plant parts to attain a specific objective

o types of pruning according to its purpose:
a. preventive pruning: removal of dead and diseased

branches or plant parts
b. formative pruning: done to improve/ develop the
desired plant shape
c. corrective pruning: removal of interlacing branches
which are out of place
d. rejuvenative pruning: done to re-invigorate or
reshape the top of old trees
 Pruning
 other purposes of pruning:
o removal of undesirable
watersprouts and suckers
o open the tree canopy to
allow sunlight and facilitate
spraying operation
o produce a less dense canopy
 types of pruning according of nature of cut:

a. heading back : cuts are made on the terminal
portion of the plant to induce lateral bud
growth
b. thinning out : complete removal of a branch
of a tree
Pruning
is the removal of undesirable, non
productive plant parts.
Importance of pruning
1. To avoid nutrient, water, and sunlight
competition within the plants
2. To maintain the health of the plant
3. To increase the yield or quality of flowers and
fruits.
4. Minimize insect pest population
 Ratooning (Pruning)
 growing of a new crop out of the shoots arising from

previous crop
 reduces cost of production since land preparation
and planting materials are no longer needed
 e.g. in sugarcane, pineapple, rice, eggplant, and
sorghum
 Desuckering (Pruning)
 removal of unnecessary suckers from
the base (mat) of banana or abaca
 controls mat population
 prevents overcrowding and shading
 reduce competition for water and

nutrients
 source of planting material

 Deblossoming (Pruning)
 removal of flowers on the young woody plants to
have full canopy development
 Fruit Thinning (Pruning)
 removal of some fruits to minimize ‘inter-fruit’ nutrient and
assimilate competition
 e.g. in guava and melon
 Propping
 practice of providing support to bunches or stalk which
tend to bend due to heavy load of fruits
 e.g. in banana, durian, mango, rambutan, santol, and

pummelo
 types of propping
o single pole
o double pole
o cable propping
o tying plants to other plants or branches to trunk or
other branches
 Propping
 Propping
 Propping
 Propping
 Fruit Bagging
 enclosing or wrapping fruits,
either individually or as a
group, with suitable materials
(e.g. newsprint, jutesack,
and PEB)
 protection of the fruits from

possible damage due to
insects, diseases, birds,
strong wind, etc.
 Fruit Bagging
 Fruit Bagging
 Latex Stimulation
 use of Ethrel® to stimulate latex production of old
trees (>28 years old)
 Flower Induction
 Benefits:
o uniform and profuse flowering
o off-season production
 Flower Induction (Mango)
a. Hacking
 creation of wounds along the trunk of mango to
release ethylene
b. Smudging
 creation of a smokey fire below
the tree canopy and allowing
smoke to pass through the
foliage for several days
c. use of potassium nitrate (KNO3)
Dr. Ramon Barba – discovered the
efficacy of potassium nitrate (KNO3) as an
agent for flower induction in Philippine
mangoes (particularly the ‘Carabao’
variety)
 applicable only to ‘Carabao’, ‘Pico’

and ‘Pahutan’ cultivars
 KNO3 is sprayed at 2.0 – 3.0% during the early season
(Jul-Nov) and 1.0 - 1.5% during the late season
(Dec-May) to shoots which exhibit readiness-to-flower
 Stage of readiness to flower:
o mature leaves: brittle, dark green, crackling sound
when crushed
o no new flushes in any part of the canopy
o prominent and well-developed buds
o age of shoots: 6-8 months
 rain should not occur within

3h after spraying
 inflorescence will appear 7-14 DAS
 if no or poor flowering occur after

7-10 days, re-spray the tree at
low concentration
 if flowers are damaged (not taken enough care), re-

spray 1-1.5 months after damage to recover
d. use of other chemicals
 mango flowering can also be brought by thiourea,
ethephon, calcium nitrate, and paclobutrazol
 Flower Induction (Pineapple)
 considerations:
 pineapple is a short-day plant (flowers from Nov – Jan)
 plants should have at least 36 leaves and weigh

2.0-2.5 kg
 application of nitrogenous fertilizer should
be done 3 months before flower induction
 fruits are harvested 5 to 6 months after

flower induction
a. use of calcium carbide (CaC2)
 granular: size of bean seed; placed in the ‘heart’ or
central portion of the plant
 solution: 2 kg/20L of water; apply 30 mL/plant
poured in the ‘heart’ of the plant
 apply early in the morning to take advantage of the dew
b. use of Ethrel®
 240 ppm + 1% urea:
o pour/spray 30 mL on the
heart of the plant
 25 ppm + 2% urea + 0.04% CaCO3:
o pour/spray 50 mL on the heart
of the plant
 results to 95% flowering
c. use of other chemicals
 10 ppm naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)
 2500-5000 ppm β-hydroxyethyl hydracine
 Visible effect after 2 – 4 weeks

 Flower Induction (other fruit crops)
 timing of irrigation
o irrigation of lanzones, calamansi, rambutan, and durian
trees after drought period stimulates flowering
 heavy pruning
o stimulates flowering of atis, lime and grapes
 Flower Induction (Vegetables)
a. Vernalization
o a process of thermal induction in plants,

in which growth and flowering are promoted
by exposure to low temperatures (1°C to
6°C)
o vernalin, a hypothetical substance, is the
vernalizing stimulus
o the effect of cold treatment increases with
its duration until response is saturated
--- the longer the cold treatment, the
(-) (+) more permanent is the effect of
vernalization
a. Vernalization
o occurrence is mainly, but not entirely limited to
the long day plants (e.g. radish, Chinese
cabbage, carrot, lettuce, spinach, and other
biennials) which have protracted periods of
vegetative growth
o devernalization occurs when vernalized imbibed

seeds or young seedlings are exposed to high
temperatures, short days, or low light intensity in
particular species
b. use of chemical
 exogenous application of GA3 (3µg to 100µg
or more) enables many cold-requiring
plants to flower without low temperature
 the amount of GA has been found to

increase after vernalization treatment
 gibberellins can substitute for the cold

requirement needed to induce flowering
and the effect is almost entirely restricted
to LDPs
 Photoperiodic Flower Induction
 Photoperiodism
o a phenomenon by which the duration of day and night, as
measured by the built-in-timing mechanism, determines
when a plant is going to flower
o flowering then can be induced by modifying the

duration of exposure of plants to light
 Photoperiodic Flower Induction
o types of plants based on their response to daylength:
 short day plants (SDPs) - flower rapidly when days get
shorter than some critical daylength
- e.g. pineapple, sugarcane, poinsettia, soybean
 long day plants (LDPs) – flower rapidly when the days are
longer than some critical daylength
- e.g. aster, lettuce, potato, cabbage, carrot
 day-neutral plants (DNPs) – not affected by daylength

- e.g. modern varieties of rice, corn, and mungbean,
banana, citrus, coconut, sampaguita, coffee,
cucumber, tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper
 Control of Sex Expression
 in cucurbits, the primordium of the floral bud is originally

bisexual and can develop into a pistillate, staminate, or
hermaphrodite flower depending on genetic constitution
and environment:
o long days and high temperature enhance maleness

o short days and low temperatures enhance
femaleness
 Control of Sex Expression
short days; low T°,

long days; high T°;
auxin; ethylene
GA
♀ ♂
flower primordium
o auxin and ethylene increase femaleness

o gibberellins increase the staminate/pistillate ratio in
monoecious cucurbits like bittergourds and induce
staminate flowers of gynoecious lines of cucumber
 Distance Isolation (seed production)
 done to maintain genetic purity and to avoid seed
variability very critical especially for cross-pollinated
crops
Vegetable Mode of Pollination Isolation Distance
(m)
Garden pea normally self-pollinated min of 10
Chickpea normally self-pollinated 10
Tomato normally selfed with crossing by insects 30-60
Eggplant partially-selfed and cross-pollinated 400-900

Cucumber partially-selfed and cross-pollinated 400-1000
Cabbage largely crossed pollinated by insects 300-1000
Cauliflower cross pollinated by insects 300-1000
 Time Isolation (seed production)
 if seed production is small and distance isolation is

not possible, there should be difference in time of
flowering especially if the crops planted are of the
same species
 there should be at least 3 weeks difference in

flowering
 or bagging of emasculated flowers of plants selected

for seed production is also practiced to avoid
contamination by pollens from other plants

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SPECIAL

 refer to production practices that are regularly

 Regulation of light intensity and/or light quality

 Regulation of light duration/darkness

 for sciophytes, shading is required for normal growth and

bamboo slat frames

plastic string net

 Light control is based on photoperiodicity of a crop

Shortening of Darkness Period Lengthening of Darkness Period

Imposed by artificial lighting at Imposed by covering plants with

 a windbreak can reduce

1. Less damage to plant structure

 transfer of seedlings from overcrowded container to

 exposing young plants slowly to the outdoor environment

 involves withdrawal of water and fertilizer and gradual

 mulch is a protective layer of a material that is spread on

 Benefits from mulching:

prevents weed growth

conserves soil moisture

reduces soil erosion

 Benefits from mulching:

keeps fruits and vegetables clean

cools soil surface and stabilizes soil temperature

 Benefits from mulching:

o adds organic matter to the soil if mulch materials are

 may involve pruning, bending, twisting, and

 provision of structural support to plants to:

 for viny crops

 for some other crops that cannot stand vertically

arbor or overhead type

o removal of plant parts to attain a specific objective

a. preventive pruning: removal of dead and diseased

 types of pruning according of nature of cut:

 growing of a new crop out of the shoots arising from

 controls mat population

 prevents overcrowding and shading

 reduce competition for water and

 source of planting material

 e.g. in banana, durian, mango, rambutan, santol, and

 protection of the fruits from

 applicable only to ‘Carabao’, ‘Pico’

 rain should not occur within

 inflorescence will appear 7-14 DAS

 if no or poor flowering occur after

 if flowers are damaged (not taken enough care), re-

 plants should have at least 36 leaves and weigh

 fruits are harvested 5 to 6 months after

 Visible effect after 2 – 4 weeks

o a process of thermal induction in plants,

o devernalization occurs when vernalized imbibed

 the amount of GA has been found to

 gibberellins can substitute for the cold

o flowering then can be induced by modifying the

 day-neutral plants (DNPs) – not affected by daylength

 in cucurbits, the primordium of the floral bud is originally

o long days and high temperature enhance maleness

short days; low T°,

o auxin and ethylene increase femaleness

Eggplant partially-selfed and cross-pollinated 400-900

 if seed production is small and distance isolation is

 there should be at least 3 weeks difference in

 or bagging of emasculated flowers of plants selected

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