Selecting of Planting Material

Selecting of Planting Material

So now you know how to select and store healthy seeds for the home garden. Let us now look at other types of planting material you can use to set up your home garden.

Here is some of the information on how much planting material you will need and what parts of the plant you will need to collect them from.

Selecting Cuttings and Other Plant Pieces
Some plants may be grown from plant parts or cuttings e.g.:

Sweet potato slips
– taken from the tip of the vine
– ~30 cm (12”)

Cassava cuttings/ sticks
– the middle of the cassava stem
– from 8-9 mths old plants
– ~23cm-30cm (9”-12”),
– with 9-12 nodes

Yam setts
– pieces or whole yam heads
– 5cm x 5cm x 8cm (2” x2” x3”)

Dasheen
– pieces of the corm head with pieces of petiole
– from vigorous, healthy plant
– 5 cmx 8 cm (2”-3” )

Ginger – with 2-3 nodes (eyes)
– ~5cm (2”) piece

Selecting Suckers

When choosing suckers:
• Only take suckers from vigorous banana/ plantain plants
• Suckers should be about 3 feet high and have small spear
shaped leaves

Selecting Budded and Grafted Fruit Trees

Fruit trees for the Home Garden should not occupy a large space
• Branches should allow easy movement
• Choose disease free plants
• Roots should be a deep tap root system

Advantages of Budded and Grafted Plants
• Grafted plants more uniform in their growth habit
• Flower or bear fruit earlier than plants grown from seeds
• Can select a root system adapted to your environment
• Some root-stock produce extreme vigor
• Can propagate more species or varieties

Information courtesy the Extension Training and Information Services (ETIS) Division

Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries

Publications