TESTIMONIALS

The famous stick incense and coiled incense manufacturer, Mr Zhi was so fascinated by durian that he eventually ventured into durian cultivation. Mr Zhi’s durian orchard which located in Tapah, Perak is divided into two plots of 5 acres and 8 acres.

The 5-acres plot is cultivated with varieties such as Musang King, Black Thorn, D24, 101 and others. According to him, the fruit drop period of Musang King durian typically takes around 20 days, whereas that of D24 durian takes about 40 days and above, hence farmers are recommended to make arrangement for fruits collection to avoid confusion afterwards.

Some of durian trees which did not flower during previous fruiting session of mid-year 2021 finally started developing flowers during this year’s fruiting session, one of the Musang King durian tree even bloomed robust flowers. Based on Mr Zhi’s observation, certain durian trees can still tolerate flower induction treatment. Tapah durian farmers usually do flower induction in the middle of the year so that the harvest period will fall by the end of the year in order to avoid competing with other durian farmers from all over Malaysia who generally harvest by mid-year, especially farmers from Pahang and Johor who mostly produce high yield. However, the dry weather in February triggered Mr Zhi’s durian trees to bloom again though he just completed a harvest season one month ago starting from last year December to this year January, therefore he has no other ways but to keep the flowers and wait for the trees to set fruits. Basically, he has realized that durian tree can easily flower as long as the tree is healthy, there is sufficient fertilization and the weather is conducive.

Different growth stages use different fertilizers

He started using products from Agrobridge (M) Sdn Bhd since three years ago and the effect is quite significant. He is especially into the use of chloride free fertilizer, Complex Green Special 15-15-15-5CaO-6S because it is made of potassium sulfate which can aids in durian trees growth. He also uses Innotec 12-12-17-2+8S+TE fertilizer during flowering season to enhance the quality and quantity of durian fruits effectively. Besides, he uses Innotec K12-6-24-2+3CaO+TE fertilizer particularly in fruiting period because it is rich in potassium (About 40% Potassium Nitrate) that can help to boost the fruit weights.

For the use of foliar fertilizers, he applies WUXAL Boron during flowering period in order to ensureenough nutrients for flower development, increase fruit set rate as well as reduce the formation of deformed fruits. On top of that, once durian tree successfully set fruits, soon he will start to take turn applying WUXAL Calcium and K40 to minimize cracked fruits while boosting fruit qualities. Moreover, Mr Zhi also uses WUXAL Multimicro Fluid which is rich in trace elements, not only for the purpose of assisting nutrients replenishment but also acts as an organic fertilizer, particularly suit farmers who promote eco-friendly farming just like him. Anyhow, by implementing proper fertilization, Mr Zhi has succeeded in inducing flowers for his durian trees even under the circumstances of bad weather.