TROPICAL GREEN PLANTS

Bird eye chilli

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Dove Orchid

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Can't you see a dove in that flower?

Cocoa Plant

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Water in well at a hand apart

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Rose

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Saporta

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The saporta,sapodilla or bully tree ,which is commomly called saporta in India,belongs to the family Saportaceae.It is a tropical tree native to Tropical America.
It is a tropical fruit which likes warm,moist weather.It thrives in places where maximum and minimum temperature do not go beyond 34 degree C and 11 degree C.It does nit like hot dry summer.It can be grown in places where the temperature touches the freezing-point only for short period.It grows on hills in South India up to a height of 1000 metres,but it does not do well above 500 meters.It thrives in areas with 100 to 150 cm. rainfall.It can grow in a variety of soils ,but sandy soils the plants are uprooted by strong winds.

The tree bears fruit.Some uses the milky latex from the bark of the yields an important commercial product ,gutta percha which forms the base for the manufacture of chewing-gum.

Coffee

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Coffee is used as a beverage crop.Coffee is grown in tropical countries.Coffee belong to a family Rubiaceae.About seven varities of coffee are cultivated economically.Of these Coffee arabica and C. canephora are commercially cultivated.

C. canephora is a shrub or bush with profuse branching and dark green leaves.The flower are self-fertile.It takes 8-9 months to mature into fruits after fertilization.Each fruit produces two seeds.

Global production : Coffee is one of the important agricultural commodities of internation trade.It is grown in over 80 countries.The major producing countries are Brazil,Coloumbia,Gautemala,Uganda,Cote de'ivoire,Mexico,India and Indionasia.

Cardamom

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Cardamom is the most attracted spice in the market.It is known as the queen of spices.From ancient days itself India is known as the mother land of Cardamom.It grows well in the western ghats of India.

The spice is used as a flavor in variety of food items including ice cream,beverage.Even it is used in ayurvedic medicines.The scientific name of the cardamom is 'Elatoria Cardamom'.

Rambutan

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Rubber

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Rubber is a cash crop which grows well in tropical regions,especialy in Kerala and Sri Lanka.The soil and climate of the region makes is suitable for rubber to grow well in these region.

Rubber has its origin in Brazil.The tribal people there called the tree as 'hevea'.It has its scientific name as 'Hevea brasiliensis'.
Natural rubber among the family of rubbers has a wide varity of industrial and domestic use.

Cultivation : The rubber tree is sturdy ,fast growing and tall.A warm tropical climate and evenly distributre annual rainfall of about 200 cm provide optimum condition for its growth.The tree has well develped tap root and laterals.The latex is found in almost all parts of the tree but taken especially from the bark.

Harvesting and Processing :
Tappinng : Latex is obtained from the bark of the rubber tree by wounding during which the thin shaving of bark are removed.It is done to cut open the latex vessels.
The bark has an innner layer of soft bast,an intermidiate layer of hard bast and outer protective layer of cork cell.The latex vessels are concentrated in soft vessels.They are arranged in a series of concentric rings of interconnecting vessels.The number of distribution of latex vessels and the proportion of hard bark show wide variation among clones.
Tapping is done on trees that have attained a girth of 50 cm at 125 cm height from bud union.Tapping is done using special knives.The general recommendation system of tapping is 'half spiral'.Latex is a hydrosol containing 30-40% rubber in the form of particles.Rubber is a polymer of CIS 1,4 poly isprene units.Besides rubber particles,latex contains other particles such as lutoids.

Passion fruit

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Passion fruit is a climber grown in tropical region.The juice of passion fruits is good and is used as flavor in confectionery,preparation of Ice cream and cakes.The juice is an excellent source of vitamin A.It is one of the most attractive of flowering plant.It produces a fruit with unique flavour and aroma.the fruit can be cut into halves and the pulp scorped out and eaten fresh by itself or added to fruit salads,icecream or fruit juices.So many processed products like jam,jelly,squash,passion fruit in syrup,passion fruit concentrate etc. are made out of the pump.
The passion fruits are adapted to tropical and sub tropical areas with high rainfall and are sensitive to extreme of temperature.Passion fruit grows in a wide variety of soils but sensitive to water logging.They do best in deep fertile welldrained loamy soil.

Propagation
Passion fruit may be propagated by seeds,cutting or grafting.The most common propagation are through seeds and cutting.

Planting
Passion fruit seedling are to be planted at a distance of 2-4 m between rows and 2.5-5.0m plants.Passion fruits are grown on either vertical or horizontal trellises.

Manuring
Suggested rates for mature vines(850 vines/hectare) are 500kg. N,100kg. P and 500kg. K per hectare per year.Apart from this adequate quantity of organic manure should also be added to the soil.

Flowering and fruiting
The flower buds usually take 17 to 46 days to develop,while the time from set to fruit maturity is 60 to 90 days.Maximum growth of fruit takes place in the first 20 to 40 days after pollination.The development of occur just before harvest.

Plant protection
Fruit fly and are be major pests.Dimethoate is recommended for control of the pests.
The brown spot,phytophthora blight and alternate spot are the major disease.Copper oxychloride or mancozer every spot are the weeks during May to September and every 10 to 14 days during October to April will give good control of these disease.

Mangosteen

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Garcinia mangostana
Guttiferae

Mangostine is a tropical fruit found to be grown in tropical region where there is heavy rainfall.It is a slow growing evergreen tree producing sweet,soft and delicious fruit with exciting flovour.The fruit is the size of a saporta and hard shell inside which there are three to five seeds,each covered with a thick,white melting pulp with an exceptional aroma.The mangosteen tree with large shining leaves is the most beautiful to look at.
It serves mainly as a freash fruit ot topping for icecream.The fruit have medical value to strengthen the appetite and to cure indigestion.
Mangosteen trees can adapt to different kinds of soils from hilly red soils mixed with gravels to kian ub tge plains.It requires a tropical climate with high humidity,high temperature and abundant rainfall and shady environment.

Propagation
Mangosteen is mainly propagated by seeds.The seeds are 2 cm long and 1 cm in diameter,low in viability, but can germinate in 4-6 days.Mangosteen can also be propagated by grafting,budding or air layering.Traeting with IBA promotes rooting in air layer.

Planting and manuring
Pits of size 60 cm x 60cm x 60cm are taken and filled with top soil and FYM.Then the seedling are planted at a spooring of 7 to 10 m depending on the location and fertility of the soil types.Mulching of each plant is very beneficial to keep the soil moist and to avoid weed grown.
Fertilizers are applied three times in year to the bearing trees.
a) before flowring
b) after fruit set and
c) after fruit.

In each time 0.25kg N/tree is applied along with 20-25kg.FYM/tree P2O5 @ 0.5kg per tree is suggested after harvesting of fruits.

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Mozanta

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Hibiscus

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Heliconia

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A native of Caribbean Islands,Indonasia and tropical America,Heliconia with more than 200 cultivated species and over 2000 hybrid varieties, is grown in garden for its large and showy flower bunches and plantain-like habit. It has bright color inflorescence in different shades.

HELICONIA is widely used in land-scaping as a hedge, for its evergreen large plantain-like leaves and tall plant habit. It has an underground spreading stem which produces aerial shoots. The shoots of heliconia in turn, bear leaves and flowers. If grown in a garden, the plant will eventually become a large clump occupying a wide area and may even become a menace. Hybrid varieties like ‘Caribbean’ ‘Prince of Darkness’, ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Imperial’ are slow-growing by nature and are good to be maintained in a specified area of garden. While growing other varieties, the growth of the rhizome must be restricted by a medium high brick work or by other barriers.

Commercially, heliconia can be grown as an intercrop in plantation or as a main crop in areas where soil is loamy and humus-rich.Commonly grown heliconia hybrids like ‘Irish Bannochie’ produces 40-60 bunches;’Fire Bird’,’Richmond Red’ varieties 40-50 from a single clump per year,and have more commercial value. Another commercially grown variety ‘Prince of Darkness’ which produces less than 30 flower bunches also fetch good price in the market.

‘Episcopalis’,’Psittacorum’,’Sheroni’,’Fire fish’,’Drawf Jamacian’ etc have dwarf plant habit among the heliconia varieties and thus can be maintained in large garden pots as well.

Large and showy bracts comprise the attractive part of the flower bunch.The boat like bracts are colourfull, usually in hues of red, yellow, orange and even pink or combination of these mixed with green marking and various splashes. The bracts are smooth in some species and wooly in ‘vellerigera’.They enclose the real flower inside ,which are seen singly or in small groups and are inconspicuous and unattractive .The inflorescence which emerges from the middle of leaves of a length of over a meter are seen erect or pendent,’Rostrata’,’Chartreuse’,’Bright Red’,’Waxy’,’Penula’,’Temtress’ etc have pendent inflorence while ‘Episcopalis’,’Caribaea’,’Bihai’,’Stricta’ etc have erect flower bunches. In tropical climate heliconia produces flowers all through the year with less blooming during the monsoon season.

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