Spices and Condiments

Cultivation and seed propagation

Cultivation

Propagation

• Large cardamom can be propagated by seed as well as by vegetative methods.
• The seedling plantation starts bearing fruits after five years, whereas plants raised by rhizomes start bearing after three years of planting.
  
• Therefore, the vegetative method is preferred for the commercial plantation of large cardamom.
Vegetative propagation

• Large cardamom is generally propagated by planting a section of the rhizome, called a bulb or slip, from an established clump.
  
• Care should be taken to select rhizome slips only from disease-free, healthy and high-yielding mother plants.
  
• The plants propagated by this method come to the yielding stage two years earlier than those grown by seed propagation.
  
• However, repeated vegetative propagation reduces plant vigour and hence should be avoided.
Seed propagation

• The seeds for sowing in the nurseries should be collected from well- matured capsules selected from high-yielding mother plants.
  
• The capsules are dehusked just after harvesting and the seeds are thoroughly washed in water to remove the mucilage coating.
  
• The seeds are then mixed with wood ash and dried in the shade for 2 to 3 days. Now the seeds are ready for sowing.
  
• Generally, about 30 to 50% germination is obtained in large cardamom.
  
• To increase the percentage of germination, treating the seeds with concentrated sulphuric acid for 2 minutes or concentrated nitric acid for 10 minutes is advised.
Primary nursery

• Beds of 5m x lm and about 15 cm to 25 cm in height are prepared. A thin layer of humus-rich jungle soil is spread on the beds.
  
• The seeds are sown in lines about 10 to 15 cm apart.
  
• They are covered with a thin layer of fine soil and the beds are mulched with paddy straw or any other dried grass to a thickness of 2 to 3 cm.
  
• The beds are irrigated daily to keep them moist. The mulch should be removed after germination and the beds should be kept free of weeds.
  
• There are two seasons for sowing the seeds: pre-winter (October-November) and post-winter (February-March).
  
• The seeds sown in October- November remain viable till the end of winter and start germinating in March.
  
• However, it is observed that the seedlings obtained from the pre-winter sowing are healthier and more vigorous compared to the post-winter sowing, hence pre-winter sowing of seeds is preferred.
  
• Pandals (thatched structures) may be provided to protect the seedlings from the sun. Regular weeding and watering should be done. The seedlings are ready for transplanting in June-July.
Secondary nursery

• Here, the beds are prepared as in the primary nursery.
  
• The seedlings are transplanted to these beds in rows at spacing of 10 cm between plants and 15 cm between rows.
  
• After about 12 months, the seedlings will be ready for planting in the main field.
The following steps are involved