Planting out the oil palm seedlings

28. One month before planting, dig a hole at each place where you have put a peg. The hole should be 0.60 metre long and wide, and 0.80 metre deep. When you are digging the holes, cut any roots that you find in the soil. Do not mix the soil from above and the soil from below.

Planting out the oil palm seedlings

A few days later fill in the holes with the earth you have dug out. At the bottom of the hole, put the soil you have dug out from the top, and at the top put the soil you have dug out from below.
Fill the hole well, so that no saucer shape forms on top.

Bottorn soil now on top

29. Lifting the seedlings from the nursery The right time to plant is the beginning of the rainy season.

In this way the young plants can develop their root system before the dry season arrives.

Choose the biggest and the best-grown seedlings. Leave in the nursery any seedlings that are small or badly grown.

Cut away all the dry leaves and the tip of leaves that are too long. Put grease over the cut ends where you have removed leaf tips. Tie the leaves together.

30. Do not lift the seedlings long before you plant them. Lift and plant them in the course of a single day.

In order to keep a big ball of earth around the roots, lift and plant the palm oil seedlings with a plant setter.

31. If you use a Socfin plant setter, place the seedlings after lifting into a wooden box in order to carry them to the plantation.

32. It you use a Java plant setter, leave the seedling inside the plant setter when you carry it to the plantation. The seedling is tied into the plant setter.

Java plant setter

33. Make the holes for planting in the plantation, with the plant setter you use for lifting the seedlings from the nursery beds.

Do not make the holes several days before planting. If you make the holes too long before planting, the rain may wash earth from the sides into the hole, or the sun may dry out the earth on the sides.

The ball of earth around the roots must be level with the soil of the plantation.

The earth must not form a hollow around the crown. Fill in with earth the space between the sides of the hole and the root ball.

Remove with a little stick all the earth that has fallen on the leaves.

The crow