February 19, 2018/Clay Plager-Unger

Greenhouse Native Tree Production

The elevated seedbeds at the Planet Drum greenhouse at the Catholic University are bursting with native fruit and forest species seedlings. One has Chirimoya, Tamarind, and Guachapeli trees. Another has various citrus trees, such as Toronja, Mandarina, Naranja, and Lima Naranja.

Orlando, Claudia, and Laura pull weeds from one of the elevated seedbeds.

One morning, after weeding the seedbeds, we transplanted seedlings from the seedbeds to repurposed plastic soda bottles.

Claudia and Orlando fill plastic bottles with a soil mix.
Orlando transplants an Avocado tree into a plastic bottle.
Orlando digs up Tamarind seedlings for transplanting.

Certain species, such as Mangoes and Guava de Machete, grow better if the seed is planted directly in the plastic bottle.

Here’s a germinating Mango tree. As the trunk and first leaves emerge from the seed, they have a pink hue. Mango seedling germinates directly from the plastic bottle.

Photos by Clay Plager-Unger.

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