Luis Navarro. Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain. Email: lnavarro@ivia.es
Ongzi, a zeal HORTICULTURIST,yet resides in a plant-free apartment…… thinks that plants deserved to be treated as LIVING THING, not merely as plants …… strongly condemns any form of CRUELTY TO PLANTS, yet enjoys feast on them…… collects only e-HERBARIUM, and proudly encourages others to do the same……
Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Citrus is Complicated 2.0 Genotypes Classification
Luis Navarro. Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), 46113 Moncada (Valencia), Spain. Email: lnavarro@ivia.es
Sunday, 11 June 2023
Malaya : Rubber Pioneers
June 11th 1877
22 rubber seedling send from Kew Gardens to Singapore.
11 planted in Botanic Gardens Singapore
Kuala Kangsar
October 1877
Sir Hugh Low ( 3rd Resident of Perak ) planted 9 rubber seedlings in Kuala Kangsar.
Only 1 survived today.
Seremban
1877 1 rubber seed was planted in Seremban, right in front of British Residents’ Official residence.
1883 A
few rubber trees were planted in Linsum Estate ( owned by Thomas Heslop Hill ),
amongst the coffee.
1902 1
picul ( 130 pounds ) of rubber produced from Linsum Estate and sold to England
for 3s 10d
Melaka
1896 Tan
Chay Yan 陳齊賢
( 1871-1916 ) planted 43 acre of rubber
at Bukit Lintang Malacca. Thus established
the first rubber plantation in Malaya.
It is also first rubber plantation in Asia.
Thursday, 27 April 2023
Ongzi's Golden Rule #1 Watering
For toiling the earth since the dawn of the second millennium, I have learned an important lesson, a Golden Rule for a farmer, which I long to share.
Be it a farmer, a gardener, an agriculturist, a horticulturist, a landscaper, or any other profession that involves tedious labor, the Golden Rule is surely applicable, especially in our scorching hot climate.
The Rule is: water! Supply, sprinkle, moisten, and drench whatever plants are being cultivated with water. Don't wait until tomorrow what you can do today, and definitely never put watering on hold. After all, water is the essence of life!
Regardless of darkened clouds or brewing storms, get the water truck filled for immediate watering, especially for turf. A smart farmer never expects free watering from the rain.
Rain can be a blessing, but it certainly cannot be predicted or depended on. After all, man can only rely on his own toil and hard work.
Rain can only be hoped for, never
prayed for! Man must not forget that
rain is beyond man’s might.
Sunday, 19 March 2023
Monday, 13 February 2023
Striga asiatica - jarum emas
Name
Scientific name : Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze
Synonyms : Striga lutea Lour, Striga coccinea Benth, Buchnera asiatiaca L.
Common names : red witchweed, Asiatic witchweed, rumput jarum emas, rempah padang
Order : Lamiales (mint order)
Family : Orobanchaceae (broomrapes)
The Orobanchaceae are annual or perennial herbs/shrubs, and most are parasitic – either holoparasitic or hemiparasitic.
S. asiatica is native to sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world including Australia and the United States.
S. asiatica is a obligate & hemiparasite.
Its seedlings are not visible above ground, but white succulent shoots can be found attached to host roots.
Mature plants have green foliage above ground, sparsely covered with coarse, short, white, bulbous-based hairs.
Mature plants are normally 15–30 cm tall, but have grown to 60 cm.
Leaves are nearly opposite, narrowly lanceolate, about 1–3 cm long, with successive leaf pairs perpendicular to one another.
Flowers, produced in summer and fall, are small (< 1.5 cm in diameter), sessile and axillary, with a two-lipped corolla, occurring on loose spikes. Flower colour varies regionally, from red, orange, or yellow in Africa to pink, white, yellow, or purple in Asia. The flowers give way to swollen seed pods, each containing thousands of dustlike seeds.
Underground stems are white, round with scale-like leaves, turning blue when exposed to air.
The roots (haustoria) are succulent, round, without root hairs, and found attached to a host species root system.
Striga asiatica parasitise important agricultural crops such as corn, sorghum, sugar cane and rice.
S. asiatica has been included in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD 2006). It has been listed as a noxious weed in several Australian states.
The plant can be used for treating intestinal parasites.
In Malaya, it is used in post-natal care.