laung tree flowering but many buds fall before I can pick, also unsure of harvest stage
How to manage clove flower bud drop and when to harvest cloves?
SSelvaraj9mo ago · 344 views
7 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓9mo ago
Cloves are the unopened flower buds, so you must harvest at the right stage, when buds are full sized and turn from green to a pink or pinkish red just before opening. If you wait and the bud opens into a flower it is no longer marketable as clove, so timing is critical. Some bud drop happens from moisture stress, sudden weather change, poor pollination conditions and pest or disease, so keep the tree well watered in dry spells and healthy. Harvest by hand without breaking the small branches that bear next season. Dry the picked buds in sun until they turn dark brown and brittle, with a good dry recovery from fresh. Confirm local pest issues and care with your KVK.
MMurugesan8mo ago
The pink stage just before opening is the moment to pick, I check the trees daily in season. Miss it by a few days and the buds open and you lose them. Drying till they snap and turn dark brown is when they are ready.
AArumugam8mo ago
I noticed more bud drop in the dry spells, so I water the trees through the flowering when it is hot and dry. The sudden dry stress was shedding my buds. Steady moisture during flowering held more of them on.
SSundaram8mo ago
Pick by hand carefully and do not break the small twigs, those carry next year's buds. A worker of mine pulled roughly and broke branches, and that part of the tree gave less the following season. Gentle picking pays back.
PPonnusamy8mo ago
Spread the buds thin and turn them while sun drying, the heaped ones in the middle stayed soft and went off colour for me. Dry them right through until they are dark brown and snap cleanly. A clean mat instead of bare ground kept my lot free of grit too.
KKarunakaran7mo ago
Keep the tree healthy and watch for pests on the flowering shoots, a stressed or pest hit tree dropped far more buds in my orchard. Steady water in the dry flowering spell and a healthy canopy held more buds to the pink stage. The KVK helped me sort out a pest issue one year.
SSubramani7mo ago
Check the trees every day once they reach full size and start to colour, the window to the pink stage is short. I keep a small basket and go over the tree in passes, taking only the ready pink buds each round. Picking in passes got me far more marketable clove than one big strip.