After almost about a month planting both the black thorn durian trees, they became sickly. Some leaves start to droop a little and turned yellowish. The rest are seen burning at the edges and chipped off as though eaten by insects. Some are even riddled with holes. They looked scorched!
I believe my mistake was that I did not treat the planting hole with lime and leave to rest for a week or two before planting as it’s commonly recommended. One of these durian trees is very close to an oil palm tree stump I left behind when felling it. I’m not sure if the rotting roots are attracting termites, which in turn are also attacking the root ball of this durian seedling.
I tried dressing it with some black soil and more organic matter. I’ve also started using Kitosan Plus, a growth enhancer and anti fungal solution that comes with Chitosan, a natural compound found in the shells of crustaceans and shellfish. Apparently, it’s a potent solution to combat a variety of diseases by boosting the immunity of the plant’s defence mechanism besides promoting healthy growth by helping its uptake of nutrients. Most importantly, it’s a natural product and I’m not about to flood the grounds and douse the plant with anti fungal chemicals and a cocktail of pesticides.
I hope this works because I’m already at my wits end. I will be applying Kitosan Plus as a foliar spray (2 ml to 1 litre of water mixture) once weekly, during which I will also be applying on the surrounding grounds of these affected durian plants. Fingers crossed!
