It seems that the current trend is to go for durians with fancy names and
numbers like Musang King, D101, D24, etc. My preference is still for original varieties. Now that I have the farm, I can plant the types of durians that I like. So, my adventure with propagating durians begins. There is only 1 durian tree at the farm and it is the type that I like, creamy sweet with yellow flesh. This tree is obviously planted a long time ago and probably from a seed. Last year, I only got about 10 fruits from the tree and this year it looks like I may get a good harvest. Every year we have a Durian Fest and I hope in one of those years, the timing of the fruiting will coincide and we will be able to serve this great tasting durian.
A few months ago, I got my hands on some durian tembaga and I really loved it so I decided to try to plant it from
the seeds. From the whole fruit, I got 8 good seeds whicht I planted in a polybag. Out of the 8, 6 germinated. The soil mixture that I use is one with rather high organic matter. I have not fertilized it, letting it obtain its nutrients from the soil mixture. I water them when the soil has a low water content, never letting it dry out.
The durian baby trees are now transplanted into the ground and insyAllah, in 7-8 years, it will start fruiting. Until then, it is maintained every 3 months to help its growth.
There are several reasons why I prefer to plant them although it will take longer before fruiting:
- I prefer plants and trees that have not been genetically modified.
- Trees plant from seeds lasts longer so it will be my heritage for the next generation to enjoy and possibly earn some good seasonal income.
- The taste, texture and color is great – nothing beats naturalness.
- Preserving the heritage for future generations – nowadays, most people plant the new varieties so this variety may be lost if not replanted – one of the goals of SHL.
InsyAllah, in about 7-8 years, I will be able to taste the fruits. Even if I don’t, I am happy to play my part in preserving our durian heritage, the king of fruits 🙂
never tried eat gen modified durian before because I feel it's very expensive. I'm sure in later years people will look for the old, original durian again.
I prefer the original too and I agree with you, the old, original durian may be the in-thing in the future as it seems people are more prone to plant the gen mod types now. Nothing beats the original 🙂
We will keep losing variety of durian gene pool if the current trend of cutting the old trees. I managed to plant a rare durian gajah variety that came from top of sg penchala hill. But it is not growing well due to the poor soil condition at my house. Durian tembaga that you planted is really nice to eat.
If you do get some durian gajah, I would love to have some seeds to start seedlings and insyAllah, plant at the farm. Thanks.
Sure Puan, have informed the kampung folks to reserve some fruits during the fruiting season.
Thank you.
Will you have any durian harvest this year? I would like to purchase some of your original durian.
Daniel, Sorry for the late reply. The trees are flowering now so I expect we will have some available. Please e-mail me at watighio@yahoo.com for your contact details so I can inform you when it is available. Thank you.
en R M Noor saya berminat hendak membeli anak pisang rotan jika ada. tk
Salam,
compared to local varieties, Monthong taste rather plain and odorless 🙂
I'm from west java, Indonesia, and it's not easy to find nursery close by that are selling 'old and original' seedling such as duren tembaga, candi (way bigger than monthong, almost jackfruit size), lai, petruk etc in one place. mostly they are selling Thai's and My's variety such as monthong,chanee or d24 and famous musang king.
since durian tembaga not originally from my area, here is my plan when i can get my hand on one. i'm already preparing seedlings from local variant for rootstock. I plan to grafting it with monthong for scion, may be using multiple rootstock ala duren bawor. And then after succeed, transplanting it again with duren tembaga. some says it will start to fruiting in 4-5 year just like monthong, with all its 'original goodness'.
i don't know, but worth to try. any suggestion?
Waalaikumsalam. I haven't tried grafting only planting from seeds since I wanted the trees to be stronger and live longer. Would be interested in hearing how your grafting turns out.