Nerium
Botanical Name – Nerium indicum Mill.
Family – Apocynaceae
Tall types
Single Rose, Single White, Single Red, Double types.
Dwarf types
Petite Salmon, Petite Pink.
Soil –
Red lateritic or black or loamy soils with adequate drainage .
Climate-
Tropical and subtropical conditions.
Propagation and planting
Hard or semi hard wood cuttings of 60 cm length are used for propagation. Rooted
cuttings are planted during June – July in 30 x 30 x 30 cm pits dug at 2 x 2 m spacing and
filled with FYM, red earth and top soil. The number of cuttings required for planting in a
hectare is 2500.
Nutrition
FYM @ 20 t /ha is applied in 2 equal splits during January and August.
Pruning
1st year– remove one third of old mature stems near ground level.
2nd year– remove one half of the remaining old stems and cut back long new shoots.
3rd year– remove remaining old stems and cut back long new shoots
Biofertilizers
Soil application of 2 kg each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria per ha at the time
of planting. It is to be mixed with 100kg of FYM and applied in pits.
Irrigation
The plants are irrigated once in 10 – 15 days depending on the weather conditions
Pests
1)Leaf Caterpillar
Spray Phosalone 35 EC @ 1 ml/l
Flowering season
Throughout the year; peak flowering from April to August.
Flowering begins 4 months after planting.
100 – 125 kg of flowers/ha/day.
