PRUNING/TRAINING

PRUNING / TRAINING

• When seedlings reach a height of 1 meter, prune the growing tip to 90cm high. This can be done using a sharp knife, panga knife or pruning instruments.
• Prune again when the growing tip reaches a height of 1.5 meters, 2 meters and 2.5 meters
• This pruning will encourage the tree to become bushy and develop a strong production frame, which can also produce pods within easy reach
• The pruning practice also is used as a way of harvesting leaves for further processing
• If the pruning is not done, the tree tends to shoot up vertically and grow tall; this makes it to have few branches, hence few leaves and parts as raw materials for processing