Hi Folks,
Have any of you tried closer planting Chaya at higher plant density/ closer together than the documents generally recommend? I recall recommended spacings of 60 cm and have read an article where they planted it at densities of 5000 and 10000 plants per ha… But I’m keen to hear if anyone has tried it at densities much higher than that… Say… 4x, 10x higher… More…
I know there are documents out there that recommend incredibly high plant densities for moringa, around 1,000,000 plant/ha (and higher) and that studies have been done showing the correlation between high plant density and high leaf production (with increasing mortality after harvest as well).
I helped set someone up with a bit of drip irrigations some weeks ago… And we planted two rows of Chaya really close- approx every 15cm while the other rows we planted it around 80cm apart with a faster growing crop they eat as a vegetable here (leaf hibiscus) in the gaps to use the space till the chaya establishes.
I am wondering if anyone has already done research on Chaya planted at higher densities. I don’t want to re-invent the wheel.
If you’ve planted Chaya at closer densities - please let me know.
I will post some pics of the Chaya at differ densities in coming days. My thoughts with the higher density is to be able to harvest sooner - and get more biomass.
Chaya from what I’ve observed produces really well but can be slow to establish… Slower to first harvest than moringa for example which one can harvest at around 75 days and then around every month - 40 days after that.
Could one plant Chaya way more intensively (closer together), as people do moringa - harvest sooner and if the density is too high… Just pull up some plants - give them away, expand the planted area later on if things get crowded?Or is it just gonna be a waste of time and planting material?
Intensively grown moringa is normally harvested by coppicing to 20cm or so… Does Chaya respond OK to that level of abuse? Normally I just pull leaves off and once I’ve chopped it down to 4 feet or so to give away planting material (cuttings) … I read somewhere that it prefers pollarding to coppicing.
Whatcha reckon? Could it cope with the root competition and lower harvesting cuts that higher plant density might require? Do you think higher plant density would translate to earlier harvest and higher yields?