WEEK 5 - SEED SOWING

       Greetings my fellow planters and readers! It's already the fifth week of our field work and for this week we have another activities that might pique your interest which will called seed sowing.

       On the 4th October of 2019, as usual our morning started by gathering at the Agrotech site for weekly roll-call. After the recital of surah Al-Kahfi and finished sang the Negaraku, UiTM Dihatiku and the Planter's Song, representative by each Part gave their morning talk. Our representative for this week is Nur Fadhilah from class B. With the morning talk to ended our weekly roll-call, we proceed to the Nursery for our field work.

Fadhilah gave her talk about Coconut Production in Malaysia.

       Seed Sowing is a process of casting handfuls of seeds over prepared ground, or broadcasting (from which the technological term is derived). Usually, a drag or harrow is employed to incorporate the seed into the soil.The types of seeds that we used for this activity is the Pumpkin seeds and Chili seeds. The tools and equipment that are used in this activity was hoe, sowing tray and watering can.

       Before we do our seed sowing, we need to make our planting bed to plant our pumpkin. The size of our planting bed is 3 meter x 4 meter x 50 cm and we mix the soil that we have measured with organic matter to supply it with nutrient. Then we make 3 hole on the planting bed to put our seeds in it. The seeds that we plant in our planting bed are the pumpkin seeds. Each hole we put about 3 seeds after we washed it. Before that, we cover the seeds with Thiram fungicide to prevent fungus from growing. And then we water it and are tasked to water it 2 times a day after putting some mulching on the planting bed.

Part 2 students making their planting bed.

Pumpkin seeds are washed and dried for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin seeds are covered with Imas-Thiram 80 fungicide.

Pumpkin seeds are inserted in planting bed and watered two times a day.

       For chilli seeds, we used the sowing tray that has cocopeat in it and insert it with the same amount of pumpkin seeds which is about 3 seeds in each space. We also needed to water it 2 times a day to make sure it grows healthy. For the pumpkin seeds which we planted in the planting bed, two people are needed to share one planting bed so that we can cooperate in taking care of it. While the chilli seeds are one of each that will be taken from the sowing tray.

Chilli seeds are planted in the sowing tray.

       Around 10 a.m, we have our break together with the Planter's Executive and enjoyed our foods and drinks. Unfortunately, during the peak of our break period, the rain started to pour down and we have to concluded our day at the moment as the Planter's Executive instructed.

Question Section

1.Describe 3 types of seeds

Dehiscent seeds

Dehiscent fruits do not disperse seeds on their own. The outer covering must be broken to disperse seeds to grow. This can be done by deterioration or spread by consumption by animals, such as pumpkin and nuts, peas and beans.

Nondehiscent seeds

Nondehiscent seeds burst on their own when dry. These include the Sunflower and Dandelions.

Fleshy Fruit Seeds

Fleshy fruits are fruit that have pulp. Disperse seeds by dissemination from feces of animal that ate the seeds/fruit such as Apple, Watermelon, Guava, Papaya, Grapes, Pumpkin and etc.

2. Name the fungicide used and explain how to use it

Imas-Thiram 80

First, you need to fill the container about half of it and put seed. After that, mix the seeds with Thiram according to the instructions given for measuring and mixing and wait for 10 minutes before putting it in the planting bed.