Percolator Fertigation Post
6th June 2020
Percolator Fertigation Post or PFP tower is your one and only solution to address all the challenges for growing a high yielding pepper plant. This is a specially devised, future-proof technology which is better than any existing column methodology of planting where each tower will have a life of not less than 50 years without any damage or breakage. The PFP is a unique product made from Porous concrete, researched and developed in Virgo Industries that has earned several awards and worthy mentions in leading agricultural journals. PFP can be used to farm pepper and other creepers crops.
PFP tower is manufactured using a special porous concrete technology which facilitates roots to penetrate inside the cavity filled with soil and manure through the porous concrete holes. This enables more nutrient absorption through all the roots, therefore, the plant growth is accelerated with minimal use of manure. These posts are made from several porous concrete rings stacked one over the other.
They have a diameter resembling a coconut palm, which is around 11 inches in diameter and 8 inches in height, weighing approximately 11 Kg per unit.
Installation of PFP Tower
In order to install the PFP post, dig a pit or hole on the ground of with approximately 1 feet depth, pour the concrete binding mixture and then insert the first PFP ring unit into it. Afterwards, stack the PFP ring units one on top of the other binding them together to erect a cylindrical post like structure. The recommended height for each PFP posts are 8 feet to 10 feet tall.
While the PFP post is half erected, for approximately a height of 4 feet, you can fill it with a mixture of soil, cow dung, manure and coconut husk fiber constituting the so called potting soil. You can plant the pepper vine sapling on the PFP post similar to how you plant it below the support tree.
PFP posts can be used to grow pepper anywhere you can imagine – beneath the overhead electric cable line, on rocky surfaces using soil where support trees are impossible to cannot be grown, on top of terrace, home garden etc.
Yield and Harvest from PFP
Pepper vines on PFP posts will start bearing pepper corns from the first year onwards. By the 3rd year, one PFP tower will yield around 3 Kg of dried pepper per year. The pepper vine on PFP post will gradually begin displaying the features of bush pepper vines. Bush peppers have usually have side branches growing out. These branches would eventually bear pepper corns throughout the year. The pepper vines on PFP posts will have all their roots seeping into the perforations absorbing water and nutrients. It will eventually show the properties of bush pepper by bearing green pepper throughout the year.
Harvesting Pepper – Since the recommended height of the PFP post is just 8 feet, anybody can harvest the pepper corns very easily with the help of a step stool.
High yield to land ratio – A unique advantage is that, you can plant the pepper vines very close to each other in about 2 meters (6.5 feet) distance between the posts. This enables high density pepper cultivation possible – 100 posts in 10 cents of land and of course, 1000 posts in 1-acre land. With this product, you are able to farm harvest pepper throughout the year.
This will enable us to erect 100 PFP’s in just 10 cents of land allowing a harvest of 300 Kilos of dried pepper within the 2nd year by the 3rd year of planting.
Issue with support trees/poles
The major challenge in growing pepper plant is to find and install support trees/poles.It is very challenging to maintain these support trees/poles since they get damaged easily or break off in due course of time.Even the wind can take them down. Some support trees might be infected with fungus attack, decay and cavities which will in turn affect the pepper vine attached to them.
It is amazing to see how fast these pepper vines grow, as you do not have to wait for the support trees to grow. In order to get an ideal diameter for the support tree, for example, a coconut palm support tree would take approximately 15 years of growth to reach the required diameter as a support tree. The PFP post is the perfect substitute or even a better substitute which provides a full grown support tree as a ready-made alternate solution.
The pepper vine on a support tree will only be able to absorb nutrients from the soil on the ground where it is planted. While applying manure to pepper vines on support trees, these support trees take half of the manure supposed to be taken by pepper vines.
On the contrary, growing pepper vines on PFP posts completely eliminates this risk of wastage of manure by ensuring the availability of nutrients exclusively for the pepper vines.The PFP post enables each and every creeper root of the pepper plant to draw and absorb water and manure from the entire length of the post through its percolating cylindrical core. This is the main reason why the pepper vines show exponential growth when they are grown using PFP posts.
While the pepper vine bears peppercorns within 3 years using support trees, it just takes 1.5 years for pepper vines on PFP posts to bear peppercorns to its maximum capacity yield (though from 6 months onwards, most pepper vines start bearing pepper corns). It is also very easy to harvest pepper corns from PFP posts in comparison to harvesting from the support trees.
Future of Pepper Cultivation
We have great confidence in pepper cultivation. Right from ancient times, from the times of biblical King Solomon, pepper was sought out from Kerala (from ancient Kerala port city called Muziris). One of the main reasons for colonization was the search and quest for our Black pepper, also known as “Black Gold”. Ever since those times, now and forever, no viable alternative exists to replace black pepper from our kitchen shelves to tantalize our culinary pleasure. This gives us more confidence in pepper cultivation. We are proud and humbled to say that this is a pioneer innovation in the world with regards to pepper cultivation and has acquired several awards and recognition.
For more reading, please refer the agricultural publication – https://issuu.com/krishijagran1/docs/aw_june_2018_web/48
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
1) How do we refill manure in the PFP tower?
During installation itself, we can fill the soil and fertilizer mixture into the cavity. After 1 year, the existing soil and manure mixture will get compacted and sink inside. Most of the manure will be absorbed by the pepper vine. This will create a sinkage of soil-manure mixture and a hollow space is created on the topmost of the PFP tower due manure absorption. So using a ladder, we can reach the top of the PFP and refill the manure mixture. This time there is no need to refill soil since soil is already retained within the PFP post. Only once a year, we need to make a manure mixture using organic manure, coconut husk, cow dung and apply it on the top most cavity generated.
2) Is PFP and column method of agriculture the same ? How PFP is more economical than normal column method?
There are different types of column methods.The specialty of the column methodology implemented using PFP tower is that, each tower will have a life of not less than 50 years without any damage or breakage. At present, this is the most proven and successful type of column-method farming available in the world. Also the PFP tower is manufactured using a special porous concrete technology which facilitates roots to penetrate inside the cavity filled with soil and manure through the porous concrete holes. This enables more nutrient absorption through all the roots, therefore, the plant growth is accelerated with minimal use of manure.
Unlike other column methods, every part of the plant, capable to absorb manure will receive nutrients and benefit the plant growth since the PFP’s manure cavity is available on the entire length of the tower.
From an economic stand point, the PFP tower lasts you for almost a lifetime (estimated 50 years), lower your manure cost and frequency of applying manure, lower your installation and maintenance cost, improve your yield, improve your yield to land ratio as well as the PFP towers are portable. In case, you decide to sell the land, this post can be removed and reused/reinstalled in another land.
Other column methods and why they are not very successful –
1) Issue with Net-type column method.
There are other column methods where nets are used. The issue with net-type column method is that after some time, due to the weight of the pepper vine, these nets will either tear away or collapse. Those net-type and other column models were experimented and proven failures.
2) Issue with Solid Concrete post column method
There is another column method where some people use to grow pepper plants on solid concrete posts. The issue with that column method is that, there is no manure filling mechanism to accelerate pepper plant growth, if the concrete post is solid. Its just like or comparable to growing pepper vine in trees without the added advantage of manure absorption through the central cavity. If you try to grow pepper vines on a solid concrete post, the pepper vines will wilt, wither off and dry up due to constant heat radiating from the solid concrete post.
3) How is PFP post different from solid concrete post?
The PFP post is quite different in this context since it contains large number of perforations and holes which enable the PFP post to maintain a cooler surface. Hence a micro environment ideal for the pepper vine can be maintained on the surface as well as within the cylindrical hole of the PFP post from where the pepper vines draw optimum moisture and manure. This can be illustrated with the help of a scenario where a cooler micro-climate is maintained within caves in a rather heated up rocky mountain. So, you can assume that these PFP posts maintain an optimum and cooler micro-environment with the help of these cave-like multiple porous concrete perforations or holes. The sunlight striking the surface of PFP post will never heat up the post, rather sunlight gently glides across superficially on its surface without heating up the post.
4) What would happen to the pepper vine after it grows and reaches the maximum length prescribed for the PFP post ?
The pepper vine will never bend or droop down. It displays the properties of bush pepper and will gradually cover the entire diameter and surface area of the PFP post. After growing vertically to its maximum limit, the plant will get an instinct that it cannot grow up, hence it will start growing bushy and horizontally since the nutrients are available over the surface of the PFP post through the percolator holes.
5) Where can I grow pepper using PFP tower?
PFP posts can be used to grow pepper anywhere you can imagine – beneath the overhead electric cable line, on rocky surfaces where support trees cannot be grown, on top of terrace, home garden etc.
6) How cost-effective and economical is PFP post ?
- No Labour cost – Unlike harvesting from support trees, it is easy to harvest from PFP post using a step stool or small ladder. Once a year application of manure reduces labour cost. Installation is very easy and anyone can do it.
- No need to think about replacement for 50 years. It last you for a life time.
- Reusable and can be reinstalled – If you sell your property, you can uninstall the pepper posts and reinstall it to easily anywhere.
- Manure application – Reduce cost and frequency of manure application. Reduce manure wastage.
- High Yield to Land ratio – Enables high density pepper cultivation possible – 100 posts in 10 cents of land and of course, 1000 posts in 1-acre land.
7) What can be done if there is too much intense sunlight? Will I be able to grow pepper vines in PFP?
Absolutely , yes. If there is too much intense sunlight bothering the pepper plants, you can install a shade net very easily over the posts.