Choosing the site and planting a breadfruit tree

Where breadfruit thrives, how far apart to plant, and how to set a young tree so it survives its first year.

Where breadfruit does well

Breadfruit wants warmth, rain and drainage. It grows from sea level to about 600 m in Jamaica, in most soils except waterlogged clay. Choose a spot that:

drains after heavy rain (no standing water a day later)
gets full sun for most of the day
is sheltered from the strongest wind if possible — a hillside below a ridge, or behind a line of taller trees
is at least 8 m from buildings and power lines

Spacing

Sole-crop orchard: 10 m x 10 m (about 40 trees per acre)
Mixed farm with other tree crops: 12 m between breadfruit, with ackee, avocado or coconut between
Home garden: one tree needs a circle of about 8 m clear canopy space at maturity

Wider spacing means bigger, longer-lived trees and less wind damage. Tight planting looks productive early and costs you later.

Planting

Dig a hole about 60 cm wide and 60 cm deep. Keep the topsoil separate.
Mix the topsoil with a bucket of well-rotted manure or compost. No fresh manure — it burns roots.
Water the seedling in its bag, then cut the bag away rather than pulling the plant out.
Set the plant so the soil line matches the level it grew at in the nursery. Deeper than that and the stem rots.
Fill with the topsoil mix, firm gently, and make a shallow basin around the tree to hold water.
Water thoroughly — 10 to 20 litres — then mulch a ring 1 m across, keeping mulch 10 cm away from the stem.
Stake loosely on the side the wind comes from. Tie with soft cloth, not wire.

The first year

Water twice a week in dry weather for the first three months, weekly for the rest of the first year. Keep a 1 m circle weed-free. Replace mulch as it rots. A young tree that dries out in its first dry season is the commonest loss.

When to plant

Plant at the start of a rainy period — May/June or September/October in Westmoreland — so the tree has months of natural water before the dry season.