Calotropis plant is seen as weed growing in wasteland . Earlier over 50 years ago farmers used to cut this calotropis plant from the waste land around and incorporate it near the root zone of coconut trees in the soil .Bcoz it prevents button shedding ( premature dropping of female flowers from the inflorescence ) .
Now let us see what is the main cause of button shedding .When one of the micronutrient elements called BORON is deficient in soil ,the female flowers , that upon perfect pollination and fertilization develops into fruit ( coconut ) shed prematurely from the inflorescence and yield of average number of coconuts per tree is reduced to 50-60 a year or most of the time the entire bunch is wasted and seen like a broom without even a single fruit in a bunch .
The Boron is playing great many roles in metabolism and growth and development of any plant on this earth . As for coconut is concerned it is a cross pollinated crop with female flowers of one coconut tree being fertilized with pollen grains ( male part ) of another coconut tree due to time difference in the maturation of male as well as female flowers in the same inflorescence of any one coconut trees . The button like shapes in the inflorescensce of coconut trees is seen by farmers as young and tender fruit and when it shed prematurely the majority of farmers don’t know what to do .
Why shed prematurely ?
The button shaped female flowers when mature and ready for fertilization secrete honey like tasty liquid over the tiny pores on its tip .The bees that visit male flowers of another coconut trees, carry the pollen grains ( male reproductive part ) by a tuft of hairs in its abdomen and deposit it over the females flowers .When the bees visit female flowers to taste the honey fluid, the pollen grains are deposited over there and it start germinating on the fluid and the pollen tube grows in length down the pore canal to reach the ovule and fertilize it .On successful fertilization the female flowers develop into fruit . When there is a deficiency of boron element ,the pollen tube will not grow long enough to reach the ovule ,thus leaving female flower unfertilised .The unfertilised female flowers will ultimately drop in about a day or two .Another use of boron is its role in the development of conducting canal that attaches female flower to its rachis in inflorescence . In case of deficiency of boron element this conducting canal will not develop well and flow of water and nutrients to female flowers will be arrested ,thus causing premature falling of buttons . For the purpose let me limit the use of boron with these two valuable observations in coconut . So to overcome this sort of issue , we need to apply boron micronutrient to coconut trees where deficient is noticed .
This calotropis plant has plenty of boron and when it is incorporated around the root zone it supply enough boron as it decomposes in the soil and prevent shedding of buttons .
