How to plant jackfruit

The surest way is to buy a healthy grafted sapling from a government or other reliable nursery and plant it at the start of the rains, in a deep, well-drained spot that never floods. TNAU raises plants by grafting, and grafted trees bear years earlier than seedlings.

When to plant

• Tamil Nadu: TNAU gives June to December. October–November planting suits only places like the Tamil Nadu coast, where the main rains come with the north-east monsoon.
• West coast: KAU advises planting at the start of the monsoon showers.
• Northern plains, east, north-east and central India: July–August, once the rains have soaked the ground (a guide).
• North-west dry zone: July–August, and only where young plants can be watered through the next summer (a guide).

These months are a guide: plant when the rains have properly wetted the soil in your district, and avoid the hot, dry months of April and May before the rains. In the north, plant early in the rains so the roots settle before the first cold nights (practical guidance).

Pit, spacing and planting

• Pit: TNAU suggests 1 × 1 × 1 m and KAU 60 × 60 × 60 cm. Refill with the dug topsoil mixed with well-rotted compost or farmyard manure, a little above ground level so the pit does not hold water (KAU).
• Spacing: TNAU gives 8 × 8 m and KAU 12–15 m between trees; ICRAF says crowded trees should be thinned to 7.5–12 m. For a garden tree, leave room for a wide crown. This is only a rough starting point, not a safe distance from a house, wall, pipe or septic tank, so ask your local horticulture office if space is tight.
• Planting: set the plant at the same depth it stood in its bag, keep the graft joint above the soil, and tie it to a stake so it does not snap at the joint (KAU). KAU suggests planting in the late evening. Make a basin, water at once and fence the plant where cattle or goats roam (practical guidance).

Raising a jackfruit plant from seed

Fresh jackfruit seed sprouts easily, but it must not dry out: ICRAF describes the seed as recalcitrant, which means it does not survive drying. Take seeds from a fully ripe fruit, wash off the pulp and sow them soon in a deep bag of loose, moist soil. Seedling trees bear later, from about the 8th year in TNAU's guidance, and nurseries use such seedlings as rootstocks for grafts. Because the tree forms a long taproot (ICRAF), move the seedling to its final place while it is still young (practical guidance).

First-year watering (rough starting point)

Check the soil a few centimetres down near the roots: water deeply when the root zone is drying, skip watering after rain, and never let water stand around the stem. TNAU says to water about once a week until the plant is established, then as needed. The intervals below are only a rough starting point, not trial results.

Season	Rough interval (check the soil first)
Monsoon (Jul–Sep)	Usually none; only in a long dry break
Post-monsoon and winter (Oct–Feb)	About every 7–10 days if the soil is dry
Spring (Mar)	About weekly
Summer (Apr–Jun)	About every 3–4 days in hot, dry places