Theme 1: Construction of the shade house

The shade house is very important in the creation and management of a nursery, because it allows to reduce the mortality of the plants in the nursery, to have healthy and vigorous plants and to guarantee the success of the future plantation. The height of the shade is 2 m. The distance between 2 boards is 60 cm. The orientation of the side screens is East to West. The recommended light percentage is 50% because it takes 50% light and 50% shade for plants to develop normally. The dimensions of a nursery shade for 1 ha of plantation are: length of 12 m and width of 7 m.

Theme 2: Filling and classification of bags

The filling and the classification of the bags are very important in the creation and the management of a nursery, because they allow to facilitate the circulation and the maintenance work, to ventilate the nursery and to promote the growth of the plants. It is recommended :

• use the black plastic bags, perforated at the base, 27 cm long and 12 cm in diameter;
• fill the bags with humus soil (sandy-clay or clay-sandy);
• arrange the filled sachets in strips 1.20 m wide in double rows of 10 sachets; - two consecutive double rows must be separated by 12 cm.

Theme 3: Sowing beans

The correct sowing of the beans is very important in the creation of a nursery, because it ensures good germination. For the sowing of beans, it is necessary:

• use selected seeds;
• water the bags the day before;
• sow healthy, non-germinated beans 1 to 2 cm deep, one bean per bag, with the big end of the bean at the bottom. If in doubt, lay the bean flat so that the pivot is straight;
• water the bags after sowing.

Theme 4: Nursery maintenance

Maintaining the nursery helps reduce plant mortality, avoid water and nutritional competition from weeds, produce vigorous young cocoa plants and ensure the success of future planting. It consists of :

• water the nursery every day for the first 15 days after sowing, then every other day;
• treat plants against insects as a preventive or curative measure;
• reclassify the plants by removing the non-germinated bags and group the plants of the same size.