Durian

• Why are my durian flowers and young fruit dropping?

  Heavy flower and fruitlet drop is partly normal in durian. When too little fruit holds, the usual causes are poor pollination, rain or drought at the wrong time, and stressed trees.

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• Durian roots and waterlogging: keeping trees out of wet feet

  Durian needs well-drained soil. Standing water weakens roots and helps Phytophthora spread through the orchard. Drainage, airflow and steady soil moisture are the first line of defence.

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• Why are my durian fruits cracking and splitting before harvest?

  Durian fruit cracking occurs when internal pulp expands faster than the rigid outer husk can stretch. The primary causes are sudden rain after dry spells, excessive chemical potassium blocking calcium uptake, and low soil organic matter.

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Paddy

• Paddy lodging (padi rebah): why it happens and how to prevent it

  Lodged paddy loses yield and grain quality and is harder to harvest. The most common cause is too much nitrogen; dense planting, low potassium or silicon and stem diseases add to the risk.

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• Paddy on acidic or low-CEC soils: why fertiliser seems to disappear

  Very acidic paddy soils release aluminium and iron that damage rice and lock up phosphorus. Sandy, low-organic-matter soils hold few nutrients. A soil test tells you which problem you have.

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Banana

• Yellow banana leaves: nutrient problem, waterlogging or Fusarium wilt?

  Yellow banana leaves can mean a nutrient shortage, wet roots, a leaf disease or Fusarium wilt. Fusarium wilt has no effective chemical treatment, so learning the signs and keeping it out of your farm matters most.

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Papaya

• Papaya flowering but not fruiting: sex types, heat, water and boron

  Poor papaya fruit set usually comes down to which sex the tree is, stress that changes the flowers, water problems, or boron shortage. Most causes can be checked in the field.

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Watermelon & fruiting vegetables

• Watermelon and fruiting vegetables: lots of flowers, little fruit

  Watermelon and other vine crops depend on bees to move pollen to female flowers, which stay open for only one day. Poor pollination, excess nitrogen and heat or water stress are the usual reasons fruit does not set.

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Tea

• Tea on very acidic soil: when 'acid-loving' goes too far

  Tea grows best in moderately acidic soil. Years of nitrogen fertiliser can push the soil too far, bringing aluminium toxicity, nutrient loss and falling yields. Testing, organic matter and careful liming bring it back.

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Coconut

• Coconut palms yielding poorly on sandy or poor soils

  Coconut is a heavy feeder, especially of potassium. On sandy or acidic soils that hold little water or nutrient, palms go short. Organic matter, moisture conservation and fertilising based on soil and leaf analysis help.

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All crops

• Why test your soil before you fertilise — and how to take a good sample

  A soil test is the basis for deciding what fertiliser and lime a field really needs. It only works if the sample represents the field, so how you sample matters as much as the lab.

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Watermelon & Sandy Soils

• Why does fertiliser wash away quickly on sandy and BRIS soils?

  Sandy soils have coarse quartz grains with almost no electrical charge to retain nutrients, leading to rapid leaching of nitrogen and potassium. Adding humic-rich organic matter raises the soil CEC and holds water in the root zone.

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Not sure what is wrong with your crop?

Send photos of the leaves, fruit and roots, with the crop age and what you have applied, and an agronomist will reply on WhatsApp. For fertiliser decisions, start with a soil test.

WhatsApp an agronomist →Book a soil test →

How these tips are written

Each tip is based on published work from bodies such as MARDI, the Department of Agriculture, universities, FAO and IRRI, listed at the end of the page. Product rates come only from the official NEXGROW booklet.