Spacing tissue-culture Cavendish for a first-cycle 18t/ha

Tissue-cultured Cavendish plantlets germinate and establish with far less variation than sucker-derived material — every plant in a batch shares the same genetic line, the same growth stage at dispatch, and (within a few days) the same field establishment date.

That uniformity changes the spacing maths growers are used to. Sucker-propagated blocks are planted wider to compensate for uneven vigour: weak plants get shaded out by strong neighbours, so wider spacing protects the average yield at the cost of total plants per hectare. With true-to-type TC material, that compensation isn’t needed — six partner estates supplying export markets have moved to 2.1 × 2.1m spacing (2,268 plants/ha) on first-cycle Cavendish and recorded 18t/ha average, against 14–15t/ha on comparable sucker-planted blocks at the older 2.4m spacing.

The practical takeaway: if you’re planning a first-cycle TC Cavendish block, don’t default to the spacing your extension officer recommends for conventional planting material. Talk to us about your soil and irrigation capacity — the ceiling is usually higher than growers expect.