Growing macadamia trees in a nutshell
"There is an 18-month waiting period for macadamia trees at the moment. We never stop. This is a seven-day operation" - Dustin Cooper
RIGHT: Dustin Cooper and his wife, Charlene with their children, Mackenzie and Matthew enjoying life among Macadamias.
After losing their Mpumalanga family farm to a land claim in 2007, Dustin Cooper and his wife, Charlene moved down to the North Coast to enjoy life on the nutty side in Kearsney, KwaDukuza.
The Coopers employ 25 people and already have three seed houses, and are eagerly waiting for the fourth to be completed.
“We grow between 80-100 000 trees at a time. There is an 18-month waiting period for macadamia trees at the moment. We never stop. This is a seven-day operation,” said Dustin.
“We might take a break on Christmas Day,” said Charlene with a laugh.
From day one, Dustin worked towards being part of the Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association (SAMAC), which he recently achieved.
“Being part of SAMAC means our macadamia trees are approved by the industry and have reached the required standard. We get certified every year and there are random spot checks to make sure the standards remain consistent. The two most important aspects to achieving your SAMAC status is good record keeping and tip-top hygiene.”
Still, growing macadamias is not the way to go to make a quick buck.
“The trees take 18 months before they are ready to be sold to the farmer. Once planted on the farm fields, you can expect the first crop in four to five years time.”
It is also not a case of planting the seed, sitting back and watching it grow merrily either.
“It is all an exact process. We are fortunate with parent material as there are many established mac farms in the area where we can get our seeds from. Planting the seed in the correct position, facing the right direction to ensure the root grows straight down, is crucial,” said Dustin.
“Once you have a seedling, it can be transplanted into a bag. The trick here is to cut the massive tap root and plant it carefully, making sure the root is not bent, as this will have the same effect as trying to water your garden with a hose that has a kink in it. After about eight months, the little trees are cut and grafted.”
There are two ways to go about growing macadamia trees – cutting and grafting.
“With a 70-90% success rate, grafting is probably the more successful method. Basically you harvest sticks from good, old trees. Theses sticks contain the memory of the tree. You then cut both the old stick and the stem of the new little tree at an angle and carefully attach them to each other with a special tape. They grow together and so you have a young root system with an old memory.”
Three weeks before the trees go to the farmer, Charlene said they are moved out of their special blue net homes to acclimatise.
“We put them into the direct sunlight about three weeks before they go, spray a type of sun block onto them and let them get used to the harsher sun in preparation for their new home,” said Charlene.
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