How to Plant Vetiver Grass

 

Planting bare root slips at the field application site

Vetiver grass can be planted under different configurations and on different media (soil/water), the most common by far is a conservation hedgerow

Photo 1 — A mature hedge row in a farmer’s field. Notice that the hedge is solid with no gaps, as it was planted using the correct in line spacing of 10-15 cm maximum. Planting vetiver slips more than 10-15 cm apart create clumps that are slow to grow together, thus creating gaps in the hedge that defeats the purpose of the hedgerow. The following three photos show clumps within a hedgerow (after 24 months of growth) with the original spacing between transplants of 15 cm, 30 cm and 60 cm. Gaps do not exist at 15 cm, gaps do exist at the bottom of the clumps at 30 cm and gaps are very visible at 60 cm.

 

An effective hedge is one that is sufficiently dense to redistribute concentrated rainfall runoff, spreading it laterally along the upper side of the hedge where the sediment load is deposited, and then slowly and evenly, passing through the hedge to the lower part of the conserved area. To optimize the speed and effectiveness of a new hedge’s establishment, vetiver slips must be planted closely together (10-15 cm). Close planting also avoids the problem of the development of large gaps in the event that 10% of the slips may die.

Photo — 2 & 3 Gap comparison at 24 months at plant spacings of 15, 30 and 60 cm

 

Photo 4 — Overhead view of 24 month vetiver hedge with spacing from left to right at 15, 30, 60 cm.

 

Photo 5 — This demonstrates what the planting objective should be at 18 months —a fully formed gap free hedge planted at 15 cm spacing.

How to achieve this? — How to plant.

Photo 6 — Digging planting furrow or holes. On arable land plough a furrow on the contour

 

Photo 7 — Laying out planting material

 

Photo 8 Soaking slips in manure slurry prior to transplanting. This is a good practice particularly when planting on poor and infertile sites

Fertilizer/manure recommendation:

Vetiver will establish better if about 100 kg of farm-yard manure (FYM) is applied per 100 running meters of hedgerow at planting. If FYM is not available di-ammonium phosphate should be applied at about 10 kg per 100 meters. Note one of the advantages of FYM is that it helps to improve moisture availability for the young vetiver plant at time of establishment and encourages the growth of soil microbes.. FYM and/or DAP should be applied liberally to nursery sites prior to planting of material for multiplication. The use of slow release NPK nuggets for containerized plant material, though not essential, optimizes growth rates. There is no need to use fertilizer for maintenance purposes once the hedges have been established. Local conditions vary as do specific fertilizer doses.

Soil amendments

In recent years with the development of a better understanding of microbial activity in the rhizosphere of the root zone of plants and especially that of vetiver, planting has included the incorporation of microbes especially arbuscular mycorrhiza. This has resulted in accelerated vetiver growth. See Paul Truong’s book: Vetiver Root – The Vetiver System Technology  Hidden Half

Photo 9 — Recommended spacing is 10-15 cm between plants.

 

Photo 10  — Covering up transplants, do not plant too deep, the crown should be below the surface.

 

Photo 11 ..  Newly planted hedge

Watering:

Water the hedge, if no rain is immediately forecast, as it helps the soil settle in the pore spaces and around the crown of the slip to encourage it to establish faster. Irrigate enough to keep the soil moist for at least 2-3 weeks while the slips send out new roots from the crown. If planted in the dry season, before the rainy season watering every 10 days or so is recommended.

Photo 12. — Planted on steep highway fill slope at 2m vertical interval. 100% survival rate

 

Photo 13. — A properly planted hedge – good spacing and watered

 

Photo 14  — Machine planting of vetiver is a useful operation in high priced labor markets (Australia – Truong)

Spacing between hedges is important, and if correctly planned will be effective and will save costs. Spacing depends on slope steepness. Normally planting hedgerows at 2m vertical interval (VI) should optimize erosion control and costs. The following table helps to estimate hedge distances relating to slope%.

Slope, Surface Run, and Vertical Interval

Slope degrees

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Slope percent

1.7
3.5
5.3
7.0
8.8
10.5
12.3
14.0
16.0
17.6
19.4
21.3
23.1
25.0
27.0
28.7
30.6
32.5
34.4
36.4
38.4
40.4
42.5
44.5
46.6
48.8
51.0
53.2
55.4
57.7
60.1
62.5
65.0
67.5
70.0
72.7
75.4
78.1
80.1
84.0
87.0
90.0
93.0
96.6
100.0
Gradient

1 in 57.3
1 " 28.6
1 " 19.1
1 " 14.3
1 " 11.4
1 " 9.5
1 " 8.1
1 " 7.1
1 " 6.3
1 " 5.7
1 " 5.1
1 " 4.7
1 " 4.3
1 " 4.0
1 " 3.7
1 " 3.5
1 " 3.3
1 " 3.1
1 " 3.0
1 " 2.8
1 " 2.6
1 " 2.5
1 " 2.4
1 " 2.3
1 " 2.1
1 " 2.0
1 " 2.0
1 " 1.9
1 " 1.8
1 " 1.7
1 " 1.7
1 " 1.6
1 " 1.5
1 " 1.5
1 " 1.4
1 " 1.4
1 " 1.3
1 " 1.3
1 " 1.2
1 " 1.2
1 " 1.2
1 " 1.1
1 " 1.1
1 " 1.0
1 " 1.0
Surface Run (a) meters

57.3
28.7
19.1
14.3
11.5
9.6
8.2
7.2
6.4
5.8
5.2
4.8
4.5
4.1
4.0
3.6
3.4
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.1
2.0
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.4
The figures for the surface run are based on a vertical interval (VI) of 1 meter. To use this table, multiply the surface run by the VI: for example, with a VI of 2 meters on a 70 percent slope, the surface distance between vegetative barriers = 2 x 1.7 = 3.4 m

Further reading and references on Vetiver basics

Vetiver Grass — The Hedge against Erosion

Vetiver Planting Guide — Australia

A Look See at Vetiver — Malaysia

Vetiver Root – The Vetiver System Technology  Hidden Half

Techniques of Vetiver Propagation with Special Reference to Thailand

Vetiver Grass Propagation – Vietnam — (p 19-44)