I am convinced that managing a eucalyptus tree farm is rewarding as you can see results quite soon. After planting 30,000 trees from November 2017 to May 2018, we are seeing amazing growth patterns.
Henry Okumu stands in front of a 9 foot eucalyptus tree planted in November 2018.
My partner, Henry Okumu, and I recently visited Glory Farm Kenya in August 2018 and began the process of tracking the growth of the trees in three specific rows. These rows of trees were planted in April 2018 and have shown tremendous growth. During this time, the Okumu and Brake family planted about 110 trees, in three marked rows, in one day. Over the course of the next few years, we will follow the growth of those three rows as a test plot of the 10 acre farm. While this is the first of many updates to this research, we hope to increase the size and scope of the data to provide a new insight into growing eucalyptus trees in Kenya.
Of the approximately 110 seedlings planted in these three rows, only 72 survived the initial planting. Thirty-eight had to be replanted and were considerably shorter that the 72 that survived. Over the course of the year, we will replant the trees in this row to maintain the maximum number of trees possible in each row. Below is the raw data for your review.
| Rows | # of Trees | Average Height (cm) | Tallest (cm) | Shortest (cm) |
| 1 | 27 | 83.5 | 130 | 50 |
| 2 | 24 | 84.3 | 137 | 48 |
| 3 | 21 | 81.61 | 110 | 61 |
On average these eucalyptus trees are growing 80 centimeters in four months.
This is very exciting! In four months, the trees are averaging over 82 centimeters of growth and are very healthy. Just a side note as to our care over these last four months.
These trees have all been fertilized one time and have been weeded three times. Weeding is very important in the early days of the life of eucalyptus trees so that they are not choked out.
With 30,000 trees planted over the last six months, we expected some to die and need replanting. We continue to re-plant the dead seedlings so we can maximize our investment. I look forward to sending another update in November as we update the progress of Glory Farm Kenya.
Donnie Brake, Ed.D