 |
Adventures In Sustainability: Grow My Little Jatropha, Grow |
29 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in BioFuel, Green Living, How To, Peak Oil | August 14, 2007 | ||
Well, it’s been over two months since I started my little Jatropha experiment and I thought I would chime in on how things are coming. First of all, Jatropha is incredibly easy to grow. I had a delay of about three weeks with my initial seeds since most of it was “old” Jat seed according to some growers and stymied my efforts. In desperation to up the odds, I planted about 20 seeds into one container and was finally rewarded with about six plants. After a few weeks, I transferred two of the strongest plants to a larger container and they’ve taken off in their new home. Surprisingly, the other four plants are doing fine (albeit with not as dramatic growth) and continue to increase in foliage.
Since I’ve had some time to spend growing this plant, I’ve also discovered some interesting facts. For instance, this is a deciduou
s tree. I’ve always heard it referred to as a ‘weed’ but this may be because it has an easy time adapting to poor soil conditions, droughts, and can survive almost anywhere it stay relatively above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, Jatropha can grow 8-10 meters tall under the right conditions. Once it drops its leaves and flowers, the seeds will follow shortly afterwards and then mature three months later. It’s at this point that we can attempt some biofuel extraction.
I may have to do some manual pollination since by the time my tree flowers, fall will probably be coming to an end. Then, both varieties will come inside. I say “both” because Tomas Ray Harner III from the Grassroots Jatropha Initiative in Honduras was kind enough to send me a variety of Jatropha that may do well in colder climates. The little guy you see here growing to the right will be a little experiment in cold weather endurance. The plant is about two weeks old.
So, what’s next? We wait. As soon as I get some flowers on these beauties, I will update with more information. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to leave some comments below.
LG Adam said,
Unfortunately I can’t offer any advice on how to grow these but I’m really interested in your little experiment so this update was great. Can I ask where your based? Just that you mention ‘cold’ environments and I wondered how cold? Thanks!
michael said,
Hey Adam –
Thanks for the comment. I’m based in Ithaca,NY — so the winters are definitely not friendly to this type of plant. However, I am curious to see how the ‘frost’ variety handle temperatures into December. We’ll see.
biofuelsimon said,
Hey good sturdy looking plant, how long before you expect flowers, and what are you going to use to extract the oil from the nuts?
michael said,
On the flowers, I’m not exactly sure. I would expect a few more months of growth before they come — hence my expectations of manual pollination. I’m not sure how many bees will be around when they flower.
In terms of extracting the oil, that’s going to be a large project. I did, however, find this interesting piece of information the other day:
“Emmanuel’s research focused on finding the most efficient way to extract oil from the jatropha seeds and the best means by which to convert that oil into biodiesel—a process called transesterification. In studying extraction methods, Emmanuel used two different procedures: mechanical extraction and solvent extraction. To perform mechanical extraction, Emmanuel used a hydraulic press machine to compress a measured amount of jatropha seeds and extract their oil. To perform solvent extraction—the method he found to be far more effective—Emmanuel used two solvents, isopropanol and hexane, to extract oil from the crushed jatropha seeds. He experimented with these solvents in varying combinations and concluded that a 3:2 mixture of hexane to isopropanol yielded the most oil. In a similar fashion, Emmanuel compared the efficiency of two different catalysts, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide, that are often used to convert extracted oils into biodiesel. His results showed that the use of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the transesterification process resulted in a higher production of biodiesel from jatropha seed oil.”
Isopropanol is pretty easy to obtain. But Hexane is a bit of a mystery. I’m not sure chemical extraction is the way to go as an amateur — but it sure would be interesting.
Mechanical extraction is another option, but prices seem very high for the type of equipment I would need. You can get a great idea of oil-seed presses available here: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_supply.html#Oilpress
The search for a manual way of crushing and extraction continues….suggestions welcome.
LG Adam said,
Ithaca certainly has the opposite ends of weather! Sorry I can’t offer any advice but I’ll be interested into knowing how it goes.
Alex said,
hi i enjoyed the read
Don said,
I live outside the Charlotte, NC area. I would like to try growing the cold weather seeds here.
Don Rufty
tania said,
Michael, i was trying to find descriptions/blueprints of ancient contraptions used in middle east/central asia for squeezing oil out of olives. should be fairly easy to build. although i’d like to try burning whole seeds in a fireplace in winter. i also asked Thomas for seeds. i’m based in CA (bay area). not much land for growing here, but will be pushing our homeowners association to start planting them instead of stupid water-sucking decorative things they planted around.
Mike V said,
I’m very interested in this. That link to Tomas seems to be down, at least today – is there another link or is it just temporarily down? I’d like to find a small handful of seeds to experiment with here in Texas – I have a greenhouse I can overwinter them in as well – it keeps my nanners, taro, citrus and other stuff toasty so it should be happy quarters for the Jatropha. A wonderful plant – little or no care, drought hardy and much value. Reminds me of other weeds we have ignored or disregarded that could be immensely useful.
Be well,
Mike
Ron Watkins said,
I also got seeds from Honduras, and have 5 potted plants growing now. Im testing both temperature and soil variations.
I live in Phoenix Arizona and have pretty mild winters. However, when I left one of the plants out overnite in January, all the leaves turned brown and dropped. Although the plant didn’t die, it came close and has only just started to put out new leaves.
Im trying soil from 3 different locations, one “potting” soil, one “dirt” from around my house and the 3rd is what we call caliche (sp?) which is basically clay. I haven’t noticed much variation in the growth of the plants.
I have 2 locations im going to be planting in the next 2 weeks, one is in southern california and the other near Yuma Arizona. Combined 40 acres.
Ron
Caleb Loo said,
Hi, I’m interested in knowing how your plant survived the winter, I am working on a project in Inner-Mongolia China, from most of my research, it showed that this plant can grow in any type of soil, but it’s hard to find out how it will do in harsh winter. Let me know what you have found out. Thanks.
ormand tegland said,
Growing jatropha seems like a wonderful idea. I’m very interested in growing some of these in So Cal. Any preferred seed supplier?
K sridhar said,
Sub Reading plants
Dear sir
,
How can readings collected by Jatropha plants
spacies 2/2m
please Help for me
Thankigyou
withregards,
k.sridhar
Tapping Trees For Diesel Fuel » GroovyGreen.com - Start Today :: Save Tomorrow said,
[...] — in one way or another — biodiesel. For those looking for an update to my “Adventures In Sustainability” series growing Jatropha — look for an update soon. But I [...]
David Welch said,
I am growiing 1.5 million trees this year! They are doing fantastic….. 3 feet tall first 4 months…
rafael said,
cheapest oilpress found a http://www.piteba.com (US $96.00)
valerie3175 said,
I live in the south-east corner of Arizona, it gets quite cold here in the Winter but, I have found that some plants, as long as their roots are sufficiently deep come through unscathed. Do you think this might be the case with Jatropha?
David McCarty said,
How can I get updates of your work sent to me?
Continental Airlines to Test Bio-fuels » GroovyGreen.com - Start Today :: Save Tomorrow said,
[...] Not sure what jatropha is? Check out Michael’s post on jatropha here. [...]
Sabine said,
It is very interesting for me, thanks for your comment.
Now I have a question.
In march ´08 I found some seed pods on the beach of a Thailand island.
http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo97/deutscheaishe/Wasbinich18908.jpg
and now they are grown to some small plants
http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo97/deutscheaishe/PB170029.jpg .
Upon making inquiries about this in many forums and nobody can help me, I find your page.
Is it possible, that my plant is any Jatropha ?
I think the pods look like this .
Thanks in advance, Sabine from Germany
N Pannu said,
Hi Adam
I am planning to start growing on 20 acres of land in CA. Most of my land irrigation depends on rain. I am curious to know if you have any information on large scale farming of Jatropha.
Thanks
Pannu
Steve said,
hi
im very much gratefull for your experiment with jatropha.
im based in a tropical region in Tanzania in Morogoro city and i have a small piece of land and was considering starting a massive growing of that plant but as for the experiment i decied to start with little nursery ro see how they will cop with the environment
now since u have said they can grow anywhere, i’ll try it out and give you feedback on how they are going.will also love to receive more of ur updates if possible know which type adapts well with hot conditions.
many regards
Greg Lepkoff said,
My Swiss business partner, Hans Galliker and I (American) plan to rent 1 hectare of land in Yunnan Province (China) in January 2010. We will be growing Jatropha Curcas on Yunnan’s wasteland. The ultimate goal of this experiment is to see if its possible to get high yields of this fruit, so that we can expand our farm to large-scale. In addition, it is key for us to learn how to deal with Chinese farmers and the local government. Chinese farming is much less modernized and more traditional than western farming. In order to minimize problems on the large-scale project, a small experiment is necessary. The local government is important too because there will be many future problems with the farming. Therefore we must learn the future problems on a small scale in order to be prepared for the future problems with the large scale project. It will be quite an experience to live in a village in China, but I am up for the task. Does anyone have any suggestions or interest in this project. Please contact me by email at info@agrachina.com.
Anderson mwangudza said,
I’m interested in the whole business about jatropha. Our rural community uses alot of kerosene from petrol products which sells at 1$.This is very costly to the community.I wish to partner with any one to make cheap oil from jatropha which will be affordable to my rural community.
We have alot of the plants , in fact they grow widely like neem tress here at the cost.
Please get in touch.
Thanhk you.
A. Mwangudza
Anderson mwangudza said,
I’m interested in the whole business about jatropha. Our rural community uses alot of kerosene from petrol products which sells at 1$.This is very costly to the community.I wish to partner with any one to make cheap oil from jatropha which will be affordable to my rural community.
We have alot of the plants , in fact they grow widely like neem trees here at the Coast.
Please get in touch.
Thanhk you.
A. Mwangudza
Cathy del Fierro said,
My daughter is involved with a multifunction platform in Uganda using a diesel engine that runs on Jatropha oil. Our family would like to try some small scale cultivation experiments here also. Live in Hudson Valley, NY and have access to a green house. Anyone know where can get ahold of cuttings or seeds in the Northeast US?
sudhanshu said,
Respected Sir,
Please tell me what are the favorable conditions ie Climate and soil where jatropha can grow easlity. I will be starting my project on Biofuels in very near future,.,,,
thanks….
Chris said,
It was mentioned to me that someone was looking to place a plantation in Spain, I would not expect the climate conditions to be anywhere near ideal, can anyone confirm this and the droip in yield that would be expected?
Steve said,
I have a 5 acre piece of land and am considering planting Jatropha curcas trees. How many trees would be considered optimal for this size of land and what yield could be expected after say 2, 3 and 5yrs after planting. The soil isn’t particularly good and summer rainfall is fair. Location is in Johannesburg, S.A. I like the idea of planting soya between the Jatropha to get a return on investment in the early phase of planting. I’m also interested in the by products of Jatropha and soya. Where can I get good quality seeds from and what would the seeds cost? Information on any aspect of what I have in mind would be appreciated.