Fourty-eight seeds are sown in each wooden flat (15 x 10 x 3 inches) containing well manured soil with a thin layer of sand on top. Ten days after sowing, the soil over the ungerninated soil is gently disturbed, which helps some of them to germinate. Seed coats of a few weak seedlings may have to be removed by disection , otherwise these seedlings die, being unable to shed their seed coat. Three or four weeks after sowing, the seedlings are transplanted to three inch pots, which are then placed on wooden flats containing sand, ten pots per flat.The sand holds additional water , which keeps the pots moist. About half a teaspoonful of Gaviota fertilizer is added to each pot after transplantation, and repeated twice at intervals of about a month, once before flowering and again after fruit setting. Two teaspoonfuls of fertilizer are sprinkled over the sand in the wooden flats. Often the roots emerge through the hole in the bottom of the pots and spread within the sand to obtain more nutrient. The plants can be kept erect by tying them to small bamboo stakes fixed within the pots. The flowers should be shaken with a buzzer, as soon as they open to insure self-pollination.
As soon as the first fruit is set, the stem apex beyond the infloresence is pinched off. Only two fruits are allowed to grow on each plant. All side branches are removed as they appear. Diseased plants are transplanted to six inch pots, to keep infection from spreading, and to provide them with better survival conditions. About five to ten per cent of plants in different cultures grew slowly and in a few plants the first infloresence did not set fruit. These plants were removed with their pots to new flats, placing only six pots in each to provide more space.