mo99

'So we will end up cutting down a LOT of trees.'

Not a good idea.I'm with Akky #9 on this.

Cut only the trees occupying the footprint of your house to be. Mango are delicious, require no supervision, provide shade, and can be sols or preserved, even the kids would love one or two to pickk on the way to school.

When one considers the time needed for a tree to grow to maturity, cutting it down seems cruel at the least.

Another commonly overlooked problem is Termites! My landlord cut down a lot of trees at my place a few years before I moved in, and we have a huge termite problem now. They are even going after the live trees. If you get rid of trees for what ever reason, I'd recomend adding some mushroom plugs to the stumps to decompose them faster.

Thanks for the efforts on my behalf guys. I am starting to think that BSF farming for protein is harder than catching the buggers in the firstplace. Still none here and about as much interest here now.

Actually they are self-harvesting. The larvae will crawl up to the top of the compost when they are ready to pupate. All you need to do is make a ramp with a collection container under it, and they should drop in when they are ready. Of course birds can be an issue, I frequently see small finches eating mine but not enough to make a real impact. You could keep it covered as canu. suggest.

First, I like to find out who can supply the name of a Co that sells Monsanto

fertilizer in LOS? From my looking at Wiki about their products, ag chems and seed.

I don't think they produce fertilizer. At least not under the Monsanto brand.

If you want to know for sure, you could contact them. They are present here in Thailand.

http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/thailand.aspx

http://www.amchamthailand.com/acct/asp/corpdetail.asp?CorpID=357

They did produce Agent Orange,

and Agent Orange was tested in many locations including Thailand!

How can people trust such a company with their food?

It is a war on food sovereignty and Monsanto/Dow/Dupont, etc. will stop at nothing until they have destroyed all viable farmland and replaced all seeds with their worthless patent protected seed.

RT did a special on future foods, one item was using house flies as a human food source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhPbgNOYqhg

I will not be the first to sign up for the "Fly Burger" though...

On a more realistic note; Soldier Fly are the way to go, for your purposes. They are easily harvested, they do not bite or harbour pathogens, they are said to have pheromones which drive away house flies, and they do not buzz around much (so much less annoying than house flies).

It's the same as stating the obvious, though some seem to forget the obvious these days.

Here's another obvious statement:

Carbon Dioxide is Necessary for Photosynthesis

Haven't heard on the news lately C02, along with light is necessary for trees to grow. I only hear the NEGATIVE side of Carbon dioxide in the media.

Sorry mate, but carbon dioxide levels are too high and rising more rapidly than for thousands of years due to the activities of a certain mammal. This is starting to cause serious problems. It's not a matter of 'if a little is good, more must be better'.

Dancealot makes a good point.

It is interesting to note that the level of CO2 in the air is below the optimal level for the growth of most vegetation and that is why they add more in greenhouses. It may well be too high for other reasons but many plants want more not less to optimise photosynthesis.

There is a difference in CO2 that is close to the ground which is made by micro organisms and other animal activity and atmospheric CO2. This is something people forget, that CO2 is heavier than air, if it is around the same temperate. So burning fossil fuels and starting a compost pile are entirely different. CO2 made in the soil tends to stay near the plants which can then convert it into O2 and add the carbon to their mass.

Combine excessive use of fossil fuels with destroying the forest (which we have been doing in mass since the Bronze age), and the net effect is more CO2 than we need. Also less carbon in the top soil is another neglected topic, since topsoil traps carbon (and as IA pointed out; we are losing topsoil on global scales).

I just started using spent coffee grounds, seems to work well against slugs and snails. Added bonus: worms love them.

Nothing special, lime, gypsum,dolomite,rock phosphate and potash.Keen to try a Urea substitute I started making from algae.

But most of the goodness comes from the compost itself.

What tickles me is commercial fertilisers are mostly 50% filler which is being sold it 20 baht a kg. Whereas rock phosphate is 70% phosphate and 3 baht a kg.

Where is it mined? No idea.

I have tried buying small bags of Bat Guano at the local plant markets, and it seems to be mostly sand. Also very weak, not what I would expect from Guano. I'll save the money and get some more chickens, or buy chicken manuer instead.

Green eyed envy here. I just cannot get BSF near here.

IA, I'm in Chiang mai. Not sure how they would fare in the post, or how many you would need. It does not take very many to get started, a single female lays over a thousand eggs.

Do I understand correctly that fruit fly's are those very miniscule pests that always point at your eyes and stick to any ends of a loose wire or something ?

If so I would also be interested how to get rid of them, as my house is located in a agricultar area and they bother me a lot.

Not Drosophila but Tephritidae.

Yes, Loong is correct they are a bit bigger and do a lot of damage to fruit before it is ripe.

Drosophilia melanogaster (common fruit fly)is not a pest, it may be a minor anoyance to us humans, but does not eat living fruit, only the fallen fruit. I have used D. melanogaster in the past to attrack benificials such as Dragon Flys.

The snails I have come across are fairly harmless. It is the slugs you should be concerned with.

My chickens have developed the taste for slugs and snails. Toads are also natural predators to the slimy critters (have a few of them hopping around the garden as well).

hmm mm..snails, along with bloody grass hoppers,flying insects,caterpillars etc etc eat everything don't they.....

...my dad used to use solid fuel tablets ( Metatabs?) under a flower pot. Read someplace that beer attracts and dehydrates them...have loads of frogs/ toads here but still have snails....like many things here in Thailand it is suck it and see...me I have given up to some degree and share with the bugs......wish they would not eat the orchid buds though....

....right now plagued with tiny ticks on walls in door frames etc.just using a broom and feed 'em to the fish............once more unto the breach...lol

Of course toads and frogs will not eat all of them! If they did, they would not have any for later! I have found the giant slugs come out near the cement drains at night, I crush them with a rock if I see them. Just keep an eye out for them near seedlings. For grass hoppers, you need to make more habitats for lizards and spiders. This is pretty easy to do: stack small rocks in a pile against a wall or somewhere where it is not in the way. The lizards will hide there when it is too hot. I find the Skinks need cool places to hide more than the bigger Iguanidae/Agamidae do. Piles of small twigs might help attract the Iguanas, but I found they only stay if there is food for them to eat. So outdoor compost piles, and manure piles will attract the beneficial lizards. My concept is to feed them, and they will help feed you by eating the pest.

Anyone who has a colony of BSF larvae in their compost bin, but would rather not, send me your details and I will PAY you for them. I have been trying to get hold of them for years. Fantastic source of animal protein and generator of worm food.

For those who have larvae, they will try to migrate to pupate in the soil. Happy to share details if you cant find out on the web.

Quote from a favourite movie, Snatch, "You, Lucky Bastard!"

I've got loads of them. Not sure how they showed up, but once they did, I started breeding them on purpose. They are great for getting rid of fatty scraps that would otherwise smell up the compost. They multiply very quickly, and have short life cycles, so good for dynamic composting.

I have found pepper and tomato seeds have a very short shelf life here in LOS. Keep them in the fridge until you need them. Adding fresh vermicompost to the seed mix helps them sprout even if the seeds are a bit old.

Another method I have tried with pepper seeds is fermenting the peppers in a yeast and lactic acid bacteria EM solution prior to removing the seeds. The seeds smelled like cheese when I was done, but I had good germination even after a few months of dry storage. I think doing this helped reduce the black mould that normally infects old seeds. I made my own EM for this process, not sure if the purchased stuff would work the same.

The one I bought in Foodland Pattaya was called

Healthy Mate raw-unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with mother of vinegar in it at the bottom.

The cost was 369 baht for 965 ml.

One teaspoonful of that, one of honey and some room temperature water twice a day is great if you have arthritis.

Might give that a try, my joints are killing me since the motor cycle wreak. Spicy foods like turmeric and peppers help too.

That sounds OK, but I was looking for the ones that contain the fly's pheromone to attract them before they breed and lay more eggs in my peppers! Just cracked open a Jalapeño today and full of maggots, not even ripe yet!

Wow, been a while since this thread was used. I have learnt a lot since I last posted (2 years ago?). I do not accept that there is insufficient natural materials to supply the whole farming community globally. Last year I achieved almost normal rice yield in a drought year and halved my costs. I now make my own fertilisers by supplementing with minerals so this year the rice crop will be fertilised by my farm wastes,my own efforts and a few bags of minerals that cost under 4 baht per KG.

What is the real component that is missing? HARD WORK, you get back what you put in

Sounds great! What kind of minerals do you use? Are they mined locally?

Where do I get a few Pheremone traps? Like to get these guys before my peppers ripen, they have already eaten some tomatoes.

There is plenty of seed on sale in the bigger shops, particularly in the huge nurseries behind Tesco in Chiang Mai, and hopefully these are suitable for here.

how can I know if the seeds I am buying in Thailand are Non-GMO?

also: (i am a novice).. if I buy a seed for a fruit (ie: Watermelon)... how can I know if its from a good source?

I'm sure there must be better seeds than others? or from better 'blood lines' so to speak. (i'm not sure the correct terminology for a plants 'blood line')

montsanto is only allowed to sell some fertilizer in thailand and are on the edge of packing up their bussines here

Really??? is that for real?

sorry if I sound so sceptical, coz I find it hard to believe that one of the worlds largest and most powerful demons will give up that easy!

I was under the impression that Thailand was a MAJOR agriculture country,,, so it would be a very good earner for Monsanto to get their seeds around Thailand.

or, will Monsanto wait in the wings until Thailand finally gets Chem-trailed and Farmers find that their plants do grow as good,, and need to switch to the Monsanto resistant seeds?

Also:

if GMO seeds have a far higher 'yield', then it makes sense that Thai Farmers would choose GMO because of less wastage... (and obvious economical gain).

Sorry to ask, but do you have any more info about your statement?

The COST outweighs the potiential 'benifit' from GMO seeds. Firstly financial cost: farmers can't save seeds, and seeds are expensive. Secondly GMO seed will NOT out perform native local seeds that have been used for centries.

The problem in Thailand is poor plant breeding programs. If the government invested more energy in education and possibly providing seed banks for farmers to obtain good strains, the situation would be much better. I'd like to see them work with forien governments/ international seed banks such as those found in Brazil or Austrailia to obtain/ exchange tropical tollerant plant seeds.

Let's not forget about Seed-Sovereignty and genetic diversity either! Kick Monsanto out of here!

We are going to need some rain for sure! Not much rain last year. Of course the government does not want to tell anyone there is a water shortage...

Rice, I am not sure what you think about Permaculture but I think you got the wrong idea about it. Yes, many who claim to be "Organic" Agriculture are wrong! Since they do not address natural soil building. A lot of folks who call themselves "Organic" promote unrealistic use of compost and manure as the solution, when there simply is not enough manure or compost in the world for every farmer to use such methods. The Permaculture methodology is to use watershed management, and plants/animals to cycle nutrients.

The main problem with modern farming is loss of topsoil and minerals from run-off. Teaching farmers how to minimize run-off should be a priority, instead of quick fix fertilizers. Rock minerals can be a short term solution, if the run-off is eliminated then it could be a long term one. Yes, understanding chemistry is useful, but understanding ecosystems and other natural systems is more useful. Why are the most fertile lands river bottoms or high mineral sediment areas? It is obvious to many people that these types of areas are good for farming, but what is less obvious is how to create such an area by design.

Probably too late now, but I have found some decent Organic Apple Cider Vinegar in a few supermarkets such as Rimping and Tops. I dont remember the brand name but it says Organic on the bottle, and you can see the mother settled at the bottom. I have grown some cider from it, so I know it is active. Hope that helps.

Thank you Loong.

I just got back from there and got 25 kg of jack bean. They did not have the sun hemp so I went ahead and took the jack bean even though I did not know if it would serve my purpose or not.

After doing some research I found out that the bean is slightly toxic which would not be so great for my chickens so I am going to still try and get the sun hemp by buying it.

I have found Lablab to grow excellent here in CM, and my rabbits love to eat the leaves (which it puts out loads of in the summer). I am not sure why the Thai government does not promote Lablab. My guess is they will catch on eventully.

Amaranth is called Ngon gai in Thai, I have seen it at plant markets, but most of mine come from imported seeds. There are many different speices and varieties, such as grain type, edible leaf type, and decorative types (many decorative types are suitable for grain).

i guess not a lot of opinion about this one out there. anyhow, i got a few sacks of elephant dung yesterday and i have some 2 month old toms ready to transplant into big grow bags. i transplanted some with 100% potting soil already so the next batch i'll plant with 25% elephant poo and then watch the difference in grow rates.

Interested to hear how that goes. Composting doesnt take that long here, mine is ready in three weeks. I wouldnt be surprised if Soidog2 had the expertise you are looking for on CS.

That's for sure! Composting time is greatly exaggerated, normally linked with low temperatures found in temperate climates. Not like here, if you waited months for manure to compost you would have nothing left (it would complety absorb into the subsoil).

The snails I have come across are fairly harmless. It is the slugs you should be concerned with.

My chickens have developed the taste for slugs and snails. Toads are also natural predators to the slimy critters (have a few of them hopping around the garden as well).

I once mentioned to the missus the idea of getting a few rabbits to breed for the table.

She was aghast and said that you can't eat rabbits because they are cute!

I guess that if one could find a really ugly breed of rabbit, one could be on a winner

I suppose a hairless rabbit would not be too "cute" LOL.. the problem with that is the hairless trait is a lethal-gene, and linked to early death before they are breeding age (from what I have read).