Slugs11

After watching them drill a few water bore holes locally , it is only water any formation they drill (clay) used to make mud. Have never seen them use bentonite while drilling. For sure you cannot use the same principles or properties of drilling fluid used for drilling an oil wells, to drill a water well here. 

Farming turkeys is very hard to make a profit, as mentioned most Thais don’t like the taste of the meat, also it’s far to expensive for most of them compared to there gai ban chicken. We raise some, however it’s a small market. We have a few Thai buyers, mainly teachers. Turkeys need high protein food (21% or more) to gain weight, hence the higher rearing costs. Hard to get good stock birds, mostly they are poorly bred Thai white and bronze turkeys. We have few Norfolk black turkeys, which are different, and have a more game flavour to the meat. Trying to built up our flock of them, as mention there is a demand for rare breeds, especially black turkeys. Very few of them around.  

Hi, looking for some advice.  The corn we have planted for cattle feed seem to be attacked by something. Not sure what it is. Being in an Area where not much corn is grown then people around to not have much experience in what to spray if any to combat this problem. A couple people have suggested using Bacillus thuringiensis however was wondering if anyone with more experience growing maize/corn can offer any advice. It looks like a lava of maybe caterpillar or moth, however not sure.

Any advice of what the problem is, how to combat it. If spray, what chemical and how often we should spray it. Appreciate any advice or suggestions.  Thanks 

Yes, it’s a 120 mesh screen filter. We use water from our well bore, and occasionally get small grains of sand in it. The cool mist sprayers have a very fine jets, so would easily block up with any sand partials 

Do your formula work on TVD ( true vertical depth ) ?

Most people work in PSI, anyway it’s only a mater of opinions. No big deal if you like to work in bar, then agree your formula is best.  

The easiest way to calculate pressure at the bottom of a volume of fluid is the weight of the fluid in ppg x .052 x true vertical depth in feet. Assuming fresh water is 8.4ppg ( this differs in different parts of the world) and 56 mtrs is approx 183 feet. Then you have 8.4 x .052 x 183 = 79.9 PSI at the bottom.

Hi, there are 2 things most important for Napier grass. Water and good fertile soil.

In the dry season you need to irrigate, so for 30 rai then you would need a VERY good water supply. We irrigate our Napier (sweet Israeli) in the dry season, however it is more to keep it alive as the quantity of water we can irrigate is not really enough for it to grow to much. 

If you have poor soil, then you will struggle to grow your Napier. Our soil is not to good, so we try to add cow manure every year. We also apply some fertiliser. 

It cannot be stress to much, how important water is for Napier. Yes, it will survive dry periods, however it will not grow. The yields and the supposedly every 45 day cuts quoted are very hard to obtain without fertile soil and water, especially during dry season.

There are many places you can buy the Napier sticks, many places advertise on Facebook marketplace. Going price is 1 baht a stick. Or you can grow some, when it get old it will produce a lot of stems which can then be cut and replanted to produce more plants. 30 rai is going to be a big outlay, not only for the Napier sticks but for irrigation as well. 

All the best.

We managed to source a greenhouse supplier in Bangkok. Ordered the .200 micron plastic, 32 mesh size insect netting and the channel with the Z wire. Delivery on Tuesday ????????. Now can finish the project ????????

Hi.  Looking for a supplier for plastic sheets (roof) and insect proof netting for the sides of greenhouse. Particular looking for the channel with the Z wires, they are fixed to the greenhouse frame which then secure the plastic and netting. I understand most DIY stores have plastic sheeting and netting. However it’s either too thin, or the netting holes are too big to stop insects. Appreciate if anyone has knowledge of a supplier for this type of material 

This is the first year using the rice seed drill, therefore unable to quote yields.

We found on average we used approx 30% seed, compared to last year when we seeded by hand. Then had problems where it was too thick, had rust spot. There was also areas where the rice hardly germinated at all. Therefore our yields were low last year. 

This year with using the drill, have a more even rice seedlings. Would estimate we had nearly a 100% germination. So have high hopes for a good yield per rai.

Understand it may take a few years to get back the investment cost back of the drill, with hopefully better yields. However that is not important. What is satisfying, finally people in the village are starting to believe falang knows what he is doing and can grow good rice. The amount of people who have told my wife falang rice look very good and nice straight rows. That’s worth the cost of buying the machine ????????

Hi Farmerjo,

Estimate we used around 9 - 9.5per rai. 

The rice discharge discs have 2 sets of holes in them. There is a blanking plate which allow you to cover up the inner row of holes if required. Was not sure if to use just the outer row of holes or both. When we bought the machine, the previous owner had installed the blanking plates for the inner row, so we just used it as he had left it set up.. Glad we did not remove the blanking plates as the rice would have been seeded to thick. 

It seemed like we used hardly any amount of rice compared to how much you use when seeding by hand. I have heard you can go as low as 8.5kg rice per rai ?

Last year we seeded some some of the fields by hand, and it was to thick in places. In the areas where we had seeded to heavy, then suffered with the rust spot disease. The yields for those fields was low.

Hoping to see improvement with yields this year with using the drill.

Hi, happy to answer any questions you have.

We paid 60,000 baht, machine was 2 years old. It came with 3 set of rotating discharge discs for different size seeds. Believe the new price for this particular model according to the previous owner as he bought it new was 100k, though we never bothered to check if that was correct.

We just liked the fact not having to sow by hand, which is total guess work or grow seedlings and plant by hand later (this is where you stand a good chance of getting tractor stuck as fields have 6” plus water in them) Been their and got the tee shirt many times ????

I use my Kubota 4708 tractor. It would fit a 50hp or 60hp model no problem. It’s fairly heavy, so not sure if a 36hp would handle it. One advantage of being heavy, the roller at the front, level the soil and not just ride up over the top of it. 

Meant to add, the perforated restating seed discs can be changed for others ones with different size holes. Therefore you are able to drill maize and beans with it.  For these type of seeds, then would only use 1,3,5 and 7 seed hoppers, to allow correct distance between rows. We Intend to drill maize with it for cow feed 

In house construction, you get what you pay for.  Using local builders is great, if your not looking to a high spec build. Normally they build what they think you want, not actually what you ask for. They are great for low cost houses, and usually asking around in the village you can find a decent local builder. However, be prepared for a few headaches, as they will not always follow good building practices. Such as not using sufficient wall ties or re-bar. Concrete mixed by hand, and not always to the same strength or consistency. This can lead to problems later with cracks etc.

If you looking for a European style build, then can highly recommend “Alan the builder” Especially if you are not there to watch what is going on 24/7

He is very professional, and build to what I regard a very high standard for house built in Thailand. Not cheap, however as stated you get what you pay for. Being a ex carpenter, then feel the advice offered is the best recommendation I can give the OP.

Hi, most builders I have seen put in a concrete foundations about 60cm square for each post. Then they stand post up on the foundation and concrete around it. This way if you get the foundations all at the same level, then easy to get the posts the correct height. Though in your case the back foundations would need to be 20cm lower than the front foundations. Depth for foundation around .4m based on if you have solid soil. If soil still loose, then may need to go a bit deeper 

PM you contact details

OP, if you are based near Ubon Ratchathani, then have a family member who has a goat farm. It’s close to Traken Phuet Phon, which is 45km from Ubon

Most aluminium windows/doors bought from the multi/local DIY shops can be open within a very short time, with a crow bar or big screwdriver. It’s worth investing in quality PVC doors/windows with multiple locking points. Expensive compared to the local one’s, however give you peace of mind for security. Also it pays to have couple of big dogs, the Thais are scared of them ????