jandtaa

If you come out of the old bus station where the tuk-tuk/songthaw stand is cross the road and turn right towards the main drag you'll come to an old fashioned pharmacy (lots of buckets and bottles of medicinal herbs and spices out the front with signs in english). The owner speaks some English and understood Boric acid. cost was 20 baht for 100g.

cheers for now J

The boric acid mix works on them for me no problems.The bonus being it is carried back to the nest and destroys the entire colony.

cheers J

Hi Sid

As has been said already keep it simple and on a small scale with a limited number of vegetables and herbs (preferably locally sourced seeds) until you get the hang of it. Even for those of us with plenty of growing experience back home in temperate climates it can be fairly challenging to make the switch to sub-tropical/tropical gardening. I highly recommend the book "Tropical Food Gardens" by Leonie Norrington as a good starting point. You may also want to investigate Square Foot gardening as a productive system using a small area.

Soil is the most important consideration and you will probably need to read up on composting methods to increase the organic matter and micro-organisms in your soil. Also be sure to familiarise yourself with mulching (a must in the tropics) there's quite a lot of good info in previous threads but don't hesitate to ask further questions. Check out the useful links,resources and suggested reading thread which contains a link to my online library.

Most of all just enjoy it !! 

Cheers J

Hi Folks

It's all bullshit really nowadays, but boils down to the fact of who has the best build quality of the body and who makes the best glass they may not be compatible unfortunately but thats life !! Do you prefer to drive a Porsche or a BMW ?? It's horses for courses my friends and at the end of the day it's more about the ability of the the artist behind the equipment and not the equipment itself to create a winning image. So unless you're the Schumacher of photography (but then I guess you'd be shooting with Hasselblad and a digital back) don't worry about the brand (canon v nikkon is like comparing the aforementioned cars and bears no relationship to the F1 models) it should be about what feels comfortable in your hands,with a menu system that feels intuitive to yourself and enables you to get the shots off.

Just cuz the Pros use one or the other is pretty much irrelevant they'll likely just stick with the kit they first adopted (it's a costly thing to change after the initial investment ) and are most familiar with that allows them to do the job in the most efficient manner.

Cheers for now J

#3

Image Type: jpeg 

Width: 800 pixels

Height: 504 pixels

Camera Brand: FUJIFILM

Camera Model: FinePix Z1

Date Taken: 2009:12:24 13:52:24

Exposure Time: 1/125 sec.

Aperture Value: 4.00 EV (f/4.0)

ISO Speed Rating: 200

Flash Fired: No auto  

Focal Length: 9.9 mm

Software: Adobe Lightroom

OK Folks. This is my second offering also shot at Mae Sai at the weekend.

Image Type: jpeg 

Width: 484 pixels

Height: 646 pixels

Camera Brand: FUJIFILM

Camera Model: FinePix Z1

Date Taken: 2009:12:20 08:11:44

Exposure Time: 1/210 sec.

Aperture Value: 4.00 EV (f/4.0)

ISO Speed Rating: 100

Flash Fired: No auto 

Exposure Program:

Focal Length: 9.9 mm

Software: Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop CS3

Hi Folks

Taken this weekend on a border run to Mae Sai. Tourist buses bring Bangkok Thais up for a spot of cheap shopping whilst Burmese cross the border to set up small roadside stalls. Picked a spot early morning right opposite the border crossing and was lucky this bus pulled up opposite to pick up from the hotel. Just a case of spotting the merchants coming through immigration and hoping there was no passing traffic etc.. as they passed the bus. Got lucky after about 70 minutes and the bus left 10 mins later.

Camera Brand: FUJIFILM

Camera Model: FinePix Z1

Date Taken: 2009:12:20 07:18:06

Exposure Time: 1/170 sec.

ISO Speed Rating: 200

Flash Fired: No 

Exposure Program: Auto 

Focal Length: 8.8 mm

Software: Adobe LIghtroom/Photoshop CS3 

Cheers for now J

Hi folks

I think you're referring to "sadao" which is the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica). Yeah this well may do the trick although it works as an anti-feedant rather than a contact pesticide so needs to be applied soon after germination in the case of vegetables rather than being used to control an existing infestation. Try checking out this thread Insect pests and organic controls in the organic sub-forum and if you can't find a post that answers your question please feel free to post and pick the members brains.

cheers for now J

Are you processing the plant for fibres to make paper ??

If so how does your contract compare to double A's ? Could be an alternative for those considering eucalyptus with a quicker return on the investment. I've seen it quoted that ; 4,000 m² of kenaf produces 5 to 8 tons of raw plant bast and core fiber in a single growing season any idea of the average figures for Thailand ??

cheers for now J

Hi folks

As others have pointed out there is a general rule in photography that says that your shutter speed should be at least equal to your focal length to minimize unwanted camera shake (this means that if you use a 100mm telephoto lens the shutter speed should be at least 1/100s, if you use a 300mm lens the shutter speed should be at least 1/320s etc..)

However; most  Digital cameras do not have a sensor with the same dimensions as 35mm film (which was used at the time the rule was made). In most cases the camera has a crop factor of 1.5 or 1.6, (this means that a 100mm lens is actually a 150 or 160mm lens when translated into 35mm film sizes. So If your camera has a crop factor of 1.6 and you're using a 200mm lens you should use a shutter speed of at least 1/320 (200mm * 1.6 = 320)

My tip for hand supporting your camera is to place your left hand on your right shoulder and then rest the camera on your left elbow/arm. This is the most stable posture I have found and is good with longer lenses especially when used in conjunction with leaning your left shoulder against a firm support.

Cheers for now J

 Hi wichianburi1

Morning glory or pak boong is water loving and I would recommend planting in a trench lined with plastic ( it's also fairly invasive so this will contain the roots but make sure you harvest the shoots regularly or it will spread like wildfire.

I'd intercrop the toms, basil and chillies as they seem to thrive together. for your curcubits (the cucumber family, try interspersing with the white radish and if you can find seed rat-tailed radish (both brassica family), it should help to keep down cucumber beeetle.

The beans will provide nitrogen but also shade so maybe grow them up a trellis to shade the other brassicas (cabbage, bok choi etc..which may thrive better with an element of shade (should be slower to bolt)

cheers for now J

Hi Phuketrichard

Seeing as you're only just out of the timescale, you were honest about it and you appear to be a first time poster in the challenges (plus your image made me smile ), I do believe I'm going to award you a wild card entry just this once.

I've edited your post to make your image viewable and also edited the metadata, Folks it's really not necessary to include "all" of your metadata just the basics please (it simply makes a thread too long and after-all this sub-forum should be about images not words) , most of us are aware how to find further info on the metadata of an image via our web browser or image viewing software so short and sweet is good.

cheers for now J

^ 

I'm a big proponent of CRH (carbonised rice hull) but to use it effectively I believe it must be tilled into the sub-soil . There is no need to charge it with urea etc... if it is simply going to be used as a mulch (the nutrients will simply leach out with rain and run off the soil in the usual manner, by incorporating it there will be no problems with it absorbing nutrients from the soil below and making them inaccessable to the plants) and plain rice hull or rice straw may well be a better choice. If you're going to incorporate it into the soil a better option for charging it would be EM. CRH has many benefits but one of the major ones as you point out is the large surface area of its micropores, which make it an ideal substrate for the growth of soil micro-organisms, which will break down nutrients in the soil and make them available to the plants . I would recommend creating a soil conditioner from it such as ; 4 parts CRH charged with EM : 4 parts cattle manure : 1 part rice bran : 1 part compost. I'll post a more complete recipe and method later if anyone is interested.

cheers for now J  

Local rumour I fear.

The micro-organisms in Em are yeasts,lactic acid bacteria,bacillus and oxigenic photosynthetic bacteria none of these have an effect on insect pests that I am aware of. EM can be used to ferment out plants such as ginger, lemongrass and chilli to make an organic pesticide but I use boric acid for the ants and the wife gets some herbal "stuff" which is used on ripe papaya to bait the snails.

J

Hi Folks

I just thought I'd share this (my latest project; a greetings card for a mate, loads of in-jokes (I'm not going to explain !!) with you...

How was it composited? Well from an image of my mate and some stock images downloaded from "google".Too many details to go into but plenty of layers and layer masks as well as some layer styles, too many tools to mention but a lot of use of the transform tools after extracting various images (some via the magic wand etc... , some using the pen tool and others using the channel palette), some use of the liquify filter (for the nose and mouth mainly but also in other areas) plus some custom brushwork, mainly on the bottle (to drink a glug and repaint in the contents). There was obviously also image adjustments for individual layers (one "trick" I like to use is reducing the opacity of a layer to help it blend in or try altering the blending mode).

Then there was the addition of a digital signature, which may appeal to you as a photographer even if you're not into compositing, this link comes from a really creative fellow and is easy to understand with a little knowledge of PS basics PSHero . I can see many applications for it; such as creating a personalised watermark or simply digitally signing your prints.

Cheers for now J

Below is a .zip file of the source images that I used to create this image for those whom may be interested.

source_files.zip

Hi Smithson

Yes I believe they are !! Whether they produce as well when given organic inputs as apposed to chems, sorry no idea. For a long time my father and myself although growing organically always used F1 hybrids for seed. As always some varieties performed better than others and we tended to stick with them. Now whether that was because the variety was better suited to our location or performed better because of organic inputs I cannot say, we never conducted this trial.

I think what Rice555 and myself are saying is that you need to start with "true" hybrid seed to begin with (you cannot compare saved seed from a hybrid plant to seed certified as hybrid). The simple reason I am now switching to OP seed is that I don't want to rely on bringing new seed in from abroad every year and as mentioned earlier I can play Dr. Frankenstein with my plants. Yeah if you want to be a purist you'll only purchase organic F1 seed (don't even know if it exists, I'll have to check out my suppliers) or buy OP organic seed (as opposed general OP seed which may or may not be organically produced).

What chemical residue resides in an in-organic seed I have no idea (but guess it's very little, especially the amount that may transfer to the final produce) but I'm not going to lose sleep over it !! It's going to be more about the way the parent plant was cultivated and the environmental damage this method has as opposed to whether it is hybrid or OP IMHO !

On the otherhand FI seed is generally bred for commercial growers to suit their needs rather than backyard growers so does it taste as good ?

"The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as "progress" doesn't spread !" - Andy Rooney

I believe I know the answer, working as a chef I'm hired for my palate as much as the technical skills I possess and I pride myself on seeking out quality produce from local growers... but taste is subjective and not everyone has such highly tuned palates. So grow it, cook it and eat it. The proof is in the pudding as they say.   

cheers for now J

hi importford

Yeah sure you can use EM on rice paddy. It is used as an organic weed management tool as the micro-organisms break seed dormancy and promote weed growth this growth is then ploughed in. I'll flick through my literature and post dilution rates and timings of application and post when I get a chance. I'm in the process of extending some EM at the moment and I know I saw the info in one of my printouts when I was checking recipes. Three crops a year on poor soil ? Probably not, personally I'd rotate using a short DTF leguminous crop as a green manure and maybe corn at least in the early days until you have built up soil fertility. as to fertiliser... well if you're wanting to use EM I guess you're looking at organic although maybe you just want to avoid the use of herbicides. Thats gonna take time but addition of plenty of organic matter, compost,bio-char and the use of green manures will all help.

cheers for now J   

Hi Tallforeigner

I think I prefer the B+W shot. The background is more natural whereas the colour shot extracted onto a pure black background is a little too harsh for my eyes (you missed a bit on the boys arm which gives the game away  . Are you just using the eraser tool or an extraction filter ?). Having said that there's a lot of evident brushwork in the lower left of the B+W version, I guess you were removing distracting background images to bring focus onto the boy.

For the colour shot I would be inclined to composite with another photo for the background for a more natural look.For the B+W shot you could try using the clone tools to remove background distractions. All that said it's still a great portrait shot and is definitely worth spending the time in PS to clean it up a little further.

Cheers for now J   

Hi Folks

I'm starting a new challenge "Transport", don't worry I'm not going all autocratic on you !! It's just a way of giving us something to shoot whilst voting takes place for  "Challenge #10 - Action", to vote on this challenge please follow this link Photo Challenge #10 - "Action"  . This new challenge will close at the end of December shortly after the voting in "Challenge #10 - Action" closes, January will see the start of a new challenge as decided by the winner of "Challenge #10 - Action" and so on. Hopefully this will negate the "dead time" between challenges whilst we await a decision on a winner and their choice of a new challenge.

Rules remain the same as for previous challenges:

1. Challenges are limited to photos taken within Thailand or are clearly Thailand related.

2. Only your own photos may be submitted.

3. You may post up to 3 photos in each challenge.

4. Photos must have been shot within the last 3 months.

5. Post processing is OK, but it will be up to the judge if it works or not.

6. Keep your images to 600-800 pixels on their longest side, if posting a link.

7. Please include some EXIF data including: speed, aperture, ISO, DATE of photo taken and any PP you've done.

8. Judging will be by Forum Poll, Post Votes or via our Gallery Voters at the end of the period

9. The winner gets to set the subject for the next challenge available.

10 Each challenge will be open for 15 days or more. Please see the challenge announcement.

Some general inspiration can be found here Link.

Best of luck  !!

Cheers for now J

Ps I'd like to add my thanks to KanWin for his sterling efforts in making the photography forum what it is today  !! Cheers Fella !!

Hi folks

Thanks for your entries. Seems like it's time to "freeze" the action as it were !! Members can vote for their favourite here Action Competition Gallery to help decide a winner.

cheers for now J

Hi Folks

This is the best site I have found so far for info on chicken feed lionsgrip.com

cheers for now J

Breakfast anyone ??

Hi folks

I believe it has been correctly identified as a ponderosa lemon limonmedica (or a very similar citron cross)

In Thai this is known as มะนาวควาย Manao khwai in the south, ส้มมะงั่ว Som ma ngua in the central region and manao yao in the north although it probably has more than one name in each region.

cheers for now J

Hi Folks

Let's try to keep it civil guys .

Smithson I agree with Rice555 that hybrid seed will not stay true from saved seed, this is a fact.Hybrid seed is created to be resistant to a number of diseases so choosing a variety bred for cultivation in a particular location is important, all the seed companies list which strains are resistant to specific diseases. At the same time as creating disease resistant strains other genetic desirabilities such as shelf life, fruit size and dwarfing for easy harvest are considered. I believe they also try to increase the ratio of hermaphrodite/female to male producing seeds.

Generally seed companies do not produce seed for backyard growers but have the commercial boys in mind so you're correct in this assumption. As Rice has suggested try an open-pollinated variety whose saved seed will stay true to the parent (it does sound like you are doing this already), by selecting seed from your best performing plants ( you could choose those that ripen earliest, largest fruit size, pest resistance etc... ) and over time you will breed these characteristics into your plants with the bonus that these will be naturally adapted to your own location and growing methods (do make sure that you select seed from more than one plant though as you need to maintain genetic diversity within the variety). Hybrid seed is simply a method of speeding up this process of natural selection. With regards to hybrids needing chemicals to thrive I'm not completely sure, although I would guess that this response may also be bred in to suit commercial growers.

There is a method for "reverse engineering" hybrid seed to create an open pollinated variety with the characteristics of the parent material but it's fairly advanced and time consuming plant breeding. Another method for propagating hybrids so that they remain true is through cuttings and I posted info about this in another papaya thread.

Anyway It's really just a matter of experimenting, observing and finding the varieties of fruits and vegetables that are best suited your location and growing methods. If you feel open-pollinated, organic grown produce tastes better you may have to put up with slightly lesser yields etc to begin with than if you were to use hybrids but unless you are in a commercial situation this is unlikely to be a problem.

Cheers for now J   

Hi Folks

Yesterday had my first go at carbonising some rice husks  . quickly knocked together a firebox out of an old biscuit tin with some nail holes punched in it and some corrugated sheet wired up for a chimney (just stuff I had lying about), crude looking but did what it said on the tin !! I used four large sacks of hulls and the process took about 7 hours. worked out really nicely with full carbonisation and very little ash. A couple of things I'd suggest is a mask when raking up the husks in the final stages of carbonisation as I found this last stage did create quite a bit of fine ash as the very outside of the pile is exposed to oxygen and an ample supply of water, it was really quite surprising the amount required to completely arrest combustion, in the end I removed the firebox and raked the husks out whilst playing the hose on them.

So now for some experiments, going to add about 10% to my potting mix, use some in making bokashi for fermenting kitchen waste and the rest I'm going to add to compost piles and also try my hand at some slow release organic fertiliser to work into the raised beds. 

Cheers for now J