peppers and tomatoes?

[steve2112]

anyone had any luck with peppers and tomatoes? 

i just bought some seeds from lazada, jalapeno, sweet pepper and an Italian tomato

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i1224732588-s2922650225.html

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/costoluto-fiorentino-tomato-tomatoes-italian-high-germination-rate-i1138560816-s2639542163.html

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/jalapeno-pepper-seed-70-100-i341232240-s661932737.html

 

i'm going to grow in bags with local potting soil which is mulched up coconut and leaves and stuff. also add composted coffee grounds and egg shells and bananas

 

i thinking should use shade cloth but like to hear opinions from someone who's has success.

 

any other tips? fish heads? etc?

 

BTW, i'm in the islands so hot and humid all year but not crazy hot like essan/chiang mai

 

[BritManToo]

Earlier this year I tried, wasted 600bht on shade mesh.

Everything was eaten by leaf-miners, thrips and aphids, didn't even get 10bht worth of tomatoes, the peppers were completely eaten. Would have needed a fortune in pesticide to grow anything worthwhile.

 

None of the seeds I bought from Lazada germinated.

Seeds from a local shop were OK, the best seeds I just picked out of tomatoes/peppers I was eating.

[steve2112]

interesting, did you try spray anything on like neem oil?

 

[dddave]

I've successfully grown tomatoes planted in buckets on my 9th floor, SE facing balcony. I quit after 3 seasons as I could never get the size, sweetness and flavor I was used to from garden grown back home in the US.  Not sure if because of the seed quality or the growing conditions: perhaps too much hot sun and when rainstorms hit, the soil in the pots would saturate. 

Tomatoes of similar quality to what I was getting are available in Makro cheap so no point.  I never had an insect problem, perhaps because of being on the 9th floor. 

 

Twice, I've had nice Thai chili plants that thrived for a year or so, then would suddenly start dropping yellow leaves and die.  I suspect too much water from rainstorms along with pots and soil that didn't drain well.

[steve2112]

maybe an idea to cover the soil with plastic bag when expecting a few days of heavy rain

 

[BritManToo]

45 minutes ago, steve2112 said:

interesting, did you try spray anything on like neem oil?

 

I sprayed Spinosad ..... kills everything, but expensive, only lasts a day or two.

But there were more bugs than I could afford to spray every other day.

Neem oil, even more expensive.

 

Cheaper to buy in Makro and the markets.

Bell peppers are only 10bht for 4 in my local market, and tomatoes 10bht/bag.

 

[xylophone]

30 minutes ago, dddave said:

Tomatoes of similar quality to what I was getting are available in Makro cheap so no point.

I tried to grow some here in pots in my back garden, but they were never as tasty as those from NZ or indeed other countries. And as BMToo has said, infestations of whitefly, mealybugs and the like did eventually destroy the plants.

 

None of the Thai grown tomatoes float my boat (tough skinned and tasteless), however I do manage to buy the cherry type tomatoes in Tops and occasionally in Big C and they are from Korea and Japan and are very tasty indeed so I'm always on the lookout for those, and have given up the idea of growing my own here.
 

[Grumpy John]

Lion seeds have a range of tomato seeds including Love 161 for good size table tomatoes.  Cannot get Lion seeds here in our neighbourhood but maybe some garden centre in Bangkok has them.  My Australian seed varieties have been almost a complete failure.  Got a handful of tomatoes over the years and a few bell peppers.  Beans, onions, broccoli and kale seeds were RS!

[islandguy]

Tomatoes may be best in cooler months. It also may be necessary to cover with the fine white mesh screening to prevent white fly and fruit fly attacks. Can be done For each plant or a whole row. Not needed until color starts to change. Cherry and plum tomatoes seem much more resistant, no need of cover. This is based on experience in another tropical place, got very good quality in greenhouses. Peppers I’m just now trying, fingers crossed! Recommend full sun for both.

[islandguy]

Samui forum moderator is an ace gardener, see if you can ask him.

[djayz]

There are a few different threads on this forum which look at growing tomatoes here. If you look back through those, there's loads of info about growing toms in Thailand. 

Basically, it's best to grow the seeds now in Aug./Sept. so that they'll bear fruit in Nov.-Jan. (cool season).

When watering the plants, avoid getting water on the leaves. Water around the base/soil only. It's best to give them a good watering every few days as opposed to a little every day.

Oddly enough, I've never had the same insect problems that some posters have reported. 

I've had varying degrees of success with peppers, but I believe this had more to do with the quality of seeds than anything else. 

Good luck and happy gardening. 

[MyTHaiMyKe]

Waste of time and money! Especially on pesticides!