Growing Fruit in a small holding

[Bangkok Black]

I would like some tips and advice,

 

While I am no gardener or farmer of any kind, I see my wife and her mother doing things while we are at my wife's plot of land and think, "That doesn't look right to me."

I voice an opinion and am shot down with comments to the effect of, You're not Thai we are so we know.

While growing up in England my parents were keen gardeners and both grew up in a rural setting and their parents worked on farms. So some knowledge is there from them to pull on.

I didn't take to gardening but some things seemed like common sense to make plants grow.

 

On the plot of land in question, there is the following,

 

Duran

Banana

Papaya

Mango

Some  herbs and vegetables that I have no idea what they are

 

It seems to me that most are just randomly planted with no plan.  Some plants like lots of light some don't for example.

She will buy small durian trees and then just "plonk" them anywhere and wonder why most fail. 

Doing a quick Google search for example or doing some research is a no-no.

 

Banana trees, do you just let them grow or do you trim them as they grow? 

When the fruits start forming this purple-coloured "bulb" grows below the fruits, do you cut it off or leave it?

After the fruit has been cut off do you cut the whole thing down or leave it?

 

Durian, where do you plant them? in sunlight or shade? 

how much do you water them as they grow?

what do you feed them and treat them with?

 

PApaya, same as durian

and also do you cut one that say 5 feet high in half and "plonk" the cut-off part in the ground?

 

Mango, any help welcome

How to grow from seed from a fruit you have just eaten?

 

Mon Khai, I am trying to grow from seed from the fruit I have eaten. One has started so am keen to make it grow more. Advice, please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[drtreelove]

"I see my wife and her mother doing things while we are at my wife's plot of land and think, "That doesn't look right to me."

I voice an opinion and am shot down ... "

Good luck with that aspect of getting involved. How's your tolerance and communications for these differences of opinion and practices that "don't look right" to you. Because from my own experience and that of farming friends, that's not going to go away. If the frustration is going to stress you and your marriage, then stay out of it and let the wife and MIL do it their way.  

 

Some horticultural practices depend largely on whether you are growing for commericial sales, or hobby farming for personal use and ornamental value. For example, I'm not a commercial grower. I grow bananas for the awesome green beauty, fast growth and fruiting,  and visual screening function, as well as for family consumption of the fruit. So I manicure the plants with weekly monitoring and trimming of dead and dying leaves, and I thin for spacing and directional pruning. All that may not be practical, cost effective or necessary for commercial production. 

 

The flowers can be used, cooked and eaten, but we don't often do that. We usually cut them off and give them away to neighbors or chop and compost. 

 

After harvesting the bananas, I 'chop and drop' the spent plant and leave-lay for mulch. The cut plant will regrow from the center, but I prefer to continue to cut it until it gives up, and I cultivate one or more of the offshoots.  I don't have dairy or chicken manure available on site, so I buy and blend composted manures and other ingredients for my own COF (complete organic fertilizer. 

 

Durian have special requirements, especially for soil and water management, and prevention of root and crown rot soil-bor)ne pathogen infections.  See TM Durian Farmer channel on YouTube for some tips. 

 

Papaya, mango and other fruit - its best to buy known varieties as seedlings or grafted young plants. When you propagate from seeds you are taking a chance at disappointment in the resulting growth and fruiting. 

[NoDisplayName]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Black said:

I would like some tips and advice,

 

While I am no gardener or farmer of any kind, I see my wife and her mother doing things while we are at my wife's plot of land and think, "That doesn't look right to me."

 

My advice:  Leave them alone, they're having fun.

 

Find a comfy chair, sit down in the shade, have a beer or three.

Every now and then remark "Wow, hon, looks great!"

[kickstart]

Duran, not an easy fruit to grow, look around your area, if they are no Duran orchards then they will not grow, I am in Lopburi province, I have tried Deran 2-3 times just do not grow, and they are non-grown in our area, and as far as I know none is grown in the province 

That purple bulb you can cut it off it as the tree grows, it does help he tree to produce more fruit, then if you do not cut it off, but some will get cut of, as they do make a nice Tom -Kar- Gie, a Thai soup.

When the fruit has been cut off as Dr T said cut it down for a mulch, the plant will grow, but it will not bear any fruit for a second time. 

 Papaya, you can buy the plants cheaply from any market, I get them for 20-30 baht each, go for Kek Dum or Holland verities plant them let them grow, no need to chop them at all, but beware I brought some plants, and one is a male plant now 8 foot tall, it will not produce any fruit.

Mangos, again not one of our successful crops, just do not like the hot weather I have tried 2-3 times to grow Ogg-Long, verity from seed they get up to a foot tall then disease sets in, that is it, just go a buy some well grown plants, or look on the net at grafting. 

My land has flooded which does not help, when planting a tree, I dig a hole 18 inch deep, put some stones in the bottom then some compost, from ort few cattle, then plant the tree remember not to deep, the stones help drainage.  

[Bangkok Black]

On 12/1/2024 at 11:35 PM, NoDisplayName said:

 

My advice:  Leave them alone, they're having fun.

 

Find a comfy chair, sit down in the shade, have a beer or three.

Every now and then remark "Wow, hon, looks great!"

The idea of getting the land in the first place was as an investment, growing fruit and possibly selling it.

Yeah I know..... so does every other person in Thailand, just go to the local markets 555

 

But those are the reasons. Now, to me, there seems to be a bit of knowledge, but the rest just looks like they are winging it.

Cutting as growing papaya that was about 6ft in half and just shoving the cut-off bit in the ground is stupid and guess what? yes, both halves died soon after. 

That and other such examples go on all the time.

 

[Bangkok Black]

21 hours ago, kickstart said:

Duran, not an easy fruit to grow, look around your area, if they are no Duran orchards then they will not grow, I am in Lopburi province, I have tried Deran 2-3 times just do not grow, and they are non-grown in our area, and as far as I know none is grown in the province 

That purple bulb you can cut it off it as the tree grows, it does help he tree to produce more fruit, then if you do not cut it off, but some will get cut of, as they do make a nice Tom -Kar- Gie, a Thai soup.

When the fruit has been cut off as Dr T said cut it down for a mulch, the plant will grow, but it will not bear any fruit for a second time. 

 Papaya, you can buy the plants cheaply from any market, I get them for 20-30 baht each, go for Kek Dum or Holland verities plant them let them grow, no need to chop them at all, but beware I brought some plants, and one is a male plant now 8 foot tall, it will not produce any fruit.

Mangos, again not one of our successful crops, just do not like the hot weather I have tried 2-3 times to grow Ogg-Long, verity from seed they get up to a foot tall then disease sets in, that is it, just go a buy some well grown plants, or look on the net at grafting. 

My land has flooded which does not help, when planting a tree, I dig a hole 18 inch deep, put some stones in the bottom then some compost, from ort few cattle, then plant the tree remember not to deep, the stones help drainage.  

Near the plot of land other people do grow durian but it looks more serious as in they are behind fenced-off land and some people have cctv covering the plot. 

 

When some of the banana trees have fruit it is usually cut off too early then it takes 2 weeks to turn yellow. Then it goes black really fast?