Are Older Men in Thailand Trading Love for Financial Ruin

[nitecm]

Hi

Anyone has informations of potato farming?

Where to get the potato seeding ?

How to get a high a productivity ?

Nitecm

[klikster]

Hi

Anyone has informations of potato farming?

Where to get the potato seeding ?

How to get a high a productivity ?

Nitecm

I remember that we used to store our potatos for the winter on wire screen shelves. We sprinkled them with lime to slow down rotting. They will eventually begin to "sprout" at the "eyes". So we cut the spud into chunks (one sprout per chunk) and come planting time, planted the sprouts.

My grandmother liked to grow sweet potato vines as indoor decorations. She just put a sweet potato in a Mason jar of water and let it grow .. adding water as required. The vine would crawl or climb all over the place. I'm pretty sure you can sprout potatoes the same way.

I'll leave the fertilizer recommendations to someone else since I can't remember whether we fertilized or not.

Edited January 11, 2008 by klikster

[MrSquigle]

can you grow potatoes in the tropics ?? I thought not.

[klikster]

can you grow potatoes in the tropics ?? I thought not.

I think sweet potatoes can grow in tropical conditions, but what we always called "Irish" pototato .. not sure. Maybe up north?

[chownah]

When you plant potatoes be sure to wrap them with newspaper because you don't want to get dirt in their eyes...............hahahhahahahahhah

Chownah

P.M.S. Did any of you nimrods ever think to search the farming forum for "potato"?...well...did ya???...huh???? If you had you would have found this link (among lots of others!!!):

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...5&hl=potato

why don't you guys get off...blah blha blahb lahblahb bithdhchhc bitch bitch....

Sincerely,

Chownah

Edited January 11, 2008 by chownah

[MrSquigle]

so do they or not ?

[Lickey]

The ground is too hot for any type of european tubers, you will have a slim chance if you live in the mountains, ive tried many ways to grow potatoes, even planting them next to a busy 2inch underground farm irrigation pipe, [keeps the soil cool ] but with no sucess, I know there is nothing like a new potatoe, when the skin rubs of with your fingers, but ive resigened myself to tesco-lotus potatoes now, cheers, lickey,,

[ozzydom]

For once I concur with chownah,s remarks,but if you dont know how to type POTATO in the search box,,,Yes ! large quantities of potatoes are grown in Thailand, many in Issan, the main variety is of US. origin.

The secret is to plant and harvest within a limited window seasonally.

Lays has a large potato processing factory in Chiang Mai.

[chownah]

so do they or not ?

yes, exactly, they do and they don't

[Theyreallrubbish]

About 15 years ago I met a guy from near Aberdeen in Scotland who said he supplied 80% of the seed potatoes to Thailand. He said they were mainly grown in the area around Chiang Mai and that it was a great business for him because the climate prevented the cultivation of seed potatoes so they needed a new supply of seed potatoes every year.

How much of that is true I have no idea as I'm not a farmer. Just passing on what I was told in case it helps

[klikster]

so do they or not ?

yes, exactly, they do and they don't

Chownah is just jealous since he never learned to grow spuds.

Edited January 12, 2008 by klikster

[nitecm]

Thanks for all the information

Do anyone know where to get seed potatoes at Thailand ?

[MrSquigle]

If they grow from seeds, how come I never get any in me mashed potaote or chips ?

[klikster]

Thanks for all the information

Do anyone know where to get seed potatoes at Thailand ?

I would try to get some potatos, keep them in a cool as possible damp place, maybe mist them periodically .. and see if they sprout.

[egg]

Hi

l just leave my Tesco spuds on the bench until they sprout,, then cut them with at least 3 sprouts on each piece ,,,then put them in the garden ,,,which has been well worked over with plenty of manure ,,,,,,, my first attempt was in some old tyres ,,covered with straw ,,they grew but had no tubers ,,, this time l have put them in the garden ,, they are growing well but am still not sure if they have tubers or not,,, at the moment it is trial and error , just to see what happens,,, good luck

cheers

egg

[ozzydom]

A tip for when you are cutting your sets is to dab the cut faces in cement dust,it seals the cut and helps prevent dehydration.

[seonai]

nitecm just leave the potato until a green shoot comes out then stick it in the earth - I start mine in a plant pot first as out soil is not so good. I am no way an expert but I find that just sticking the whole potato in works better than cutting it

[rice555]

this months Rakkaset Ag Mag #77 has a 3 page article and 6 pictures of a grower in CM, he gives some some figures on harvest amount and prices. Cover page is green 2" strip on top of page, 2" yellow on bottom of page, 7 pictures, top L/H is tomatoes, R/H side is Thai chillies, the spuds are the 2nd picture bottom row.

stories like this are in the Thai Ag mags all the time, this month a lady growing figs, a guy in Pac Chong growing avocados and I counted 19 fertilizer company adds in one.

They are a great source of info. Oh, the mag is Bt.39 rice555

[thaidrav]

Rice555, Is there a place in Bangkok where i can get the Thai Ag Magazine?

[rice555]

Hello thaidrav, I've found 7-8 monthly mag's at local news stands/ book stores, superstores. When I come into BKK from here, I usually go to Central Lat Phrao, if you take the up elevator in front of Starbucks, go L. at the top and walk towards Central. On the far R/H side is a book store that caries a good selection of ag mags and sometimes has some back issues, you got to look.

Go R on the 1st isle(window) all the way to the wall, turn L and go about 10'.

I hope this helps.

rice555

[toybits]

There is a difference between. The potato plant can bear flowers and produce true seeds. Most of the potatoes, however, are grown from sprouting tubers - the spud - that is. Sprouting spuds are also called seed potatoes. Spuds are storage organs that have the ability to propagate vegetatively or assexually. In other words, it is a clone...

If they grow from seeds, how come I never get any in me mashed potaote or chips ?

[turnpike]

A tip for when you are cutting your sets is to dab the cut faces in cement dust,it seals the cut and helps prevent dehydration.

ozzy,

bringing up and older topic here but...

never heard of this before but it makes sense. do you dab it and let it harden just before planting? or do you let it continue to sit and sprout after dabbing.

i've planted some, well, 2, potatoes from india. they look just like normal spuds, but they are the best i've ever eaten, soft texture, even large ones have that "baby potato" taste.. i've taken another 4 from the galley at work and will plant them this time home.

thanks in advance for your help.

[Foreverford]

A tip for when you are cutting your sets is to dab the cut faces in cement dust,it seals the cut and helps prevent dehydration.

ozzy,

bringing up and older topic here but...

never heard of this before but it makes sense. do you dab it and let it harden just before planting? or do you let it continue to sit and sprout after dabbing.

i've planted some, well, 2, potatoes from india. they look just like normal spuds, but they are the best i've ever eaten, soft texture, even large ones have that "baby potato" taste.. i've taken another 4 from the galley at work and will plant them this time home.

thanks in advance for your help.

We used to go to an old abandoned quasi cement operation in the deserts of Baja and scrape up the residue from when they burned the lime and put it on the cut spuds and it worked perfectly so in cement seems like the same idea and also sucessful. we did it a few days before planting. Choke Dee

[timi2546]

Thanks for all the information

Do anyone know where to get seed potatoes at Thailand ?

we r planning to move countryside,

thought to bring some seeds

from finland, this coming july.

cheers

[Lickey]

It seems that most if not all potatos when harvested are sprayed with a sprout inhibitor so they dont sprout in cold storage,

Im not much of a link man but enter potato sprout inhibitor,reverse? in a google search and if anybody can de-cipher what it all means short of de-sprouting spuds and dipping them in anti-freeze and planting them, i would love to read it, Thanks, Lickey..

[cmfarmer]

For anyone who wishes to go into potato farming I would suggest he pays a visit to the sub district of Chedimaekrua in the district of Sansai in Chiang Mai. Hundreds of rais of potato are grown towards the end of the raining season in the sandy fields after the rice harvest.

The area is about 10 kms. north of the Maejo University.

I understand containers of potato seed pieces are imported from the Netherlands for the members of the potato grower association annually.

Just go to the market of Chedimaekrua with a Thai speaking person and ask the vegetable sellers for the members of the association. I am sure they would be happy to provide you with information regarding potato growing.

[wagner54]

Hi

l just leave my Tesco spuds on the bench until they sprout,, then cut them with at least 3 sprouts on each piece ,,,then put them in the garden ,,,which has been well worked over with plenty of manure ,,,,,,, my first attempt was in some old tyres ,,covered with straw ,,they grew but had no tubers ,,, this time l have put them in the garden ,, they are growing well but am still not sure if they have tubers or not,,, at the moment it is trial and error , just to see what happens,,, good luck

cheers

egg

Hi

It's been 2 and a half months since you wrote this and I'm just wondering if you got any tubers from your plants in the garden?

Cheers

Roger

[pigeonjake]

hi to all, well ive grown them in rise sacks, fill with good soil the first foot or so, put a couple of potatos in then fill up to another foot,place under a tree for shade water well, and as soon as the potatoes sproat put more soil on till you have the bag filled, but you must water well, and use good soil, i buy some from the garden centre in them bags, then i mix that with soil from behind papas pigs, that all i do, and these are just potatoes from texco just wait thill there eyes apear then plant, keep them cool under the tree or in shade and water well, hope this helps, just remember here you dont need a green house to grow you need a shade house, and raised beds better, take care all. look after each other jake

[Iamemjay]

There are heaps of spuds grown in the Fang/Chai Prakan districts of Chiangmai province. In fact I've just harvested a good crop from my own vege garden - the cooler temps, esp. at night facilitate their success here.

I don't particularly like those grown in Thailand (too waxy) so I brought some Nicola seed spuds when I was last in Australia. I dug a 150mm deep trench in well worked soil, spread a layer of blood and bone fertiliser (Thais call it "reebone") covered the fertiliser with a little soil and dropped the seed spuds in making sure there were 2 shoots per seed. I covered them with soil and then added a layer of well composted horse manure on top. I had 100% success with their growth. I mounded the soil around them as they grew. Yield? About 2 kg of medium sized potatoes (The Nicola variety are not large) per plant. Interestingly, whilst this variety are supposed to flower well, mine did not flower at all.

I don't know where to buy seed spuds here. For a follow-up crop I've just acquired some tubas from a local farmer, knowing they have not been treated in any way. That's what they do - they just store from their last crop. I'll also try storing some of mine.

Some US and Aussie on-line seed suppliers will post seed spuds if you are willing to pay the postage. I'd recommend you research suitable varieties first - that's how I settled on growing Nicolas here.

There is plenty of help on the www if you just Google "growing potatoes tropics"

[rice555]

Hello lamemjay, the latest issue of(see picture) has an article(Thai) with some pictures

of the fields, tractor types used and some tonnage per rai info.

rice555