Gardening In Thailand

[Jai Dee]

Jai Dee,

If you know a common brand in Aus, I might be able to send some over to you Monday with a friend.

Kmart and Woolies are close by.

"DEFENDER" snail pellets are here in my shed..... any good?

MATE... would you?

I used to use "Defender" a lot, and it's a good product.

I'll PM you with my details.

Cheers udon.

And stevemarkwell, what is the "beer trap"?

Although the common garden variety of Thai snail is a different shape to the Australian common snail (I don't really know any other countries varieties), their diet preferences appear to be the same.

[sbk]

Wednesdays at Chatuchak market is strictly plant sellers.

Wish I had a big truck to go once or twice .

Outside of Bangkok (southern part) is a huge area full of nurseries. From big trees to water plants (again, big truck dream strikes here). In the provinces mostly you have to look for plant sellers by the side of the road, we have bought bags of potted compost from these places, but you need to check the contents first. Some aren't fully composted.

[Thetyim]

When a friend of mine visited from UK his wife was going ape-sh1t in my garden.

She works in the horticultural dept. at Newcastle Council and was dancing round the garden pointing at the "flowers" and telling me their latin names and how much they would cost in UK.

The prices were amazing, and I thought they were just weeds.

If you are an avid gardener I think you will enjoy it here

[Ajarn]

G'day maerim.

can you buy good potting compost, seeds and bio sprays?

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Potting compost, loads around.

Seeds in packets sold in many places

Bio sprays abound, too, but all in Thai language, in my experience

[johnh101]

G'day maerim.

can you buy good potting compost, seeds and bio sprays?

One thing I have not seen is snail bait/pellets... it annoys the h3ll out of me when I buy a few new plants, place them somewhere out in the garden, only to have hungry hordes of hoys descend on them after watering at night as if it was a free buffet at the local pub. I'd love to find some snail bait...

Try this link to get rid of the snails without poisoning anything / anybody else.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4031_rid-snails-slugs.html

[Jai Dee]

Wednesdays at Chatuchak market is strictly plant sellers.

Wish I had a big truck to go once or twice  .

Thanks for that sbk.

What time do they generally open?

If I visit JJ it's usually as early as possible to beat the heat.

And thanks for that link johnh101... I'll have a look.

Edited May 4, 2005 by Jai Dee

[stevemarkwell]

And stevemarkwell, what is the "beer trap"?

Although the common garden variety of Thai snail is a different shape to the Australian common snail (I don't really know any other countries varieties), their diet preferences appear to be the same. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Johnh101's site describes the beer trap - #6, or you can probably find a commercially made one on the internet.

There are also carnivorous snails that eat the snails that eat your plants. In the States i use them quite a bit, but I don't know where they're from, and I don't know if they would naturalize in Thailand and cause problems, as has happened with carnivorous snails in Hawaii. They are called 'decollate snails', and the eat small snails, slugs, and decomposing organic matter.

Edited May 4, 2005 by stevemarkwell

[Bull]

Jatujak should be ok for ordinary plants in terms of price and choice. Otherwise head up for Rangsit, which is where I buy most of the stuff.

I work in Bangkok as a landscape designer, and it is not rare that a client asks us to renovate the garden area before renting/selling the property. I have no idea of how this works in properties to be sold, but I can tell you it works wonders in property for rent.

Bull

[ayakiawe]

In Koh Samui See Ms Ta 's Good Stuff ad.

She sells all kinds of exotic edible plants from tropical america.

[email protected]

09-594-9432

[planemad]

I have just finished setting up my own garden having recently moved into a new house. I have seen plenty of good plants bushes and trees on offer at Chatuchak market, it's a good place to start, however, transport too and from it, is IMHO, a bit of a pain. Parking can be very difficult and I would not wish to negotiate the sky train or underground with a bundle of plants.

I personally recommend a trip to Thewet market. Its not far from the Government Area, so quite accessible. It is along the side of Krung Kasem Rd, heading towards Thewet Pier. To get there follow Rama 1 Rd out of town, past Siam Discovery and over the canal at China Town but keep going straight. From there, turn right into Krung Kasem Rd and just follow for about 2 km where the market appears on the right hand side of the rd.

It has a good variery of bedding type plants, ferns, fan type plants, flowering and non-flowering bushes, some lotus and of course orchids! This place is real eye candy and whilst the total area is only about 300 mtrs long it can be very difficult to drag yourself away from.

I hope this helps. Good Luck.

[chownah]

There are also carnivorous snails that eat the snails that eat your plants.  In the States i use them quite a bit, but I don't know where they're from, and I don't know if they would naturalize in Thailand and cause problems, as has happened with carnivorous snails in Hawaii......."

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Please, please don't bring any snails into Thailand from anyplace else!!!!!

For those who want really good potting soil you can put a pile of cow or kwai manure in a distant corner of your estate where the rain does not fall on it but where you can keep it moist for several months. After several months it will look like dirt and will not smell like manure. It will have a rich earthy smell and you can mix this 1/3 with 1/3 sharp sand and 1/3 garden soil. If this is too rich (too much nitrogen) then you can make another pile using the manure but mix by volume one volume of manure with 5 volumes of leaves or straw. Let this sit for a few months just like the manure above but stir it once a month or whenever you think of it. It will take a bit longer than the manure but when mixed in 1/3 with the sand and soil will give good potting soil too. When I lived in Nong Khai I lived on the edge of town and had a small garden. I didn't have a source for manure so I started cruising the roads near me carrying a bucket and a hand shovel. People who saw me would shout "tham arai?" I would answer "phai ow khee kwai!" with a big smile.....they always got a chuckle out of that and one day one of them stopped by my house and deposited a nice size pile of the substance in a convenient spot for me to use!! Once you get used to making this it is easy to keep enough on hand to supply you for the coming year......its just a pile of stuff kept over there somewhere!

[udon]

Some very helpful posts here, thanks.

Years ago at the Kaset Uni open day (feb) a few peeps were selling neem plants and neem insecticide.

Thai orchard owners swear by it as a natural bug killer and preventative.

google Neem..

[Nordlys]

Wednesdays at Chatuchak market is strictly plant sellers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not only Wednesdays but Thursdays too, I believe.

Also a big a big fruit market in Rangsit called Tarat Thai.

There's a big plant market there that's open everyday.

[Ajarn]

For those who want really good potting soil you can put a pile of cow or kwai manure in a distant corner of your estate where the rain does not fall on it but where you can keep it moist for several months.  After several months it will look like dirt and will not smell like manure.  It will have a rich earthy smell and you can mix this 1/3 with 1/3 sharp sand and 1/3 garden soil.  If this is too rich (too much nitrogen) then you can make another pile using the manure but mix by volume one volume of manure with 5 volumes of leaves or straw.  Let this sit for a few months just like the manure above but stir it once a month or whenever you think of it.  It will take a bit longer than the manure but when mixed in 1/3 with the sand and soil will give good potting soil too.  When I lived in Nong Khai I lived on the edge of town and had a small garden.  I didn't have a source for manure so I started cruising the roads near me carrying a bucket and a hand shovel.  People who saw me would shout "tham arai?"  I would answer "phai ow khee kwai!" with a big smile.....they always got a chuckle out of that and one day one of them stopped by my house and deposited a nice size pile of the substance in a convenient spot for me to use!!  Once you get used to making this it is easy to keep enough on hand to supply you for the coming year......its just a pile of stuff kept over there somewhere!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is a website with instructions on making a compost pile, which is what chownah is talking about.... With or without the poop

http://www.mastercomposter.com/pile/bldapile.html

[udon]

What do you peeps use for Mulch.?

I've seen waste sugarcane put to good use.

What else is out there in LoS?

[Jai Dee]

What do you peeps use for Mulch.?

I've seen waste sugarcane put to good use.

What else is out there in LoS?

I use grass clippings... the thick bladed grass variety, not the fine couch grass you find on golf greens.

The birds like to scratch around in it, and it never really dries out... keeps the weeds down.

I do have an electric mulcher in storage back in Oz... when I finally decide to ship my stuff over I'll look forward to using that little baby to mulch everything in sight!

Plants grow rapidly here... for example, a frangipani tree that a mate planted 2 years ago was about 1 metre tall and the trunk 25mm wide at time of planting... he cut it down last week... 6 metres tall and the main trunk was about 200mm in diameter!

You have to keep pruning regularly to keep your garden under control.

[Steve2UK]

Bring plenty of seed packets with you from home.

Just about anything will grow in LoS's humidity.

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Interested in this aspect - anyone aware of any restrictions on what seeds are OK? Just been looking through the Customs website and there's no mention - not even of rooted plants, bulbs, tubers etc..........

[Baht Simpson]

Bring plenty of seed packets with you from home.

Just about anything will grow in LoS's humidity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interested in this aspect - anyone aware of any restrictions on what seeds are OK? Just been looking through the Customs website and there's no mention - not even of rooted plants, bulbs, tubers etc..........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Steve, see this thread too.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31727

Baht

[chownah]

Jai Dee, Tell me about this frangipani tree. Is it where frangipani incense comes from? Do the flowers smell really good, like the incense. What's the Thai name for it. If you can figure out how to write the actual Thai letters for it please do.

Udon, For mulch I use rice straw and/or rice hulls. When I plant pak ghat or pak salad (lettuce) or carrots or other small vegetables I immediately cover the seed bed with about one or two centimeters of rice hulls. Don't confuse rice hulls which are kind of like sawdust in texture with rice polish which is a powder and is best used as an animal feed. Anyway the rice hulls perform five functions: 1. Keep the water from evaporating so fast, 2. Keeps the soil surface soft and minimizes or eliminates the surface crust which forms on soil when it rains, 3. Inhibits weed growth, and 4. Improves the soil texture when dug in after the crop is harvested, and 5. Enriches the soil. Rice hulls are available at rice mills....the places where paddy rice is polished and made edible. The rice straw is available in large quantities if you live near rice fields and I spread it out thickly on areas where I want to kill all the weeds or to stop new weeds from emerging...works great.

I have brought back alot of seeds with me from overseas and have had mixed luck with them. For many of them the local varieties do alot better for me but I think its great to bring your own seeds and see what you can do!! I told an environmentalist friend of mine (we're talking radical environmentalist here) that I was going to bring some giant watermelon seeds to Thailand and she got really concerned that this would cause a problem if they went wild.....what a night mare I told her. Giant watermelons growing everywhere like weeds.....noone can eat them all....soon they'll be creaping into your bed.....You know, even radical environmentalists laugh once in a while!

Cheers,

Chownah

[Steve2UK]

Bring plenty of seed packets with you from home.

Just about anything will grow in LoS's humidity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interested in this aspect - anyone aware of any restrictions on what seeds are OK? Just been looking through the Customs website and there's no mention - not even of rooted plants, bulbs, tubers etc..........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Steve, see this thread too.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31727

Baht

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Baht - very much appreciated

[udon]

Jatujak should be ok for ordinary plants in terms of price and choice. Otherwise head up for Rangsit, which is where I buy most of the stuff.

I work in Bangkok as a landscape designer, and it is not rare that a client asks us to renovate the garden area before renting/selling the property. I have no idea of how this works in properties to be sold, but I can tell you it works wonders in property for rent.

Bull

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

G'day Bull.

Thanks for that admission, expect a few PMs from us Dummies.

[Jai Dee]

Jai Dee, Tell me about this frangipani tree.  Is it where frangipani incense comes from?  Do the flowers smell really good, like the incense.  What's the Thai name for it.  If you can figure out how to write the actual Thai letters for it please do.

Chownah, this website will give you all you need to know about the frangipani, or plumeria. Sorry, I do not know Thai script but I can give you the English pronunciation of the name if you like...

The old Thai name for this plant was "lan thom"... but it had a sad meaning in Thai so not many people bought it or planted it.

Some years ago, the King of Thailand changed the name to "lelawadee" which has a beautiful meaning... so now, it is a popular plant in Thai gardens.

The plant has been cross-bred to produce many different coloured varieties, but only the original white flowered variety has the beautiful scent. I can't help you with the incense though.

[stevemarkwell]

Oh, plumeria! I didn't know the other names for it. A lot of people grow them indoors in colder areas, but they tend to stay pretty small; I couldn't believe how big the first ones I saw in the tropics were! Really a beautiful plant. They grow readily from cuttings too, which is great, because you buy one tree and you can propagate as many 'clones' as you like.

Edited May 6, 2005 by stevemarkwell

[chownah]

Chownah, this website will give you all you need to know about the frangipani, or plumeria.  Sorry, I do not know Thai script but I can give you the English pronunciation of the name if you like...

The old Thai name for this plant was "lan thom"... but it had a sad meaning in Thai so not many people bought it or planted it.

Some years ago, the King of Thailand changed the name to "lelawadee" which has a beautiful meaning... so now, it is a popular plant in Thai gardens.

The plant has been cross-bred to produce many different coloured varieties, but only the original white flowered variety has the beautiful scent.  I can't help you with the incense though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jai Dee,

Thanks for the link. I guess the old saying is true, "Lan thorn by some other name would smell more sweet."

Chownah

Edited May 6, 2005 by chownah

[sbk]

Actually it isn't true that only the white one is scented. I have the rose pink one which smells very sweet and a deep red one which smells kind of cinamonny (like red hot candies if you are american or canadian). Both of the scents are quite strong and perfume the garden when the tree is in full bloom.

I love frangipani trees, they don't suffer from drought, are very low maintenance, smell great and have beautiful flowers. They don't seem to have any serious pests either.

To propagate you cut off a branch and remove all the leaves. let it dry for a few days and then plant the branch into well drained soil. They thrive in full sun but do alright in a bit of shade too.

And where I live it is still called lahntom (which is the word for sadness not a word with a sad meaning) . People usually stick to tradition with plant names, look at how many people refuse to call geraniums by their correct name (perlargonium).

[chownah]

sbk, thanks for the input. I just asked my wife (Thai) if lahntom grows around here and she emphatically and without hesitation said "no!" Her reaction was so abrupt that I asked if it was bad luck to plant it and she said "yes!" I guess HM the King renaming it didin't persuade everyone!!!! I ran into the same thing with a tree which we had to cut down in building our perimeter wall. They use the leaf in some of the local geng (food) and everyone who saw I was cutting it down (its the only one in the neighborhood and everyone takes the leaves) asked if I was going to plant another one since any branch stuck in the ground will grow. I offered each of them a cutting and they all said they didn't have room for another tree. Finally someone again refused my offer so I asked my wife about why everyone is so concerned about the last tree being gone and no one wanting to plant one. It turns out that if you plant one on the plot where your house is your money will soon be gone. The one by our house grew there naturally so no one planted it and it grew before we built our house so it didn't effect us. In discussing this I found out that you could plant it away from your house and that was OK so I planted some in my garden which is in the next lot over from the house. My wife said that I could buy the lahntom at a nursery and it was OK if I planted some away from the house. I'm glad I have a knowledgeable Thai wife to keep me out of harms way!!!

Chownah

[Jai Dee]

And where I live it is still called lahntom (which is the word for sadness not a word with a sad meaning) .

Thanks or the clarification sbk.

Any idea what the new name "lelawadee" means?

[udon]

Great link JD, esp http://www.plumeria101.com/

Thanks

[bakachan]

i noticed some in phuket were planted in pots instead of in the ground. maybe a way of getting around the superstition? ive got one in a pot here in the desert of arizona that hopefully will bloom this year.

[udon]

This is the only info I could find about JJ Market but it's a goodun, done by a pair of Florida plant importers