Rubber Trees

[Mosha]

Hi All

I was hoping for some input on fertilizer (pui) for rubber trees. However I might just add here where we are at on this topic. Unlike most other posts, I live near Trat - it rains here 360 days a year, drips of the trees for the other 5 days so we don’t have too much dry time to contend with as do you other guys up North.

The dirt is very leached out and requires fertilizer to pump up production - soil test 3.5 so farily alkaline as expected with this much rain.

I have 100 rai in trees, 20 rai being cut for first time last season of the RIMM 600 variety. I am selling as Kee Yang or cup rubber at the moment till production comes along in the next coupla years.

The rest of the land I have planted in varying stages using RIMM 235 and RIMM 251 over the last 4 years with pineapple planted in between for a cash crop.

This provides multiple functions of when the pineapple gets pui so do the trees, the weeds must be kept to a minimum but caution required on spraying weeds when trees small, I put plastic bags over them during this operation. Try to keep to a minimum all spraying, it's costly and I am concerned for the environment - pull or slash if at all possible but the weed growth rate here is spectacular and can return to jungle in as little as 8 to 10 weeks not allowing you to walk through without a bush knife.

It's so bad that If I spit on the ground and don’t step back the weeds will grow between my toes by the time you read this.

I use Parraforte at prescribed rate of 1lt to 200lt drum for good results using the weather/growth rate/chemical rate/ to optimize results - more on this later if/for those who want to know.

The pui that was shown to me yesterday by a friend - a product from company - Chareon Inceephan - it's an organic matter 6-3-3 +10 0.M consisting of - N 6% - P2O5 3% - K2O 3%, other detail - 0-2921 8090 3 - in town Gum Pang Pet. Application of 25kg bag to 9 trees approx or approx 55thb per tree.

Q - Has anybody have any experience of the above product?

I read with interest on pui from "thaiguzzi, on 2012-01-20 11:15:16", thanks for that Mike

I have just completed fertilizing the 20 Rai with 12-9-21 +TE, the usual for this area. As it's a first cut I am unable to quantify results till the history comes in however my Ace cutter say's a 50% to 70% increase can be expected. ??? Seem a little too good to be true but we'll see I guess.

Jim - Lickey and others too many too mention, thanks for the supportive info - keep it coming.

Thanks to all so far - from Rubberpatch

If you search this topic with Fertiliser as the search, you will find what you want. Casically it

"Fertiliser; twice a year, start and end of the rainy season; year 1 15-15-15, year 2 18-4-5, years 3-6 20-10-12, years 7 up and ready to/or are cutting 30-5-18. 6 years and up, a 50kg bag per rai - twice! It aint cheap!"

ps your font size makes your post hard to read.

[Mosha]

USS yesterday was 76.5

Marvelous, just bloody marvelous.

Hi folks,

I know I do not post very often but at times like these I must. I mentioned a while back (can't find the post in THIS thread... cobwebs in the brain...) that rubber, like other commodities in Thailand has fluctuated and will continue to fluctuate. You have to be prepared for the good and the bad times. If you're not in the 1% range, then you're not in the know.... Just in the dark like a mushroom and fed (usually) sh_t. UPDATE on our farms>>>> still getting rain every other day!!!! Great for the trees and scenery but not the cup lump tables!!!

lol I mean't to reply to Cobbler's post as a sarcastic comment, and answered my own instead. Must remember not to post before coffee kicks in.

[cobbler]

Well if global markets rise. We are hobbled by that 3 year deal are we not?

Thailand's big rubber buyers are,China and Japan.Also inside Thailand EG factories .So if Thai has a 3 year agreement with china for 100 baht per kilo.Yes ,Thai can sell to Japan for a higher price but don't hold your breath on the price being too much higher.If Japan wanted all Thai's rubber ,that would be great,but that wont happen.So we will just have to accept that this price the ying luck (duckling luck (who said that?) ) gov has organized will be it for 3 years.

This is Thailand ,and there are rallies building now to kick out this gov cause they are sending Thailand to the wall..So if the gov is kicked out then things could change for the better, for yang farmers.Even if not a lot but at least a bit better

China has paid big money under the table to this gov to get this very low price set for another 3 years.Anybody who dose not believe this is true needs to open there eyes to Thai's real governing style and realize this isn't the west .If the worlds economy will be improving over the next 3 years,why hold your own country back?Answer they pay big money to get these good seats in government and They make a lot bigger money when they get in.How do they make big money? ,they are paid big money to keep the priceOf rubber down by the Chinese .That is just 1 way of many.I can't put it any more simple than that.

[cobbler]

Hi All

I was hoping for some input on fertilizer (pui) for rubber trees. However I might just add here where we are at on this topic. Unlike most other posts, I live near Trat - it rains here 360 days a year, drips of the trees for the other 5 days so we don’t have too much dry time to contend with as do you other guys up North.

The dirt is very leached out and requires fertilizer to pump up production - soil test 3.5 so farily alkaline as expected with this much rain.

I have 100 rai in trees, 20 rai being cut for first time last season of the RIMM 600 variety. I am selling as Kee Yang or cup rubber at the moment till production comes along in the next coupla years.

The rest of the land I have planted in varying stages using RIMM 235 and RIMM 251 over the last 4 years with pineapple planted in between for a cash crop.

This provides multiple functions of when the pineapple gets pui so do the trees, the weeds must be kept to a minimum but caution required on spraying weeds when trees small, I put plastic bags over them during this operation. Try to keep to a minimum all spraying, it's costly and I am concerned for the environment - pull or slash if at all possible but the weed growth rate here is spectacular and can return to jungle in as little as 8 to 10 weeks not allowing you to walk through without a bush knife.

It's so bad that If I spit on the ground and don’t step back the weeds will grow between my toes by the time you read this.

I use Parraforte at prescribed rate of 1lt to 200lt drum for good results using the weather/growth rate/chemical rate/ to optimize results - more on this later if/for those who want to know.

The pui that was shown to me yesterday by a friend - a product from company - Chareon Inceephan - it's an organic matter 6-3-3 +10 0.M consisting of - N 6% - P2O5 3% - K2O 3%, other detail - 0-2921 8090 3 - in town Gum Pang Pet. Application of 25kg bag to 9 trees approx or approx 55thb per tree.

Q - Has anybody have any experience of the above product?

I read with interest on pui from "thaiguzzi, on 2012-01-20 11:15:16", thanks for that Mike

I have just completed fertilizing the 20 Rai with 12-9-21 +TE, the usual for this area. As it's a first cut I am unable to quantify results till the history comes in however my Ace cutter say's a 50% to 70% increase can be expected. ??? Seem a little too good to be true but we'll see I guess.

Jim - Lickey and others too many too mention, thanks for the supportive info - keep it coming.

Thanks to all so far - from Rubberpatch

If you search this topic with Fertiliser as the search, you will find what you want. Casically it

"Fertiliser; twice a year, start and end of the rainy season; year 1 15-15-15, year 2 18-4-5, years 3-6 20-10-12, years 7 up and ready to/or are cutting 30-5-18. 6 years and up, a 50kg bag per rai - twice! It aint cheap!"

ps your font size makes your post hard to read.

Hey Mosha use your telescope to read it.I found it works a treat

[jamescollister]

Just an update on my earlier post about making better sheet, hot air drying etc

After some tinkering with the 10 roller machine, I got it down pat, the sheet is so thin that after drying in the smoke house [ no smoke ] you can double it over and still see your hand through it.

Finally got round to installing the new kneading/flattening machine, motor burnt out with in the hour. Nothing seems to last, so had to go buy a proper electric motor.

So all good on the sheet front, smoking shed is sitting at around 45 degrees, hot enough to air dry the rubber and as low humidity no problem with fungi growth.

After a few goes, settled on 3 liters latex 2 liters water, seems that is the amount the rolling machine likes best.

Question Greg or anyone. Does any one hang their sheet on anything but bamboo. Thinking plastic tube or stainless steel.

Oh and by the way told the tappers to cut back on the acid and let the trays sit longer, seems to make the rubber softer and easier to roll, meaning thinner sheet and we now pull the rubber from the rolling machine in 2 stages, making the sheet longer and of course thinner again. Almost perfect sheet now, but a few blemishes from the kneading machine, again no one knows the settings so a bit of trial and error there. Plus I need new mixing tables, they are not flat and level enough to make the mix even thickness. Will go for steel tables instead of wood when I get the cash.

All in all things are good except for price. Jim

[scotbeve]

Just an update on my earlier post about making better sheet, hot air drying etc

After some tinkering with the 10 roller machine, I got it down pat, the sheet is so thin that after drying in the smoke house [ no smoke ] you can double it over and still see your hand through it.

Finally got round to installing the new kneading/flattening machine, motor burnt out with in the hour. Nothing seems to last, so had to go buy a proper electric motor.

So all good on the sheet front, smoking shed is sitting at around 45 degrees, hot enough to air dry the rubber and as low humidity no problem with fungi growth.

After a few goes, settled on 3 liters latex 2 liters water, seems that is the amount the rolling machine likes best.

Question Greg or anyone. Does any one hang their sheet on anything but bamboo. Thinking plastic tube or stainless steel.

Oh and by the way told the tappers to cut back on the acid and let the trays sit longer, seems to make the rubber softer and easier to roll, meaning thinner sheet and we now pull the rubber from the rolling machine in 2 stages, making the sheet longer and of course thinner again. Almost perfect sheet now, but a few blemishes from the kneading machine, again no one knows the settings so a bit of trial and error there. Plus I need new mixing tables, they are not flat and level enough to make the mix even thickness. Will go for steel tables instead of wood when I get the cash.

All in all things are good except for price. Jim

Well done Jim! Thanks for your info. We'll start to do sheets next year. And yes, the price is still a hoover action but jai-yen.... it will bounce up a bit more soon enough.

Update from our area... MORE RAIN - Ch. Mai had floods around the night bazaar due to massive amount of rain last night - most of the province the same.

[Mosha]

We've had a bit of rain too, disrupted the tapping a bit. Hoping for a dry evening on the 28th for Loy Khratong

[jamescollister]

Had a good down pour 2 days ago, didn't have to bother with bucket watering my new coconut trees.

On another subject, cup verses sheet. Just sitting with the wife and she is telling me that the tappers prefer to do cup and make just as much money. Now she is Uni educated here and in Oz and for the life of me I can't get it through her head, yes tappers make the same or more, they can tap more trees, if they don't have to make sheet during the day. We get an extra 30 Baht per kilo if we make sheet. I get this argument every year from her brother and father, plus the tappers. Yet none can seem to understand that I lose 60,000 a month profit, how do I lose if the tappers make more, because I need more tappers, who make less and do the work.

Thai way, do what is easiest.

Think I need a baseball bat to knock some logic into their heads. Jim

[Mosha]

Had a good down pour 2 days ago, didn't have to bother with bucket watering my new coconut trees.

On another subject, cup verses sheet. Just sitting with the wife and she is telling me that the tappers prefer to do cup and make just as much money. Now she is Uni educated here and in Oz and for the life of me I can't get it through her head, yes tappers make the same or more, they can tap more trees, if they don't have to make sheet during the day. We get an extra 30 Baht per kilo if we make sheet. I get this argument every year from her brother and father, plus the tappers. Yet none can seem to understand that I lose 60,000 a month profit, how do I lose if the tappers make more, because I need more tappers, who make less and do the work.

Thai way, do what is easiest.

Think I need a baseball bat to knock some logic into their heads. Jim

That head butting tree must be worn out Jim

[thaiguzzi]

Yep, cup and sheet arguments. I still ca'nt figure out why sheet is better on a week to week/month to month basis, if you need 3 litres of latex to make that 1.3kg sheet. What does 1 kilo of latex actually weigh? Probably a kilo. So what is the point if sheet is say 76 baht per kilo. and cup is 43 baht per kg? We've had this before, but someone please explain it to me again, even in Tinglish. Am i thick?

Mike.

[jamescollister]

Yep, cup and sheet arguments. I still ca'nt figure out why sheet is better on a week to week/month to month basis, if you need 3 litres of latex to make that 1.3kg sheet. What does 1 kilo of latex actually weigh? Probably a kilo. So what is the point if sheet is say 76 baht per kilo. and cup is 43 baht per kg? We've had this before, but someone please explain it to me again, even in Tinglish. Am i thick?

Mike.

Fairly simple if you are not a Thai, everyone buys on dry rubber content [ crepe different ] not many crepe buyers around. If you sell dry cup you get around say 45 Baht a kilo. Factory then has to chop, wash,clean and dry to make it into block rubber [TSR ] all extra costs. Now you don't want your aircraft tires made of this rubber, as it will have impurities, dead ants, bits of bark etc. Sheet is clean no contaminates, pure rubber, it can be pressed into block or sold as sheet, thus stopping fungi growth [smoked ] high grade pure rubber. If you want good high grade rubber you pay more and it is a thing that needs to be done from the day you tap. As most of the world mades cup rubber there is in fact a shortage of high grade rubber, so the price is higher. Cheap tires, rubber seals etc verses things that will not blow out because dead bugs or bits of leaf. Jim

[jamescollister]

Yep, cup and sheet arguments. I still ca'nt figure out why sheet is better on a week to week/month to month basis, if you need 3 litres of latex to make that 1.3kg sheet. What does 1 kilo of latex actually weigh? Probably a kilo. So what is the point if sheet is say 76 baht per kilo. and cup is 43 baht per kg? We've had this before, but someone please explain it to me again, even in Tinglish. Am i thick?

Mike.

Sorry shoudl have said, latex is around 32% up to 38 % rubber content. 3 liters will make less than a kilo of dry rubber usually. Jim

[cobbler]

Yep, cup and sheet arguments. I still ca'nt figure out why sheet is better on a week to week/month to month basis, if you need 3 litres of latex to make that 1.3kg sheet. What does 1 kilo of latex actually weigh? Probably a kilo. So what is the point if sheet is say 76 baht per kilo. and cup is 43 baht per kg? We've had this before, but someone please explain it to me again, even in Tinglish. Am i thick?

Mike.

Hi Mike,

If your meaning of this is what I think.Only answer I can work out is Having sheet is easier to control theft and also allowes the owner to wait for that time during every month when Chinese or Japan buy from Thai,then the price always rises 2 or 3 baht per kilo.So you have more money in hand.This is why we do sheet.I was keen to do cup but after my wife's Aunty explained to us why she does sheet ,we did it too.She just sold 10,000 kilos last month and knows what she's doing.

Hope this is of help to you.If not I'll just piss off

Cheers Cobbler

[cobbler]

Even though yang price is shit we have had 28ml rain 2 nights ago 45 ml last night and raining till now.

So ,our prick kee noo chillis are powering and will be ready by closed season to pick.Bananas are now powering,/New long beans are out of the ground,another lot are 3 foot high up the frames,Tankwa are ready to start picking.Wing beans are growing well.Pumpkin vines have pumpkins on them.

Everything is looking god(thank God ,which is me )

[jamescollister]

Just a note to the members here, we must be doing something right. I have been Googling a few things about rubber and we seem to come first page every-time. In the rubber world we have made our mark.

By the way does anyone use one of those kneading. flattening machines, got the big roller off pat, but can't seem to get the flattening machine up to speed, No one knows the settings, sellers get them from China I gather, but no instructions on the spacing for the roller or the flattening tubes on the cam shaft. Any help is greatly excepted, been playing around with it all day and can't get it right. Jim

[thaiguzzi]

Guys,

i was crap at maths at school, but i've worked to thousands of an inch pretty much all my life with machine tools in machine shops to this day. No one has still given me the correct answer; Those 3 litres of latex weigh what in kgs ? Am i missing something, because it still do'nt add up that 1 kg of sheet is better money than 1 kg of cup. Not if there's 3 litres of latex in there. I understand the people who can hang on to it and sell when the price is high, especially at season end, but people who sell week to week/month to month like me at this moment in time, no. I spoke last week with a mate of mine in Bung Khan with Glenn, he does 6,000 kgs of cup per month. Got the rollers, shed, etc, not worth doing sheet reckons 43 baht for cup is better than 74 for sheet.

Mike.

[jamescollister]

Guys,

i was crap at maths at school, but i've worked to thousands of an inch pretty much all my life with machine tools in machine shops to this day. No one has still given me the correct answer; Those 3 litres of latex weigh what in kgs ? Am i missing something, because it still do'nt add up that 1 kg of sheet is better money than 1 kg of cup. Not if there's 3 litres of latex in there. I understand the people who can hang on to it and sell when the price is high, especially at season end, but people who sell week to week/month to month like me at this moment in time, no. I spoke last week with a mate of mine in Bung Khan with Glenn, he does 6,000 kgs of cup per month. Got the rollers, shed, etc, not worth doing sheet reckons 43 baht for cup is better than 74 for sheet.

Mike.

Glenn may be selling to crepe makers, but check the buying docket, if it is for cup they will have the dry cup price and then subtract the water content. All cup buyers will tell you 30% or more water, but latex in liquid for for condoms, gloves etc is 40 % water and it is a liquid. Jim

[glennb6]

emmm, Mike, that was Robin doing 6000kg a month, not me unfortunately. My smoke shed still sits there but I'd sold my roller machine as wife never went out and bought any latex liquid. My small farm doesn't warrant a fancy expensive 5 pair+kneeder combo machine etc to make mat. (My setup had the capacity of processing 6000 kg of sheet a month).

[jamescollister]

Guys,

i was crap at maths at school, but i've worked to thousands of an inch pretty much all my life with machine tools in machine shops to this day. No one has still given me the correct answer; Those 3 litres of latex weigh what in kgs ? Am i missing something, because it still do'nt add up that 1 kg of sheet is better money than 1 kg of cup. Not if there's 3 litres of latex in there. I understand the people who can hang on to it and sell when the price is high, especially at season end, but people who sell week to week/month to month like me at this moment in time, no. I spoke last week with a mate of mine in Bung Khan with Glenn, he does 6,000 kgs of cup per month. Got the rollers, shed, etc, not worth doing sheet reckons 43 baht for cup is better than 74 for sheet.

Mike.

Sounds like you are turning Thai there, cup weighs more than sheet, 1 kilo of sheet rubber weights 1 kilo, 1 kilo of dry cup weighs 1 kilo, they both contain the same amount of rubber and you get more for sheet than cup.

I know they get to you with the Thai logic, wife was telling me that one plantation get 35 kilos of dry cup, but only 24 kilos of sheet and all the wet cup buyers are losing money ever trip. The concept that X number of trees produce X amount of rubber, no difference in weight whether you turn it into cup, sheet,crepe, condoms or rubber gloves and pick up trucks driving around all day buying cup so they can lose money. You need a head banging tree or more beer. Jim

[glennb6]

mike,

see http://www.thainr.com/en/index.php?detail=pr-local link on prices. shows mat, cup, and latex. all prices are shown based on the drc, as in no water present. may not be representative of local prices but the relation between prices is important. the 9 to 11 baht spread between cup and rss3 is the important part. it used to be higher as were the overall prices. remove operating costs of making mat from the spread then +/- whatever for local fluctuation and ability to overcome the games that are played, and your P/L remains.

[rubberpatch]

Hi All

I was hoping for some input on fertilizer (pui) for rubber trees. However I might just add here where we are at on this topic. Unlike most other posts, I live near Trat - it rains here 360 days a year, drips of the trees for the other 5 days so we don’t have too much dry time to contend with as do you other guys up North.

The dirt is very leached out and requires fertilizer to pump up production - soil test 3.5 so farily alkaline as expected with this much rain.

I have 100 rai in trees, 20 rai being cut for first time last season of the RIMM 600 variety. I am selling as Kee Yang or cup rubber at the moment till production comes along in the next coupla years.

The rest of the land I have planted in varying stages using RIMM 235 and RIMM 251 over the last 4 years with pineapple planted in between for a cash crop.

This provides multiple functions of when the pineapple gets pui so do the trees, the weeds must be kept to a minimum but caution required on spraying weeds when trees small, I put plastic bags over them during this operation. Try to keep to a minimum all spraying, it's costly and I am concerned for the environment - pull or slash if at all possible but the weed growth rate here is spectacular and can return to jungle in as little as 8 to 10 weeks not allowing you to walk through without a bush knife.

It's so bad that If I spit on the ground and don’t step back the weeds will grow between my toes by the time you read this.

I use Parraforte at prescribed rate of 1lt to 200lt drum for good results using the weather/growth rate/chemical rate/ to optimize results - more on this later if/for those who want to know.

The pui that was shown to me yesterday by a friend - a product from company - Chareon Inceephan - it's an organic matter 6-3-3 +10 0.M consisting of - N 6% - P2O5 3% - K2O 3%, other detail - 0-2921 8090 3 - in town Gum Pang Pet. Application of 25kg bag to 9 trees approx or approx 55thb per tree.

Q - Has anybody have any experience of the above product?

I read with interest on pui from "thaiguzzi, on 2012-01-20 11:15:16", thanks for that Mike

I have just completed fertilizing the 20 Rai with 12-9-21 +TE, the usual for this area. As it's a first cut I am unable to quantify results till the history comes in however my Ace cutter say's a 50% to 70% increase can be expected. ??? Seem a little too good to be true but we'll see I guess.

Jim - Lickey and others too many too mention, thanks for the supportive info - keep it coming.

Thanks to all so far - from Rubberpatch

If you search this topic with Fertiliser as the search, you will find what you want. Casically it

"Fertiliser; twice a year, start and end of the rainy season; year 1 15-15-15, year 2 18-4-5, years 3-6 20-10-12, years 7 up and ready to/or are cutting 30-5-18. 6 years and up, a 50kg bag per rai - twice! It aint cheap!"

ps your font size makes your post hard to read.

Thanks for the input Mosha - AND er as a newbie, I found the edit buton after I had posted, sorry - magnifier is in the mail.

[thaiguzzi]

Jim,

still do'nt get it, sorry. You are saying that the same amount of rubber is in 1 kg of wet cup as in 1 kg of sheet. How is that possible if you need 3 litres of latex to make that one sheet. What am i missing?

Glenn,

i did think i meant Robin re 6k kg of cup, maybe i worded it wrong.

Regards,

Mike.

[kolohe]

Jim,

still do'nt get it, sorry. You are saying that the same amount of rubber is in 1 kg of wet cup as in 1 kg of sheet. How is that possible if you need 3 litres of latex to make that one sheet. What am i missing?

Glenn,

i did think i meant Robin re 6k kg of cup, maybe i worded it wrong.

Regards,

Mike.

Mike,

Please excuse me if this is over-simplified, scatter-brained or off the mark of what you're asking about.. I just woke up..

He's talking about DRY cup. 1kg or dried rubber is the same weight no matter what form its in. The confusion here is because typically cup rubber is sold as wet cup and it appears as though you are thinking about WET cup.

The WET cup price takes into account that a given percentage of the weight is water. 1kg of WET cup has less rubber content than a 1kg sheet.

Since a liter of liquid latex is made up of water and rubber, you cant really equate the number of liters of latex needed to make a sheet vs making cups without taking into consideration the rubber (and water) content.

To put it mathematically, the price you're getting for your rubber content when you sell wet cup is:

(wet cup price) / (rubber content of wet cup) = Baht/kg of dry rubber

I dont know the numbers off-hand for wet cup content (also realizing it fluctuates depending on how its handled), but here is what you need to consider when making sheet vs. cup.

First estimate the actual rubber content of your wet cups. To make things easy, lets say your cups are 30% water and 70% rubber. If the price of wet cup is 40, that essentially means you're being paid 40 baht for .7kg (700g) of rubber. That makes an equivalent price of 57.14 for dry rubber (40 / .7 = 57.14).

If the equivalent dry rubber price for wet cup is greater than the price for sheet after labor and materials, then you are better off selling wet cup. Conversely, if the price of sheets after labor and materials is greater than the equivalent dry rubber price for your wet cups then you're better off selling sheets.

Once you've figured out what is best to sell.. the hardest part is convincing the Thai worker to change ways.

-k

[thaiguzzi]

Thanx Ken. appreciate that. You've explained it well.

I know 1 kg is 1 kg regardless if it is rubber, stone, metal or wood.

I also know wet cup is at the bottom of the pile, and sheet is on the top rung of the ladder, quality wise.

Jim, please go into your shed next time your workers are producing and just weigh for me the 3 litres of latex you use to make that one sheet of rubber. I presume your sheets weigh the usual/average 1.2 - 1.3 kg per sheet. Then tell me what those 3 litres weigh. Also, hypothetically, if you were selling latex to a buyer, what price would you get today, if wet cup price is 43, and sheet is 75-80 per kg?

Thankyou,

Mike.

[Mosha]

Thanx Ken. appreciate that. You've explained it well.

I know 1 kg is 1 kg regardless if it is rubber, stone, metal or wood.

I also know wet cup is at the bottom of the pile, and sheet is on the top rung of the ladder, quality wise.

Jim, please go into your shed next time your workers are producing and just weigh for me the 3 litres of latex you use to make that one sheet of rubber. I presume your sheets weigh the usual/average 1.2 - 1.3 kg per sheet. Then tell me what those 3 litres weigh. Also, hypothetically, if you were selling latex to a buyer, what price would you get today, if wet cup price is 43, and sheet is 75-80 per kg?

Thankyou,

Mike.

Depends on the water content of the latex Mike. AFAIK they microwave 100 g of latex, then weigh it again. There is however a probe on the market that measures it electronically.

[Mark1971]

If anyone is ever looking for detailed information about Rubber in Thailand,

the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand posts journals on www.Rubberthai.com.

As well as all the latest information, they have scanned in their old journals going back over 30 years.

All of the information is in Thai, so you would need to drag the wife away from the Thai Lakorn to explain the details to you.

However they have some excellent research & very clear step by step information on every aspect of the rubber business.

From detailed information on all RRIT tree clones, information about diseases & prevention, through to Jim's favourite subject how to make a drying house for sheet (Volume 32 issue 2).

Personally I still think the Malaysian Rubber board are quite a few steps ahead of Thailand with Latex timber clones, LITS, RRIM Flow, G FLEX, CUT, Mortex, Mucuna Bracteata.

I tried to discuss some of the Malaysian research regarding plantation management on here earlier & didn't feel that there was a great deal of interest in doing things differently to the Thai way.

If anyone is interested I could try to summarise my understanding of the latest Malaysian best practice & how it should improve plantation profitability.

[kolohe]

If anyone is ever looking for detailed information about Rubber in Thailand,

the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand posts journals on www.Rubberthai.com.

As well as all the latest information, they have scanned in their old journals going back over 30 years.

All of the information is in Thai, so you would need to drag the wife away from the Thai Lakorn to explain the details to you.

However they have some excellent research & very clear step by step information on every aspect of the rubber business.

From detailed information on all RRIT tree clones, information about diseases & prevention, through to Jim's favourite subject how to make a drying house for sheet (Volume 32 issue 2).

Personally I still think the Malaysian Rubber board are quite a few steps ahead of Thailand with Latex timber clones, LITS, RRIM Flow, G FLEX, CUT, Mortex, Mucuna Bracteata.

I tried to discuss some of the Malaysian research regarding plantation management on here earlier & didn't feel that there was a great deal of interest in doing things differently to the Thai way.

If anyone is interested I could try to summarise my understanding of the latest Malaysian best practice & how it should improve plantation profitability.

Mark,

I would be interested in reading your take on the latest Malaysian best practices. I'm always looking for ways to improve. The way its always been done is not always the best way.. contrary to popular belief.

-k

[glennb6]

mark,

I'd tried to find info on puncture tapping and came to a dead end. You read anything on it?

[Mosha]

mark,

I'd tried to find info on puncture tapping and came to a dead end. You read anything on it?

Google rubber puncture tapping. This link gives some info on it.

http://medinfo.psu.ac.th/AnnualResearch/2000/tsir1.htm

[glennb6]

mosha,

yea, saw that a while back. basically says it works and solves many 'problems' but cost of whatever is needed to do puncture tapping is high and comes from a single source, and of course the .gov agencies haven't studied it to tell farmers what to do.

ok

my hope (hahaha) was to find some business that says buy this widget and stick in your trees and get latex out.

probably just doesn't work.