Do I Need A Greenhouse

[rizla]

This is not really a farming topic, more small gardening..

I`ve recently been trying to grow various veg at home here in isaan ...you know the kind of stuff...tomatoes, coriander , carrots, lettuce, barrel potatoes etc...

Two reasons, to have it there when i need it and also no chemicals used..

Ive tried planting the seeds in normal turned over ground (red/orange clay) basically and only thing that took were long beans..

Then germinated the seeds first using kitchen roll (damp) then planting them out...still no joy..

Thirdly tried mixing the normal ground soil with the peat moss type grow bags and cow dung to a nice black mix..better success with this method but they wont really grow past 2 inches and very weak ...this is after 2.5 months.

Tried the same mix in planting trays and pots...same result.

Now that the rain is here i`ve covered them with a framework with fine netting to stop them flooding out of the planters, and even brought some indoors to try ...also using a light bison liquid feed..

Still wont take off...SO, for all you guys and ladys that have managed whats the cure...very kind regards.

[loong]

......tomatoes, coriander , carrots, lettuce, barrel potatoes etc

You've not picked the easiest veggies to start out with in Thailand. It's a learning curve and I would suggest that you get some experience with veg like Chinese Kale, Leaf mustard, Chinese cabbage and Pak choy. With Chinese cabbage and Pak choy, get loose leaf varieties as the ones that close up don't do so well in the heat.

Are you growing coriander to use the leaf or seed? You could try Thai parsley, a spikey leaved plant with a similar flavour to the coriander leaf. Oddly, this is called Pak chee farang in Thai.

When you say recently, do you mean the last few months? Hottest time of the year and far from ideal for starting seedlings.

Cow manure should be aged before mixing into the soil as few plants can survive if the manure is fresh.

The red clay soil is usually quite fertile, but bakes hard in the sun and compacts easily after rain, making it hard work for roots to develop.

The best thing is to get as much organic matter into the soil as possible. Start composting. If you are not using an area of land, grow more beans just for the biomass. You can pick up a bag of black beans in Tesco-Lotus, they will grow.

Sweet potatoes will grow anywhere from vine cuttings, but will struggle to produce large roots in the clay soil. Again will produce a lot of foliage for composting.

Grow pumpkins at the edge of your compost heap.

If you have access to burnt rice husks, dig this in, a great soil amendment. Note, this is not ash. it is charcoal made from the husks. If you know anybody that makes charcoal, you could probably get some charcoal dust from them for free, not as good as rice husks, but beggars cannot be choosers.

Read the pinned threads in the organic sub=forum. Some are a bit disjointed as many started out as cut and pastes from one huge thread before the organic section existed. Also many links no longer work, but there is still a lot of good info there.

Good luck

[cooked]

Many seeds go into dormancy at high temperatures, lettuce is a good example

[Jotham79]

First I agree that you need to get as much organic material in the ground as possible, but here are 3 things to try:

1. Shade cloth: My BIL has grown coriander the last couple of years and has almoast a 2 rai plot covered with a black plastic mesh shade cloth.

2. Tomatos. You may have a very acidic soil. There is one patch on our farm where nothing will grow but tomotes and they go wild.

3. Organic material. Hire a tractor to use a 3 bladed disc to bust up our ground. Go to a broiler farm and buy enough of the used litter (rice hulls) called "kee gap" to cover you garden 5 cm deep. Have the tractor retun with a 4 bladed disc and turn the soil a couple of times. Now hit with the beans or some of the other plants recommended on the organic gardening board and til that in. You should be good to go.

[Jotham79]

First I agree that you need to get as much organic material in the ground as possible, but here are 3 things to try:

1. Shade cloth: My BIL has grown coriander the last couple of years and has almoast a 2 rai plot covered with a black plastic mesh shade cloth.

2. Tomatos. You may have a very acidic soil. There is one patch on our farm where nothing will grow but tomotes and they go wild.

3. Organic material. Hire a tractor to use a 3 bladed disc to bust up our ground. Go to a broiler farm and buy enough of the used litter (rice hulls) called "kee gap" to cover you garden 5 cm deep. Have the tractor retun with a 4 bladed disc and turn the soil a couple of times. Now hit with the beans or some of the other plants recommended on the organic gardening board and til that in. You should be good to go.

[rizla]

Wow thanks for all the replys guys, well received..

Yep just started bringing on seeds about 2 months ago ..didn`t really know what season was best as i thought warm enough all year round but i suppose the seasons still have their part to play here..

Compost heap started today, with grass cuttings, leafs and veg waste from the kitchen (g/f has been instructed on what to do with organic waste..lol )

Kee Gap ? is that the waste from rice after putting it through the bruiser (as we called them on the farm back home)..or..what is left after the thresher ? BTW, over my wall is a 3 rai area of sweet (i think ) root potatoes growing, and according to my girl they will be ready soon (the`ve been in nearlly a year now ) so i hopefully can get the leafs etc for the compost heap..

Next i will be digging up more ground, turning etc soon (by hand) as this as stated before is small scale garden plot really, and i will build a frame and cover it with black netting, or do you think a poly tunnel ( small ) would be better...

True comments about the runner beans, thats the only thing that takes off well, and useable...great info and thanks again..all

P.S re. the charcoal (tan) i should manage to get that easy enough. my g/f dad makes tan every year, so i can dig in some dust easily ..

I have Chinese Kale, Chinese cabbage and Pak choy seeds..The coriander is for cooking as for all the veg that i can grow, hopefully..I do all the home cooking and req loads of different stuff, for mainly curries, jamaica , mexican type dishes...so need chillies coriander etc etc..you get the drift. thanks again

Edited June 3, 2012 by rizla

[Jotham79]

Some broiler houses are on the ground and are filled with several inches of rice hulls (gap). Kee gap is what you call it after a few thousand chickens have been running around on it for about 8 weeks.

[rice555]

Hello All, this is the link to the charred rice hulls(not burnt).

There's also a thread in the pinned OG section at the top of the

farming forum page.

rice555

[loong]

Yep just started bringing on seeds about 2 months ago ..didn`t really know what season was best as i thought warm enough all year round

It's a shame that you weren't able to start earlier, in the cool season. It can be really frustrating trying to start seedlings in the heat of April and May. Now, heavy rain can easily beat down any small weak seedlings that you may have managed to get going.

Next i will be digging up more ground, turning etc soon (by hand) as this as stated before is small scale garden plot really, and i will build a frame and cover it with black netting, or do you think a poly tunnel ( small ) would be better...

While preparing your soil, create raised beds. It will help with drainage, so less problems with waterlogging roots, especially with heavy soil. A necessity with the coming rainy season.

Some protection from the rain can be a good idea, especially with plants like tomatoes as they can suffer from getting their foliage wet too often. Not sure about a small polytunnel though, could possibly promote fungal problems?

Re coriander, sounds like you want it to use the seeds (foliage is called cilantro). Coriander should be sown where you want it to grow. It doesn't like to have its root disturbed if transplanting.