Growing Tomatoes in Thailand

[khunkeith]

Point taken that we should rarely use the word "never" but given that, "Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s", I feel fairly comfortable that this was not a function of genetic food engineering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

Greenhouse's have been around for many centuries and the Romans would wheel tropical frouts and vegetables outdoors to sunlit areas and then indoors at night to keep them from getting cold. Plants have been manipulated for a long time. Though, manipulation and genetic engineering of plants through DNA is recent.

[khunkeith]

Point taken that we should rarely use the word "never" but given that, "Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s", I feel fairly comfortable that this was not a function of genetic food engineering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

Greenhouse's have been around for many centuries and the Romans would wheel tropical frouts and vegetables outdoors to sunlit areas and then indoors at night to keep them from getting cold. Plants have been manipulated for a long time. Though, manipulation and genetic engineering of plants through DNA is recent.

a good example of an engineered plant is the apple. a crisp, sweet apple is not a product of nature but, has been engineered for centuries to produce the apples we enjoy today. Grafting is a form of plant manipulation and engineering.

[khunkeith]

Point taken that we should rarely use the word "never" but given that, "Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s", I feel fairly comfortable that this was not a function of genetic food engineering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

Tomatoes are a plant that's actually very simple to manipulate. the flowers on tomatoes have both male and female hormones in each flower. The flowers do not need cross polination to produce fruit. the simple vibration of an insect landing on the flower shakes it enough to the pollin mixes within the flower itself. Tomatoes are easily grown in greenhouses because, the are so easily pollinated. a simple tapping of the branch will cause the pollin in each flower to mix and produce fruit. pollin from one species can be used to fertilize another species to create a hybred. It is a mixing of DNA from 2 species to create a 3rd species although, it was not until the double helix was discovered and observed that people really began to understand mamipulation on a genetid level.

[kikoman]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

Thanks for the information, I will try that next year as my tomato's are now all staked, I am just glad to be getting some tomatoes, I do feel I will have all the tomato's we can eat, I will freeze some, make a tomato sauce and also freeze those and give away what we can't eat to family, friends and neighbors,

I need to learn how to save my tomato's seeds for planting next year !

These are suppose to be very big tomatoes, I would like big ones, within reason, not to big.

Cheers

[khunkeith]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

Thanks for the information, I will try that next year as my tomato's are now all staked, I am just glad to be getting some tomatoes, I do feel I will have all the tomato's we can eat, I will freeze some, make a tomato sauce and also freeze those and give away what we can't eat to family, friends and neighbors,

I need to learn how to save my tomato's seeds for planting next year !

These are suppose to be very big tomatoes, I would like big ones, within reason, not to big.

Cheers

Honestly, I would not bother saving your seeds. You can't grow a hybred from hybred seeds. it takes 2 different parent plants to create a hybred plant. there are places on line that will ship internationally and, it's easy for a friend in another country to put a couple packs in the mail to you as well. You can extend the shelf live of seeds by keeping them in a airtight container and throw in some of those silicone moisture absorbing packs.

[khunkeith]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

Thanks for the information, I will try that next year as my tomato's are now all staked, I am just glad to be getting some tomatoes, I do feel I will have all the tomato's we can eat, I will freeze some, make a tomato sauce and also freeze those and give away what we can't eat to family, friends and neighbors,

I need to learn how to save my tomato's seeds for planting next year !

These are suppose to be very big tomatoes, I would like big ones, within reason, not to big.

Cheers

Honestly, I would not bother saving your seeds. You can't grow a hybred from hybred seeds. it takes 2 different parent plants to create a hybred plant. there are places on line that will ship internationally and, it's easy for a friend in another country to put a couple packs in the mail to you as well. You can extend the shelf live of seeds by keeping them in a airtight container and throw in some of those silicone moisture absorbing packs.

if you try to grow hybred seeds from a tomato, you will get tomatoes, just not the ones you want. just wanted to clarify. they will probably be small.

[khunkeith]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

Thanks for the information, I will try that next year as my tomato's are now all staked, I am just glad to be getting some tomatoes, I do feel I will have all the tomato's we can eat, I will freeze some, make a tomato sauce and also freeze those and give away what we can't eat to family, friends and neighbors,

I need to learn how to save my tomato's seeds for planting next year !

These are suppose to be very big tomatoes, I would like big ones, within reason, not to big.

Cheers

http://www.tomatofest.com/tomato-seeds-tropical-hot-humid-collection.html

I believe they ship internationally too.

[rice555]

Hello All, a Black from Tula, larger than a hardball and a few grams short

of the weight of 2 said balls.

Khunkeith, I still have my 53yo and a 54yo farm league shirts, pony league

hat. I'm from SFO, I think they play ball there?

To me, if it has a base, bat and ball, its baseball, be it stick, cork, wiffle, soft

or hard.

rice555

[kikoman]

KhunKeith.

,

Will do, Thanks again!

Cheers

[kikoman]

I need some help in how to deal with Tomato wilt and white fly infestation, was planning to spray white fly with a liquid mixture (soap-water) would like an environmentally safe method of treating my tomato plants.

Thank you ,for any help!

Cheers

Edited January 10, 2014 by kikoman

[loong]

I need some help in how to deal with Tomato wilt and white fly infestation, was planning to spray white fly with a liquid mixture (soap-water) would like an environmentally safe method of treating my tomato plants.

Thank you ,for any help!

Cheers

Not sure what whitefly is.

My chillie plants were infested with a white fly that would take off in clouds if the plant was disturbed. The underside of the leaves had like a white scale(mealybug?) and like fine cotton wool. I don't know whether these were the same pest at different life-cycle stages or separate insects.

I treated them with a fermented plant extract of galangal and lemon grass and it took repeated applications but I got rid of them in the end. You could try steeping galangal and lemon grass for a day in warm water and see if this works.

I seem to remember somebody posting about wood vinegar for aphid type sap suckers, but I have never tried it. I have just bought some, but as yet, have had no need to try it out.

[kikoman]

I need some help in how to deal with Tomato wilt and white fly infestation, was planning to spray white fly with a liquid mixture (soap-water) would like an environmentally safe method of treating my tomato plants.

Thank you ,for any help!

Cheers

Not sure what whitefly is.

My chillie plants were infested with a white fly that would take off in clouds if the plant was disturbed. The underside of the leaves had like a white scale(mealybug?) and like fine cotton wool. I don't know whether these were the same pest at different life-cycle stages or separate insects.

I treated them with a fermented plant extract of galangal and lemon grass and it took repeated applications but I got rid of them in the end. You could try steeping galangal and lemon grass for a day in warm water and see if this works.

I seem to remember somebody posting about wood vinegar for aphid type sap suckers, but I have never tried it. I have just bought some, but as yet, have had no need to try it out.

That is the problem I have with the white looking fly, because of that I call it white fly, I will try the lemongrass and galangal in warm water let it set for a day and see what happens. Only one tomato out of the 30 plants I have has the wilted top, I separated it from the other plants and see what I need to do to try and keep it from spreading to the other plants.

Thank you very much for the info, I will try it!

Cheers

[loong]

I need some help in how to deal with Tomato wilt and white fly infestation, was planning to spray white fly with a liquid mixture (soap-water) would like an environmentally safe method of treating my tomato plants.

Thank you ,for any help!

Cheers

Not sure what whitefly is.

My chillie plants were infested with a white fly that would take off in clouds if the plant was disturbed. The underside of the leaves had like a white scale(mealybug?) and like fine cotton wool. I don't know whether these were the same pest at different life-cycle stages or separate insects.

I treated them with a fermented plant extract of galangal and lemon grass and it took repeated applications but I got rid of them in the end. You could try steeping galangal and lemon grass for a day in warm water and see if this works.

I seem to remember somebody posting about wood vinegar for aphid type sap suckers, but I have never tried it. I have just bought some, but as yet, have had no need to try it out.

That is the problem I have with the white looking fly, because of that I call it white fly, I will try the lemongrass and galangal in warm water let it set for a day and see what happens. Only one tomato out of the 30 plants I have has the wilted top, I separated it from the other plants and see what I need to do to try and keep it from spreading to the other plants.

Thank you very much for the info, I will try it!

Cheers

Interesting that you talk about a "wilted top"

Some of my toms are growing against a wall. When growth exceeds the height of the wall, the plant is exposed to too strong sun for too much of the day and the leaves close up and shrink with a sort of ferning effect. I don't believe that this is a disease as the rest of the plant that has less exposure to the sun is unaffected. Of course, this may not be anything like the problem that you have, but if it is, then consider using some shade net.

Edited January 10, 2014 by loong

[kikoman]

I read to many books about Tomato's as a result I placed them in areas that had at least 8 hours of full sun, they seem to grow very slowly, so I placed some in the full sun and some in partial shaded areas and some others in areas shaded most of the day. The tomatoes in the shaded area showed the best growth while those in full sun growth seemed to be minimal, as a result I did not place any plants in the full sun, as they showed the slowest growth.

The plant does have a fern like look at the top of the plant, the plant looks great except for the fern look, I will keep a close eye on it, to see what the problem is if any, that plant is the only fern looking top of the 30 plants, I have. Being a novice tomato gardener maybe I am over reacting to what I think is wilt. the white fly is a fact, not to sure if the wilt is a problem.

Thanks again.

Cheers

[khunkeith]

have been out picking tomatoes every day for the last 10 or 12 days. my harvest is peaking right now. I imagine that, in a couple weeks, it's going to slow down to just 2 or 3 a day like it was 2 weeks ago then, all be over sometime next month. no more flowers on the plants now.

I picked 6 kilos this morning.

[seajae]

Tomatoes are difficult to grow in Thailand.

In high temperatures toms will not set fruit.

Do not grow in full sun.

If in pots, the pots need to be large and shaded from the sun.

Water only at the base of the plant.

Cherry types are easier to grow.

Rubbish about the "High temp" One of the main crop of the farming area of Bowen which is in Tropical Queensland is ....................yes TOMATO ! Up there in central tropical Queensland it can get just as hot , if not hotter than areas of Thailand, these toms grow in large open farmland under irrigation.

My neighbour has got half a dozen plants grown from seed which i brought from Australia, variety GROSSE LISSE. They are about 2 months old about 4 ft high and very very healthy. We will have to wait to see if she gets fruit !

I think its all about soil conditions.

spot on mate, my younger brother lives at dingo beach and when his mate from Bowen come to visit they bring a box of tomatoes and several loaves of fresh bread from the local hot bread shop, we used to eat it non stop, bloody beautiful tomatoes. It ois how you grow them and what thew soil is like, to set the flowers you just need to shake the plant to drop the pollen and that is only if there is no wind to do it, also you only water around the base and not the leaves.

You can buy seeds from the US that are their hot weather pack and they are varieties that do well in warm weather, several different types too, tomato fest I think was the name of the mob.

Edited March 5, 2014 by seajae

[khunkeith]

Tomatoes are difficult to grow in Thailand.

In high temperatures toms will not set fruit.

Do not grow in full sun.

If in pots, the pots need to be large and shaded from the sun.

Water only at the base of the plant.

Cherry types are easier to grow.

Rubbish about the "High temp" One of the main crop of the farming area of Bowen which is in Tropical Queensland is ....................yes TOMATO ! Up there in central tropical Queensland it can get just as hot , if not hotter than areas of Thailand, these toms grow in large open farmland under irrigation.

My neighbour has got half a dozen plants grown from seed which i brought from Australia, variety GROSSE LISSE. They are about 2 months old about 4 ft high and very very healthy. We will have to wait to see if she gets fruit !

I think its all about soil conditions.

spot on mate, my younger brother lives at dingo beach and when his mate from Bowen come to visit they bring a box of tomatoes and several loaves of fresh bread from the local hot bread shop, we used to eat it non stop, bloody beautiful tomatoes. It ois how you grow them and what thew soil is like, to set the flowers you just need to shake the plant to drop the pollen and that is only if there is no wind to do it, also you only water around the base and not the leaves.

You can buy seeds from the US that are their hot weather pack and they are varieties that do well in warm weather, several different types too, tomato fest I think was the name of the mob.

It's not the heat, it's the intensity of the sun that can kill western tomatoes. Mine have been doing great. well, until about a week ago as we approach the vernal equinox. The sun is getting more intense day by day and my plants are suffering greatly. I have 17 big boy and beefsteak tomato plants grown with seeds from the US. I learned my lesson though, I removed the shading when they started producing fruit and have had a bumper crop. But, about 2 weeks ago, they showed signs of stress (I guess from the sun) and are dying. next time, I will replace the covering shade mid February and see if I can keep them producing longer.

[tardelli]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

which season they may grown ? does is matter? because tomatoes need warm; sunshine and water thats it. and sunshine has whole year in thailand!

[tardelli]

Well last year we had some Thai tomato's grow from discarded seeds, we had a lot of little Thai tomatoes, I asked my son to send me some tomato seeds, he sent "Big Beef Hybrids and Garden leader Monsters" i planted them had great germination, plants grew well after transplanting into bigger pots, the growth slowed down, to where it seem like it stopped growing and remained that way.

At the beginning of the cold spell, I noticed my tomatoes growth increased almost before my eyes, and had remarkable growth, as I had almost given up on having any tomato's this year. they were growing so rapidly, that I had to re-stake them all, adding Bamboo stakes.

Even the tomato plants my wife planted directly into the soil began rapid growth, and were a much fuller plant then the potted tomato, that are taller. Recently the potted plants started to become fuller and started some small tomatos. See attached pictures..

IMG_1250.JPG IMG_1251.JPG

IMG_1252.JPG IMG_1253.JPG

IMG_1255.JPG IMG_1257.JPG

I think I will have a great tomato crop this year as I have about 30 tomato plants currently that are growing great.

Cheers

looking good. I used concrete mesh this year and made circular cages for the first time. I had been staking them in previous years but, this works out better. give it a try, you are not out there constantly restaking. though, some of my plants, the branches have extended beyond and I have used the plastic Thai twine to hold them up whenthe fruit starts to get heavy.

I am going to try some in pots next year as well and see which does better.

The cold stagnated the frout growth on mine but, since it's warmed up, they are growing like crazy and ripening quickly too. Now I am afraid of them all getting ripe within a few days of each other and my harvest will be over 2 weeks after it starts.

which season they may grown ? does is matter? because tomatoes need warm; sunshine and water thats it. and sunshine has whole year in thailand!

which season they may grown ? does is matter? because tomatoes need warm; sunshine and water thats it. and sunshine has whole year in thailand!

[rice555]

Hello All, these are what I've got growing now, two groups, one that was

started on 1/8/14 & 3/3/14. They are inter mixed age wise, but most of the

Ind's were the Jan. batch on the wire. More of the March group needs to be

also need hanging sooooon!!

They have gone through 80-104F, about 15 heavy thunder storms, about 10

more than in the same time period, over last 8 years.

All of the chilies(Mex) that I started at the same planting dates, went tits up.

Black Cherry, Yaqui, Black from Tula and Brandywine OTV.

The March starts blossoming very well, but wet. Big storm today here, Muang

Korat.

rice555

[Fapington]

Looking good Rice555.

Do you sell your tomatoes, or do you just grow them to eat yourself?

If you do sell them, what price are you fetching for them?

Fapington

[rice555]

Hello All, just growing for fun and eating.

Found vine clips and plant hangers W/twine, the clips come by the box/10,000

and if I remember right, Bt. 7,500 a box, they are more like the ones from the US,

smaller width than the pic I posted, don't have a sample to show, but will post pics

of the hanger/spool/twine tomorrow, Bt.18 for each hanger complete.

They had some nice hydro toms in their display at the show.

rice555

[Fapington]

You lucky dog Rice555!

Did you buy some extra to sell to me

[rice555]

Hello All, I wouldn't mind splitting a box of clips with several people.

There was about 7 people still setting up the display when I talked to

them, very little on the English and my Thai is up to about 75 from 50

words 14+ years ago. I may go to BKK next month to the store as I'm

still wanting to get an irrigation timer that you can have multi start and

multi run time through the day and from two different tanks, plus watering

the fruit trees and dirt crops, adjustable from my desktop, not the push

buttons on a control pannel.

Here's the hanger:

rice555

the last pic shows a flang on the line hook that helps keep it from twisting.

[Fapington]

Rice555,

I need these clips.

What store is selling them? Name of the company?

I fully intend to buy hundreds of the string spools, and thousands of clips. Would be happy to share with you, just need to know where to buy them

[rice555]

Hello All, www.kemtrade.co.th

Their site is not very informative, they are NAANDANJAIN

irrigation supply store, not as big as Netifim, but nice products.

I got my first drip tape from another BKK dealer, then NaanDan

off Lat Phrao between SuperProducts and WESCO.

rice555

[rice555]

Hello All, their BC I got at the show.

My spool of vine trine fro Hydro Gardens CO.

rice555

[WatUp]

I'd love to get in on a shared box. I'm in Bangkok so I could pick them up.

[cdmtdm]

yes me too ....

[rice555]

Hello All, would be interested, will PM you WatUp this evening.

The pic is the easy to send things CHEAP by bus, this is 10Ks

of OP dent corn before I sent it to CM from Korat. About Bt.100.

Later, rice555