Planting dates for vegetables

[leesgems]

I am experimenting with when to plant specific vegetables in the north of Thailand. Perhaps someone here has already done that and can save me some time?

Vegetables of all types are of interest to me and I have water available, however, it is of course easier not to have to water. Right now my lettuces look great that I planted during the cold season but I have watered them often. Beans planted in January seem productive when watered.

It seems that cabbages and other coles do well when planted in October.

What is good to plant right now that does not require intense watering?

Thanks, Lee

[cooked]

I sow anything I feel like all the year round. In the dry season we seem to have less problems with pests. Planting just before the rainy season is obviously making things easier.

We water young seedlings twice a day, mature plants every day or two days. Chilli will appreciate the heat, and will survive without too much water... I had to find out the hard way, despite receiving excellent advice on this forum, there are so many differences in soil and climate, that it is difficult to apply general 'planting time rules' to gardens in Thailand.

However if you don't want to water regularly, I don't think you will have much success.

[xen]

For many hundreds of years people used to plant by the phases of the moon - root crops on the wane of the moon etc. I can't remember the details but if you are interested you can google it. Many old farmers used to also put posts into the ground or put foundations for building on the wane of the moon. It may sound completely unscientific but experiments i have done do support the idea to some extent. just as the moon has a influence on tides and liquids and so on it has some influence on plants.. It was common world wide but was put into the old wives tales category and forgotten about. At first i thought this was what you were asking about.

[1Ping1]

I sow anything I feel like all the year round. In the dry season we seem to have less problems with pests. Planting just before the rainy season is obviously making things easier.

We water young seedlings twice a day, mature plants every day or two days. Chilli will appreciate the heat, and will survive without too much water... I had to find out the hard way, despite receiving excellent advice on this forum, there are so many differences in soil and climate, that it is difficult to apply general 'planting time rules' to gardens in Thailand.

However if you don't want to water regularly, I don't think you will have much success.

Cooked,

Great User Name, , also, great Info.

When you state you plant/sow year round, does that apply to as you note "anything". I truly am striving myself also to figure out what grows best during what time of the year. Back in the states in the Pacific NW, right on the Canadian border, we had four distinct seasons. Here, well, hot, hotter, and hot and wet. Not complaining, just trying to come to terms with the difference. It was easy back in states, when the ground stopped freezing you could plant. You then harvested before it started freezing again in the fall.

I guess I am getting long winded and the question is simple. Hot and wet season is coming. (monsoon season). I live S of Bangkok towards Cha Am, so we do not get as much rain as others N or S. I have a small city plot garden. I just harvested corn, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and misc others such as kale and lettuce. Now that we are headed into the hot and wet season, would you say go ahead and plant everything again. Or, are there some that are going to do far better than others. The reason I ask is that I am trying to focus on those that have a better chance of "doing good" during the hot and wet season.

Thanks Man

[cooked]

I sow anything I feel like all the year round. In the dry season we seem to have less problems with pests. Planting just before the rainy season is obviously making things easier.

We water young seedlings twice a day, mature plants every day or two days. Chilli will appreciate the heat, and will survive without too much water... I had to find out the hard way, despite receiving excellent advice on this forum, there are so many differences in soil and climate, that it is difficult to apply general 'planting time rules' to gardens in Thailand.

However if you don't want to water regularly, I don't think you will have much success.

Cooked,

Great User Name, , also, great Info.

When you state you plant/sow year round, does that apply to as you note "anything". I truly am striving myself also to figure out what grows best during what time of the year. Back in the states in the Pacific NW, right on the Canadian border, we had four distinct seasons. Here, well, hot, hotter, and hot and wet. Not complaining, just trying to come to terms with the difference. It was easy back in states, when the ground stopped freezing you could plant. You then harvested before it started freezing again in the fall.

I guess I am getting long winded and the question is simple. Hot and wet season is coming. (monsoon season). I live S of Bangkok towards Cha Am, so we do not get as much rain as others N or S. I have a small city plot garden. I just harvested corn, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and misc others such as kale and lettuce. Now that we are headed into the hot and wet season, would you say go ahead and plant everything again. Or, are there some that are going to do far better than others. The reason I ask is that I am trying to focus on those that have a better chance of "doing good" during the hot and wet season.

Thanks Man

Well to start with, I live in Isaan, often when I go to Bangkok I find that it has been raining for days when up here we haven't seen a drop.

The beginning of the rainy season is generally thought to be the best time of year to sow most stuff, I realise that you have a problem getting used to the idea of a tropical climate. At the beginning I certainly was, without realising it, putting things off for the winter time. Switzerland, where I come from, definitely has seasons,and you can't afford to miss certain sowing dates.

I still think that the best way is just to sow stuff that takes your fancy, you may find yourself obliged to decide between using pesticides or not. I am continually cultivating yard long beans and cucumbers to keep up a steady supply, same for herbs. I have found that if it is difficult to find certain seeds in the shops, it is likely to be because they don't grow well, I have stopped importing stuff from Europe, although the F1 Sunflowers are worthwhile, and get eaten eventually.

I gave up on melons some time ago, I don't want to eat stuff that has been sprayed every week. Pumpkins grow all over the place and try to take over the garden, we still have seedlings coming up all over the place a year later.

Ok a list: garlic, bunching onions, chives, onions, basil, dill, tomatoes, bell peppers, two different beans, cucumbers and sweet corn, lettuce, and chinese cabbage. We also have passion fruit growing all over the place, pappaya and other stuff that my wife knows the name of..

Good luck

[cooked]

For many hundreds of years people used to plant by the phases of the moon - root crops on the wane of the moon etc. I can't remember the details but if you are interested you can google it. Many old farmers used to also put posts into the ground or put foundations for building on the wane of the moon. It may sound completely unscientific but experiments i have done do support the idea to some extent. just as the moon has a influence on tides and liquids and so on it has some influence on plants.. It was common world wide but was put into the old wives tales category and forgotten about. At first i thought this was what you were asking about.

For certain actions, mainly connected with forestry work, I agree about respecting the phases of the moon. A waning of the moon in November is supposed to be the best time to cut spruce for general carpentry but especially the making of shingles. This seems to be correct. Try:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9010443/Moon-planting-just-a-passing-phase.html

I'm not sure that the moon phase thingy would work in the tropics anyway.

I worked in horticulture for 40 years and I can assure you that I wasn't going to wait three or four days for the correct moon phase to come around when I was stood before the seed bed on the first day without rain for weeks. Losing three or four days can also result in a loss of growth, especially in Autumn for instance when you have a short window for sowing lambs' lettuce.

I once lost an anthroposophic customer because I planted strawberries on the wrong day, silly cow, the plants were dying of thirst in their pots. I also encountered the same problem when pruning fruit trees. It took me some time to work out why another customer would insist on me coming only on certain days, she wanted me to come on 'fruit' days. I tried to tell her that any advantage that might be gained would be far outweighed by early frost of lack of pollinating bees. She was annoyed, a right anthroposophic twit. And anyway, what's wrong with pruning on a 'flower' or 'root' day?

If there really was something in it, commercial growers would have adopted it a long time ago, correct cultivation is much more important than having the nature gods bless your rhubarb.

[1Ping1]

I sow anything I feel like all the year round. In the dry season we seem to have less problems with pests. Planting just before the rainy season is obviously making things easier.

We water young seedlings twice a day, mature plants every day or two days. Chilli will appreciate the heat, and will survive without too much water... I had to find out the hard way, despite receiving excellent advice on this forum, there are so many differences in soil and climate, that it is difficult to apply general 'planting time rules' to gardens in Thailand.

However if you don't want to water regularly, I don't think you will have much success.

Cooked,

Great User Name, , also, great Info.

When you state you plant/sow year round, does that apply to as you note "anything". I truly am striving myself also to figure out what grows best during what time of the year. Back in the states in the Pacific NW, right on the Canadian border, we had four distinct seasons. Here, well, hot, hotter, and hot and wet. Not complaining, just trying to come to terms with the difference. It was easy back in states, when the ground stopped freezing you could plant. You then harvested before it started freezing again in the fall.

I guess I am getting long winded and the question is simple. Hot and wet season is coming. (monsoon season). I live S of Bangkok towards Cha Am, so we do not get as much rain as others N or S. I have a small city plot garden. I just harvested corn, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and misc others such as kale and lettuce. Now that we are headed into the hot and wet season, would you say go ahead and plant everything again. Or, are there some that are going to do far better than others. The reason I ask is that I am trying to focus on those that have a better chance of "doing good" during the hot and wet season.

Thanks Man

Well to start with, I live in Isaan, often when I go to Bangkok I find that it has been raining for days when up here we haven't seen a drop.

The beginning of the rainy season is generally thought to be the best time of year to sow most stuff, I realise that you have a problem getting used to the idea of a tropical climate. At the beginning I certainly was, without realising it, putting things off for the winter time. Switzerland, where I come from, definitely has seasons,and you can't afford to miss certain sowing dates.

I still think that the best way is just to sow stuff that takes your fancy, you may find yourself obliged to decide between using pesticides or not. I am continually cultivating yard long beans and cucumbers to keep up a steady supply, same for herbs. I have found that if it is difficult to find certain seeds in the shops, it is likely to be because they don't grow well, I have stopped importing stuff from Europe, although the F1 Sunflowers are worthwhile, and get eaten eventually.

I gave up on melons some time ago, I don't want to eat stuff that has been sprayed every week. Pumpkins grow all over the place and try to take over the garden, we still have seedlings coming up all over the place a year later.

Ok a list: garlic, bunching onions, chives, onions, basil, dill, tomatoes, bell peppers, two different beans, cucumbers and sweet corn, lettuce, and chinese cabbage. We also have passion fruit growing all over the place, pappaya and other stuff that my wife knows the name of..

Good luck

Thanks for the great info.

The area I am in does get quite a bit less rainfall than others also. Having said that, it also is a bit warmer year around than it is in Issan country, so you get less rain, plus its a little cooler month to month (I think. My wifes from a small village outside of Mukdahan and we go up there quite a bit to visit family.( Being an ex farm boy myself, I love it up there. Beautiful country)

So, Bottom line., I am going to Rock and Roll, meaning do as you do and just start planting again. Great list you have and pretty much the same for me................. Flat out blew my mind how well our climbing large cucumbers and runner beans did these past three months. We only had about eight plants of each and flat out fed half the neighborhood for several months. I am now going to be on "fourth" generation tomatoes and thai chili peppers now due to self seeding and germination from the last crop's. I like to call it "only the strong survive". Me and my wife both get a kick out of this approach as we simply pull out the plants when they have run their course, and at about the same time, start thinning out the self seeded new crop that has already started to pop up. Great Fun.

Thanks Again for the Info as I was thinking about sitting out the "rain season" we do not get to much but when we do, holly shit, it flat out turns the entire yard into a rice field that is six inches under water. )

[cooked]

Forgot about ginger

[EmptyHead]

Great thread! Let's keep it going.

Our corn seems to be doing well. Very big, but no actualy corn yet. Planted at end of October. Same for long beans and the spring onions were successful and finished already. Egg plant grows well all year round here. They just sprout up all by themseves. Chillies too. We had cucumbers the size of watermelons during the rainy season.

I agree with planting at the start of rainy season for ease.

When to plant sweet potato, onions, carrots, and pumpkin? (in Isaan)

@Cooked...any tips for growing passion fruit? I'd like to get into that!

[rickudon]

Hi there. This is my first post so a little background.

I live in Udon Thani September to May (UK rest of year). Starting my 5th year. I attempt to tame the neglected back garden each year, I must say with limited success. Main problems are that many seeds just do not germinate, especially in October-November, have better success in December and January (European veg). Not sure if it is temperature to high or the ants eat them all the day after i sow them ...

On specific dates i can say that carrots like it colder - sowings before December usually stay asleep until then. Sometimes carrots pop up long after i have given up and planted something else. Same with beetroot. If i can get the seedlings through their first month, no problems. Beetroot ready by March (die when hot) carrots will survive as long as moist, but go hairy in April but still edible. Lettuce very hit and miss. Dwarf french beans will grow anytime, but can delay germination (or die), and loose a lot as seedlings; onions from seed will not grow in the soil but will grow in pots ????

Have tried runner beans and broad beans - some have grown but struggle, flower but never set any seed (lack of pollinators?).

Nearly everything stops growing in April and slowly dies. Exception was sweetcorn planted in March, cobs eaten by family at end of May after i left.

Don't claim to be a good gardener, but more successful in UK. But my main interest is fish. Dabbling at fish farming, but my wife's pond is exceedingly unproductive - 3 rai and lucky if you get 50 kilos of fish a year - it is unfortunately a shallow weedy hole in the ground relying on rainfall only, parts dry out in May. Loads of small wild fish (some of which come in during the wet season). Basically it is a logistical disaster which needs completely redesigning - unfortunately financial resources always get diverted to more pressing problems - car, house, visas and supporting son through university ....

As a result, i plan, but only experiment very small scale; tried the plaa duk in the tank, maybe broke even (who knows, wife nicking small fish to feed our daughter and 'helping' by feeding fish sporadically when i'm not there). Mainly doing some small experiments on alternative food sources when i can get hold of them. It is not my intention to ever do it as more than a hobby but it would be nice to feed the family and break even financially!

[cooked]

Great thread! Let's keep it going.

Our corn seems to be doing well. Very big, but no actualy corn yet. Planted at end of October. Same for long beans and the spring onions were successful and finished already. Egg plant grows well all year round here. They just sprout up all by themseves. Chillies too. We had cucumbers the size of watermelons during the rainy season.

I agree with planting at the start of rainy season for ease.

When to plant sweet potato, onions, carrots, and pumpkin? (in Isaan)

@Cooked...any tips for growing passion fruit? I'd like to get into that!

Sorry, haven't been back here for a bit. The Thais around here know another kind of Passion fruit,small fruits and they use them like cucumbers. I had to get Passiflora edulis seeds, eventually given to me by Eric in Chiang Mai Dokmai gardens, now sadly returned to Sweden. Starting from seed,which germinate slowly, it took about 9 months until we got the first fruits. The flowers are very attractive. I won't be growing them again, they grow all over the place and need pruning a lot, I don't really have room for them. They also seed themselves spontaneously and the neighbours have a nice one going up a mango tree.

I believe there are two types: yellow and purple, we have the latter and apparently this is the one to grow here. Pm me, I can send you seeds if you want.

[rickudon]

I tried sowing coriander a month ago and 2 weeks ago - but has only come up in the last 3 days. I suspect this is because we had a couple of cool nights about 5 days ago. Also some AWOL dwarf beans also turned up, 2 weeks late .....

Examples of why some veg are hard to germinate. My garden gets limited shade, but always some sun during the day. This is why planting in pots can be an advantage - then i can keep out of the sun more easily, also soil cools down at night a bit more. Thai veg don't have a problem in November.

[cooked]

I tried sowing coriander a month ago and 2 weeks ago - but has only come up in the last 3 days. I suspect this is because we had a couple of cool nights about 5 days ago. Also some AWOL dwarf beans also turned up, 2 weeks late .....

Examples of why some veg are hard to germinate. My garden gets limited shade, but always some sun during the day. This is why planting in pots can be an advantage - then i can keep out of the sun more easily, also soil cools down at night a bit more. Thai veg don't have a problem in November.

If you bought seeds maybe they were on display for a long time. We keep our seeds in the fridge in air tight containers . We collect seeds when we can.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rickudon]

Beans and coriander seeds both from home grown. Kept in room with air conditioning part of the time. The fridge too full of food (big family) but do use fridge when i can.

I do know from experience that some seed doesn't last from one year to the next if too hot. For instance, if we get hot Songkhran (40 plus) beans drop to about 10% germination - typical year about 50%. Thai seeds usually less sensitive.

[kieran2698]

I sow anything I feel like all the year round. In the dry season we seem to have less problems with pests. Planting just before the rainy season is obviously making things easier.

We water young seedlings twice a day, mature plants every day or two days. Chilli will appreciate the heat, and will survive without too much water... I had to find out the hard way, despite receiving excellent advice on this forum, there are so many differences in soil and climate, that it is difficult to apply general 'planting time rules' to gardens in Thailand.

However if you don't want to water regularly, I don't think you will have much success.

Cooked,

Great User Name, , also, great Info.

When you state you plant/sow year round, does that apply to as you note "anything". I truly am striving myself also to figure out what grows best during what time of the year. Back in the states in the Pacific NW, right on the Canadian border, we had four distinct seasons. Here, well, hot, hotter, and hot and wet. Not complaining, just trying to come to terms with the difference. It was easy back in states, when the ground stopped freezing you could plant. You then harvested before it started freezing again in the fall.

I guess I am getting long winded and the question is simple. Hot and wet season is coming. (monsoon season). I live S of Bangkok towards Cha Am, so we do not get as much rain as others N or S. I have a small city plot garden. I just harvested corn, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and misc others such as kale and lettuce. Now that we are headed into the hot and wet season, would you say go ahead and plant everything again. Or, are there some that are going to do far better than others. The reason I ask is that I am trying to focus on those that have a better chance of "doing good" during the hot and wet season.

Thanks Man

Well to start with, I live in Isaan, often when I go to Bangkok I find that it has been raining for days when up here we haven't seen a drop.

The beginning of the rainy season is generally thought to be the best time of year to sow most stuff, I realise that you have a problem getting used to the idea of a tropical climate. At the beginning I certainly was, without realising it, putting things off for the winter time. Switzerland, where I come from, definitely has seasons,and you can't afford to miss certain sowing dates.

I still think that the best way is just to sow stuff that takes your fancy, you may find yourself obliged to decide between using pesticides or not. I am continually cultivating yard long beans and cucumbers to keep up a steady supply, same for herbs. I have found that if it is difficult to find certain seeds in the shops, it is likely to be because they don't grow well, I have stopped importing stuff from Europe, although the F1 Sunflowers are worthwhile, and get eaten eventually.

I gave up on melons some time ago, I don't want to eat stuff that has been sprayed every week. Pumpkins grow all over the place and try to take over the garden, we still have seedlings coming up all over the place a year later.

Ok a list: garlic, bunching onions, chives, onions, basil, dill, tomatoes, bell peppers, two different beans, cucumbers and sweet corn, lettuce, and chinese cabbage. We also have passion fruit growing all over the place, pappaya and other stuff that my wife knows the name of..

Good luck

Thanks for the great info.

The area I am in does get quite a bit less rainfall than others also. Having said that, it also is a bit warmer year around than it is in Issan country, so you get less rain, plus its a little cooler month to month (I think. My wifes from a small village outside of Mukdahan and we go up there quite a bit to visit family.( Being an ex farm boy myself, I love it up there. Beautiful country)

So, Bottom line., I am going to Rock and Roll, meaning do as you do and just start planting again. Great list you have and pretty much the same for me................. Flat out blew my mind how well our climbing large cucumbers and runner beans did these past three months. We only had about eight plants of each and flat out fed half the neighborhood for several months. I am now going to be on "fourth" generation tomatoes and thai chili peppers now due to self seeding and germination from the last crop's. I like to call it "only the strong survive". Me and my wife both get a kick out of this approach as we simply pull out the plants when they have run their course, and at about the same time, start thinning out the self seeded new crop that has already started to pop up. Great Fun.

Thanks Again for the Info as I was thinking about sitting out the "rain season" we do not get to much but when we do, holly shit, it flat out turns the entire yard into a rice field that is six inches under water. )

You pull out your chillies and grow again from seed each year? You do realise that chilli is a perennial that will for much better the following years? They can grow into 6 year old trees with massive year round crops if you take care of them.

[cooked]

Beware of generalisations. What will grow in Chang Mai won't necessarily grow south of Bangkok . What will grow in my garden might not grow in yours.

You just have to look at what your neighbours are planting and experiment. I have a pepper corn plant that has been moved twice and is finally growing after two years. It needed shadow and trace elements like iron and stuff.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jasminetea]

I planted turnips in March but they seem stunted. Is there anything I can do to improve the growth?

[kickstart]

13 hours ago, Jasminetea said:

I planted turnips in March but they seem stunted. Is there anything I can do to improve the growth?

Turnips are a temperate crop ,I used to feed them to sheep in a UK winter,also March and April are the two hottest months of the year, they will not grow ,just too hot .

You could try planting them in the late Autumn, a bit cooler then,but I still think that will not grow .

You have not said where you are ,more chance of getting some result if you live in the north of the country than in Issan or the central plains.