What vegetables can I plant this time of year

[Kiwi1]

I grow veges in small pots on a small 4th floor balcony. At the moment bokchoi, beans, spring onions, bell peppers doing well. Have had little problem with insects, perhaps due to elevated location. Have had tomatoes and beans suffer from mould once.

This garden not economic in one sense, but veges guaranteed fresh, right to hand and make for a bit of hobby interest.

Have not been able to try it locally, but had great success with a no dig garden plot back in NZ and would suggest anybody interested google the topic. There is a good deal of info from Australia, some from Queensland where climate is tropical.

Good luck with the project.

[rickudon]

Growing vegetables in Isaan isn't easy, but you need some challenges! First look/ask at what the neighbours grow. Some plants just will not grow well in some areas. Also clear away as many weeds as possible - they harbour a lot of the pests which will attack your vegetables. The soil is important - a lot of Isaan is the red brown clay - unworkable mud when wet, and like concrete when dry; only good for growing rice. The soil may need a lot of work to improve it. And make sure chickens are fenced out. You can buy those 20 baht bags of black compost, but it doesn't help a lot - it contains very little nutrients, really just a soil for ornamental plants from the garden centre (not even fit for that really). Also beware the colour - the black soil in the sun can heat up to over 50 degrees and will cook small plants, especially roots. But it can be the start of a mixture.

What to grow - Thais mainly grow chinese cabbage, pak choi, mustard and lettuce. All these will grow quickly - sowing to harvest can be less than a month. Also Pak Bong, coriander, slightly less so. The white radish is also a quick grower. Tomatoes are always worth trying - but you have to start early. Cucumbers and Pumpkins may do well but can suffer severe pest and disease problems. Yard long beans, peas. One limitation is what seeds you can buy - many shops have pitifully little choice. Some seeds i bring back with me from the home country - because hard to get here; especially red radish, carrot, dwarf beans - all these will grow.

When to plant - still working on that - but weather under 30 degrees best. November and December were hard this season as too hot for some seeds. The growing season for most things come to a rapid halt in March - by April usually what is left is usually sick and dying. Sweetcorn is good to plant then if you have enough water, not phased by hot season. Shade may prolong the season a bit.

Problems - get out all those grass roots - leave any in and they will shoot up when you start watering, cannot get rid of them then without damaging the veg. Other weeds you can pull up as you go and they mainly grow from seed. Ants - first, some have a nasty bite, secondly, they love to dig up your freshly planted seeds to eat - I have lost over 90% of seeds to them sometimes. Expect moderately high losses of seedlings to damping off if not using fungicides. Tomatoes start well, but leaf miners, tomato moths and various virus diseases can be a pain just when you are anticipating that big crop - one reason why you should grow cherry tomatoes, the beefsteaks take to long for the fruit to mature.

Finally, seeds - many seeds you buy are duds - this is Thailand, live with it. Check the year on a packet because they will happily sell you one 2 years old. Keeping your own seeds is also an issue - without refrigeration, many seeds just cannot take the heat - I try to keep some of my dwarf bean seeds from the harvest until next year - but i get germination rates of 0-10% ()% this year because wet season was too hot). Wife cannot understand why i put seeds in the fridge - and also fridge isn't big enough for seeds AND food .....

Anyway, good luck.

[beerzy]

Anyone growing tamarind? Or is that a fruit?

I love the fresh stuff from thailand….put it in salsa and it also drink makes a very refreshing and healthy cold drink when mixed into water and honey, with lots of crushed ice.

hi its a large tree and some are sweet and some are sour

[beerzy]

IMG_1146.JPG Vegetables are cheap at the local markets. OK

Only problem is the are contaminated with chemicals,Spayed with formalin to keep them fresh longer.

I grow my own, at the moment have many veg ready for eating.

Pak choi/ chinese leaves/ chinese mustard/ spring onions / pumpkin/ gourds/ tomatoes/ coriander/pak chee.

Have to agree with ya there. looks like you got a sweet set-up. May have went a bit overboard with the containers though, unless you got them free, or cheap, and they might serve another purpose...barrier, fence? On the whole though Mr. I'll trade you your digs for this apartment any day. Enjoy!!

I have not gone overboard with the containers.

I am paraplegic. I grow veg from my wheelchairIMG_1117.JPG

Looks good ,what type of soil or growing medium do you use in the rings ?

just normal dirt but we build soil up and put food scaps in it

[bark]

I did try a Veggie garden a few years ago, gave up, far to many things like to eat them...

Local Village market 2 km away is so cheap........ nice Cauliflower for the past month are 10 baht each, most other greens are 5 - 10 baht, grapes yesterday were still 60 baht per kg [thought the season had finished] nice big strawberries down to 80 baht kg

is it ever worth trying to grown your own ? slugs, caterpillars bigger then slugs, birds, ants, worms. snakes, rats etc ate all my veg I tried to grow

Maybe he wants to do, to relax. Better then sitting all day drinking beer, and complaining on Thai Visa !!

[highlander403]

I have a herb garden and grow cherry tomatoes. Agreed on the bugs but the lemon balm and garlic sends most of them away and good for mosquitoes too.

I grow basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, lemon balm, peppermint, cherry tomatoes, garlic, red radishes, cilantro. I love picking fresh to use in a dish. Also have a Kaffir lime tree.

MTM where did you get the sage seeds we are in ubon ratchathani and never seen them here..

scotty

[elliss]

May I suggest ''frozen vegetables''

Fruits-Birds-Eye-Steamfresh-veggies.jpg

May i suggest , Man farlang , needs thick soil .

[cooked]

May I suggest ''frozen vegetables''

Fruits-Birds-Eye-Steamfresh-veggies.jpg

May i suggest , Man farlang , needs thick soil .

I really don't think that potatoes will grow in Isaan.

[cooked]

Aeem, sorry. It really depends on where you live. The soil in Kantharalak, for example, is much better than the soil near Sisaket town.

If you can be more precise.....

Why does mr old lost in issan have make worthless comments all the time. Any post that I have read from him are B.S. If you dont know the answer to a question why would you bother to touch the keyboard?

Lost in Isaan is correct, and posts on this thread do explain that there are differences from one area to another. When we visit my wife's aunt, 50Km away, they are cultivating all sorts of stuff we can't.

You don't have to go more than 200 metres from here, down onto the rice fields, to find my son in law growing stuff that we can't. Our soil is completely devoid of nourishment and organic content, despite a few years of seriously working on it. It also contains pathogens that make cucumbers difficult, tomatoes and egg plant impossible. The strawberries, planted for our granddaughter, give a handful of sour fruit a year. We did mangae to grow peppercorn, which I consider a f***ing miracle, at the third attempt.

Might I enquire why you find it necessary to post unpleasant and worthless comments about someone that is trying to help?

[davoz45]

I accidentally posted on here and can't seem to delete it, so I will just edit it. I love this topic, gardening and growing anything for whatever reason. I would like a botanical data base with Thai names and English names.

Edited February 7, 2016 by davoz45

[rice555]

I accidentally posted on here and can't seem to delete it, so I will just edit it. I love this topic, gardening and growing anything for whatever reason. I would like a botanical data base with Thai names and English names.

There was 1 or 2 different lists listed on either in the OG or

regular farming forum. The OG section of the Farming Forum

in the PINNED threads.

Other options are a forum search or google which will also

give results from TV Forums.

rice555

[cooked]

I use co-co peat/ sand/ rice husk/chicken manure mixed aas a growing medium in my rings. Results are there for all to see.

Yes I have seen that plants that I buy are often sold in a mixture containing rice husks. Question: why the sand? I should have thought that drainage would be sufficient with rice husks. Up to now I have used a mixture of sifted clay, sand and cow manure / charcoal but am willing to try anything once. I believe that the clay I use contains pathogens that kill the tomatoes and egg plants that I keep on trying to grow.

[colinneil]

Why the sand !! Easy answer, we had sand lying around after building work.

So i used it, The results were good, so i kept on using sand.

I try growing a lot of different veg. Cucumbers/ courgettes/ carrots total disaster every time.

[Morakot]

I use co-co peat/ sand/ rice husk/chicken manure mixed aas a growing medium in my rings. Results are there for all to see.

Question: why the sand? I should have thought that drainage would be sufficient with rice husks.

Organic matter will decompose and provide excellent nutrition, but it will not deal with the problem of clay soil. The sand mixture will give a more drained soil and actually increase the speed of organic matter breaking down. If there were no sand the rate of decomposition would immensely slow down or even stop.

[cooked]

I use co-co peat/ sand/ rice husk/chicken manure mixed aas a growing medium in my rings. Results are there for all to see.

Question: why the sand? I should have thought that drainage would be sufficient with rice husks.

Organic matter will decompose and provide excellent nutrition, but it will not deal with the problem of clay soil. The sand mixture will give a more drained soil and actually increase the speed of organic matter breaking down. If there were no sand the rate of decomposition would immensely slow down or even stop.

? Water goes through rice husks like billy - oh, I don't see any need to improve drainage when using rice husks, which I intend to try soon. Mr colinell isn't using this mixture to improve his soil, he uses it in his concrete rings, and only that.

[Morakot]

Question: why the sand? I should have thought that drainage would be sufficient with rice husks.

Organic matter will decompose and provide excellent nutrition, but it will not deal with the problem of clay soil. The sand mixture will give a more drained soil and actually increase the speed of organic matter breaking down. If there were no sand the rate of decomposition would immensely slow down or even stop.

? Water goes through rice husks like billy - oh, I don't see any need to improve drainage when using rice husks, which I intend to try soon. Mr colinell isn't using this mixture to improve his soil, he uses it in his concrete rings, and only that.

Really depends how heavy your clay is. If it's not heaving, husks or any organic chippings will surely do.

The soil I am working with, is like pottery clay -- you can put it on a wheel and start making pots. Without sand, husks would just end up being embalmed in the clay, sealed off from any oxygen to be preserved for ever.

[cooked]

Question: why the sand? I should have thought that drainage would be sufficient with rice husks.

Organic matter will decompose and provide excellent nutrition, but it will not deal with the problem of clay soil. The sand mixture will give a more drained soil and actually increase the speed of organic matter breaking down. If there were no sand the rate of decomposition would immensely slow down or even stop.

? Water goes through rice husks like billy - oh, I don't see any need to improve drainage when using rice husks, which I intend to try soon. Mr colinell isn't using this mixture to improve his soil, he uses it in his concrete rings, and only that.

Really depends how heavy your clay is. If it's not heaving, husks or any organic chippings will surely do.

The soil I am working with, is like pottery clay -- you can put it on a wheel and start making pots. Without sand, husks would just end up being embalmed in the clay, sealed off from any oxygen to be preserved for ever.

Now would I ever be rude? The question I made concerned the potting mixture that the guy is using in his concrete rings and not about soil improvement.

I have the same soil as you come to that and adding builder's sand plus CHARRED rice husks has worked wonders, along with cow manure. I am looking for an alternative to the potting mixture that I am using at present which is why I asked.

[augustwest]

Gave up growing vegetables a long time now. I grow flowers

[Kenegg]

I have just started my vegetable gardent in Mahasarakham in the North East, bought some seeds from England. Trial and error really, radishes have come up brilliant cherry tomatoes are looking good..good hobby I would try anything and everything seeds are cheap here in Thailand. I use loads of bags of fertiliser I buy at the road side garden centres (buffalo and pig poo) Good luck with your garden. :-)

[CGW]

On 2/3/2016 at 9:26 AM, cooked said:

I really don't think that potatoes will grow in Isaan.

We have been growing potatoes in Isaan for the past three years, plant them after the rains have finished and let them grow through the "cool" season - very nice!

Once the soil heats up they wont grow! as stated previously not a lot will grow in the hot season!

Off course far cheaper and easier to go to the local market but its nice to know just what you are eating for a change

We compost everything we can, certainly helps improve quality of soil, Thai's seem to prefer to burn everything rather than let nature take its course.............