#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  Growing potatoes in Thailand

## Chittychangchang

I've tried growing potatoes in Thailand in the past unsuccessfully.

Due to the price here, which is stupidly high.


I planted about thirty pealing roots before i left last time with instructions for them to be watered every day, but they all failed.

Whether the ground was to hard or they stopped being watered, i don' know.

I've known Aussies grow them in old tyres stacked up in the past successfully in similar weather conditions.





Any tips on how to grow them here?

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## Necron99

Don't leave instructions with people who wont follow them.

Cassava grows, so spuds should be no problem.

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## ltnt

Did you let them sprout prior to planting?  Plant in mulch?

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## boloa

> Due to the price here, which is stupidly high.



I paid 33 Baht a Kilo at my local Tesco , I have seen as low as 29 ( month or so ago ) and sometimes they have a special offer of half price . Yes...a little more expensive compared with the UK if  you buy the big sacks of unwashed spuds but I would hardly call them *stupidly high priced* but if you look on the link below they are nearly on par with UK prices   :Smile: 

https://timetric.com/index/uk_price_..._white_per_kg/

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## thaimeme

> Don't leave instructions with people who wont follow them.
> 
> Cassava grows, so spuds should be no problem.


Cassava and potatoes aren't even of the same family and shouldn't be used in comparison. And cassava is native and born to tropical/sub-tropical conditions.

Spuds, of any nature, have always struggled to form success in the region because of the obvious climate as well as soil that is not conducive.

It can be done, but the extended effort one needs to apply isn't really worth it for the small yield.

Find another starch. Or, if one truly has a hard on for potatoes, fuck off and go reside where they fare well.

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## misskit

Potatoes are grown around here when the farmers aren't growing rice. They are big ones too, grown for Lays to make chips. The potatoes that don't make the Lays size standard are sold cheap in the local market. 

I've tried the tire stack method of growing potatoes in Japan but not in Thailand. It worked well and is much easier than digging potatoes.


On the subject of potatoes. I've just learned to make a baked potato in my slow cooker. Just wrap in tin foil and cook on high for two hours. Beats heating the big oven (and the kitchen) up for one or two spuds.

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## Necron99

> Originally Posted by Necron99
> 
> 
> Don't leave instructions with people who wont follow them.
> 
> Cassava grows, so spuds should be no problem.
> 
> 
> Cassava and potatoes aren't even of the same family and shouldn't be used in comparison. And cassava is native and born to tropical/sub-tropical conditions.
> ...




All the Northern Thai spud farmers are disheartened at your negativity.

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## boloa

> Originally Posted by thaimeme
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Necron99
> ...


Especially the one's that now walk backwards  :Smile: 

In a Land of Rice, a Potato Crop Blossoms | Grow ? Wisconsin's Magazine for the Life Sciences

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## nigelandjan

I have also tried and failed 

Did yo use proper seed potatoes mate to give them they're best chance ?

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## Iceman123

^
Remember the diet, stop thinking about tatties.

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## thaimeme

> ^
> Remember the diet, stop thinking about tatties.


It's written in his DNA....

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## boloa

> ^
> Remember the diet, stop thinking about tatties.


Believe it or not potatoes are very low in calories and very healthy. 100 grams of spuds boiled in their skin contains only 80 calories and the skins have lots of vitamin C,that's why I always just wash mine ,chop them up and put them straight into the pan  :Smile:

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## Dapper

> I paid 33 Baht a Kilo at my local Tesco


20bt/kilo for "normal" spuds and 25bt/kilo for "hi-so" ones  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

Khlong Toei market in Bangers.

Cheap as chips (  :Smile:  )

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## nigelandjan

I just have one tat tie steamed in me veg pile 1/2 a head of broccoli +2 carrots + I eat the stem of the broccoli

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## Chittychangchang

^ very healthy meal, diet must be going well :Smile: 

The peelings i planted where growing roots and i've never had trouble growing them like that in the UK.

Last time i was in Thailand the spuds where 50baht each and individually wrapped at Tesco, that's why i tried growing them.

I thought it would give the family extra income as no one else in the area was growing them.

They stick to rice, it's what they know best.

When sunflower oil was at a high a few years back i suggested that and it was frowned on. The one person who invested in 40 rai of sunflowers did very well and every one copied him the year after.

By then the price had dropped :deadhorsebig:

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## buriramboy

Never tried potatoes, but got some beetroot and parsnip seeds sent over when I lived in Thailand which the outlaws managed to grow with success and if I remember the beetroot was a quite a hit with the locals when they had instructions what to do with it.

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## ltnt

> On the subject of potatoes. I've just learned to make a baked potato in my slow cooker. Just wrap in tin foil and cook on high for two hours. Beats heating the big oven (and the kitchen) up for one or two spuds.


Nuke 'em...5 minutes on high...poke fork holes in it or slice it diagonally first so it won't explode...

Where's the pic.'s from your Japan growing experience...tire method sounds interesting...

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## misskit

^ No mickeywave in this house.

Don't think I ever took a photo of my Japanese vegetable garden.

Tire method is easy. Fill a tire with soil and plant your potato eyes. As the plant grows, add another tire and soil, leaving some of the top leaves exposed. Use up to four tires. When the potatoes have matured, just knock the tires down and collect the rewards.

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## Kurgen

Crossplys or radials?

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## misskit

^  :Confused:  Being female, I have no idea what that means.

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## Kurgen

55555555555555555

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## thaimeme

> Originally Posted by misskit
> 
> On the subject of potatoes. I've just learned to make a baked potato in my slow cooker. Just wrap in tin foil and cook on high for two hours. Beats heating the big oven (and the kitchen) up for one or two spuds.
> 
> 
> Nuke 'em...5 minutes on high...poke fork holes in it or slice it diagonally first so it won't explode...
> 
> Where's the pic.'s from your Japan growing experience...tire method sounds interesting...


Oh dear, Itnt....
You're not one of these creatures that romances and champions the wondrous [not] capabilities of the beloved microwave, are ya?

 :Smile:

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## ltnt

^Popcorn is my favorite thaimeme...back in the 70's I was one of the microwaves biggest supporters...I could and did cook some pretty interesting cheese & macaroni at times, but cleaning out the interior grew tedious, so switched to heating up bean and cheese burritos...I'd kill for a real burrito right now! :Smile:

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## thaimeme

> ^Popcorn is my favorite thaimeme...back in the 70's I was one of the microwaves biggest supporters...I could and did cook some pretty interesting cheese & macaroni at times, but cleaning out the interior grew tedious, so switched to heating up bean and cheese burritos...I'd kill for a real burrito right now!


 


 :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## upcountry

The problem I have been told is soil temperature, it must be below 75f for the potatoes to form --the tops grow fine but no spuds, I have tried and the first few plants grew some potatoes but it was in what would be called midwinter here --after the rest yielded nothing --presumably the further north you go the better

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## Ioan Gavrila

> Originally Posted by Iceman123
> 
> 
> ^
> Remember the diet, stop thinking about tatties.
> 
> 
> ... that's why I always just wash mine ,chop them up and put them straight into the pan


Same here. The more natural, the better. On the topic: any widespread specific bugs or natural diseases registered when growing potatoes in Thailand ?

Organic farm fan here!  ::spin::

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## Norton

> any widespread specific bugs or natural diseases registered when growing potatoes in Thailand ?


I know nothing about potaoes but like many here on TD your question caused me to have a look. Now I am semi educated. 

"Disease and Pest Constraints

The major potato diseases of Thailand include (information from all references, especially Sikkhamondhol, 1980 and Panusan, 1983):

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans), a major problem in the hills, causing premature death of the foliage and poor tuber formation;

Bacterial soft rot (Erwinia solanacearum), harmful during the rainy season, when the soil moisture is high;

Common Scab (Actinomyces scabies) occuring most on alkaline and slightly acidic soils;

Bacterial Wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum), special problem in the lowland area;

Various viral diseases such as Potato Virus X (PVX), 

Potato Virus Y (PVY), Potato Leaf Roll Virus (PLRV)leaf roll, 

Stem canker (Rhizoctonia solani) and charcoal rot (Macrophmina phaseolina.

The major pests affecting potatoes include:

Cutworm (Agrotis spp.), found in newly opened lands in the highlands near forest areas;

Potato aphids;

Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella), affecting potatoes in storage."

Plus lot's more here.

https://research.cip.cgiar.org/confl...title=Thailand

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## thaimeme

Go with the yams or sweet potatoes, gents....
Do much better in this climate and soil and are more substantial nutritionally.

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## Troy

You can grow early crop (new) potatoes from November to early Feb without too much problem....in NE.

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