#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  Fast growing creeper plant

## English Noodles

What is the fastest growing and dense foliage creeper type of plant you can get in Thailand. I would be looking to completely cover a perimeter wall.

Something similar to this, the wall would probably be 6 to 8 feet high.

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## S Landreth

Look at this,

https://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gardening-in-thailand/53651-low-maintenance-garden-in-khon-kean-3.html


 

Creeping Fig is a beautiful *evergreen perennial vine* with superior root clinging ability. It is a *very popular landscape plant* in many warm climate areas. This is one of the best vines for creating dense green coverings due to it's *fine attractive foliage*, *shade tolerance* and *fast growth rate*.

EN it is called Teen Tuk Kae (Gecko feet vine),I dont know how quick you need it to grow, but the information about the vine is located on the page I posted above.

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## Loy Toy

I used to grow a vegetable called a Choko which when boiled in water taste like squash and also taste nice with melted cheese.

A very fast growing vine and produces plenty of food along the way but I am not so sure how it would grow in Thailand.

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## English Noodles

^^Thanks for that, it looks interesting,I will have a look about for some more info on it, as far as growing speed, my plan would be to build a wall, but save on money by not getting it rendered and get the creeper to cover it, making a nice looking green boundary.

^LT, that sounds interesting too, how dense was the foliage of that plant?

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## Loy Toy

> ^LT, that sounds interesting too, how dense was the foliage of that plant?


Very dense mate and I am sure an Aussie bloke I know grows one over his back verandah in Pattaya and for shade.

All you have to do is plant a few of them and before you know it you have an out of control jungle.

My first wifes family (Mauritian) would also boil the leaves and vine in water with other herbs and spices and from memory it tasted a bit like Pak Prakachet.

I'll see if I can get a couple of Chokos from him and you can try planting them in a pot of soil and when ready you can transplant them.

*choko* [ˈtʃəʊkəʊ] 
_n_ _pl_ *-kos* (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) the cucumber-like fruit of a tropical American cucurbitaceous vine, _Sechium edule:_ eaten as a vegetable in the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand [from a Brazilian Indian name]

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## Loy Toy

*Choko** aka Chayote
Every part of the choko can be eaten* - the *young tips* steamed taste like asparagus, the *tendrils* can be used as a decoratative garnish, and the *leaves* may be steamed and sieved like turnip greens. *Young chokos* are sliced raw and used like cucumber, or stir-fried, sliced or quartered, according to size. *Older fruit* can be stuffed, curried, or used to pad out stews and soups _(don't forget to eat the seed too)_.
Chokos take on the flavour of anything they are cooked with. In hard times they have been served as a *sweet, cooked with lemon juice, sugar and ginger*, or made into *pies* with a few more flavoursome fruits. It makes excellent *pickles, chutneys and sauces*.
Even the *root* is edible, and a well-established vine can have large sections of the tuber removed for food. 
The rate of growth of the vine has to be seen to be believed! They take a year or two to become established and should be protected from frost and drying out during this time. Though cut down by the first frost, once established the vines will shoot again as soon as the weather warms up. They prefer to have their feet in deep rich moist soil, though they will grow almost anywhere there is water, and they will climb and travel extraordinary distances to get their heads in the sun.
*One Choko vine* will easily cover an *old car body, hen run, garage, shed, or even the house!* 
*Warning!* I discovered, when trying to keep my vine under control after several years of having to get help _(wearing hard hats)_ to get the vine off the roof each winter, that it resents being cut back too hard - while the vine still grows strongly, it sulks, and won't flower. 
If you can't eat it all, *chooks, guinea-pigs or other animals relish the leaves and stems*. 
*Flowers*, which are rich in nectar and *attract honeyeaters and native bees*, begin appearing in late summer. The first fruit is ready in early autumn, and ripens over a long period. It will hang on the vine, getting progressively tougher, until late winter. Even these *old tough fruits* can be cut up and cooked for *animal feed*. 
Mine is a thin-skinned variety, with no thorns. Some kinds can be quite painful to handle.
The choko contains *Vitamins C and A, and is rich in pectin*, a particularly useful kind of *soluble vegetable fibre*. It is the stuff which, combined with acid and sugar, *makes jam set*, so it can be used with scarcer fruit to stock up the store cupboard.
The *dried stems are very strong,* and can be used for weaving or string.

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## English Noodles

> I'll see if I can get a couple of Chokos from him and you can try planting them in a pot of soil and when ready you can transplant them.


Yes, cheers mate, I have to build a wall first though, I'm just doing my homework at the moment. :Smile:

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## English Noodles

^^Sounds like it may need too much water.

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## Loy Toy

A bloke I know wanted to build a boundry wall and was quoted 120k baht which he could not afford.

What he has done instead is to put up pillings/ columns for the future and strung high tension sling wire between the columns at different height levels which quite easily could become a hedge wall and if he planted a vine or creeper at the wall's base. 

A lovely decorative wall at a fraction of the price.  :Smile:

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## Loy Toy

I have built bougainvillea walls and they are particularly nice when flowering takes place. Are almost impossible to climb on or through and don't need a hell of a lot of water. 

One thing to remember mate and that is snakes love vines and be careful when you are trimming the green wall.

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## English Noodles

> What he has done instead is to put up pillings/ columns for the future and strung high tension sling wire between the columns at different height levels which quite easily could become a hedge wall and if he planted a vine or creeper at the wall's base.


I have considered this also.

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## English Noodles

I'm also looking at the possibility of thorn bushes instead of a wall.

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## nedwalk

> bougainvillea


 

as LT has already posted, as much as i hate the stuff [bugger to work/maintain] , its a great plant for various reasons, easy on the eye and makes great legal barb wire, no one is boing to jump a fence covered in the stuff and it grows feral fairly rapidly and you can train it..
'choko's' are great too, but they can be monsters, my old nan used em in everything, they also take on the flavours with what they are cooked with, great pensioner food she used to make the yummiest choko/apple pie

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## SunTzu

> I'm also looking at the possibility of thorn bushes instead of a wall.


Much better looking than a wall !

Bougainvilleas are a good choice for reasons mentioned. Might just take too much volume if not trimmed.


For a 'leaffy' barbed hedge, find these fuckers :
Pithecellobium dulce  - มะขามเทศ

or the whitish leaves kind :
Pithecellobium dulce 'variegata' - มะขามเทศด่าง


They just love being trimmed, easy and cheap to find (except Bkk...), and no-one would want to mess with their thorns. Just don't forget to trim them hard, 'cause we're talking about real trees. You might actually let some of them grow tall : good looking + fruits...


If you really want barbed wire hedge, mix with some rattan vines  :Wink: 
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/...1a9f74.jpg?v=0
PlantFiles: Picture #3 of Giant Rattan Palm (Plectocomia elongata)
(actually a climbing palm tree !)

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## Nawty

That toukay vine grows very very slowly, we planted several around the water tank 6 months ago and they have grown maybe 2 inches.

There is another vine/creeper that grows quickly but I dont know name.

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## Happyman

My brother has a barbed wire fence at the back of his house in Rawai that is a solid wall of passion fruit vines - took a year or so to get established and fruiting though .

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## English Noodles

^That sounds good.

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## Larn

My choice would be either choko or passionfruit altho I'd lean towards passion fruit.

The choko will grow faster but has potential to turn into an unmanageable jungle The passion fruit vine grows a bit slower but easier on the eye. Apart from that I enjoy eating passion fruit. 

I think bouganvillia looks nice but would steer clear of it due to the spikes and the untidy mess all those flowers make when they drop.

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## neilandmeechai

> What is the fastest growing and dense foliage creeper type of plant you can get in Thailand. I would be looking to completely cover a perimeter wall.
> 
> Something similar to this, the wall would probably be 6 to 8 feet high.


Hoi .. I would love to know how you got on with your wall covering? Did you find something suitable? Have you any photo's from the finished product?

As you can see in these photo's I have a similar problem and I would also love to cover this boundary wall with some natural green. I have planted some trees quite close together and they are growing but not quickly enough.

*In this photo we are just finishing the terrace and balcony extension ...*


*Here you can see some of the trees ...*


*The latest of the tree planting ...*

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## neilandmeechai

I also wondered if I would need a trellis for the planting to climb up or if it would be able to climb the painted wall as it is in the photo's?

Thanks for any advice ...

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