Thread: Potato's in Issan

Originally Posted by piwanoi

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by piwanoi

As stated before I have heard from several sources that spuds do not grow here in Issan

TV by any chance? Hence the misinformation.

If you know what you're doing, they do grow here, but they are tricky.

No Marmite ,how it came about that one guy in the bar remarked how expensive spuds were here , I just said well why not grow your own , it was then I was informed it was "mission Impossible "

Fair enough. If it's a bar stool expert then I'll defer to his expertise.

A German guy in Udon grows a few rai of spuds. All I know about his process is that the crop is shielded from the sun by that plastic netting stuff on a frame.

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by piwanoi

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by piwanoi

As stated before I have heard from several sources that spuds do not grow here in Issan

TV by any chance? Hence the misinformation.

If you know what you're doing, they do grow here, but they are tricky.

No Marmite ,how it came about that one guy in the bar remarked how expensive spuds were here , I just said well why not grow your own , it was then I was informed it was "mission Impossible "

Fair enough. If it's a bar stool expert then I'll defer to his expertise.

A German guy in Udon grows a few rai of spuds. All I know about his process is that the crop is shielded from the sun by that plastic netting stuff on a frame.

Hey Marmite it was quite a few guys who said you can't grow em here ,admittedly non of them was horny handed sons of the soil!! , I thought it was odd at the time ,I suppose the German guy has gone into it properly instead of just throwing a few spuds in the ground and expecting a bumper crop , I often wonder why we never see "New potato's" here too , there must be money to be made at the price of Spuds here ,of course if you have the expertise that is

Originally Posted by piwanoi

I often wonder why we never see "New potatoes" here too

I see them every year. Relatively expensive though.

Talking of spuds, the Midget has given up with buying them from the supermarkets as they are almost always shit and overpriced (when in stock). She now gets them from a 'Thai' market/wholesaler. Much better quality at less than half the price.

you can urban farm them in stacks of old tyres

Potato Tires Harvest | Hip Chick Digs

They grow quite well up in Chiang Mai where it is slightly colder than the rest of the country. I try every yearn never had any problems growing the plants but as you have heard, nothing underneath, I did have success one year but all the spuds were no bigger than golf balls. What I done that year was dig a trench 2 ft wide and 18 inches deep and filled it in with all waste veg, plenty of fallen leaves, and rice stalks, covered with soil and watered regular. When it sunk down put loads of manure on top and rotavated it in. I also done the same as the Thais, placing a overhead sun block using black plastic. Two years ago I had great plants up 2 ft high then one by one they just wilted and died, for what reason I do now know. I intend to ry again this August which is when the cold season starts. What I have been doing this year is adding loads of Gypsum , advice from a mate in the UK, It is making a tremendous difference, I have onions which are over three foot high with large flower heads on them. I have started supporting them with sticks.