Thread: "Tung" in Thailand

Heard of "Tung OIL"?

The TUNG is a native to China, brought to the rest of the world by explorers in the early 1900's. Their seeds can be used to produce oil which can be used for wood vanish, it is anti-termite, a safe sealent for wooden tops used in contact with food and very importantly - might be usable for bio-diesel, eventhough no certifications have been endosed by any entity (it is being tested in Australia), but the Chinese have grown +4.5 million hectors in the early 2000 and now the stuff is being sold globally. We are cultivating and growing the TUNG in Thailand and would love for anyone who wants to try out a new plant in different parts of Thailand.

Other than their large leaves, which will help with the Global Warming stituation and Climate change, we are getting the TUNG listed for their "Carbon Credits".

The plant is a hardy little bugger and doesn't die on you so easily, unless you neglect them by not watering or feeding them. Like all living things, if you treat them well, they will return you with good production. We are going "Organic" so that we can ensure our supply with a quality product and hope others will do the same for a better environment for our children.

Don't take my word for it, check it out on Google and see what they say on the stuff!

Would love to hear from anyone who have questions/suggestions or comments for us to try and improve.

Cheers!

Like many, we have looked into the different plants before settling on our quest.

All three plants are different: -

The palm takes 30 months to grow but how much fruit each plant will produce will depend on the soil it is grown in as it needs A LOT of water and rain during the year in the area you intend to grow the Palm in or you will be wasting your time and money without getting much return. I have seen people growing Palm and they do not bear fruit. The fruit of the palm will have a short span of time after it is harvested so you will need get it to the factory within a specific period. A certain amount of care and fertilizer is also needed during their growth. (Sorry I don't have the numbers on hand since our study some years ago).

Rubber trees need 7 years before the plant will produce latex. During this period, the rubber tree will need around 1,300Baht worth of fertilizer twice a year not to mention the cost of manpower thereafter for daily collection of latex. Our next door neighbour is growning Rubber trees so we have up todate facts.

The "Tung" does well in a natural environment, even in red clay (as in one of our farms. I have posted some pictures on Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket if you would like to take a look). They do not like to have their roots soaked in water. Planted in larger land areas, they only need to be watered every 2-3 days in the dryer season. We recommend natural fertilizer,i.e. cow dun, where they are easily obtainable. They will start bearing fruits from their 3rd year onwards and by their 5th year they should give you about at least 100 kgs considering soil condition and fair care be given. Fully grown, their height can be more than 20 meters and the trees have been known to be used for building of houses and furniture. They are termite resistant, so almost every part of their tree can be used in the long term.

In summery, the "Tung" is the easiest and cheapest plant to grow whose seeds can produce a number of products as well as one which has export potential.

Another factor we have considered is - the leaves of the "Tung" can be 8-10 inches in diameter, which helps in the production of oxygen therefore helps in the Global Warming and Climate Change. It is with this in mind that we hope to spread the word to start "THE GREEN PROJECT".

Do let us know if you have any other questions so that we can answer them.

Cheers!

THORZEN

So who are going to sell your seeds to ?

Originally Posted by THORZEN

might be usable for bio-diesel

Don't you know that growing plants to produce bio-diesel is an absolute heresy ?

Tung trees are cultivated for their seeds, the endosperm of which supplies a superior quick-drying oil, utilized in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes, paints, linoleum, oilcloth, resins, artificial leather, felt-base floor coverings, and greases, brake-linings and in clearing and polishing compounds. Tung oil products are used to coat containers for food, beverages, and medicines; for insulating wires and other metallic surfaces, as in radios, radar, telephone and telegraph instruments.

During World War II, the Chinese used tung oil for motor fuel. It tended to gum up the engines, so they processed it to make it compatible with gasoline.

Pests are not a serious problem, since fruit and leaves of tung trees are toxic to most animal life.

Florida's experiment with the plants didn't pan out; vernicia fordii is now considered an invasive species.

Just a few comments from the web.

Originally Posted by Wallalai

Originally Posted by THORZEN

might be usable for bio-diesel

Don't you know that growing plants to produce bio-diesel is an absolute heresy ?

it is being tested but without certification from any relevent entity to-date. We have used it in our own machines, but I would not recommend you try it out on a new machine, as ours are old and we wanted to try it out for ourselves. It is still working so far.

Originally Posted by BKKBILL

Tung trees are cultivated for their seeds, the endosperm of which supplies a superior quick-drying oil, utilized in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes, paints, linoleum, oilcloth, resins, artificial leather, felt-base floor coverings, and greases, brake-linings and in clearing and polishing compounds. Tung oil products are used to coat containers for food, beverages, and medicines; for insulating wires and other metallic surfaces, as in radios, radar, telephone and telegraph instruments.

During World War II, the Chinese used tung oil for motor fuel. It tended to gum up the engines, so they processed it to make it compatible with gasoline.

Pests are not a serious problem, since fruit and leaves of tung trees are toxic to most animal life.

Florida's experiment with the plants didn't pan out; vernicia fordii is now considered an invasive species.

Just a few comments from the web.

You are right and it is with the above information in mind that we are growing the TUNG", for their many uses.

But doing it alone is no fun, don't you think? Won't it be better to have a community doing it, so that notes can be exchanged.

Originally Posted by Thetyim

So who are going to sell your seeds to ?

we will only buy the "Tung" seeds back from our members, ensuring that the seeds are from the TUNG thus the quality of our product.

The leaves above doesn't look like the "Tung" Where is this picture taken from?

Originally Posted by THORZEN

Where is this picture taken from?

tung - used to make industrial oil on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Originally Posted by THORZEN

we will only buy the "Tung" seeds back from our members

Ahh, so this thread is really to promote your business then.

So tell us the details of the deal

Started the threath to see if there will be interest in what the "Tung" can do, and if so, to see if more people will join us in planting and working to get this project up as the quantity required is substantial. Don't think many people know of its existance in Thailand.

As mentioned, we starter cultivating and growing in our own farms since last year. We would need to plan to cultivate for next season if there is interest. Then we would need to be organised when we will buy the seeds when the trees begin to bear fruits.

Originally Posted by THORZEN

Started the threath to see if there will be interest

Interest will depend on profit.
How much do you sell the seeds to us and how much will you buy the seeds back from us ?

As the success rate for cultivating the plants from the seeds is less than 50% and we can not give any guarantee for their growth. The plants are priced from 50/80/100baht depending on their size. We would buy the seeds at 5-7Baht(depending on their size) for shelled seeds.

How long can the seeds be kept before selling to you ?

The seeds need to be taken out of the fruit within 5-7 days before they dry up, turn black and gets hard, then it will be harder to take them out. The seed can
get to us within 2 weeks.

Depending on the locations we have, we hope to set up centers for collection at hervest time. Logistics would need to be set up for transportation routes for production. It is with the hope for many to join us so that everyone can contribute and play an active role on how things can be done. We believe in team effect for success.

Our objective is not to look at this palnt as a business. We would like to encourage everyone to know about this plant as the entire plant is useful, it does not need much care or cost much as it will do fine on natural fertilizer readily available. Once grown to the age of 3, they can give fruits and seeds can produce oil that can be turned into many other uses.

As the tree grows older, not only will they produce more and more seeds. Older trees once grown to 15-20 meters, they can be used ofr building of houses or made into furniture, etc.

Most importantly, the tree has big leaves which will help in the concerning Global Warming and Climate Change issue. This is alarming as we all talk about it but how do we help the earth so that we will have a better environment to live in. Shouldn' t we all try to do something about it if we have a chance?

I'm interested, but only have room for a couple of trees. Looking at pics, seems to be a nice plant and Tung oil has a good reputation as a timber finish.

Where is a good website for info ??

Mate of mine in Oz just finished palnting 2.5 million trees, he runs an agroforestry business......guess his footprint is minimal now.

That's a lovely pic. May I ask where you got it from, can we use it for our file? Haven't seen one so tall myself.

My partner is the adventurous one who have gone all the way to China and brought the seeds back to Thailand and that's how we started. I am told that - to have a good spread (as the stems would spread out on all sides as they grow), we should plant each tree 7 x 7 meters apart from each other, or the trees will not get enough sunlight as they grow bigger.

If you are serious about getting some, please let me know where you are, so that I will get some homework done and see how to get the plants to you. You will have to tell us how many plants you would like to have.

Originally Posted by Nawty

Where is a good website for info ??

Mate of mine in Oz just finished palnting 2.5 million trees, he runs an agroforestry business......guess his footprint is minimal now.

Quite a lot of information can be obtained for Googling for - Tung Oil, Tung Oil trees, etc. That's where I get a lot of my research from in the beginning.

Can I ask where your mate is...which part of the world? May I ask if you will get in touch with your mate for information, please?

As we are in an infancy stage here, we need to be searching for more information all the time. We are in the R & D stage on testing and developing our Oil for their many uses. It is in our plans to have our own product for export as it will be more profitable than selling the pure Oil by itself. I understand that some European University is doing Cancer research on the "Tung Oil" and with this in mind that we are trying to encourage people who are growing the Tung to use only natural fertilizer, so that the oil will be organic.

Mate is in Oz.....he did not plant tung trees though.

Thanks anyway! should you come across any other info on the tung" would appreciate you forwarding it to us so that can can try and take our work to another level

Originally Posted by Nawty

Where is a good website for info ??

Vernicia fordii Fact Sheet

Just do a google on Vernicia fordii

There are "5 species" for the TUNG as far as we know. All of them produces OIL. As mentioned, we are doing our R & D all the time and would appreciate all info and leads so that we can improve further.

So keep them coming! Thanks!