Thursday, December 12, 2013

How to grow vegetables on Koh Phangan: the easy way

Seeds: Lettuce, Hoary Basil, Amarenth, Morning Glory, Bok choi



Growing vegetables and herbs in 3 steps:

1) Buy organic fertilizer and seeds at the organic shop. It is located in Thongsala between the food market and Tesco Lotus. The fertilizer costs 40 baht, the seeds 100 baht for 5.

I bought Lettuce, Hoary Basil, Amarenth, Morning Glory, Bok Choi.
Morning Glory takes 3 weeks to be "happy, happy" as the man in the shop said. Other vegetables take 2 months to harvest.

(you can also buy Basil seeds at the supermarket, these are used for Thai desserts. Check out the nuts and seeds section. The amount is a lot more than from the organic shop. And they grow just as perfect)

2) I first used an egg carton as a seed starter. But next time I think I will skip this part. Instead I will use the plastic water bottle right away.
Cut the top of a large  plastic water bottle, fill this with sandy island soil, put the seeds just a few millimeters under the soil, and at last add the fertilizer on top of it.
And water the seeds.

3) Water the seeds daily. Don't ever let them dry out.

4) My first trial is with Morning Glory and Basil. After a month the Morning Glory has not fully grown, so I think I need to put it in the ground.

Happy farming!