Author Topic: This really sucks!  (Read 9222 times)

TropicalFruitHunters

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This really sucks!
« on: January 29, 2012, 10:04:47 AM »
Here are pictures of our land in Thailand when Warren and I visited last year.  Two acres of green and growing things...fruiting guava, pomelo, mangos, carambola, banana, annonas, and more.  Lots and lots of mangos, mangosteen, longkong, maprangs, rambutan and such planted throughout and going well.  As you can see, the folks enjoyed planting trees!  All I had to do was casually mention that it would be nice to have this and that, and my mother-in-law would soon be tramping thru her favorite plant suppliers.  There were a few times Warren and I feared that we may be left behind in order to have more room for plants in the SUV!

These are pics taken by my wife on the balcony of the little home the folks built there.  The GOOD...






Warren and I worked our butts off a few days out there showing the folks proper pruning of mangos.  We freaked them out quite a bit at first but they soon warmed up to it.  Not only did we have to prune, we had to use bamboo to keep the damn trees from blowing down in the muck.  Another lesson for the folks was how not to girdle plants when supporting!!


Warren said his bamboo was THIS big!


As most, if not all, of you know, Thailand was hit by some very bad and lengthy flooding late last year.  We're talking weeks and weeks of being under several feet of water!  The folk's home was centimeters from being washed out and they built their home much higher than many in the neighborhood did.  They did lose all of their jackfruit, several maprangs, and other assorted trees.  Oddly, their mangos defoliated quite a bit but bounced back right away and blooming.  Our land out in the country wasn't even that lucky.  Now the BAD & the UGLY...












So as you can see...not much left.  Some of the shade trees on the perimeter made it as well as some guava.  But to me...this is a total loss.  Hell...even the little pond in front of the house is dead.  The folks are going to plant some more bananas, maybe some guava, then clean it up and sell it.  The land itself is already below the road and very close to the water table.  Too prone to being wet all the time and obviously very prone to flood. 

While I'm quite bummed out over this loss, it pains me even more to think back at all of the effort that the folks took to make this place what you saw above.  And that was only the fruit trees.  On the perimeter, around the home, and out by the road, they had all sorts of plumeria blooming and other beautiful ornamentals in full glory.  They were very proud of this place. 

The folks have purchased land about 450km northeast of Bangkok which is about 45 meters above sea level.  Shouldn't have to worry about floods there.  However, I have a feeling it is getting too far north and the plants that I want to be able to grow may not do well there.  We are checking into that stuff now.  It's hard to have a lot of input into this when halfway around the globe!

lycheeluva

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2012, 10:26:07 AM »
heartbreaking. so sorry bud.

TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2012, 10:40:08 AM »
One thing I'd like to add.  While yeah, personally, this was bad.  But there were so many others who lost everything they had.  So when you put it all into perspective, hey, I lost some plants.

Fruitguy

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2012, 10:42:48 AM »
Damn!   :( :( :(

siafu

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2012, 10:52:09 AM »

I can only imagine what it must feel there in person...
 
Jay, I'm confident your new site will allow you grow everything you want.

It may take a bit more effort, more applied knowledge of the kind we get
in this place. But over the years, I suspect, you will welcome the challenge that
will enhance the sense of achievement.

Sérgio Duarte
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Sérgio Duarte
Algarve, Portugal

--Vale sempre a pena, quando a alma não é pequena!

Greg1029

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2012, 11:05:44 AM »
Bummer!!!

Tropicalgrower89

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2012, 11:09:47 AM »
This does suck.  :( At least they can take what they've learned and use it at a better location where it doesn't flood as much.
Alexi

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2012, 11:24:39 AM »
Bummer!

That said, I'm really jealous that you have tropical fruit enthusiast in-laws! Mine are from Pennsylvania...

GwenninPR

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2012, 11:35:09 AM »
That sucks really bad.  Heartbreaking about the plants, but good news about everything else making it through ok.

Ethan

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2012, 11:46:15 AM »
What a disaster, at least your family is safe, everything else can be replaced and replanted.  Hopefully the new location is not the Ohio of Thailand.

-Ethan

lycheeluva

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2012, 12:06:04 PM »
Hopefully the new location is not the Ohio of Thailand.

-Ethan

hysterical, ethan!

North_Tree_Man

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2012, 12:11:33 PM »
Wow! My condolences. It would have been a great plot, had it been higher on the water table. I can't help to think about this being a portent to climate change...50 years from now, that plot will be, literally, underwater...best to get out now.

Felipe

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2012, 01:30:14 PM »
S***t!! Well, the important thing is that the people is healthy, nobody was harmed. Plants can grow again, and in tropical climate they grow very fast  ;)

Don't worry, in 450km northeast of Bangkok you still should have a good tropical/subtropical climate. Maybe you wont grow mangosteen, but other things will do excellent...  :) 

FlyingFoxFruits

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2012, 01:40:36 PM »
Sorry to see this happen!

Where those the guavas that lived, that one row of trees?

Did you plant any jaboticaba?

Wondering what lived.

Be strong.

You will bounce back Ohiojay, karma is on your side! :)

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MangoFang

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2012, 01:50:23 PM »
OJ - can only imagine how that would feel....awful.....
I hope you can it work in this new spot, ABOVE ground
water level. 

So, will you sell this plot of land?  Perhaps if you had to do it again,
or the next owner does it, couldn't they hire a bulldozer to make raised
beds - like 3-4 feet high, and keep sort of a moat around the outside?  That
to me, might have been a solution....You know, make the growing area
as high as the ground the house was built on....

ANyway, good luck in the new place.....


MangoTooth

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2012, 02:23:38 PM »
Ohiojay,

So sorry to hear about the losses. It looks like a lot of the top soil was washed away. Perhaps it would be a good idea to plant nitrogen fixing crops, that produce good amounts of green manure.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2012, 02:45:07 PM »
That one row in the pic was the guavas that survived.  Some sort of inter-plum(date like fruit) may have survived as well.  Nonthing that I cared about!  Even the teak in the back up higher died out.  Didn't have any jabs Adam.  I don't even recall seeing any over there.  One of my main goals was to get several varieties of things going over there that I've not seen and that few, if any, people know what I'm even describing.  Such things as pulasan, lots of garcinias we got to try down in PR...specifically the achachairu, jabs, and others.  I'm sure many of these have been grown or even discovered there but they must have been poor varieties and just let go into obscurity.  When I mentioned pulasan, those that know it called it a weed and a poor excuse for a rambutan relative.  Clearly, they have not been introduced to the better varieties.  So if I'm going to live there one day, I'm going to have to have a place I can grow these varieties of plants.  Either that or I start looking into mental institutes for my extended stay.

Mangofang...yes...they are going to sell it.  Believe it or not, the land is still useful for several types of veggie plants that grow in water...that's why those damn canals were there in the first place.  So I'm sure it will go back to supporting crops like that or rice.  It just won't be by me.  I've often considered having loads and loads of dirt brought in to raise the level.  The folks already did that around the perimeter and where the little house is.  Very very expensive just for that.  The cost would be quite prohibitive to try and undertake more.  As for raised beds?  Well, in a sense, they already sort of did that.  They had heavy equipment in there building up the areas between the canals.  Just not enough.  The water table was still just too high.  Warren and I could sink bamboo several feet into the ground just between the two of us.  Trees that had blown over could be propped right back up and not really disturb the roots much!  The mangos handled this and wet feet remarkably well and surprised the hell out of both of us.  Jackfruit, however, could not.  They had several jackfruit already producing fruit out there but when those roots starting hitting that muck and water down below, it was all she wrote for them.  They died quickly. 

Nullzero...when you talk about that much water, it doesn't much matter what you do.  None of those types of crops would have survived being submerged for that length of time.  That land was probably under water for two months.

The new land is in Khon Kaen and it is way up northest.  So far I've found that they grow grapes, dragon fruit, watermelon, maybe mango.  Not starting off good!

FloridaGreenMan

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2012, 07:07:14 PM »
A real shame Jay. Hope something positive comes out of this!
FloridaGreenMan

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2012, 07:08:49 PM »
I understand that they grow lychee in the northern part of the country.  Besides, you are "OHIO"JAY, you can grow anything in any climate!  :) ;)  (Don't forget the durian!)

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #19 on: January 30, 2012, 06:03:50 AM »
Hi Jay, sorry to hear about the misfortune with the flooded orchard. On the positive side you will probably be a lot more comfortable weather wise living up north where it is not so balmy and sweaty. (Most expratriates live in Northern Thailand for exactly that reason.) You should be able to grow very large assortment of fruits there, especially lychee, longan, maprang, langsat, longkong, jackfruit, chempadek, and certainly lots of S. American fruits you will want to introduce: like abiu, jaboticaba, green sapote, mamey,etc. Believe me, you will still be in 7th heaven...compared to what you can grow in Ohio! Also any fruits you cannot grow you can very easily and cheaply buy/trade for at fruit markets.
Oscar
Oscar

TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #20 on: January 30, 2012, 07:28:04 AM »
From what I am being told, this region was very dry in the past.  Folks are now saying the region gets much more rain and they even grow rice there now.  I'm trying to make contact with folks in the area to get their opinions on this.  I'll keep at it. 

murahilin

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #21 on: January 30, 2012, 09:31:37 AM »
Hi Jay, sorry to hear about the misfortune with the flooded orchard. On the positive side you will probably be a lot more comfortable weather wise living up north where it is not so balmy and sweaty. (Most expratriates live in Northern Thailand for exactly that reason.) You should be able to grow very large assortment of fruits there, especially lychee, longan, maprang, langsat, longkong, jackfruit, chempadek, and certainly lots of S. American fruits you will want to introduce: like abiu, jaboticaba, green sapote, mamey,etc. Believe me, you will still be in 7th heaven...compared to what you can grow in Ohio! Also any fruits you cannot grow you can very easily and cheaply buy/trade for at fruit markets.
Oscar

Jay,
I agree with Oscar. The only things you'd probably not be able to grow would be mangosteen or durian but who cares since it is so readily available in Thailand anyways.  I bet you'd be the guy in Thailand growing low chill cherries, apples, and peaches.

TropicalFruitHunters

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #22 on: January 30, 2012, 10:14:56 AM »
Probably not!

fruitlovers

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Re: This really sucks!
« Reply #23 on: January 30, 2012, 05:47:26 PM »
Probably not!

Have a friend in northern Thailand. The whole bottom floor of his house was flooded and filled with mud. He told me he had $10,000 of damage to the house and months of repairs. Also his car was totally flooded. Sent me a photo, only hood of car showing. He lives in Lampang, just a bit south of Chiang Mai. So even there they can have flooding. Most important is to check elevation of the land, levees, past history of flooding, etc.
Oscar
Oscar