⌛ Any amateur gardeners/farmers out there?

I see that I broke the site rules by advertising something in my first post. Oh, well....

Anyway, my name is George. I'm from the wonderful state of Washington on the west coast of the U.S. Given that the cold, wet weather is rapidly approaching over there, I'm glad that I'm over here!!

We moved into our new house in upper Valencia in March, 2010. We have an extra lot in back upon which we are trying to grow various crops. Man......what a pain!! Some things grow well enough (at some times of the year), some things seem to struggle from the onslaught of bugs and rain no matter what the season. Some varieties do OK. We've occasionally asked the Dept. of Agriculture for suggestions, but that has been an exercise in futility.

Anyway, I'd like to start a discussion thread where we can exchange ideas about what grows best, when and where.

Our place is located at an elevation of approximately 400m (1,300 feet). So, it's cooler here than in the lowlands. It's a little easier to grow cool weather crops, such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. But it's still no slam dunk.

Some things grow quite easily: basil and other herbs, green beans (aka Baguio beans), yams (American type) if given enough fertilizer, papayas, langiones (sp), asparugus.....

Tomatoes, egg plant, okra, peppers, lettuce and others have been a challenge because of the insect pests. If we use insecticide, the rain soon washes it off, so it's a bit futile.

If you want to share ideas on how to grow different crops, when, and where, let's get it started here.

Oh, yes, does anyone know where I can buy an electronic ph tester? Don't want to use a do-it-yourself chemical test kit. They are notoriously inaccurate.

 

I met an australian lady volunteering here as in the aussie version of the peace corp,and she said she would go to mabinay as agricultural expert and take grants with her most likely to give free help to the locals ans she said she found fustration in her efforts her aussie trainig was good but for down under and a different story here so i decided after her story to go with what the locals grow as they have trial and error tenure under mant conditions over hundreds of years of international seed introduction,any thing else is experimentation and please let me know what you learn in your experiments here

 

Great to know you got some things grow good! We have a farm north of Mabinay that is at about the same elevation you are. It cools down nice at night. We grow rice, sugarcane, corn, peanuts, watermelon (in season), squash, umpalaya (just starting), along with coconuts (new trees!), coffee, papaya, and 2-3 varieties of bananas. I would like a huge mango tree but don't know where to put it as it would shade either our crops or the neighbors crops.

For trees we have gemelena (sp?), mahogany, and 2-3 shade trees that we can park carabao and cows under. We also have two medium sized areas of bamboo.

I'm telling you all this in order for you to understand the great variety of things that grow there.

Lettuce and the produce that is an insect magnet gets grown in greenhouses in most of the Philippines. The other way to do it is "companion farming" where you grow a crop that either repels the pest insect or acts as a sacrificial crop and attracts the pest insect while allowing your main crop to flourish insect free. That is one of the ways organic farming is done without the use of pesticides. Organic = no pesticides and no chemical fertilizers.

You should also be able to grow cucumbers, and umpalaya without too much problem. . Tomatoes I have tried in Bacong along with a few neighbors. They grow fine with enough water, but all the flowers fall off before fruiting! I've been told they need a cooler night time temperature. Most varieties of pepers grow well in the Philippines also. Some plants need cooler temps during the day, while others need cooler temps at night in order to "rest". It is a juggling act between giving them enough nutrients, water, proper sunlight, and the proper temperature. Soil PH also comes into play.

There is a ton of information online and I would concentrate on:

1) What is available seed wise
2) What the requirements of each plant you want to grow are

Then see if you can duplicate, or come close, to the plants requirements that you would like to grow!

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Just opposite the entrance of El Dorado beach resort in Dauin you can see one.
Maybe you can talk to the one who maintain it.