Heirloom Seeds

[JDDavao II]

On 5/16/2018 at 6:21 PM, lobojohn said:

thanks for so much great info folks.. im getting closer to my goal.. i do a lot of composting and manage to grow things that no one has been able to , plus i have one of only 2 yards here that is beautiful green grass. i cant stand a dirt yard.

Compost is my goal! Right now, it's a "pile". 

[BKB]

On 5/16/2018 at 2:37 AM, JDDavao said:

I ordered seeds from an online retailer after specifically searching for tomatoes bred to do well in the heat and humidity. I cannot stand the little green golfballs they call tomatoes here.

I also ordered some open head type lettuce that we were going to do hydroponically in cups since lettuce usually doesn't like the heat in the outdoors.

Unfortunately, I found out too late that the retailer I ordered from is known for having low-germinating seed stock. Another problem is that the third largest city in this country might as well be Mars for such common things as potting mix. Nothing germinated in my attempted potting mix or the rockwool hydroponic cubes. Whether it was me or them, I dunno.

I have another order from a very well-known seed company heading to our next BB box. I will have to order ingredients to make a decent potting mix from the NCR but I need my beefsteak tomatoes, man!

None of my seeds were "heirloom", though. 

We had some luck with talong (Asian eggplant) sown into the soil but, for all of its vaunted fame as the Fruit Basket of the Philippines, our soil is junk here in Davao. Whatever I can get to grow into a young plant will go into containers or small hydroponic setups.

Try these seeds from lazada, they have a high germination rate and seem to grow well in lowland negros ox

https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/east-west-seed-diamante-max-f1-tomato-kamatis-seeds-i102090862-s102328003.html?spm=a2o4l.order_list.detail_image..2e6a3e17CEaOxs

[JDDavao II]

6 hours ago, BKB said:

Try these seeds from lazada, they have a high germination rate and seem to grow well in lowland negros ox

1

I'll check them out but a cursory look online makes me think these are the little green golfballs I was referring to. Of course, they don't allow them to ripen or ripen them with ethylene gas before the stores get them, so maybe they'll be different when allowed to mature.

Thanks!

[Clermont]

Just a thought, most PI farmers grow a variety of household crops for personal use, why not look over the fence and strike up a conversation about veggies with them and ask where you can gain the seeds you require. Two birds with the one stone, get info on veggies and meet the locals too, win, win. 

[Rooster]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 6:21 PM, lobojohn said:

thanks for so much great info folks.. im getting closer to my goal.. i do a lot of composting and manage to grow things that no one has been able to , plus i have one of only 2 yards here that is beautiful green grass. i cant stand a dirt yard.

What's your secret to beautiful green lawn?

I paid to have 2 local golf course caretakers come to my compound and give advice. I sent pictures of the weeds growing on my lawn to a top Agro company in Manila. They replied with a very expensive formula and a company to buy the products from which are imported and extremely expensive. 

Two years in a row I brought expensive Hot climate Zoysia Grass seeds from the states and thought they would spread. 

So far the only thing that's worked to remove the weeds without killing everything is my yard boy.

[lobojohn]

11 hours ago, Clermont said:

Just a thought, most PI farmers grow a variety of household crops for personal use, why not look over the fence and strike up a conversation about veggies with them and ask where you can gain the seeds you require. Two birds with the one stone, get info on veggies and meet the locals too, win, win. 

we do that. we always drive around looking for nice gardens and plants and flowers and just stop and ask.. check out the dirt and have some tea and chat almost always leave with a flower or 2. the best gardens here are in the flood plain where soil has been left over years of flooding.. they plant and grow and hope it doesnt pour rain for 3 days . some of the gardens are elbow deep with beautiful dark soil. we arent out of the flood plain and we worked hard to turn our hard pan ground into useful soil. 

i currently have about 2 dozen varieties of gumamelas. (hibiscus) . i got started with them by asking for cuttings and propagating them. everywhere we see one we dont have we stop and ask for a cutting. no one has ever said no. they are so beautiful to my eyes, but require regular pruning, so when i prune i keep some from each plant and start new ones and give them away.  we b cloning. :)

i plant zinnias, marigolds and yellow bells all around my fence on the outside and locals are welcome to pick a few for decoration or for the seeds when they come. girls are especially fond of picking yellow bells for their hair .

so yes.. win win with the locals. 

Edited May 21, 2018 by lobojohn

[lobojohn]

2 hours ago, Rooster said:

What's your secret to beautiful green lawn?

I paid to have 2 local golf course caretakers come to my compound and give advice. I sent pictures of the weeds growing on my lawn to a top Agro company in Manila. They replied with a very expensive formula and a company to buy the products from which are imported and extremely expensive. 

Two years in a row I brought expensive Hot climate Zoysia Grass seeds from the states and thought they would spread. 

So far the only thing that's worked to remove the weeds without killing everything is my yard boy.

when i got the place there were some remnants of grass from the previous owner who just stopped tending it and let it die out. actually it was dormant. we aerated and watered and hoped for the best and it slowly began to recover in spots. funny thing about grass? if you want it to grow it wont but if you put a flower pot out in the middle of a dirt spot, sure as hell grass will grow up around it and harass you. pots or rocks or anything you dont want grass around will bring the grass. its crazy. 

anyway, once i had enough grass to say i had grass i got some urea from my local hardware and spread it all around and watered everyday and it was very happy. when rainy season came i realized i had created a monster. beautiful thick green grass . emerald gold.. and it needed cutting twice a week to keep up with it. they cut grass here with a weed whacker right? no lawn mowers here. you live and you learn. eventually i got a mower and all is well. 

the weeds you talk about are best dealt with by your yard guy. my wife hates weeds so when shes angry at me she goes out and rips weeds out of the grass with a vengeance. she can squat 1/2 the day with her back turned to me and fill a 5 gal bucket with tiny little weeds. :)  we dont have weeds, but i found that what weeds id find in my beds actually turn out to be medicine of some type. 

putting my hands in the dirt is my own therapy. its not every ones idea of fun,  though i would recommend DIY GRASS as opposed to paying "experts" who probably have dirt yards. 

[Clermont]

12 hours ago, lobojohn said:

we dont have weeds, but i found that what weeds id find in my beds actually turn out to be medicine of some type. 

Yeah I know the feeling, my wife put garlic in my pocket when I'm over there, wards of evil spirits. I stink, and I'm waiting on an Italian person coming up, (drawn by the odor,) to talk to me, isn't he in for a shock when I speak good old Ozy lingo to him. 

[lobojohn]

28 minutes ago, Clermont said:

Yeah I know the feeling, my wife put garlic in my pocket when I'm over there, wards of evil spirits. I stink, and I'm waiting on an Italian person coming up, (drawn by the odor,) to talk to me, isn't he in for a shock when I speak good old Ozy lingo to him. 

God love them. they are a superstitious lot. and then theres the quack quack, but thats another topic. :)

id rather smell like garlic than durian hahahaha omg

[Jollygoodfellow]

6 hours ago, lobojohn said:

and then theres the quack quack, but thats another topic

It is another topic but I think you mean the Wakwak or do you mean quack doctors?