JJ market - biggest outdoor plant market

Now, Bangkok is not the safe & peaceful place to visit.  As a Bangkok person, I’d like to say that it’s the temporary aspect.  Bangkok still has another interesting place to go and today I want to introduce the biggest outdoor plant market in Bangkok.  It is called Jatujuk market (JJ market) which is the plant marketplace from midnight Tuesday to afternoon Thursday.   And on the weekend, it becomes the weekend market where you can find everything you’re looking for.

At the JJ market on the mentioned weekday, major group of visitor are plant wholesaler, garden designer, company officer (go to the market at the lunch) and general people looking for new plants & decoration for their gardens.

In the JJ market, people can find everything for gardening decoration, garden accessories & equipment, fertilizer and, importantly, almost every kind of plants such as herb, vegetable, orchid, cactus, flower, bonsai.  Most of plants are sold by the farm owner and importer.  Some beautiful and rare cacti are imported from Japan and USA.  So the hard-core, rich Thai collectors love to visit JJ market to see the new imported cactus in each week as well as talk about the cactus things.

 As JJ market is in the centre of Bangkok, you also can go to there conveniently with BTS Sky train, MRT subway, public buses and private cars.  Many people like to go by cars because it is more comfortable to take plants back home.  However, some people go with the public transportation and bring the plants back by Tuk Tuk (3-wheels local vehicle)

By the way, now it’s summer in Thailand and the weather is so hot and sunny.  People need to have an umbrella/hat or wear the long-sleeves shirt if they don’t to get burn or a fever.  Fortunately before the day I went to JJ market, it rained.  So it’s cooler.

Wish you guy will love JJ market and visit here in some days.

EM for green garden

What is EM?

EM is is an acronym for Effective Microorganisms™. It is a brand name referring to a line of microbial-based products using a technology developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Teruo Higa who was a Japanese professor of horticulture at the College of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus.

"EM Technology" uses a laboratory cultured mixture of microorganisms consisting mainly of lactic acid bacteria, purple bacteria, and yeast which co-exist for the benefit of whichever environment they are introduced, as has been claimed by the various em-like culture purveyors.

Dr. Higa claimed that 3 groups of microorganisms exist: ‘positive microorganisms’ (regeneration), ‘negative microorganisms’ (decomposition, degeneration), ‘opportunist microorganisms’.

Benefit of EM

EM has the benenfits in the various fields: agriculture, wasted water managment, household.

EM is the great and useful technology and it is the helpful choice for the organic farm/garden. I write about the EM, not for trade or commercial but I just want to share my experience about EM which is good for my plants and can save my money for ferlitizer.

Usage of EM

There are many ways to use EM. The simplest way is mix a cap of EM with 1 liter water and water to your tree.

Weekly, I mix the EM with water and water that solution to my plants. I got the recipe from my friend:
mix EM with an egg (including its finely broken shell), sugar mollass or yogurt and 1 litre water into the bottle.

Shake the bottle and leave it for 1 week.

Then you'll get the growing hormone solution. Combine the 1 cap of solution with 1 litre water and water to your plants. I do it once a week and I think it's good for my garden because the rose, orchid and cactus grow so well.   

Or you can make the organic pesticide from EM:

Mixing Warm water 300 ml
Molasses 50 ml
Natural vinegar 50 ml
Whiskey or ethyl alcohol 50 ml
EM liquid concentrate 50 ml

Select a suitable sized container for mixing, some plastic bottles with caps for storage and a funnel. Add the molasses to the warm water and stir till thoroughly mixed.

Add the vinegar, whiskey and EM concentrate. Pour the mix into the plastic
bottles and add small quantities of chopped garlic etc.

Seal as tightly as possible and leave in a warm dark place (20-30 C). Release any gas produced at least twice daily by releasing the cap.

The EM is ready for use when the production of gas has stopped and the product has a sweet fruity smell. The mix can be stored in a dark cool place which has a uniform temperature for up to 3 months. If garlic etc. has been used, filter this out before storage. Do not store in the refrigerator.

In my opinion, EM is a part of organic fertilizer.  It can add the microorganisms into the soil and help the plants to grow well.  However, EM can't not be replaced with the fertilizer perfectly.  You still need to give the necessary nutrient (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) to your plants.