Articles · Learning path · Beginner

Grow your own vegetables, from sunlight to plate

20 lessons: sun, soil, water, easy crops for a Thai climate, seasons, pest control without chemicals, seed saving and keeping vegetables fresh.

20 lessons · about 110 min in total

  1. 1 Count the sun hours on your balcony or yard, then pick crops that fitHow to count direct sun hour by hour, full sun versus part sun, why fruiting crops need 6-8 hours, which greens take some shade, and how Thai balconies shift by season. 5 min read
  2. 2 Potting mix for vegetables: soil, compost, rice husk, coir, pot size in litresA 1:1:1 starting mix and how to adjust it for crop and season, where drainage holes go, how many litres each vegetable needs, and a worked example for chilli pots. 5 min read
  3. 3 Soil pH for vegetables: test it at home, adjust with dolomite, don't overcorrectWhat pH tells you, the range most vegetables like, how accurate home kits and meters are, how much lime to add, how long to wait, and why too much lime is harder to fix. 5 min read
  4. 4 Watering vegetables right: the finger test, morning watering, pots vs bedsKnow when to water with a finger test, water the base in the morning, give beds about 25 L per m² a week, spot overwatering, and build a simple self-watering pot. 6 min read
  5. 5 Grow water spinach (pak bung) in pots: harvest in 3-4 weeks, cut and regrowUpland water spinach from seed: full sun, moist soil, harvest in about 20-30 days by pulling or by cutting so it reshoots. With a worked seed count for one trough. 5 min read
  6. 6 Grow Thai chillies in pots: from seed, pot size, flowering, and why flowers dropGerminate chilli seed at 25-28°C, transplant at 4-5 true leaves, use a pot of 19 litres or more, and learn why flowers drop: warm nights, uneven water, shade, nitrogen. 6 min read
  7. 7 Leafy greens in Thai heat: kale, pak choi, choy sum, lettuce, shade and boltingChinese kale, pak choi, choy sum and lettuce take heat differently: temperature ranges, days to harvest, when 30% shade cloth helps, and when to sow so they don't bolt. 6 min read
  8. 8 Tomatoes in Thai heat: heat-tolerant types, staking, flower drop, rainy seasonTomatoes struggle to set fruit above about 29-35°C by day and 21-24°C at night. Pick small-fruited types, flower in the cool season, stake, and handle rainy-season wilt. 6 min read
  9. 9 Microgreens at home: trays, seeds, days to harvest and eating them safelyMicrogreens are ready in 7-21 days in a shallow tray of soilless mix with untreated seed. How to tell mould from root hairs, and why sprouts carry more food-safety risk. 6 min read
  10. 10 Regrowing vegetables from kitchen scraps: what really comes backSpring onions and lemongrass truly regrow; celery, lettuce and carrot tops give leaves only. When to move from water to soil, and why not to plant shop potatoes. 5 min read
  11. 11 Saving vegetable seeds: open-pollinated vs F1, wet vs dry, germination testsF1 seed won't match the parent. Start with self-pollinators like tomato, beans and peppers, ferment wet seed, dry fully, store sealed and cold, and test germination. 5 min read
  12. 12 A worm bin at home: which worms, feeding, moisture and harvesting castingsA shady worm bin with damp bedding, fed by worm weight, harvested once the bedding turns to crumbly pellets. Plus fixes for smells, flies and escaping worms. 6 min read
  13. 13 Vegetables in the Thai hot season: mulch depth, shade cloth % and wateringThe Thai hot season wilts vegetables by afternoon. What to mulch with and how deep, which shade cloth percentage, and a watering schedule that uses less water. 5 min read
  14. 14 Rainy-season vegetables: raised beds, drainage, fungus, snails, what to plantIn the rains, vegetables die from waterlogging, not thirst. How high to raise beds, draining them, cutting fungal disease, snails without chemicals, what to plant. 5 min read
  15. 15 Thai vegetable planting calendar: central Thailand month by monthWhat to plant each month in central Thailand across the hot, rainy and cool seasons, which crops don't suit the rains, and how to stagger sowings of greens. 5 min read
  16. 16 Natural pest control for vegetables: soap spray, neem, sticky traps, good bugsStart gentle: inspect, hand-pick, hose off. Then soap spray (strength and testing), neem, sticky traps, beneficial insects, and the limits you need to know. 6 min read
  17. 17 Companion planting: what the evidence supports and what is folkloreWhich companion planting ideas have research behind them (trap crops, flowers for beneficial insects, spacing), which are chart folklore, and pairings for a Thai garden. 6 min read
  18. 18 Kratky hydroponics: no pump, no power, container, EC, air gap and heatThe University of Hawaii Kratky method: fill once and grow lettuce to harvest. Containers, EC and ppm, the root air gap, mosquitoes and coping with Thai heat. 6 min read
  19. 19 Keep vegetables fresh: fridge or counter, ethylene, wrapping, washingGreens go in the fridge; tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and basil dislike cold. Keep ethylene-making fruit apart, use vented bags, wash before eating, not storing. 6 min read
  20. 20 Cook vegetables and keep the vitamins: boil, steam or stir-fry, cut size, timeVitamin C and the B vitamins dissolve in water and dislike heat. Boiling in lots of water loses the most; steaming and microwaving keep more. Cut bigger, use less water. 5 min read