I have just come back from a week's holiday in Sichuan Province in China. The autumn colours at Jiuzhaigou were glorious. The food was something else. We did not mind the hot chillies but there was something else in the food that caused our lips and tongues to go numb, like a shot of anaesthetic at a dentist's. It was an alarming sensation for our party of 30 Malaysians. The ingredient turned out to be the fruit capsules of Zanthoxylum piperitum, also known as Sichuan pepper. It is neither pepper nor chilli, but a relative of citrus (family Rutaceae). This is the defining ingredient of Sichuan cuisine. The Sichuan people fry this in oil together with chillies to bring out an aroma reminiscent of lemon and anise. Added to meat, vegetables etc, it provides a distinctive fragrance combined with fiery hotness and a numbing sensation.
We visited the Panda Breeding Centre at Chengdu and discovered why Pandas are so popular. They are slow, clumsy, good-natured and people-oriented. They wrestle with each other in full view of the public and feed on bamboo shoots while sitting in an upright position facing the public. There were many little ones in the nursery. I was busy snapping photos when a pickpocket took my wallet from my back pocket!
China is being rebuilt on a grand scale. The main roads in the cities are the widest I have ever seen anywhere, with 6 lanes for cars, one lane on each side for bicycles and another lane for pedestrians, buffered from each other by trees and shrubs. The public toilets have improved everywhere. There seems to be a great deal of optimism, wealth and youth in the cities.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunflowers
I know very little about sunflowers but because it is an oil-producing plant with pretty flowers, I think it is worth some attention. My first few packets of imported seeds performed terribly. The plants were spindly and the flowers did not contain any viable seeds. Then I bought a robust plant already in flower in a local nursery. This produced some seeds and I raised several dozen plants successfully. However the percentage of seed set ranges between zero and 80%. I have not seen any pollinators. According to the textbooks, most cultivars are self-incompatible. I expect, by selection, to produce plants that are self-compatible, which should then have a high percentage seed set. Simultaneously I will eliminate all weak plants. We will see how many generations are needed to produce strong high-yielding plants for humid tropical conditions. A sunflower generation is about 5 months. An oil palm breeding cycle is about 5 years, so I will have done 10 generations of selection for sunflower in the time it takes to do one generation of oil palm. Sunflowers are way behind oil palm in oil yield per ha, which is why only a maverick like me will work on it. It's the challenge, you see; the horticultural equivalent of computer geeks starting up from a garage.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Review of Tropical Horticulture and Gardening
My book, Tropical Horticulture and Gardening, has been reviewed in Chronica Horticulturae, publi shed by the International Society of Horticultural Science. The review may be of interest to readers of this blog, now suspected to exceed five in number.
Tropical Horticulture and Gardening.
Francis S.P. Ng 2006. Clearwater Publications, Kuala Lumpur.
Review by Prof. Jules Janick in Chronica Horticulture Vol. 47 No 3 September 2007
This is a stunningly beautiful book. Its 361 pages are crammed full of over 1000 colored photographs taken by the author, a Malaysian botanist and former employee of FAO in Rome. The book contains 9 chapters: 1. Plant Domestication, 2. The Knowledge System for Plants, 3. Plant Form and Habit, 4. Ferns and Fern Allies, 5. Gymnosperms, 6. Flowering Plants: Monocots, 7. Flowering Plants: Dicots, 8. Garden Design, and Plants, and 9. Tropical Environment. The bulk of the book are excursions; chapters 4 to 7 are arranged by species within families, all arranged alphabetically, with rather minimal but incisive descriptions that include the origins. The prose is well written and the love of plants as well as botanical and horticultural expertise of the author shines through. The chapter on Garden Design contains images of famous gardens thoughout the world visited by the author. There are over 50 information boxes. This is a coffee table book on tropical plants and gardening that will appeal to temperate horticulturists who wish to get aquainted with the diverse garden flora of the tropics.
Tropical Horticulture and Gardening.
Francis S.P. Ng 2006. Clearwater Publications, Kuala Lumpur.
Review by Prof. Jules Janick in Chronica Horticulture Vol. 47 No 3 September 2007
This is a stunningly beautiful book. Its 361 pages are crammed full of over 1000 colored photographs taken by the author, a Malaysian botanist and former employee of FAO in Rome. The book contains 9 chapters: 1. Plant Domestication, 2. The Knowledge System for Plants, 3. Plant Form and Habit, 4. Ferns and Fern Allies, 5. Gymnosperms, 6. Flowering Plants: Monocots, 7. Flowering Plants: Dicots, 8. Garden Design, and Plants, and 9. Tropical Environment. The bulk of the book are excursions; chapters 4 to 7 are arranged by species within families, all arranged alphabetically, with rather minimal but incisive descriptions that include the origins. The prose is well written and the love of plants as well as botanical and horticultural expertise of the author shines through. The chapter on Garden Design contains images of famous gardens thoughout the world visited by the author. There are over 50 information boxes. This is a coffee table book on tropical plants and gardening that will appeal to temperate horticulturists who wish to get aquainted with the diverse garden flora of the tropics.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The jatropha bandwagon
In the past few months there has been a surge of interest in the growing of the physic nut Jatropha curcas for the oil content of its seeds. The plant grows in the tropics on soils too poor for most other crops and the oil can be used as diesal for car engines. This is going to meet rural energy needs in poor countries, help prevent soil erosion, create income for women, etc.
All this sounds familiar. In the 1980s somebody calculated that Africa and other tropical regions were going to suffer a fuelwood crisis. Women were having to walk longer and longer distances to gather fuelwood for cooking meals. Eventually, people would have to spend more time gathering wood than cooking food. Forests would disappear, soil would be eroded, etc. Huge amounts of international development aid money were spent on fuelwood research.
Earlier, in the 1960s, another person had calculated that there was going to be an acute world paper shortage by 2000, putting a brake on the growth of literacy, so large amounts of international development aid money went into the establishment of pine forests all over the tropics.
The pinewood and fuelwood bandwagons each ground to a halt after 10 years and the predicted crises never developed. What makes Jatropha different is that it is not international aid agencies this time, but business corporations that are investing in a crop. The research will presumably be more genuine, but I am sceptical. Too many people doing the same things under top-down direction and repeating the same mantras!
I am all for research on biofuels, but the research should be more diversified, not concentrated on Jatropha curcas alone. This species is only one of many possibilities.
All this sounds familiar. In the 1980s somebody calculated that Africa and other tropical regions were going to suffer a fuelwood crisis. Women were having to walk longer and longer distances to gather fuelwood for cooking meals. Eventually, people would have to spend more time gathering wood than cooking food. Forests would disappear, soil would be eroded, etc. Huge amounts of international development aid money were spent on fuelwood research.
Earlier, in the 1960s, another person had calculated that there was going to be an acute world paper shortage by 2000, putting a brake on the growth of literacy, so large amounts of international development aid money went into the establishment of pine forests all over the tropics.
The pinewood and fuelwood bandwagons each ground to a halt after 10 years and the predicted crises never developed. What makes Jatropha different is that it is not international aid agencies this time, but business corporations that are investing in a crop. The research will presumably be more genuine, but I am sceptical. Too many people doing the same things under top-down direction and repeating the same mantras!
I am all for research on biofuels, but the research should be more diversified, not concentrated on Jatropha curcas alone. This species is only one of many possibilities.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Herbal remedies and standards of proof
When I was a boy scout, one of our favourite campfire skits involved a Chinese medicine man and a patient. The patient has an ailment for which the medicine man has a cure, which is a bundle of leaves and twigs. "Boil this in a big pot of water for hours until one cup of liquid remains; drink it and your troubles will be over". This was traditional medicine in our grandparents' time and we thought it was funny.
Last week, I met my old scout troop leader and, at one point, our conversation turned on cholesterol. He had been taking pills for a long time to keep his high cholesterol level down. Then a friend recommended a herbal cure: a bundle of leaves and twigs, to be boiled in a big pot of water for 2 hours, together with dried figs (optional) for flavour. He drank this for two weeks and his cholesterol came down to 4 and has remained so for months without any further treatment. So utterly impressed is he that he has been talking to doctors to conduct medical research on this plant, and cannot understand their total lack of interest.
I explained to my friend that scientific research is very complicated. One is supposed to assemble a large sample of people, divide them into two evenly matched groups, give the treatment to one group, and a bogus treatment to the other. The people in the experiment are not to know which group they have been placed into. The people administering the test should not know either. The volunteers get treatment A or B and only the designer of the experiment know what is in A and B. Then there are tough rules governing the use of humans as test subjects. If you use animals, the rules are almost as tough.
If these conditions had prevailed in the past, Louis Pasteur would not have been able to develop a cure for rabies. Having successfully developed vaccines against various fatal diseases of animals, Pasteur developed what he believed would work against rabies. No one had yet been known to survive rabies. But there was no way Pasteur could have assembled a test group of infected people, some of whom would be given the treatment and some not. So he waited until one victim was brought to him. He administered treatment. The victim survived and Pasteur became a hero. The next victim also recovered. And the next. After that, Pasteur's treatment became the standard treatment for rabies, to the regret of statisticians who feel this is a rotten example of experimental procedure.
I asked my friend to show me the plant. It turned out to be a dark-coloured form of Alternanthera sessilis, a weed of ditches and wet places in many parts of the world. The amount of stems and leaves he gave me was enough to fill a pot 25 cm diameter, to a depth of 7 cm. I added water and boiled it for two hours, topping up with water as necessary. After one hour, I added 200 gm of dried figs (labelled 'dried dates' on the packet, sold in Chinese herbal shops). I ended up with 3 cups of dark-coloured liquid. I drank one cup last night and put the rest in the fridge. I found the drink pleasant but too sweet. 100 gm of dried figs would have been enough.
I have no cholesterol problem so this test was merely to satisfy myself that the concoction is pleasant to drink and harmless (I think I still make sense as I type this). So now I am ready to test this on volunteers with high cholesterol.
Last week, I met my old scout troop leader and, at one point, our conversation turned on cholesterol. He had been taking pills for a long time to keep his high cholesterol level down. Then a friend recommended a herbal cure: a bundle of leaves and twigs, to be boiled in a big pot of water for 2 hours, together with dried figs (optional) for flavour. He drank this for two weeks and his cholesterol came down to 4 and has remained so for months without any further treatment. So utterly impressed is he that he has been talking to doctors to conduct medical research on this plant, and cannot understand their total lack of interest.
I explained to my friend that scientific research is very complicated. One is supposed to assemble a large sample of people, divide them into two evenly matched groups, give the treatment to one group, and a bogus treatment to the other. The people in the experiment are not to know which group they have been placed into. The people administering the test should not know either. The volunteers get treatment A or B and only the designer of the experiment know what is in A and B. Then there are tough rules governing the use of humans as test subjects. If you use animals, the rules are almost as tough.
If these conditions had prevailed in the past, Louis Pasteur would not have been able to develop a cure for rabies. Having successfully developed vaccines against various fatal diseases of animals, Pasteur developed what he believed would work against rabies. No one had yet been known to survive rabies. But there was no way Pasteur could have assembled a test group of infected people, some of whom would be given the treatment and some not. So he waited until one victim was brought to him. He administered treatment. The victim survived and Pasteur became a hero. The next victim also recovered. And the next. After that, Pasteur's treatment became the standard treatment for rabies, to the regret of statisticians who feel this is a rotten example of experimental procedure.
I asked my friend to show me the plant. It turned out to be a dark-coloured form of Alternanthera sessilis, a weed of ditches and wet places in many parts of the world. The amount of stems and leaves he gave me was enough to fill a pot 25 cm diameter, to a depth of 7 cm. I added water and boiled it for two hours, topping up with water as necessary. After one hour, I added 200 gm of dried figs (labelled 'dried dates' on the packet, sold in Chinese herbal shops). I ended up with 3 cups of dark-coloured liquid. I drank one cup last night and put the rest in the fridge. I found the drink pleasant but too sweet. 100 gm of dried figs would have been enough.
I have no cholesterol problem so this test was merely to satisfy myself that the concoction is pleasant to drink and harmless (I think I still make sense as I type this). So now I am ready to test this on volunteers with high cholesterol.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
How to create a tropical rain forest
This is my response to a recent email: "We intend to create a multi-tier tropical rainforest along the riverbank of our (residential and commercial) scheme. We would like to know what trees and palms you would suggest for the first (uppermost) tier. If possible the tree specifications (diameter, overall height etc,) and the planting pattern and distances. What shrubs and plants would be suitable for the lower tiers including ground covers."
The property is located in Malaysia, where the climate supports tropical rain forest. To recreate such forest would be easy given time, say 20 years. But of course in a commercial property they would want it done within 20 weeks.
At the 'One Utama' shopping mall in Kuala Lumper, we were promised 18 months to create an indoor rain forest, but in the end we were able to plant our first trees only after the builders had finished and moved out. Nevertheless, our rainforest was presentable within 3 months. We had an advantage that the big trees we needed were growing close by on the same property and could be transported on a private road, and with their spreading crowns sticking out of the back of the transporter. We did not lop off any of the branches. On public roads this would not be possible.
So the size and shape of the largest trees will depend on what can be transported and the crowns may have to be trimmed. The species that can be transplanted as big trees are not many, and most are species of seasonally dry tropical forests, not of true rainforests. They include Tabebuia rosea, Pachira aquatica, Hura crepitans, Khaya senegalensis, Pterocarpus indicus and Shorea roxburghii.
Before moving big trees, I would advise removing the leaves by hand, leaving only the growing tips and youngest leaves intact. This will slow down water loss while the roots are recovering from transplanting. Wrapping the trunks in plastic sheets may also help keep the trees from drying out. The presence of growing tips will speed up recovery. Tree with big leaves are easier to deleaf than trees with lots of small leaves.
Trees should be spaced with 1m gaps between crowns. It will take a couple of years for the crowns to close up. Under the gaps, put in the smaller trees and shrubs. Fill up the gaps and plant close to get faster effect. Ground covers are sensitive to shade and moisture and each species has its own requirements. Try out different species and replace those that fade out. Palms have difficulty recovering from leaf loss, so keep as many leaves as possible while transplanting.
The property is located in Malaysia, where the climate supports tropical rain forest. To recreate such forest would be easy given time, say 20 years. But of course in a commercial property they would want it done within 20 weeks.
At the 'One Utama' shopping mall in Kuala Lumper, we were promised 18 months to create an indoor rain forest, but in the end we were able to plant our first trees only after the builders had finished and moved out. Nevertheless, our rainforest was presentable within 3 months. We had an advantage that the big trees we needed were growing close by on the same property and could be transported on a private road, and with their spreading crowns sticking out of the back of the transporter. We did not lop off any of the branches. On public roads this would not be possible.
So the size and shape of the largest trees will depend on what can be transported and the crowns may have to be trimmed. The species that can be transplanted as big trees are not many, and most are species of seasonally dry tropical forests, not of true rainforests. They include Tabebuia rosea, Pachira aquatica, Hura crepitans, Khaya senegalensis, Pterocarpus indicus and Shorea roxburghii.
Before moving big trees, I would advise removing the leaves by hand, leaving only the growing tips and youngest leaves intact. This will slow down water loss while the roots are recovering from transplanting. Wrapping the trunks in plastic sheets may also help keep the trees from drying out. The presence of growing tips will speed up recovery. Tree with big leaves are easier to deleaf than trees with lots of small leaves.
Trees should be spaced with 1m gaps between crowns. It will take a couple of years for the crowns to close up. Under the gaps, put in the smaller trees and shrubs. Fill up the gaps and plant close to get faster effect. Ground covers are sensitive to shade and moisture and each species has its own requirements. Try out different species and replace those that fade out. Palms have difficulty recovering from leaf loss, so keep as many leaves as possible while transplanting.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Getting rid of garden refuse
All gardens generate refuse in the form of grass clippings, old leaves, pruned branches, and the trunks and limbs of felled trees. A keen gardener is supposed to enjoy turning all this into compost. Not me!
After spending much money and time on rotating compost bins, electric-powered wood chippers, temperature probes and other equipment, I have decided that composting is not how I want to spend time in the garden. Open burning is not an option. Open burning is illegal and it would irritate the neighbours. So I piled up my refuse in a secluded part of my garden and every few months I would pay for it to be carted away.
In the beginning, my pile got bigger by the week. Then after many months, an equilibrium was established. The new stuff I added to the top of the pile was balanced by the stuff disappearing at the bottom of the pile. Then after some years, a change took place and the piles began to shrink faster than I could add material to them. I think what has happened is that the population of organizms in my pile of garden refuse became more and more efficient in breaking down plant matter. Even tree trunks got broken down in a few months to the extent that they could be easily smashed into little chips with a hammer.
What is doing the work? I see mushrooms of many kinds popping up from time to time. There are lots of fat earthworms. Also insects of many kinds. There are centipedes, presumably living on the insects. There must be zillions of microbes. All they need is a diligent gardener to keep feeding them with new refuse . I no longer need to have my garden refuse carted away.
Lately, a friend working for a big property developer told me he had run out of hollows in the property to dump the tree trunks that he had been clearing. He has been clearing the property for years, phase by phase. Now getting rid of tree trunks was becoming a bigger and bigger problem. I advised him to go back to the old filled areas, excavate all the tree trunks with a backhoe machine, and smash them into chips. Then the holes would be available for refilling with new tree trunks. The rotted chips can be spread onto the lawns and gardens they are making.
In the humid tropics, the turnaround time for decay of tree trunks is less than one year; faster if one learns to feed the ecosystem that does the work. All those manuals on composting are impractical in the humid tropics, where it is moist and warm all the time and where the diversity of breakdown organisms is at the maximum.
After spending much money and time on rotating compost bins, electric-powered wood chippers, temperature probes and other equipment, I have decided that composting is not how I want to spend time in the garden. Open burning is not an option. Open burning is illegal and it would irritate the neighbours. So I piled up my refuse in a secluded part of my garden and every few months I would pay for it to be carted away.
In the beginning, my pile got bigger by the week. Then after many months, an equilibrium was established. The new stuff I added to the top of the pile was balanced by the stuff disappearing at the bottom of the pile. Then after some years, a change took place and the piles began to shrink faster than I could add material to them. I think what has happened is that the population of organizms in my pile of garden refuse became more and more efficient in breaking down plant matter. Even tree trunks got broken down in a few months to the extent that they could be easily smashed into little chips with a hammer.
What is doing the work? I see mushrooms of many kinds popping up from time to time. There are lots of fat earthworms. Also insects of many kinds. There are centipedes, presumably living on the insects. There must be zillions of microbes. All they need is a diligent gardener to keep feeding them with new refuse . I no longer need to have my garden refuse carted away.
Lately, a friend working for a big property developer told me he had run out of hollows in the property to dump the tree trunks that he had been clearing. He has been clearing the property for years, phase by phase. Now getting rid of tree trunks was becoming a bigger and bigger problem. I advised him to go back to the old filled areas, excavate all the tree trunks with a backhoe machine, and smash them into chips. Then the holes would be available for refilling with new tree trunks. The rotted chips can be spread onto the lawns and gardens they are making.
In the humid tropics, the turnaround time for decay of tree trunks is less than one year; faster if one learns to feed the ecosystem that does the work. All those manuals on composting are impractical in the humid tropics, where it is moist and warm all the time and where the diversity of breakdown organisms is at the maximum.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
