Found At Jatuchak Market

This is the continuation post of Jatuchak Market, Thailand. We have taken some photographs of flowers and plants sell at the market. Most of the plants are originates from the tropical countries. As you can see from the photos, these flowers and plants are blossoming beautifully.

The plant below we believed is a type of Screwpine or scientifically known as Pandanus sp. This pine have trunk and its leaves gathered in a large clump on top. They was formerly known as P. odoratissimus and know known as P. tectorius. They usually planted in seaside garden because of their ability to withstand the strong wind and salty soil.

Below are the famous 'Eating plant' and commonly found in the tropical jungle. Scientifically known as Nepenthes sp. and commonly called as Pitcher Plant. They do look weird but we can say that they are some kind of genius plant. They lured insects and small creatures to slide into the inner slope side of the pitcher and prevented them from climbing out as the inner side is waxy and covered in scales. The fluid in the pitchers tempted insects (and even toads) during times of low rainfall. The lid of plant covers the liquid thus the juice is hardly diluted by rainwater. The juice plays the role as digestive system and kills the insects slowly.

Pitcher plants come in various colours and sizes. Some are red and some are green. Some are speckled and some are blotched. They are climbers and this is the close-up photo of Pitcher plant. They have striking and beautiful appearance that attracts insects and even human. Many of these species are protected, but there are cultivated varieties.

The next photo is Hibiscus or known to Malaysian as Bunga Raya. They are our floral emblem though not originated here, comes in variety of species. The most common species is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis which usually with red flowers and long columned pistil and stamens in the centre. The flowers only last for few days and some parts of the plants are used for some purposes. Back then, the petals of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis produced black dye used for polishing and as a cosmetic by Chinese women to darken their eyebrows. It also has some traditional medicinal applications in Ayurvedic, Malay and Chinese medicine.

The yellow flowers we believed are Hibiscus tilleceus. They have shorter pistil and mostly found in yellow colour. Hibiscus tillaceus is not a favourite when it comes for decoration of the gardens as more and more of cultivated Hibiscus rosa-sinensis being introduced. However, hibiscus is easy to maintain and produced flowers by scheduled cutting of twigs.

Jatuchak Market, Thailand

A part of photos taken at Jatuchak Market in Bangkok has been posted under the title of "Found In Bangkok". Jatuchak or Chatuchak market is a shopping paradise for locals and foreigners. You can see and shop for variety of things such as clothing, artcrafts, jewellery, foods and plants too. The price considered as reasonable for tourists and can be bargained. The top two photos are the usual scene at Jatuchak Market. Hectic but worth it for shopping experience.

Since our mission is to look for plants, so we will show you mostly the photos of plants that can be bought at Jatuchak Market. We are uncertain about the species of this fern. The beautiful yellow spores surely highlights the ferns appearance.

Anybody dropping by this blog are invited to share any information regarding this post by leaving a comment; especially on this type of fern.

We will share the plant photos taken at Jatuchak Market in the coming posts. Hopefully you will visit our blog again.

Artocarpus champedan

Artocarpus champedan is a tropical fruit native to Malaysia. They belong to the Moraceae family and commonly known as Cempedak. The fruit and tree is quite similar to Artocarpus heterophyllus or the Jackfruit. Cempedak has a very strong fragrant smell and the fruit is smaller than the Jackfruit.

However, the fruit have sticky latex when cut and the tools needs to be clean with oil rather than just water. Cempedak's soft yellow fleshy pulps are delicious and the seed can also be eaten raw. Sometimes, the pulps are also dip with rice flour that has been mixed with water and cooked as fried cempedak. Even after cooked, the flesh is still soft and have strong fragrant. They are Malaysian favourite equally to fried bananas.

This is the photo of the Cempedak's tree. As you can see, the fruits are dangling on the branches. Some of the them have dark or light green skin colour. These fruits will automatically falls off the tree when overripe and usually will be covered with plastic or papers to protect from being eaten by animals such as squirrels or birds. These fruits will be plucked before they overripe.

The fruit is in oblong shape and the skin is very similar to Jackfruit. The fruit is not as attractive as an apple or grapes; even the flesh is not nice to see after being cut, but the taste does matter. The white circles are their seeds that has been cut into half. They are smaller than the usual size but the flesh is tender and juicy. These Cempedak was given by an officer of MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research & Development Insitute) and Cempedak is one of the tropical plants that has been planted by MARDI. MARDI is a statutory body that has been mandated to conduct research in agriculture, food and agro-based industries in Malaysia for almost 40 years.

Last but not least, the heavenly shiny yellow pulps that captures and attract our sense of smelling and taste buds. The brown colour on top is the seed and these pulps are ready to be eaten raw or fried.

Orchids of Taman Pertanian Sabah

These are some of the mesmerising orchids displayed at the Orchid Garden corner in Taman Pertanian Sabah. Orchids are classified under the family of Orchidaceae, which then divided into 6 main sub-families: Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae, Neottioideae, Orchidoideae, Epidendroideae and Vandoideae. Orchids are wild species and majority of orchids are perennial epiphytes, which grow anchored to trees or shrubs.

With more 800 genera and more than 22,000 species, only experts can identify them exactly. More and more of new orchid species added each year, including the new hybrids and cultivated. We could only identify Paphiopedilum rothschildianum (the last photo). For those interested in learning more about Orchids, specific and detailed information can found through the Internet. One of the good website is www.orchidenthusia.com which focus on orchids in Malaysia.

Taman Pertanian Sabah

Taman Pertanian Sabah (Sabah Agriculture Park) located in Tenom, Sabah (Borneo island). Taman Pertanian Sabah offers you unlike any other parks. With its lush grenery, the park is set against a background of landscape of the Crocker Range (the longest range in Malaysia) which creates a panaromic view of a natural park all around.

This park was designed for those who seek knowledge and recreation. It also provides an ideal place for nature-based activities that makes this park a great holiday destination. You can too expand your knowledge on the taxonomy of plants, and a perfect escape from urban noise and pollution (entrance fee shall be charge to visitors).

These images was taken during our trip to Taman Pertanian Sabah in 2008. They have various kind of plants genus displayed around the park, some are native to Borneo. We will upload the images of orchids in the next posting and tried our best to identify their names, which we find it difficult especially when you're not an expect.




You will find valuable knowledge in the Information Centre, not only on plants but also on insects and wild animals.





The photo above is the display garden of plants from tropical America such as Bromeliads. The cool weather allows these Bromeliads to grow beautifully.



"Fern Corner" displaying some of ferns found in the jungle such as Cyathea sp. (Tree fern) and also Asplenium nidus (Bird's Nest fern). Platycerium superbum (refer to the below photo) or known as Staghorn has unique leaves. These oddly-shaped ferns can be found in tropical gardens. Staghorns can be propagated by spores produced on the underside of the fertile fronds. Planting Platycerium in a garden create privacy and natural setting.



This is Costus sp. from Costaceae family, commonly found in tropical countries and was a popular landscaping plants in the 1980's in Malaysia. They tend to grow wildly and have weak stalks; maintaining and controlling the plants might be difficult. But the flowers are beautiful and in spiral form; so they are commonly known as 'Scarlet Spiral Flag'. The rhizome is used for medicinal purposes.

Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary

Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is located in Sandakan, Sabah (island of Borneo). It is a rehabilitation for rescued orang utan from logging sites, poachers and plantations since 1964; and has become one of the major tourists attraction in Sabah.

You can see few orang utan swinging on the trees. In fact, they even made a 'friendly' gesture by throwing branches to visitors. Orang utan are wild if they have less contact to human. Giving them food is not advisable in Sepilok unless you are at the right place under the supervision of their staffs.

The centre opens daily (8.00am-5.00pm) and entrance fee for adult (local) is MYR 5.00 and foreigners MYR 30.00. You will also be charge MYR 10.00 for uses of any type of cameras in the sanctuary.

It is worth it as well to take a journey in the forest of Sepilok. If you are lucky, you might see some other wild animals too. The second photo is a shot of orang utan swinging on the trees (look closely), unfortunately the image was not clear enough.

Drop by to Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary if you are visiting Sabah.

Hydroponic Planting

Have you heard of Hydroponic? It is a method of planting plants, small shrubs and flowers, fruits and vegetables without using soil, pump, animal fertilizer; and best of all without insecticide.

It's easy and clean method; introduced in Malaysia since in the 1990's. The required materials are safe, cheap and removable. We have bought the materials from a local company, Kazz Marketing .

THE REQUIRED MATERIALS (given when bought) :

1. 15 centimetre depth of hydroponic pail/sump


2. a polystyrene cover with holes


3. small cups with few holes


4. threads


5. plants/vegetables seeds


6. Organic fertilizer
   

NEXT TO DO :

1. Pour 20 liter of water into the pail provided and cover it using the polystyrene.
2. Put a bunch of threads into a cup. Pull some of the threads out of the cup.
3. Soak the threads with water and put them into the holes on the polystyrene (look at the photo below).
4. Put 3 nos of seeds into each of the cup.
5. Coming to the seventh day, pull out 1 of the growing plants. Let 2 nos of plants continue to grow.
6. On the seventh day, open the cover and you need to add 2 cups of the organic fertilizer. Remember to stir the mixture and close the cover.

You need to mix all of the organic fertilizer given by adding 20 cups (250ml/cup) of water into a different pail and mix them together. Organic fertilizer and 250ml cup is provided. Cover the pail and put in a cool, shade and safe area. Stir the fertilizer before using them.

We have planted Kai-lan or known as Chinese broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra). The above photo showing the progress on the second day of planting the seeds; and 6 days later, the leaves were growing beautifully in the photo respectively. And kept on growing, and growing and growing. But remember to cover them from rainwater.

Make sure the water is enough, but not to cover the white roots as they are the source of 'breathing' for the plants. It is important to check the water level especially during drought season.

As you can see below, the images was taken when the water was finally dried. We have forgotten to check the water level and only realised something gone missing when the leaves were droopy and not fresh. The plants can be harvested after 4 to 6 weeks of planting.

These were the Kai-lan that we have planted using the Hydroponic system. Impressed with the result, we are planning to do it again using other seeds of vegetables. In case you are interested of getting the Hydroponic materials, just let us know.