broad beans in Thailand.

Question

I have taken a few different brands of broad bean seeds from Sydney, Australia to Chiang Mai, northern Thailand where the weather is warm all year round.
I planted the seeds in several locations and gave some to friends.
None of the plants got any more than a few inches tall and looked to be muted.
Many did not break the surface.
All the local plants in the Thailand gardens are thriving.
Is there a reason that the seeds won’t grow in Thailand ?
I planted them in June seeing it is hot, wet and humid here.
Is the time of year the problem ?
Cheers
Len

Answer 1

Hi Len, I’m an American expat in Thailand and my wife an I have experienced similar problems with some plant seeds from California not growing well here, and we took seeds from Thai long beans (tua pak yao) to California and they just didn’t take, but when we replaced them with California origin pole beans in the same soil, they thrived. Other Thai veggies did well. It’s sometimes just trial an error until you find the right match.
It can be that one variety is suited to the local conditions but another is not. Also, the local variety may be genetically adapted to resist local soil borne pathogens that can severely affect an exotic plant.
Try again with local seeds. And I want to let you know about a great resource for information, ThaiVisa.com expat forums, if you don’t know already.
There is the Farming in Thailand forum where many experienced expat farmers and gardeners share information, and another is the Plants, Pets and Vets forum. You can ask your question on the Organic/Smallholding subforum and you may get suggestions from other growers from Oz that have been through the same thing and have specific suggestions for you. Find me on TV as ‘drtreelove’. Don