Hari ketiga pergembaraan diteruskan dengan menterjah ladang orkid seterusnya. Kali ini di wilayah Suphanburi. Untuk datang ke ladang ini, perjalanan  mengambil masa kurang lebih 2 jam dari tempat tinggal kami di Nakhon Pathom. Melalui kawasan sawah padi dan ladang tebu, akhirnya kami tiba di lokasi ini, yang mana lokasi nurseri ini terletak di tengah-tengah kawasan padi dan ladang tebu.

Third day orchid adventure continue. To go to this farm it takes more than 2 hours from our hotel at  Nakhon Pathom .  Along that road, we need to pass through rice field and sugar cane field...so peaceful.

Sebelum ini, OdD pernah melewati laman web Pachara Orchid Inter Trade Ltd. ini...akhirnya sampai juga ke farm ini ;) Seperti kebanyakan farm yang di lawati, mereka lebih banyak koleksi vanda dan allied hybrid. Mulanya rasa bosan juga...tetapi kebosanan terubat apabila terdapat kelainan pada ladang kali ini. Tillandsia dan Bromeliad serta beberapa spesis yang 'special' amerika selatan. Teruja sungguh lol ;)

Before this, I had been surfed the Pachara Orchid Inter Ltd, and at last I'm here. I never know that we will visit this farm. As previous visit in Chom Orchid and Sanphueng orchid garden, there are a lot of Vanda and allied hybrids. Here also almost the same, but there are something unusual...Tilandsia, Succulents  and Bromeliad and also some species from South America. I'm very excited!!!

Jika sebelum ini, ladang orkid yang kami lawati semuanya di letakkan pasir sungai di bawahnya, tapi kali ini terdapat air bertakung di bawahnya. Ini kerana ladang ini telah di ubah suai dengan menukarkan perusahaan sawah padi kepada penanaman padi. Kira ladang tebus guna lah ni.Di sini banyak juga OdD memborong...orkid spesis ada, orkid hybrid pun ada dan tak ketinggalan tillandsia. Syok sungguh memborong...banyak jugaklah berhabis.

Mari kita tengok apa yang ada di Pachara Orchid @ My exoptic farm ini.

Previous farm and garden, they put the river sand all over the place, but here there are water at the bottom of the orchid rows. Something interesting to looks. Actually, previously this farm is rice field, but they re-manage to build the orchid farm. So interesting to looks and this is the good idea! What ever it is, they just want to keep the RH% at more than 60%. Here, I bought a lot of orchid, since they also have many specis collection from South America and native species, besides I also collect Tillandsia, so this is the best way to add my collections...Bromeliad....may be next time.  Let looks what they have here, may be next time you want to visit...

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.  ~Author Unknown

Selepas melawat Chom Orchid sekitar Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, rombongan kami bertolak pula ke Suan Phung, Ratchaburi. Perjalanan dari Nakhon Pathom mengambil masa kira-kira 3 jam lebih, melalui perkampungan dan bukit bukau. Di fahamkan kawasan ini terletak berhampiran wilayah Kanchanaburi, iaitu lebih ke Utara, Thailand. Persekitarannya banyak berbeza dari Malaysia, yang mana ke Utara Thailand ia lebih kepada iklim tropika. Hutannya tidak setebal hutan di Malaysia, sebaliknya terdapat banyak semak samun kecil dan pokok buluh. Sesekali terasa seperti berada di perkampungan 'cowboy' pulak, sebab persekitarannya yang kontang dan berbatu.

After visited Chom Orchid Nursery around Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, we continue our journey more to the north of this territory. This journey took more than 3 hours from Nakhon Pathom. From our understanding this place is end of Ratchaburi territory which is very near to Kanchanaburi territory. The environment and the weather so different from Malaysia, because this place is more tropics. The forest is so different, which just have the small bushes and the bamboo. Sometimes feel likes we stay at cowboy area, the environment is look a like cowboy town!

Sanphueng Orchids Garden....situated between two hills

Small lakes just behind the orchid garden

Berbalik kepada pengembaraan orkid, kami datang ke sini kerana terdapat satu kawasan ladang orkid yang dibuka kepada umum iaitu Suanpheung Orchid Garden. 'Garden' ini terletak antara bukit dan berlembah, malah terdapat tasik kecil di antara kawasan berbukit ini. Ini memberi kelembapan semulajadi kepada orkid-orkid di sini. Malah kami yang berada di nurseri ini pun rasa agak kurang selesa kerana terlalu lembab menyebabkan berpeluh dan melekit. Apa pun kerana orkid punya pasal ini semua di tolak ke tepi.

Ok, back to orchid story, we come here because there are one orchid nursery which is quite famous here, Suanpheung Orchid Garden. This Garden is open to public. But i not ask from what time this orchid garden are open. So excited with orchid, make me forget about that. At least you know, here there are one orchid farm is open to public ;) This garden is situated between two hills and there are small lake between them. So it will give natural humidity to this garden.

The banner inside the garden...I don't understand ;(

The signboard beside the road

Rows of Rhyncostylish gigantea welcoming you at the main entrance

Rows of Ascocenda hybrids welcoming you at the main entrance

Rows of vanda hybrids welcoming you at the main entrance

Taman ini di buka kepada umum, tapi tidak pasti pula waktunya, terlupa pulak nak tanya, sebab dah terlalu 'excited' bila tengok orkid di sini. Kami di sambut dengan haruman dari Rhyncostylish gigantea yang sedang berkembang mekar di sini. Kami di hidangkan dengan pelbagai variasi warna spesis ini serta hybrid vanda, rhyncostylis dan ascocenda.

Di sini masih banyak vanda dan hibrid seangkatan dengan nya, OdD kurang lah sikit nak menanam orkid jenis ini. Jadi OdD dan teman banyak mencari spesis jenis lain untuk di bawa pulang. Banyak juga spesis dan hibrid orkid yang kami 'borong'...bolehlah...harganya pun memang lebih murah jika dibandingkan dengan negara sendiri. Marilah kita tengok apa yang ada....dan berakhirnya hari ke dua di Thailand. Selebihnya bersambung lagi...

At the main entrance we are welcome with the fragrant of Rhyncostylish gigantea with many variant of colors and side by side with vanda and asco allied hybrids. So beautiful and the fragrant so nice. Here still have many vandas hybrid to be choose,  but for OdD and friend, this is not our intention. So we explore this garden to find what we want...and at last we found some species and hybrid to buy. Worth it...so cheap :) So we see what do we have here and end of second day of the trip. More of this orchid adventure will be continue...

Pada paginya setelah ke ladang utama Chom Orkid, kami di bawa pula ke 3 lagi ladangnya. Sistem ladangnya cukup kemas dan teratur. Terpegun sungguh! Sistematik! Kualiti orkid-orkid nya juga amat sihat dan memenuhi world standard. Nak cari cacat sikit pun susah pada daun-daun orkid malah pada akarnya pun susah... pendek cerita 'everything perfect!!!' Dari akar ke pucuk...memang cukup cantik dan segar. Atas alasan ini mereka dapat mengeksport orkid-orkid ini ke luar negara. Di fahamkan sewaktu rombongan kami datang ke sini, ada banyak pesanan dari Jepun, sampai ada antara kengkawan yang nak beli satu pokok pun tak nak di lepaskan...katanya dah di tempah. Sadis sungguh ;( Tapi apa nak buat orkid dia, duit kita...kalau dia tak nak bagi nak buat macam mana...dan duit kita pun dah tak laku,,,huuhuu

After we visited through the main nursery at their backyard, Mr Chom son take us to their  other farms...another three, which is located near by their house. WOW...that is the first word I can say...really high standard. Systematic! Really difficult to find any weakness/ sickness at their orchid plants. PERFECT!!! From roots to the young leaves...everything looks so healthy and green. From that reason, that why they can export their orchids around the world. Before we  arrive at their farm, he said they already got an order from Japanese customer, so our friend cannot even buy any plant from that batch...so pity ;( So my friend just take a look ....just look cannot buy haa!

Jika di lihat dari keseluruhan ladang dan keadaan sekelilingnya...semua nya berada dalam keadaan yang amat teratur. Suasana di dalam ladang juga mempunyai kelembapan yang cukup tinggi...di fahamkan RH% mesti (70-80)% dengan kadar siraman 3 kali sehari. Jadi yang nak tanam vanda ni...kena fahamlah yer...jika setakat siram sehari sekali tak payah dok harap lah pokok nak hijau dan segar macam dalam gambar ni...OdD memang tak mampu nak buat macam ni, maybe peminat di luar sana mampu untuk buat begini...jadi boleh lah OdD tumpang tengok ;)

If we can see from the picture, the farm looks so need, everything in good manner. Here, the environment also so humid...RH% is ~ (70-80) % and must watering the plant 3 time per day except in rainy day. So if you want to plant the Vanda and allied hybrid...you need consider this thing in high priority! Another tips that they share with us. OdD cannot manage to do that at this moment...How about you? Ask yourself.

Jika di lihat pula keadaan permukaan di bawah nya...di letakkan pasir sungai...mudah untuk buat maintenance dan juga kelembapannya dapat di kawal dengan mudah. Selain itu senang juga nak elakkan rumput dan semak samun ...mudah untuk dibersihkan. Yang ini, memang OdD dah praktikkan dah lama di tempat OdD! Jadi peminat-peminat orkid kat luar tu...boleh lah tiru sistem ni pula! Tips lagi ni....Ada banyak lagi nak cerita ni...rasa panjang pula nak tulis kat sini...tunggu post akan datang pulak yer ;)

Garden are not made by sitting in the shades ~Rudyard Kipling (1835-1936)

Hari kedua...Sabtu pagi...perasaan amat gembira kerana nak bertolak ke ladang orkid. Fuhhh...seronok giler....difahamkan cuma orang tertentu saja boleh masuk di kebanyakan ladang di Bangkok ini. Acara pertama lawatan ke Chom Orchid Nursery. OdD tak lah punya banyak koleksi Vanda dan allied hybrid, dan belum lagi nak buat tambahan koleksi ini , kerana belum bersedia sepenuhnya. Jadi peluang ini di manfaatkan, dengan melihat sistem rumah orkid, siraman, pembajaan dan penjagaan yang sistematik di sini. Ini peluang terbaik bagi OdD untuk memperbaiki sistem yang sedia ada. Masa ini jugalah nak korek rahsia dari pengusaha yang berjaya ini. Chom Orchid memang terkenal dengan variasi vanda, ascocenda dan allied hybridnya, malah hybridnya telah mendapat macam-macam 'award'. Kami dibawa ke semua ladangnya di sekitar Ratchaburi. Post ini memuatkan perjalanan kami di ladang utama Chom orchid yang terletak di belakang rumahnya.
Macam-macam tips dan ilmu baru yang OdD dapat...kalau nak cerita kat sini satu hari pun tak habis ;-) Jadi OdD rakamkan beberapa gambar untuk dikongsi di sini. Perjalanan OdD untuk hari seterusnya akan di muatkan untuk post akan datang.

Second day...Saturday morning....ahaa so happy, we depart to go to first orchid farm...Chom Orchid Nursery. FYI most of the orchid farm here in Bangkok, are not allowed for public! But we are so lucky that we can visit their farm. Chom orchids are very popular with their vandas and allied hybrids, most of their hybrids got awards and merits. OdD don't have any intention to expands the collection in this varieties yet. But the chance to visit this farm give us opportunities to 'digging their secret' to be the successful orchid breeders and growers. Our first journey, we visited the main farm of  Chom Orchid, just at their backyard!
So many thing we learn from growing the orchids form tissue, hybridation and many more, even end of the day cannot finish to write it here. So OdD just captured few pictures to share here and the rest of the journey will keep for the next post!

Chom Orchid Nursery...just @ their backyard

Automatic watering system

Automatic watering system

'Babies' Vanda keep nicely in the row

Matured Vandas with flower covered by plastic - to avoid from water

More Vanda Pachara Delight...keep in the rows. These rows are for cut flower.

Here are special vandas they kept for new breeding and/or for meristem and NOT FOR SALE!!!

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

NOID Vanda...for meristem or new breeding

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.  ~Author Unknown

Telah lama merancang agenda ini, sejak dari tahun 2008. Malah pada tahun tersebut tiket pun telah di beli. Last minute terpaksa di batalkan kerana demonstrasi jalanan yang menyebabkan lapangan terbang ditutup. Rancangan terpaksa dibatalkan....aduh penat juga lah nak dapatkan wang dari syarikat penerbangan. Tahun 2009 sekali lagi di rancang perjalanan ke Bangkok...sekali lagi juga terpaksa di batalkan kerana demonstrasi jalanan...Tahun 2010 rancangan di buat sekali lagi....namun tetap di batalkan kerana alasan yang sama. Mungkin perancangan selalu bertindih dengan geng baju merah dan baju kuning di sana ;-p Tidak putus asa dengan perjalanan yang selalu terbatal, kali ini tahun 2011 perancangan dilakukan dengan rapi...rancangnya nak ke  pertandingan dan pameran orkid di Rose Garden....terbayang sudah di mata...segala bentuk dan rupa pertandingan tersebut ...malah wish list pun dah di buat, malangnya sekali lagi perancangan terpaksa juga di batalkan kerana  banjir pula ;-(  Banyak kali merancang tapi tak pernah terlaksana rancangan ini.

OdD planned this trip very long time ago, since 2008. On that year, OdD and friends already bought the ticket to Bangkok. The day we want to depart,  the airport closed due to street demonstration. So on 2009 we planned again...and again street demonstration. 2010, once again we planned to go there and again the street demonstration ...so we canceled. Every time we planned always clashed with either the red t-shirt group or yellow t-shirt group lol ! We never give-up...so on 2011 we plan since early of the year, that we want to go to Orchid Show in Rose Garden,,,and once again we need to canceled because of flooding ;-( So many time but we always fail to arrive Bangkok,  due to co-incident thing happens.

Jadi tahun ini secara 'ad-hock' terus beli tiket dalam tempoh cuti yang pendek minggu lepas dan terbang ke Bangkok. Perjalanan kali ini memang semata-mata ke ladang orkid di Bangkok dan sekitarnya, dan segala jadual perjalanan di rancang oleh teman persatuan orkid di Pulau Pinang ni, jadi senaglah tak payah susah-susah nak budget masa, tempat tinggal dan macam-macam lagi, just bawa diri dan RM di tangan.  Jalan-jalan cari orkid ini di rancang untuk 5 hari empat malam, jadi banyak lah nak diceritakan di sini.

So this year, no more planning, just ad-hock plan we go to Bangkok, purposely just to visit the orchid farms there (surrounding Bangkok). FYI, all the orchid farm are situated outside Bangkok, and the nearest farm is around 50 kilometers) Everything just depend on our friend in the society to arrange it for us. Time schedule, transportation and many others are arranged by them, so my friends and me just bring my body and money lol! They planned the trip for 5 days and 4 nights...more than enough to visit the orchid farm...and more than enough to spend all our money ;)

Land transport during our stay in Thailand...comfortable!!!

Hari pertama sampai, hari dah malam...jadi cuma merasa 'adventure' dengan hidangan di sana. 'Adventure'nya sebab yang mengatur segala acara termasuk makanan adalah rakan non-muslim...jadi faham-faham sajalah. Apapun OdD dan rakan-rakan ucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada mereka kerana memahami situasi kami sebgai seorang muslim.  Habis cerita bab makan....masuk bab orkid.

First day we arrive...is at early evening, nothing much to do, we just go for dinner. The 1st dinner over there is so adventure for us. You know the people who planned the trip is non-muslim, so we do not have many choices. We just eat some seafood and veggies. What ever it is, thanks so much to them, because they can understand us very well ;) End of food story...then orchid.

Somboon Seafood...our first dinner in Thailand

Crab cooked with curry spice...the famous menu in Soomboon Seafood

Baggage claim...decorated with Phalaenopsis orchids

Few days in Thailand.... the adventure begin! 

The updates coming soon ;-) 

I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are ~ Diane von Furstenberg