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[ozzydom]

Some members have complained about sarcastic remarks (read tongue in cheek ) in answer to members posts,and fair enough, but recently there appears to be an increase in the number of inane posts from newbies giving little relevant information and expecting  (hoping ) the experienced farmer members to be able to tell them how to get rich off the 10k per rai land their TGF wants them to buy.
Most farming subjects have been previously dealt with on this forum and advise from very knowledgable members is contained in these threads.

My suggestion is that new members search and study the previous threads then post their questions giving more relevant info,such as location,soil type , crop interested in, availability of water, etc ,then post their questions.

For instance , the potato thread has been well covered previously plus if you were to Google Potatoes in Thailand you would find on the first page that Thailand grows over 115,000 tonnes per annum at a yield of 15tonne per hectare.
Get the idea????

Remember sensible questions get sensible answers, ridiculous ones get what they deserve.

[MrSquigle]

I agree....did'nt know about the potatoes though.

[sbk]

ozzydom, this complaint could be directed at most forums. Newbies tend to ask first, look later. It takes a more experienced user to realize that there is even a search function. I can't begin to tell you how many people ignore the pinned topics in a forum not realizing perhaps, that they are there or that they are pinned for a reason. I guess that is why they are newbies.

So, instead of giving a sharpish response, I try to find the relevant thread, and then give the newbie a link to that thread and then ask them to come back if they have any more questions.

Remember, we were all newbies once

[ozzydom]

Ah , sbk ,you have a way with words,. My OP was not a complaint, but more an effort to advise newbies how to get the best out of the forum, in my ham-fisted manner of course..
But you put it much nicer..

[Lickey]

So why not have a PLEASE READ THIS BEFOFE POSTING in the pinned topics, same as Thai Visas forum,  something like,,,

    Please enter your query in the SEARCH box at bottom left of page.

    If you find your answer here but want to clarify something, try to give as much infomation as possible about your situation.

   EG  where you live or intend or do farm, is it flatland,hillside, is it farmed now, what is growing, is there water and electricty, what are the neighbours growing,is the land secure [fenced] do you live on or near the land, is it for family,will you be there 24/7, what you would like to grow, pest control ect ect ect,

    Just an idea, but it might help to interest the full-time farmers into giving a good honest reply, thanks, Lickey..

[fruity]

Lickey, on 2008-01-14 01:59:43, said:

So why not have a PLEASE READ THIS BEFOFE POSTING in the pinned topics, same as Thai Visas forum,  something like,,,

    Please enter your query in the SEARCH box at bottom left of page.

    If you find your answer here but want to clarify something, try to give as much infomation as possible about your situation.

   EG  where you live or intend or do farm, is it flatland,hillside, is it farmed now, what is growing, is there water and electricty, what are the neighbours growing,is the land secure [fenced] do you live on or near the land, is it for family,will you be there 24/7, what you would like to grow, pest control ect ect ect,

    Just an idea, but it might help to interest the full-time farmers into giving a good honest reply, thanks, Lickey..

Very good idea Lickey!....topics entitled 'what should I grow' etc always give a giggle & the impulse to reply 'how long is a piece of string'

[Joe Walshe]

I agree with Lickeys suggestion. I would consider myself a relative Newbie and appreciate the Forum memebrs patience with me when I was probably asking inane questions.
another suggest for posters might be to avoid asking a long lists of difficult to answwer questions. The answers to which require a lot of work.
For example;
What can I grow on 30 rai to give me an income of 30,000 per year? How much will labour, feertiliser cost? How can I market product? Does my wife really love me?

Whereas a question like; What fish to put in rice fields?,  might get more respones.

[MrSquigle]

I think the key to getting the farming forum back up and full of info is to mount a search for someone who is missing in action, well loved and cared about....but we need to find him no matter what.

[slapout]

Good for Lickey, its hard not to chuckle at some of the questions posted concerning income per rai, profit per animal, eggs per chick, etc Normally if I have no experience and or knowledge, I will try to educate myself thru books, internet, etc. Then I have a much better chance of asking a question which has a potential answer (intellegent question) I think many of those responses precieved as sarcastic were meant to be tongue in cheek humor and we need humor in our world. Nothing is really free in life, including knowldge. Work, whether physical or mental is required to some degree in every profession including farming. In todays world the latter profession, unlike 100 years ago, requires more mental work if you want to make a profit. This lesson is still being learned by many individuals.

[ozzydom]

Too true, farming is one of those enterprises where you only learn by mistakes, if a farmer tells you he has never made a mistake then he has not learnt much.
The attraction of farming/gardening in LOS ,  to me anyway , is in the experimentation of trying to grow temperate climate veggies etc in the harsh conditions here, usually with many failures, but now and then spectacular successes .
For instance, tried growing the tough Ironbark pumpkin, an utter failure, but successfully grew the temperamental Butternut variety.
Iceberg lettuce another dismal failure ,but Fordhook Giant silver beet spectacularly successful.
Just get a friend at home to send you some seed and go for it , about as much fun you can have standing up.

[sbk]

How about re-titling this thread "tips for Farming forum newbies" and then pinning it?

[ozzydom]

Great idea sbk, An eye catching title.

[sbk]

OK Farming forum members, add your suggestions and helpful hints for Farming forum newbies to this thread.  

[Pierrot]

Dear Senior Members,

A Newbie, like myself, can feel a bit lonely when he moves to Isaan for the first time. Asking what may sound like a stupid question may be a way to look for likeminded people when one feels homesick. Think of going to a bar in a new place, seing some friendly faces, asking a "stupid" question to break the ice and then hear : "We talked about it yesterday, dumbhead ..."

Then using the "search" function may not always be easy. A couple of weeks ago I found a very useful tip to take care of grass that turn yellow. I forgot to bookmark the page and now I can't find it again ...
Also technology change, new seeds can be imported or someone can find a new way of solving an old problem ... So asking the same question a few month later can bring new answers ...

And again, as I said, sometime you just want to talk to someone who speaks the same language. If you don't like the question, you always have the choice not to answer it.

[Lickey]

Hi Pierrot, i understand your post very well, and i was thinking the same myself on the farm yesterday, keeping up with the latest pest control ect, we grow mainly papaya and banana, and some of the payaya have mosaic and leaf curl, as there is no papaya farmers on this forum, i had to google to find the right spray to cure or stop this problem spreading, they were all sprayed today.I done the google search to save others doing it for me,

If i were you, i would make a new post in the forum, saying you could not find it in the 'search' ! there are many 'long time farmers' who are willing to help newbies with anything, happy farming, lickey,,

[ETC]

Pierrot, on 2008-01-20 01:22:59, said:

Dear Senior Members,

A Newbie, like myself, can feel a bit lonely when he moves to Isaan for the first time. Asking what may sound like a stupid question may be a way to look for likeminded people when one feels homesick. Think of going to a bar in a new place, seing some friendly faces, asking a "stupid" question to break the ice and then hear : "We talked about it yesterday, dumbhead ..."

Then using the "search" function may not always be easy. A couple of weeks ago I found a very useful tip to take care of grass that turn yellow. I forgot to bookmark the page and now I can't find it again ...
Also technology change, new seeds can be imported or someone can find a new way of solving an old problem ... So asking the same question a few month later can bring new answers ...

And again, as I said, sometime you just want to talk to someone who speaks the same language. If you don't like the question, you always have the choice not to answer it.

Reminds me of having breakfast every Friday morning, at the same little cafe, at the same big round table, with the same farming friends and neighbors for nearly 20 years. Needless to say, many of the same questions were asked year after year and we are far from being classified newbies. I think all of us have been guilty of assumining the person sitting next to us marches to the same drummer but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I think interaction of old thoughts and ideas spawn many new ideas from people we least expect to have a positive contribution. Agreed...there are times when I did not want to be bothered with answering old questions, so I just excused myself and told everyone I had to get some hay bailed as I smelled rain in the air.  They would all chuckle as it hadn't rained in over a month and the sky was clear.  555555555

[apw]

Pierrot, on 2008-01-20 15:22:59, said:

Dear Senior Members,

A Newbie, like myself, can feel a bit lonely when he moves to Isaan for the first time. Asking what may sound like a stupid question may be a way to look for likeminded people when one feels homesick. Think of going to a bar in a new place, seing some friendly faces, asking a "stupid" question to break the ice and then hear : "We talked about it yesterday, dumbhead ..."

Then using the "search" function may not always be easy. A couple of weeks ago I found a very useful tip to take care of grass that turn yellow. I forgot to bookmark the page and now I can't find it again ...
Also technology change, new seeds can be imported or someone can find a new way of solving an old problem ... So asking the same question a few month later can bring new answers ...

And again, as I said, sometime you just want to talk to someone who speaks the same language. If you don't like the question, you always have the choice not to answer it.

really the best post, great!!i like that.

greetings fom stuoid newbie peter . i will read the next month,maybe next year i will ask something here.

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[sionapiorwerth]

Lickey, on 2008-01-21 03:21:23, said:

Hi Pierrot, i understand your post very well, and i was thinking the same myself on the farm yesterday, keeping up with the latest pest control ect, we grow mainly papaya and banana, and some of the payaya have mosaic and leaf curl, as there is no papaya farmers on this forum, i had to google to find the right spray to cure or stop this problem spreading, they were all sprayed today.I done the google search to save others doing it for me,

If i were you, i would make a new post in the forum, saying you could not find it in the 'search' ! there are many 'long time farmers' who are willing to help newbies with anything, happy farming, lickey,,

May i sugest you turn to uisng EM Effective mircorgnism, this is a natural product made from fruits or veg, with molasses and water, you can purchase, from any gardening store, the more healthy your soil is the better resistance to the bugs , you can also spray them every three days to add some vitality to them.

another natural products or products come from the Thai Happy tree products they are natural and works well.

[newbepat]

sbk, on 2008-01-13 09:38:17, said:

ozzydom, this complaint could be directed at most forums. Newbies tend to ask first, look later. It takes a more experienced user to realize that there is even a search function. I can't begin to tell you how many people ignore the pinned topics in a forum not realizing perhaps, that they are there or that they are pinned for a reason. I guess that is why they are newbies.

So, instead of giving a sharpish response, I try to find the relevant thread, and then give the newbie a link to that thread and then ask them to come back if they have any more questions.

Remember, we were all newbies once

Very good answer Thanks from newbepat

[jubby]

newbepat, on 2009-11-23 07:50:52, said:

sbk, on 2008-01-13 09:38:17, said:

ozzydom, this complaint could be directed at most forums. Newbies tend to ask first, look later. It takes a more experienced user to realize that there is even a search function. I can't begin to tell you how many people ignore the pinned topics in a forum not realizing perhaps, that they are there or that they are pinned for a reason. I guess that is why they are newbies.

So, instead of giving a sharpish response, I try to find the relevant thread, and then give the newbie a link to that thread and then ask them to come back if they have any more questions.

Remember, we were all newbies once

Very good answer Thanks from newbepat

And Thanks from me.     I've been guilty of posting without searching in the past but its useful when someone directs you to a relevant thread rather than just saying its been covered before.  Although the forum has become a 'Library' of good information its important to remember it is a 'forum' after all and not deter newbies form asking questions IMHO.

[hawaiiman]

All great advice, however....I notice search feature for drip irrigation, for example, only comes up with one thread about one poster's particular problems. I saw it mentioned that the farming section had lots of resources to buy drip equipment. Unfortunately a search doesn't turn that up. I see mention that a pinned topic on resources would be useful , and I see a few. I know there are sources for drip equipment in Thailand, but don't see any listed. Lot's of folks mention dificulty finding souces of fingerlings, yet Thailand is fortunate enough to have the world's #1 tilapia breeding farm, Nam Sai farms just an hour east of bkk.