Growing a market garden in a tropical biome
A guide for growing a successful market garden in the tropical rainforest biome.
Weather and Location
The tropical rainforest is located in the equator or close to it. "Fifty seven percent of all tropical rainforests are found in Latin America. One third of the world's tropical rainforests are in Brazil. Other tropical rainforests are located in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands and West Africa."1
Rain forests are part of the wet climate group. "The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 34 °C or below 20 °C; average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year."2
The weather in the tropical rainforest is rainy, day or night.
Soil type
In the tropical rainforest, however, rainfall is year round, and can be daily. This strips the land out of its nutrients. Many of these soils are called Oxisols and Ultisols.
"Tropical soils may often be described as being thin. This is certainly a misunderstanding since tropical soils are among the deepest in the world. Many tropical soils have been under forest cover for millions of years. Over this period, and under high rainfall conditions, deep tropical soils have been formed from the underlying rock."3
Tropical soils are often several metres deep, but the soils are often washed out, or strongly leached, with large amounts of nutrients and minerals being removed from the subsoils.4 Even though rainforests have one of the deepest soils, they tend to have thin topsoils, which is made up mainly of vegetal and animal remains.
Plant adaptations
The majority of plants that can be found in the rainforest have adapted to the small amount of sunlight that they receive. Plants have also adapted to the heavy amounts of precipitation they receive everyday so the branches don't get weighed down and break.
"Many plants have drip tips and big grooved leaves, and some leaves have oily coatings to shed water."5 Buttress and stilt roots are thought to provide extra support for trees growing in spongy, wet soils; while other plants, like orchids, bromeliads and ferns, grow as high up in the canopy where there is more sunlight.6
Type of agriculture:
It all really depends on where you are located, but the tropical forest has a very wide variety of goods; for instance, Latin America and Africa are major suppliers of coffee and cacao so planting a cocoa tree or a small patch of coffee plants would be the best, while Asia produces most of our rice and natural rubber. Tropical rainforests are also the perfect place to grow spices, essential oils and fruits. In addition, tropical countries export many fibers, gums, resins, dyes, and plant essences that we may never see directly, but which are widely used in medicine and industry. "Commercial vegetable growing is usually practised in urban areas, often on swampy soil and is of great importance for the food supply of the urban population."7
These are some of the plants and flowers you might want to consider:
"Tropical gardening is not much different than any other types of gardening. Plants still share the same basic needs; healthy soil, water, and proper fertilisation. With tropical gardening, however, you don’t have to worry about overwintering your plants since these climates remain warm year round."8
If you are looking for a more sustainable crop, consider planting these and making a small crop:
All of these crops are cash crops since you can make a profit out of them. The majority of these products have a very high demand, especially in big markets; so it's very high that they will sell pretty much anywhere.
How to start and take care of your crop:
How can I avoid soil erosion?
There are several diseases and parasites that attack the plants from the soil and which stay behind in the soil after the vegetables are harvested. They cause, together with mineral deficiency, soil exhaustion. Good soil drainage is most important. Bad drainage, which means too much water in the soil, weakens the roots and stimulates plant diseases and parasites. Infected plants should be removed and burned. A very good tip that will help you avoid soil erosion and parasites is applying organic manure constantly. If that does not seem to be working, you can use the steam disinfection technique. In general it is not possible to disinfect the entire garden, but it is worth disinfecting the soil in the nursery. The simplest method is to pour boiling water over the freshly cultivated soil in a quantity of about 10 litres per square metre. Cover the soil immediately with plastic.
Weather and Location
The tropical rainforest is located in the equator or close to it. "Fifty seven percent of all tropical rainforests are found in Latin America. One third of the world's tropical rainforests are in Brazil. Other tropical rainforests are located in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands and West Africa."1
Rain forests are part of the wet climate group. "The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 34 °C or below 20 °C; average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year."2
The weather in the tropical rainforest is rainy, day or night.
Soil type
In the tropical rainforest, however, rainfall is year round, and can be daily. This strips the land out of its nutrients. Many of these soils are called Oxisols and Ultisols.
"Tropical soils may often be described as being thin. This is certainly a misunderstanding since tropical soils are among the deepest in the world. Many tropical soils have been under forest cover for millions of years. Over this period, and under high rainfall conditions, deep tropical soils have been formed from the underlying rock."3
Tropical soils are often several metres deep, but the soils are often washed out, or strongly leached, with large amounts of nutrients and minerals being removed from the subsoils.4 Even though rainforests have one of the deepest soils, they tend to have thin topsoils, which is made up mainly of vegetal and animal remains.
Plant adaptations
The majority of plants that can be found in the rainforest have adapted to the small amount of sunlight that they receive. Plants have also adapted to the heavy amounts of precipitation they receive everyday so the branches don't get weighed down and break.
"Many plants have drip tips and big grooved leaves, and some leaves have oily coatings to shed water."5 Buttress and stilt roots are thought to provide extra support for trees growing in spongy, wet soils; while other plants, like orchids, bromeliads and ferns, grow as high up in the canopy where there is more sunlight.6
Type of agriculture:
It all really depends on where you are located, but the tropical forest has a very wide variety of goods; for instance, Latin America and Africa are major suppliers of coffee and cacao so planting a cocoa tree or a small patch of coffee plants would be the best, while Asia produces most of our rice and natural rubber. Tropical rainforests are also the perfect place to grow spices, essential oils and fruits. In addition, tropical countries export many fibers, gums, resins, dyes, and plant essences that we may never see directly, but which are widely used in medicine and industry. "Commercial vegetable growing is usually practised in urban areas, often on swampy soil and is of great importance for the food supply of the urban population."7
These are some of the plants and flowers you might want to consider:
"Tropical gardening is not much different than any other types of gardening. Plants still share the same basic needs; healthy soil, water, and proper fertilisation. With tropical gardening, however, you don’t have to worry about overwintering your plants since these climates remain warm year round."8
If you are looking for a more sustainable crop, consider planting these and making a small crop:
All of these crops are cash crops since you can make a profit out of them. The majority of these products have a very high demand, especially in big markets; so it's very high that they will sell pretty much anywhere.
How to start and take care of your crop:
- For a family garden only absolutely indispensable tools should be bought. The garden must be profitable! You could buy the more expensive tools together with neighbours or friends. So make sure that you have at least four of these tools: Hoe, machete, bucket, spade, dung fork, swan neck hoe, rake and planting rake.
- Now you need to choose where to plant your garden/crop. Generally, newly cleared forest soil, rich in humus, light non-flooded soil in valleys and soil where humus and eroded matter have accumulated, are suitable. It all really depends on what you want to plant but the majority of tropical veggies grow rapidly during the rainy season, but some of them during the dry months
- Now, it's all about cultivating the soil! Newly cleared soil is often hard and compact, especially when it is clayey. Air and rain water can not penetrate and it is covered with weeds. Most of the roots of vegetables concentrate in the topsoil and, to a lesser extent, in the subsoil, but it all depends of what you decide to plant.
- By applying organic manure you improve the physical state of the soil by increasing the amount of humus and by adding nutrients which your crops need. This also prevent soil erosion which is probably one of the most common problems that farmers face daily.
- If it rains regularly, the family garden does not need watering, except during sowing and transplanting. In the dry season it is better to grow only those vegetables that need little water. But because it's the rainforest biome that we're talking about, watering is not something you need to worry about.
- The crop has to be taken care of daily and checked on very frequently.
How can I avoid soil erosion?
There are several diseases and parasites that attack the plants from the soil and which stay behind in the soil after the vegetables are harvested. They cause, together with mineral deficiency, soil exhaustion. Good soil drainage is most important. Bad drainage, which means too much water in the soil, weakens the roots and stimulates plant diseases and parasites. Infected plants should be removed and burned. A very good tip that will help you avoid soil erosion and parasites is applying organic manure constantly. If that does not seem to be working, you can use the steam disinfection technique. In general it is not possible to disinfect the entire garden, but it is worth disinfecting the soil in the nursery. The simplest method is to pour boiling water over the freshly cultivated soil in a quantity of about 10 litres per square metre. Cover the soil immediately with plastic.
comparison to coniferous forests (Maddy's)
So if I were to grow a tropical garden in the coniferous forest, I would probably have to build some kind of greenhouse because, the weather conditions are a lot harsher and not humid enough. The trees also block out a lot of the sun, just like in the tropical rainforest, but I would definitely need some kind of artificial light so my plants and crops wouldn't die. I would also have to put some kind of fertiliser for my plants, because the soil in the coniferous forest is very acidic in comparison to the tropical rainforest soil, which is full of nutrients. It also rains a lot, so Maddy doesn't have to worry about watering her plants a lot, just like me, so that wouldn't be a problem, but I would have to worry about soil erosion too.
1"Where Are Rainforests Located?" Where Are Rainforests Located? N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
2"Rainforest Climate." Rainforest Climate. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
3,4"The Tropical Rainforest." Soil-Net.com -. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
5"Earth Floor: Biomes." Earth Floor: Biomes. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
6 "What Does Adaptation Mean?" What Does Adaptation Mean? N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.8 "Tropical Gardening: Tips For Gardening In The Tropics." Gardening Know How. N.p., 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
All instructions and soil erosion tips were provided by The Vegetable Garden in The Tropics by Henk Waaijenberg:
"The Sanitarian In The Vegetable Garden." The British Medical Journal2.2022 (1899): 862-63. Web.
2"Rainforest Climate." Rainforest Climate. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
3,4"The Tropical Rainforest." Soil-Net.com -. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
5"Earth Floor: Biomes." Earth Floor: Biomes. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
6 "What Does Adaptation Mean?" What Does Adaptation Mean? N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.8 "Tropical Gardening: Tips For Gardening In The Tropics." Gardening Know How. N.p., 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
All instructions and soil erosion tips were provided by The Vegetable Garden in The Tropics by Henk Waaijenberg:
"The Sanitarian In The Vegetable Garden." The British Medical Journal2.2022 (1899): 862-63. Web.
image 1: "The Aloha Natural Farm, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines | A Growing Culture." The Aloha Natural Farm, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines | A Growing Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
image 2: "Ea O Ka Aina." : KCC Natural Farming Course. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
image 2: "Ea O Ka Aina." : KCC Natural Farming Course. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.