If the number of stalls selling a plant can be an indication of its popularity, then cacti and succulents are clearly back in favour. At Chatuchak midweek plant market there are certainly more vendors selling these miniature beauties than ever before. Many are species and hybrids newly introduced from other countries.
COLOURFUL: Last year's bromeliad fair. Photos: Normita Thongtham
Not only that but after an absence of many years, if not decades, cacti and succulents are now making a comeback in plant exhibitions and contests. In fact, they occupy a place of honour at the Miracle of Plants Show now being held at The Mall Ngamwongwan in Nonthaburi. Twenty-seven genera of cacti and 13 of succulents are featured at the contest being held as part of the event. By comparison, orchids and bromeliads are represented by only 13 and five genera respectively.
PURPLE PATCH: Some of the orchids visitors are likely to see at The Mall Ngamwongwan's MCC Hall today.
In all there are 14 plant contests during the 10-day event, which opened at the MCC Hall on Friday. Competitions for the most beautiful adenium, aglaonema, foliage anthurium and orchids were held on Thursday before the venue was opened to the public. Plant enthusiasts will have until 6.30pm today (only until 6pm for orchids) to feast their eyes on the prize winners. The orchids alone are worth the trip to Nonthaburi, with 100 prizes given to different varieties of cattleya, vanda, ascocenda, dendrobium, paphiopedilum, phalaenopsis, oncidium, cymbidium and renanthera as well as native species and foreign hybrids.
At 7pm today the contest venue will be cleared to give way to various forms of ferns, croton and dracaena. Contests for the best of their kind will be held tomorrow, and all the entries and winners will remain on show until 6pm on Tuesday.
Vying for prizes on Wednesday are the entries for the various categories of bromeliads, caladium and sansevieria. Expect to see scores of only the best specimens, which will remain on display until Friday at 6pm.
Bonsai growers will have a chance to vie for prizes and display their works of living art from Friday to Sunday. The Mall's MCC Hall will be filled with miniature trees in pots and trays, each one more awe-inspiring than the next. This is not surprising, as growers have been grooming their plants for months expressly for the contest.
The vast array of cacti and succulents will face the judges on Saturday, along with variegated plants and crown of thorns. All entries and prize winners will remain on display until 6.30pm next Sunday. Throughout the 10-day event there will be ornamental plants for sale, and the vendors, who grew the plants themselves, will be only too happy to give you tips on how to successfully grow the plants you bought from them.
They will tell you, for example, that cacti and succulents grow best in well-drained soil and 70%, or filtered, sunlight, and that they have to be watered only once a week. The perfect planting medium is loamy soil and leaf mould, preferably from the rain tree (kambhu), mixed with perlite and volcanic soil or coarse sand and small pieces of charcoal. Water the soil thoroughly until it is well soaked, but keep the plants dry. To keep them from rotting due to rain, put them under a clear plastic roof.
Growers are participating in the contests more for fun and to show off their plants than for the monetary rewards, which are paltry. The grand prize winner, however, will get a trophy provided by HRH Princess Soamsawali. For plant lovers and photographers, both amateur and professional, the Miracle of Plants Show is an event not to be missed.
Meanwhile, inspired by the success of the first bromeliad fair last year, the East Coast Flowers and Ornamental Plants Association is organising the 2nd Thailand Bromeliad Fair in October. Last year's event was only for one day, just to gauge interest in this family of plants. However, this year it is no different. It will be held again only for one day, on Oct 16, so mark the date on your calendar. The venue is the Nine Neighbourhood shopping centre on Rama IX Road in Bangkok's Suan Luang district.
The association is based in Chon Buri but the fair will be held in Bangkok to make it more accessible to plant lovers and growers in and around the capital and other provinces. Last year's event saw nursery owners from Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Chon Buri, Prachin Buri, Rayong and as far away as Chiang Mai showing off their prized plants for the exhibition and contest that highlighted the event.
Bromeliads are native to South America but Thai nurserymen have successfully developed new hybrids. For bromeliad enthusiasts, the fair is the place to find new cultivars to add to their collections. For growers who would like to enter their prized plants for the contest, contact the association's president, Wiwat Laohapantakij, on 08-1983-7538 for more information.
Email nthongtham@gmail.com.
BACK IN FASHION: More vendors are selling cacti and succulents at Chatuchak plant market than ever before.
