One of the perks of moving to our new places in Shah Alam is that being a corner unit,we have a bit of land for gardening, and since some of you have commented in my previous cooking posts wanting to take a peek at the garden, here it is!

our current garden, with only a strip of planting bed
our current garden, with only a strip of planting bed

The area that we currently set up for planting is basically a strip of land about 30 feet or so along the fence. We’ve set up a makeshift PVC roof of sort with certain part covered in clear plastic sheet for weather protection. The roof is also reinforced with wire mesh, which conveniently served as trellis for our long bean plant.

At the car porch, we also have an outdoor IKEA glass house that serves as a nursery for seedlings to protect them from the elements.

tiny capsicum, fig tree, white pepper, parsley & thyme
tiny capsicum, fig tree, white pepper, parsley & oregano

In these photos you may have noticed that there are some black pipes around the plants, this is the soaker pipes we set up for irrigation. Our irrigation timer (bought from mudah for RM 100) is set up to water the plants automagically twice everyday, which makes life easier when we aren’t home to keep the plants hydrated. Skipping watering a couple days can easily kill some of them.

long beans, way too much fruit from one plant
long bean, way too much fruit from one plant

For the planting plot, we actually had it dug out about a foot deep and amended it by adding a couple layers of organic chicken shit and compost. This was to make the plot more fertile and to looser, our original soil was hard and with too many stones in them.

rosemary, galangal, mint, basil
rosemary, galangal, mint, thyme, basil, oregano, lime

When planting, you do need to know the requirements for each of them, as they can be quite different. Some plants want to be in the shades, others like full sun light, and some wants to be soaked in water, but there are also those that likes the soil well drained.

kale, bayam, lettuce
kale, bayam, lettuce

For herbs we have the following:

  • oregano
  • thyme
  • mint
  • rosemary
  • basil
  • galanga
  • lemongrass

Vegetables/fruits:

  • bayam
  • lettuce
  • long bean
  • kale
  • radish (harvested)
  • capsicum
  • chili (upcoming)
  • lime
  • pegaga
  • fig
  • lychee (doubt this will actually fruit)

pegaga, basil, lemongrass, chili & flower plant seedlings
pegaga, basil, lemongrass, chili & flower plant seedlings

This garden should look very different in a few month’s time, as we are about ready to delete everything and redo the whole area with proper trellis, irrigation, a hydroponic element, and design that is more pleasing to the eyes. It’s gonna be quite a lot of work but it’s a project we’re looking forward to!

Get planting!

Grow your own herbs and vegetables at home in Malaysian Weather
Tagged on:                         

61 thoughts on “Grow your own herbs and vegetables at home in Malaysian Weather

  • March 26, 2016 at 9:08 pm
    Permalink

    KY, loved for a fact you got a garden and peppers plants are wonderful to have in many dishes. Green onions and Chinese parleys is indeed must have. I do have a garden but when little back in Hawaii . I grew many vegetables and herbs and flowers. Next door my neighbor pet rabbit ran off one day and I found him having a
    salad bar buffet in my garden.

    I was shock like garden been shaved clean of everything. Rabbit hopping carefree he
    had a good meal. I grab him and said “How you want to be cooked?” Well neighbor was sorry never let rabbit out his home cage again.

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:22 am
      Permalink

      Vickie: haha, luckily we don’t have any free roaming rabbits around here, cats don’t eat greens. 😀

      Reply
  • March 26, 2016 at 9:11 pm
    Permalink

    Nice vegetable garden. You are right on the Lychee tree not fruiting. It needs around 40 hours of 8C or lower temperature for flowers to bloom. The reason behind it is the tree thinks that it is going to die, it has to bloom flowers/fruits in order to propagate. If the temperature drops closer to 0C or lower, the tree will be damaged or die (usually young trees). The tree has to be planted in subtropical or mediterranean regions in order to get fruits. Same thing for Longan tree. BTW, I have a Lychee tree in Florida, flowers started to bloom last week. You are better off planting mangoes, pulasan, etc.

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:23 am
      Permalink

      Meng: you’re definitely right, the whole lychee thing is more for the fun factor anyway. I’m going to try to see if cheating it with some ice cubes around the roots may work at all. If it doesn’t, it’ll still provide good shades I guess. 🙂

      Reply
  • March 27, 2016 at 5:12 am
    Permalink

    I wish I had such green fingers. I bought a pot of beautiful Basil…but it lasted only a couple of months. Died, all gone now. 🙁

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:23 am
      Permalink

      suituapui: there’s no such thing as natural born green fingers, it’s all about reading up and following what works. 😀

      Reply
  • March 27, 2016 at 7:33 am
    Permalink

    Nice plants. I’m surprised snails and caterpillars have not eaten the leafy ones like parsley and lettuce

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:24 am
      Permalink

      Z: they do! we counter it with some natural pesticides from time to time.

      Reply
  • March 27, 2016 at 12:20 pm
    Permalink

    Hi,
    I’m trying to some basil on my small balcony.
    It stays always in the shadow, never direct sun. I usually water the basil once every two days, if it is raining and the soil is wet, I’ll skip that day.
    However, the plant is growing very weird, it has now super long and wooden stem, with few leaves at the top. Going down the leaves are more yellowish and really weak.
    The basil is in a ~20cm pot. I really don’t know what’s wrong with it, since I tried to water more, water less, put more inside, outside…
    I just have to try to put it upside-down and then I tried them all!!!
    Any suggestion?

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:24 am
      Permalink

      ALessio: you may need to fertilize it a bit as well, we water ours twice a day, once in the morning and another time in the evening.

      Reply
  • March 27, 2016 at 7:34 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks for this. I am the one who asked for this. At the first few photos, especially with the makeshift PVC shade, I was wondering if any of your neighbours will complain since it is not too pleasing to the eyes.

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 9:25 am
      Permalink

      reader: you bribe them with free long beans, that’s how it works! haha. To serious we’re revamping the whole thing anyway cos it is in fact, quite ugly. lol.

      Reply
  • March 28, 2016 at 11:04 am
    Permalink

    Super cool la garden full of herbs and vegetables! my house only got chilis. and i don’t eat chilis one. LOL

    Reply
    • March 28, 2016 at 11:05 am
      Permalink

      Jean: send those chili to me! haha.

      Reply
  • March 28, 2016 at 7:19 pm
    Permalink

    wow, your garden is really impressive! respect all the work and care you’ve poured into it!

    Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 11:38 am
      Permalink

      Sean: now we’re gonna make it better!

      Reply
  • March 28, 2016 at 10:52 pm
    Permalink

    I think this is wonderful, and your photos are lovely! Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada. 🙂

    Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 11:39 am
      Permalink

      Linda: and even warmer greetings from KL!

      Reply
  • March 29, 2016 at 2:01 am
    Permalink

    Fuyoh impressive!!! Everything i have tried to plant has gone to botanic heaven 😢

    Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 6:30 am
      Permalink

      LOL @ botanic heaven

      Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 11:39 am
      Permalink

      Kimberly: you need the water timer!

      Reply
  • March 29, 2016 at 6:33 am
    Permalink

    wahhh… now we know where uncle get all his healthy vege fix after out hunting and eating so much MSG ROFL

    Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 11:39 am
      Permalink

      immature: shhh, that’s my secret!

      Reply
  • March 29, 2016 at 12:41 pm
    Permalink

    Wah, I can see a big bush of rosemary growing so well. You’ve got all the herbs you need if and whenever you want to cook. By the way, does your homegrown vegetables taste the same as bought ones? My mom used to grow kai lan and she’d usually pass me some but I have to say, taste-wise, is nothing like the bought ones.

    Reply
    • March 29, 2016 at 4:36 pm
      Permalink

      eatwhateatwhere: to be honest it’s not always better, sometimes it turns out bitter, like in the case of our lettuce, probably due to weather or we could use more watering. Overall though you know it’s very safe to eat!

      Reply
    • April 12, 2016 at 1:38 pm
      Permalink

      Baby Sumo: come, new version soon!

      Reply
  • May 25, 2016 at 10:03 am
    Permalink

    Thriving garden! may i know where u get ur seeds, composts n stuffs? Thanks!

    Reply
    • May 26, 2016 at 9:04 pm
      Permalink

      Joyce: usually sungai buloh #51, or Delima Tani for the herbs.

      Reply
  • October 21, 2016 at 3:53 pm
    Permalink

    can we grow corriander in malaysia?

    Reply
  • Pingback:KY Garden Revamp Part 1 – Design, Pathways, Irrigation – JHedzWorlD – My Blog

  • November 15, 2016 at 11:12 am
    Permalink

    KY: To me what you have done is very impressive. Last six months have been toying with similar idea as I have a substantial size of land next to my house.

    Reply
    • November 15, 2016 at 1:28 pm
      Permalink

      Mganan: you should definitely do it! I’ll update the other parts soon so hopefully that may help you get some ideas on how we did it.

      Reply
  • January 23, 2017 at 2:55 pm
    Permalink

    Nice information. Thank you for sharing.

    Please welcome to my website about honey lowering calories.

    Reply
  • January 28, 2017 at 7:18 pm
    Permalink

    KY, I’ve been trying to propagate rosemary but always fail. It doesn’t take root if soaked in water (changed regularly) or using rooting powder. Can the plant take full blast of the sun?

    Reply
    • January 30, 2017 at 12:33 pm
      Permalink

      Kevin: It doesn’t like to be soaked at all and I find moderate sun is good for it, under a bit of shade is perfect.

      Reply
  • February 1, 2017 at 4:50 pm
    Permalink

    Hi…
    May i know How do you keep the aphids away from the plants by using organic method ?
    Tq

    Reply
    • February 3, 2017 at 12:34 pm
      Permalink

      Salmah: a mix of lemongrass and onion MAY work, when all else fail then those “organic” insect repellent thingy at market may be an option too.

      Reply
  • March 29, 2017 at 9:07 pm
    Permalink

    Hi. I am visiting KL next week and wondered where I can buy vegetables and plants plugs to take with me to the UK.
    I would appreciate your help.
    Abdel

    Reply
    • March 30, 2017 at 2:37 pm
      Permalink

      Abdel: You can buy them at many nurseries in Klang Valley & around KL but do beware there may be restrictions to import seeds/living plants to your country.

      Reply
  • March 30, 2017 at 3:43 pm
    Permalink

    Thank you ever so much KY. I hope it is easy to get to Klang Valley from KLCC. I will stay for one week from 01/04 and this is my first visit to Malaysia. Transportation won’t be a problem as I already done it a few times before. Thanks again and have a nice day. Abdel.

    Reply
    • March 30, 2017 at 4:16 pm
      Permalink

      Abdel: well klang valley is the metropolitan area which includes also KL. For nurseries the best place would be at Sungai Buloh, you can use Uber to get there quite easily.

      Reply
      • March 31, 2017 at 1:41 pm
        Permalink

        Thank you ever so much for your help.

        Reply
  • June 18, 2017 at 8:17 am
    Permalink

    Whatbplants grow the fastest,because my scholl project is to plant something within 5 months…

    Reply
    • June 19, 2017 at 11:09 am
      Permalink

      Joanne Yee: actually most leafy greens or any plants which isn’t a tree should grow well in those timespan, such as okra.

      Reply
  • December 14, 2017 at 6:59 pm
    Permalink

    Hello! Really nice array of plants you have there! I have a question, not sure if you’ll be able to help me: I planted bayam in a pot twice, the first time it grew well albeit much much smaller then the commercial kind but it tasted good. The second time I planted it, white lines appeared on the leaves and the leaves turned yellow and fell off, killing the plants. After a few months I tried planting nai bai (bok choy) and the same thing happened. Have you experience this before and if so, what did you do to help it? I’d appreciate any advice

    Reply
    • December 15, 2017 at 11:22 am
      Permalink

      A.M: Thaat seems like some disease/parasite. I’m not quite sure what’ll be the best remedy, didn’t experience this before either. Best of luck!

      Reply
  • August 3, 2018 at 11:08 am
    Permalink

    You have such a wide array of plants. Can you share what soil is best for planting vegetables in pots? I use Baba potting mix but my plants are not that healthy looking.

    Reply
    • August 3, 2018 at 2:14 pm
      Permalink

      OngPS: I think Baba potting mix is fine, you probably want to look at the sunlight & water requirements, each type of plant maybe different.

      Reply
  • October 6, 2018 at 10:15 am
    Permalink

    Hey KY. Thank you for the wonderful pics and sharing. I am thinking to plant some kale in my backyard too but I’m just wondering the temperature here might not suitable for it to grow.

    Where do you grow your kale? Any tips for growing the kale is greatly appreciated. Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • October 8, 2018 at 7:59 am
      Permalink

      Leslie: Ahh, I’m not sure if Kale is feasible in Malaysia but I think you may need to have a clear shade to avoid these crazy rains.

      Reply
      • November 11, 2019 at 3:18 pm
        Permalink

        Hi
        I am trying to grow some pegaga and bought a bunch at NSK. However, their roots had been chopped off. Am wondering whether soaking in water can help to coax them to grow roots? Your thoughts? Thanks.

        Reply
        • November 11, 2019 at 3:28 pm
          Permalink

          Kathryn: You can find pegaga in sungai buloh & other nursery, would be much easier. Not sure if without roots it’ll grow or not.

          Reply
  • March 31, 2020 at 1:42 am
    Permalink

    I’ve tried planting plants like chilli, it was all good until the growth is stunt, leaves turn curly, no more fruiting. I managed to find the culprit behind this and it was the work of the pests (aphids), I did some online research, found ways to counter it and a few weeks ltr my chilli plant is blooming again!
    Try to check for pests infestation!

    Reply
    • March 31, 2020 at 11:46 am
      Permalink

      haiping: that’s great to hear! Yah, I shall. My last failure was due to soil being too wet.

      Reply
  • June 2, 2020 at 11:02 am
    Permalink

    Hi!! I am so excited reading this as i Also plan to set up an edible garden. But i am just too confused on how to start doing it.
    Have you completed the renovation of your farm? If you do, please share some photos. Thank you

    Reply
    • June 2, 2020 at 11:05 am
      Permalink

      Sherly: it’ll never be completed, hahaa. it does however, looks a lot different from what it is now.

      Reply
    • June 27, 2020 at 9:17 am
      Permalink

      Hi, can I visit your garden and get some advice on the type of plants and where they should be planted, like more sun or less sun or more water or covered etc.

      Reply
      • June 27, 2020 at 11:42 am
        Permalink

        Roslan: haha thanks for the compliment, currently it is very very different from this post so I guess it’s not relevant. I’m still trying to learn and improve myself.

        Reply
  • Pingback:Making Use of Our Extra Land at KEN Rimba Home – KYspeaks

Leave a Reply to OngPS Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *