I have just published a book entitled A Guide for Independent-Minded Scientists. This is available free of charge from the website of FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia). I am sorry to say that the FRIM website is very badly designed. You need to select from the menu: Publications, then New Books, then Other Publications, then E Book to finally get to my book. You can then download it.  Be patient and you may find this book worth your trouble especially if you are from a developing country. There are many books about science but I know of none written by a scientist from a developin ..read more

Another review of  Tropical Forest Scientist, just published in the journal Huntia, Huntia 17(2) 2019 pp158-159. Ng, Francis S. P. Tropical Forest Scientist: Francis S. P. Ng & FRIM, 1964–1991. Kepong, Kuala Lumpur: Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 2018. 200 p., ill., maps, port. (some col.). $18.00 (US) plus postage. ISBN 978-967-2149-07-1 (paperback). Available from Forest Research Institute Malaysia  Francis S. P. Ng spent 27 years of his career at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). Following Malayan independence from British rule in 1957, it took eig ..read more

This book was published three weeks ago and the first reviews are in. " I spent roughly 17 hours reading it and making sure I understood every sentence. It was not tiring or tedious because the content was riveting" " I started reading it during lunch time. I found it hard to put down even when lunch break was over." " I have finished reading the book. It was a breathless story." " I told Tan Sri ..... about your book and he is most interested to buy a copy" " I gave your book to Dato....  He has finished reading it and liked it a lot. He thought the book was very interesting and dif ..read more

The Malaysian climate is so uniform that every day is like every other day. The temperature and humidity are the same throughout the year. The day length in December and July differs by less than 30 minutes. There is no distinct annual dry season. Without seasons, we cannot tell by our senses which month of the year we are in. Trees cannot tell either.  There is no annual predictable flowering season in Malaysia. My avocado trees in Kuala Lumpur flower periodically but there is no way to predict when flowering will occur. The period between flowering events may be as short as 2 months or ..read more

Trees are not known to feed on insects, but some flowers are known to poison and kill the insects that take their pollen. The African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata is a tree with insect-killing flowers. Their victims are pollen-collecting stingless bees.    The theory proposed to explain this behaviour is that the African tulip tree has evolved to favour pollination by birds. Birds visit the flowers to take the sweet nectar at the base of the corolla cup. In the process, their backs get dusted with pollen, which they carry to the next flower. To reserve the pollen for the birds ..read more

Descriptions of Amorphophallus have always emphasized that the leaves emerge from its corm one at a time, with a leafless resting period between leaves. This description is technically incorrect because it goes against the fundamental theory in plant morphology that leaves are lateral organs that arise from the side of a shoot. A shoot grows out of a bud and consists of a central stem bearing leaves on its sides (i.e. laterally) and terminating in an apical bud. Leaves cannot come straight out of a corm without being part of a shoot. The mystery was resolved in the Secret Garden of 1 Utam ..read more

The number of visitors at the Secret Garden on Hari Raya Sunday was 822. The total for the 4-day holiday period was 2478. The breakdown is as follows: 24 June:  449 25 June:  822 26 June:  592 27 June:  616. Total: 2478 . The normal average is 300 per day. What is the reason for the surge in numbers? Could it be due to  outstation visitors coming to KL for the long holidays?  At MPH, Popular and Borders, the sections on gardening have shrunk or disappeared. This indicates that the demand for garden books has dropped sharply, perhaps due to increase in condomini ..read more

My gardener recently applied foliar fertiliser to the shade garden of the Secret Garden of 1 Utama and we were amazed by the improvement in the plants. The leaves grew larger and more colourful after two applications, once a week. Previously we applied granular organic ferlilisers on to the soil below the leaves. This was very difficult to do without trampling on the plants ..read more

In the tropics it is possible to make an ever-flowering garden using ever-flowering plants. Among the most spectacular of such plants are 20 species of ever-flowering climbers. These are  described and illustrated in the December 2016 issue of the UTAR Agriculture Science Journal that can be obtained by logging into http://uasj.utar.edu.my All these climbers may be viewed at the Secret Garden of 1 Utama in Kuala Lumpur except for the stephanotis which died last month. To my regret I failed to propagate it when I had the chance. Now I have to hunt for another plant. Last week I removed th ..read more

Biochar is charcoal used to improve the quality of soil for growing plants. Biochar particles mixed into soil will make the soil loose and friable for better water and air penetration To be effective the particles should be 1 - 10 mm diameter. In the Secret Garden of 1 Utama, I mix biochar with soil in equal proportions and top up from time to time with pure biochar. We buy biochar by the tonne. Biochar is now available in small packets for  home gardeners, labelled as Horticultural Biochar Mulch. Supplies can be purchased on line at http://shop.serbajadi.com.my/biochar Those intereste ..read more