Thanks Bill. As an ethnobotany student and not being able to get out and see some real gardens this little tour of yours was enjoyable. Your light humor and personality made this fun during a tough time. Thanks
Nice weather now but we had 6 days of non stop rain just ahead of it. How does 77"of rain in just two weeks sound? It is about time the sun came out! Aloha
@@XxDuhBirdsxX I hope it's clouds not smoke. California, Mexico and the Amazon burned last year. This year it's Australia. Good thing Antarctica is fire proof for now. We be rescuing penguins.
At the moment its luckily just clouds, the air quality has been better for the past week, i think its because we had some good rain lately and the fire has settled down a bit for now. I enjoy hot weather and in general the temperature has been disappointing but its better for controlling the fires so i cant complain. You recieved 77 inchs off rain in 2 weeks WOW i guess you dont have to water the garden this week ha ha. Cheers mate👍
@@XxDuhBirdsxX Part of Hawaii can easily burn but the Puna/ Hilo districts are generally too wet and green for a good burn. Watering a garden around here is something that happens once every 50 years or so.
Bill Merrill I happened across you a couple weeks ago daydreaming about where to visit now that I retired. What a treat! Loved your property tours. Few are as knowledgeable about growing in Puna. You must grow a couple hundred varieties of plants, trees and crops. Keep the videos coming. We farmer types love them!
I grow many crops that thrive here and we like to eat. I grow a few others that can be a problem but we like them too. Most of the rest that I don't care to eat are the mother plants for my nursery selection. Many things I don't really care for are popular with other people. Growing crops in Hawaii is often easier than you can image but harder than you would believe! It all depends on what you want to grow. Aloha
Great walk through the garden. You are 100% right, if it can be grown, it can be grown in Hawaii. I have tried potatoes myself and can only grow them every other year for some reason. Great video!
Maybe you are catching a drier weather pattern with the spuds. They seem to get the same diseases as tomatoes here. The blights are always worse in wet weather.
I use blueberries from Florida and the Gulf coast. These are the lowest chill possible. We get by the chill by cutting the plants in two after fruiting and then add a soft nitrogen fertilizer. The pruning and feeding tricks the plants into thinking they had a rest. At times i have pushed 3 crops in one year out of the poor things. One of these days they will just lay down and die from exhaustion! Rain, birds and figs do not mix. The rain and birds in CA were bad enough on figs. There I got 16"of rain a year. Here I get 150" per year. The mold and rot on figs would be more trouble than it is worth here.
You will find my videos detail growing in Hawaii better than Seattle but Puna conditions are quite different from most on Oahu. It rains a lot here and we are high up the mountain so the air is cool most all the time. Hawaii has 9 of the 11 climatic bands existing on earth. It is hard to imagine a more diverse growing environment. Aloha
Southern gardner here, tomatoes, melons, beans, peas, squash , blackberries, are these good to grow around Kona at the lower elevations, great channel !
All of these are trouble on the east side. Beans get rust and nematodes. Tomatoes pick up several different blights and nematodes. Pea get enation virus and powdery mildew. Most squash go down to the pickle worm. Black berries are bird food. They grow and fruit but I have never managed to get a ripe one past the birds. Citrus, taro, Yacon, dragon fruit and pineapples are much better on this side of the Island. Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli do well here but lettuce must be protected from rat lung worm.
A tree in Volcano, that looks like a plum, or something? I'm afraid that is too non-specific to have an opinion on. Photos of fruit, flowers bark, leave & twigs would be required in order to ID a plant. Sometimes an exact location helps.
GreenGardenGuy1 awesome! Thanks for the reply. I’m in Kamuela on the wet side. I was searching for videos like yours because I’d like to start my own family nursery. Thinking a lot about palms lately.
@@jondill6024 You certainly have company here with palms. Lots of palm lovers here and a society. Our native Pritchardia palms could use a boost. They have become rare.
Bill, have you tried growing jujube? They range from cherry to medium plum sized, with a single pit in the middle. Flesh is crisp like an apple (at least for the better cultivars- some are bred for drying), but slightly dryer than most apples. Brix is in the 20-30 range, much sweeter than apple. One big positive is that very little seems to bother them- they can be grown in my area (Northeast) with no sprays, unlike most other tree fruits. The big problem I have is that they need a lot of sun to be productive, so I try to put them in spots with almost no obstructions and they still take quite a while to get going, while I've heard that in Vegas and CA they are almost immediately pumping out fruit. You get more rain than me, but since you are closer to the equator, I suspect that you also have more sun due to longer days and a higher sun angle .
You are right, one year trees will often produce some fruit. I had a collection of them in California but sold them. I do not find the fruit appealing. I usually only grow what I like to eat unless there is real profit motive in it.
Thanks for the good insights, Bill. What kind of soil temps do you have on your farm? Do you find that most of your plants slow down in the winter and gain more vigor in the spring?
I don't own a soil thermometer so I really don't have exact numbers. I suspect the winter soil drops into the 60's and the summer soil is in the 70's. Strange you should ask, I was planning to do seasons as my next video. The higher up you go on the mountain the greater the variation from winter to summer in temp and plant growth.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I had a banana in a container all winter in the greenhouse, sitting on the part with dirt floor, with soil temps around 50F, and it didn't put out a new leaf for months. I moved it a week ago to my heated concrete slab, which is usually around 70-75F and the banana sprung back to life 3 days later with a big new leaf coming out. Air temps were roughly the same for both situations since I have fans moving air around. I think if I can mimic your soil temps more closely, I might be able to successfully grow almost any seeds you send me.
@@bjohnson2003 Soil temp is very important. Tolerant banana types will put up with being slowed by cold but none like it. They make one leaf a week if the weather is warm. I used heater mats with thermostats in CA
You are definitely living a in vegetable paradise. I saw on the other video about living in Hawaii, they said the reverse. So.. I want to go to Hawaii and I miss those fruits and vegetables. I listened further to you and thank you, you just don't just know about planting fruits and vegetable but I am impressed with the information you talked about the weather changes of the Hawaiian Islands.
I can't make heads or tails out of this comment. Statements I made about growing things here have no particular direction so I have no clue what a reverse point of view might be. You seem to complement me but then declare I don't know what I am talking about with this comment "you just don't just know about planting fruits and vegetables but you are impressed with the information I talked about." I have been busy in the garden for well over 50 years, ran the oldest and most well respected nursery in the CA Bay Area for years and have a degree in horticulture. I generally figure I know what I am talking about or I keep my mouth shut. If you ask 10 different experts the same question you may get ten different answers, all of them right depending on point of view. Ask 10 different amateur's the same question and it is more likely the answers will align more closely but most likely be incorrect.
Hey bill great video, wondering if you youre Still doing the kava and if so what type do you have and can you give me some tips? Im hoping to get my own started soon, im on the big island too.
I have lost track of the proper name. Most of the real Kava guys here can tell by looking at it but they all seem to have different opinions. I still have the single mother plant. It is doing fine. I haven't made cuttings for a few years but I might this summer.
Very poorly. The elevation is too high for most types. I once heard that there may be one type that does fruit this high up but never located one. Coconut grow best here below 500 foot elevation. They are wild at the shores. This is where they are best suited. With one side of the roots in sea water for minerals they seem very happy. I get mineral problems with them up here and use fertilizers to combat it. The one ones I would ever consider planting are the dwarfs and they do even worse up here. Coconut is a liability here. You have to keep the nuts cleaned off or they fall and break your head. They have almost no market value so they are only useful as a home crop and to feed chickens.
I wish I knew. I have tried 7 different types and none have a photoperiod for the tropic of cancer. They green up but fail to bulb. I hear rumors that the Thai have a different species that grow in tropics but so far no one has offered up material, only rumors.
@@luvlion2617 Garlic that did "nothing" for a year would have to be dead. What usually happens here is the plant grows well, greens up, but when it comes time to bulb dies back instead.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ok. That makes sense.. we grow some coffee, i have a greenhouse for my cucumbers . We have some banana, mango, lemons and avos trees on property. Few citrus, cocunut.. however not many mature .. i enjoy watching all your videos, I am still new to farming, gardening etc.. only 3-4 years maybe.. garden beds, i grow more eggplant, peppers and beans, snap peas etc . Hopefully taro and sweet potato in the future..
@@luvlion2617 For onions and garlic here try using chives, garlic chives, leeks, perennial scallions like Koba and short day bulbing onions. They all do well. I'll be planting sweet bulb onions today.
Aloha Bill from MI. I do know that yes it is the only place you can go from snowboarding on a mountain to a tropical beach in a relatively short distance. Also rainforest on one side and desert or semi desert on the other. Insane the dynamics of Hawaii.
Nope, I'm in Mountain View. The main producer of Ceylon Cinnamon trees on the Island is 4 miles down the road from here in Kurtistown, Plant it Hawaii. I have one of their trees in my field but it is still too young for propagation. Sometimes I grow the Cassia Cinnamon but have no production at the moment. Check stock at Paradise Plants, they stock Plant it Hawaii stuff.
What are a few of the higher rainfall and elevation crops you would recommend? I will be growing in Lehuanani/Glenwood area approximately 2300' elevation and 220" of rainfall per year. The rain data was taken from climate.geography.hawaii.edu/interactivemap.html The link is a pretty neat interactive map that you can pull a variety of modeled data from. Thank you for the hard work you put in and the informative videos!
Much of that area has some soil so row crops are possible. Cole crops like water and cool weather. Good market for cabbage, kale, broccoli etc. Coffee will grow there as well as taro and vanilla. Lilikoi and limes are also possible. With that much rain fish and ducks will thrive.
Hi Bill I also live on the same Island & I'm currently attempting to chit the following two varieties of certified seed potatoes, that i want to plant them in three 7 gal containers: huckleberry gold & purple majesty, any tips for growing potatoes sucessfully in containers on our Island would be greatly appreciated; I'm trying to follow thesimplyfygardeners methods, but he's somewhere in the UK. I've tried unsucessfuly before with Adirondack blue potatoes I chitted & they either rotted away & literally dissappeared after the 1st watering ; i'm thinking maybe the snails got through the drainage holes & ate them!
Of course, as you know, same Island can still be a lot of different climate conditions. I live in Puna and it's wet. Wet fosters diseases that can eat potatoes alive. If your in one of those locations where tomato is pretty easy then potato may also have a chance. Here tomato is difficult to say the least and potato is impossible. The local diseases kill them in short order. I can only see two solutions for potato here. Use a constant application of fungicides or do your home work and see if some one has bred a special potato that tolerates tropical diseases. Potatoes are a mountain crop. They don't take low land tropics. The sweet potato made it here from south America around 500 years ago. If they brought the common spud too there is no evidence it survived. Hawaii is for kalo, ulu and sweet potato but the spud is a dud here.
The vanilla bean we use in food is worthless for propagation. The pods are picked before seed is ripe and the curing process leaves then dead. Vanilla orchid seed is like dust & requires lab conditions to grow. Vanilla farms use cuttings to produce the crop, not seeds.
Aphid multiply rapidly and are farmed by the ants for sugar. This makes them difficult. On the bright side, they are easy to kill. Water is a good staring point. Oil sprays, soap sprays and other organic materials will kill them. Keep them out of trees with Tangle Foot. This will stop the ants from farming. High pressure jets of water will clean them off tree stems.
No, the pickle worm is a terror here. IF you use protection and prevention it can be done. Farmers using insecticides find watermelons to be a crop in drier areas. I've grown them with row cover here.
Howzit Bill! Just thinking about starting to grow some cucumbers here above Kealakekua bay at about 1750 elevation and came across your video about what grows here. You mentioned your pickle worm problem. Can you please reiterate how you solved that issue! Aloha brother!
Two possible ways. Either a constant insecticide program like bacterial BT or use a parthnocarpic cucumber under complete exclusion. I like the parthenocarpic approach. ua-cam.com/video/v60q9g4Cblo/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/a_8_8F8MPYI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/y66gIIW-Cbs/v-deo.html There are also some parthenocarpic Zucchini.
I cant lie, I wanna meet ya Bill. Do things grow "seasonally"? Or can I start a rotating crop outside? May be a stupid question, Ive asked them before.
The Big Island has 9 out of the 11 climatic zones existing on Earth. With a short drive you can get heat stroke and frost bite in the same day. With this in mind, what you can do agriculturally here depends on where you live. Speaking for my sight some crops will grow back to back while others are more seasonal. Lettuce is year round as well as beans and corn. Most peppers, tomatoes and cucumber have their seasons. Each crop will react differently in various locations.
Bill, Ive got blue and red jade vines growing on my property. Any tips or insights you might have on these rare vines? I sell the seed pods and they sell extremely well. And they all seem to sprout easily.🦎🦎🦎
Nope, sorry. I do not raise this plant and have little information on cultivation. It sounds like you're doing fine if you have raised a market for the seed. One thing leads to another. I started collecting a few garden seeds and ended up with a small seed company.
I noticed that your tangerines are orange. At 1600ft do they change color? Isn't 120" inches of rainfall too wet for plants like Rosemary? I mean, it's one thing to have just Orchids and another to have Rosemary too. I have around 80" of precipitation and I live in the tropical low lands (in India). Soil does rain away pretty fast but we have a monsoon that brings quite a lot of rain for 4-5 months with occasional breaks in between, will rosemary survive that?
Tangerines naturally have an orange color when near ripe. Some of my varieties ripen at this time of year. I live at 1600 feet elevation. Oranges are a bit more difficult than tangerines to develop color in the tropics. Rosemary usually likes drier weather but it does fine here. If it was too wet it would not grow. I grew Rosemary in California with 16"of rain and in Hawaii with 120"of rain. It grows in bother places.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you :) . I didn't know that. I live just 400ft above sea level and I have a mandarin planted. Hope it fruits right for me. How hot does it get there? Here it gets to around 92*F to 98*F max and never hotter than that. It can go down to 60*F s at night during winter time (sometimes to mid 40s if it's a colder year like it was in 2019, last year was a bit freaky, grape vines went dormant here - they naturally don't). Do you think it is my heat that will kill my rosemary plant? Also with that much rain, how well does spring onions (welsh onions, allium fistulosum) and other alliums do? Will they rot?
Ejaz Asraf Put some egg shells at the base of your trees, this will encourage fruit. I usually wash them and bake them till crispy (10 minutes ) and mash them up with a hammer. It promotes better flowering. 🍊🍊🍊🍊
Hi Bill, If you were planning to visit Australia in 2020, depending on when you might come, there are apart from quite a number of sights to see, 2 small farm field days that might interest you. The better one, (approximately 3 hour drive from my house) Balingup town small farm field day, is on fairly soon, Saturday 18th April, is in the picturesque south west of Western Australia. The other one which is closer to home, (1 hour drive) Gidgegannup small farm field day is on Sunday 24th May. I live in Leederville an inner city suburb of Perth, there are a lot of different variety of restaurants here in Leederville from Spanish, Thai, Indian, Iraqi, Mexican, Vietnamese or a good Irish pub with excellent pub food Guiness stout and different beers. I live about 20 minutes drive by car from an excellent beach and 30 minutes from the port city of Fremantle, where you can get very good fish and chips and on Sundays outdoor entertainment and pubs. I can certainly show you around. Accomodation, because I still have some minor renovations to do if you wanted to stay at my place you could, but would have to put up with sleeping in the loungeroom which is quite safe and comfortable. If you had plenty of time and really wanted to see the country properly, a trip up the great northern highway to Broome in the Kimberleys or to Esperance on the south east coast would be good, especially the latter. Either way should see a lot of kangaroos, wild dogs, maybe dingoes and wedge tailed eagles (all road kill).
Well thank you. If I decide to head down under i will certainly look you up. All sounds great. Beach, Beaches & Babes? No wait a minute that's Beer, Beaches and Kangaroos. Probably better that way, Ellen hates it when I check out the women.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I rarely go to the beach, but they are as good as anywhere in the world, used to take our dog to the dog beach, haha. Beach babes, yeah but I need to be 40 years younger, haha. As for kangaroos, I don't eat much meat, myself, but if cooked the right way, kangaroo which is a very lean meat can be as good as the best beef steak. The problem is kangaroo meat is expensive but should be cheaper and there should be an industry dedicated to farming it, as is done with other farmed livestock, after all there are over 45 million kangaroos, compared to 25 million people in Australia. Camel and emu likewise could be farmed for meat. I might cop flack from the Green's, for those views, and I attended some "Green" events with a lady friend a few years ago where all the food was vegan, but most people will always want to eat meat. When I went to the Northern Territory in 2008 with the wife, we happened to visit an orchid nursery and it was impressive, though I'm not into flowers. My wife used to like roses, but I'm not keen on thorny plants. If you visit, the local Irish pub is a must visit and good for a beer or maybe other alcohol. I like a red wine as much as a beer, but for health reasons don't have alcohol that often. Ciao for now.
@@johnmanera4097 I really like beer but these days I get gout if I drink too much of it. Still enjoy it but moderation is the key. Sometimes I wonder if moderation isn't over rated though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I like a beer too. When I went to Tasmania a couple of months ago I sampled a beer maybe every second night, a pint is enough these days, although I may have had 2 pints a couple of years ago with my son, but locally. Of course there are a lot of Aussie beer varieties alone. I was only in Tasmania for a week.
@@johnmanera4097 I used to brew when I lived in the Midwestern USA. These days I let the brewers do it for me but still enjoy the stuff. There is a favorite theory that states civilization came to Northern Europe because of beer. I'll have to do a show on that some day.
There are a LOT of native plants to Hawaii I am learning. Your video explains why. What I don't know at all about is since it is a volcanic island, what is the dirt made out of and how deep is it, and how does that affect plant life? Are there deep root plants or are they all mostly surface plants with shallow roots. I am guessing with all those plants the soil must be as rich as can dreamed of, but what about the minerals of the dirt? Where does the dirt even come from, is it just ground up volcano? Is that a mineral rich source? Does C&H still have sugar crops there? Does Dole still have pineapple crops there? Are there other crops of food for the locals and the mainland? Can you tell I am working on a lesson on Hawaiian plants?
Since you are working on an assignment then maybe I should just let you google all this so you can take credit for the work. No point in me getting an A on your paper. Dirt is what we sweep from the floor, soil is what covers the earth. All soil in Hawaii is derived from volcanic activity originally. Most of the best is made of deep volcanic ash and it is called andisol. There is soil to a lesser extent created by the erosion of A'a, Pahoehoe and basalt. This layer is nearly worthless on the Big Island because it is too thin. In a few places we actually have a bit of sandy loam created during the last Ice Age. As far as depth is concerned there is no standard. 1" to over 20 feet. I have 16 feet of ash, my neighbor has 1 1/2' and the guys around the corner have zero. It is blue basalt to the surface. How the plants react depends on the plant. Somethings struggle here and others thrive. Nothing grows deep here. The rainfall is too high. Moisture and nutrients are most abundant on the surface so the roots grow there. This is true in areas of the state with 60 to 320 inches of rain. Kohala has only 6" a year so plants tend to root more deeply. C&H left Hawaii a number of years ago. Dole also left Hawaii except for a tiny patch on Oahu so they can sell HI pineapples to tourists. Main crops for export here are Macnuts, coffee and papaya. For the local market a huge variety of stuff is grown. What ever grows at a profit is produced here but nothing is enough to eliminate imports. Hawaii would have a bare bones diet without California.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Wow, just in time! I just got finished transcribing your video. No worries about cheating, I am the teacher doing the lesson. It's a student requested lesson, so I was starting from scratch and overwhelmed by the plant life abundance there. Your video and this answer are godsends. Thanks so much for all your information. A bunch of kids are about to hear it on the mainland in about 2 hours.
@@TheRadioAteMyTV Hawaii is very different from the Mainland when it comes to land, environment, and crops. The most significant difference is the culture though. We do not make politics from virus here. Our Lieutenant Governor is a Doctor. We do not protest masks here or run around in the streets with guns. We protect the kapuna here and tend to follow rules when required. Hawaii is pretty much the opposite of some of the Mainland states. We have a culture of respect and acceptance here. Folks in the other 49 states could learn a thing or two about living together from this Island.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I appreciate your farming knowledge it is great. As for saying stuff isn't political, that just means no one is allowed to argue against it. No worries though, they are shutting down debate everywhere on the mainland now, soon everyone will agree here too, or else cancellation. Yep, nothing political anymore, everyone agrees or starves. America has changed for sure. Though none of that seems respectful or anywhere near accepting, outside of Orwell's definitions of course.
@@TheRadioAteMyTV Acceptance is a state of mind. IF people find life unacceptable then ask me if I care. Not my problem. I make my life acceptable to me. I can't expect anyone else to understand what I need.
I have been searching but not finding much in the the way of what will grow at 3000 feet. We have a place near Volcano and would like to plant some fruit & veggies.
3000 feet is Hawaii zone 1, cool tropical. That is cloud forest, it generally rains like crazy. 200 inches is typical. Most of the same stuff they grow in Volcano at 4000 feet grows at 3000. Volcano is just drier and a bit cooler. A few low chill temperate fruits are worth a try. The hardier tropicals like avocado and banana could be grown. Most garden vegetables will grow if you have the right variety and protect from pests.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I really want blueberries and those should be ok but I would also like to try white pineapple. Do you think that would work or too cold?
@@eileenflynn3587 I live at 1680 and both pineapple and blueberry grow fine here. Blueberry would be fine at 3000 feet. Pineapple is questionable. I have never conversed with anyone growing them that high up. You would have to plant and find out what happens. Blueberry has one major issue here, birds eat everything.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ok, good to know....I made a note about the bird issue. We had to net the blueberry bushes in Maine, cherries too or the birds would clean them out. I'm glad to hear bananas are a possibility. Our property is in Royal Hawaiian Est. Always good to have an idea of what we will be up against before we buy anything. Thank you for your input, much appreciated!!
@@eileenflynn3587 Royal Hawaiian Estates is a pretty wet and cool area. It sits in the cloud forest zone of Kilauea Volcano. The weather isn't typical of the Islands and not for everyone. As for the birds, the Japanese White Eye can make it through 1" netting to eat berries. I have given up hope at controlling them without a closed hoop house.
With 9 out of the 11 bands of climate on earth represented in a single Island I suspect somewhere in Hawaii the tree will grow. I have never seen one but we do see western White Pine and Japanese Black at elevations here. Importing things here isn't always a great idea though. Some imports have become big time trouble. I tend to stick with what is already here that doesn't seem to cause problems.
At higher elevation. The plant likes it cool and moist. Getting the cuttings is hard and expensive. Marketing fresh wasabi is more difficult that growing it. Only the most high end sushi chefs use the stuff. We have dozens of sushi houses in Hilo but no one uses it. Most Americans are ignorant to it's existence. They only know the powered horseradish stuff. I have only eaten fresh wasabi once and found it excellent.
Teff is an annual grass from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a rather dry climate, much of Hawaii is wet. Raising cereal grains here is nearly impossible. The seeds either sprout on the plant, rot or get eaten by the birds. I sometimes raise grinding corn here and actually have to use a dehydrator on the harvest. The west side of Hawaii maybe dry enough for Teff in spots. The east is a lost cause. As for pomegranate the trees will grow here but the fruit usually splits in the rain and molds. There are plenty of trees here but i have never seen a piece of edible fruit. Kona side could be better because the climate is seasonally dry.
Don't forget mountain apple, chiko or sapodila, strawberry guava and ulu or bread fruits are grow in my yard in hawaii still spread Aloha 🙋🏻🌺 from me how rich hawaii😍😍😍
I have mountain apple and I approve of it's rapid fruiting time and good yield. I sell a lot of the trees in my nursery. As a food item I find it insipid but if others like it then that is good. I've never checked but my body tells me it is kind of low food value. I have Chico Sapote trees and I love the fruit. I did not mention it because a 20 to 30 year wait for a crop isn't expedient for the kitchen. If you have old trees at fruiting age you are blessed. Strawberry guava is one of the worst weeds in Hawaii. I seldom promote weeds. Besides you do not have to grow it, the stuff will fruit off your truck tires if you don't drive much.
One thing I never do is tell others what they should be doing. If you have an issue with blackberries then I suggest that you never plant them. As for me, I love blackberries, manage the crop well and they are perfectly legal in Hawaii. You will find Natchez, the thorn less blackberry in almost every nursery in Hawaii. I am imagining your concern is over the Himalayan Black berry with it's wicked thorns. We do not grow that plant here. Cultivation is the key with growing this crop. You have to manage it as I have been for over 50 years now. Like the Coqui frog and the rat it is a bit too late to worry about berries here.
Sadly the covid thing is likely to get worse before it gets better. HI cases are in decline and they have allowed the Japanese tourists back in because they got a handle on the virus. The rest of the USA is terrible and getting worse fast. I now have some family infected. If you really want to get started I'd just get going covid or not.
@@thecatguy4301 My channel has been dead since the election. You are one of the only comments today. The election has stolen my garden channel! I think I'll have an election with vegetables today!
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Ya man. I'm 100% of the belief we gotta grow our own societal constructs and local economies starting with gardens. So I vote for gardens.
There is a lot of stuff that grows here that refuses to grow in the Mainland USA but many of the crops that were very important to me in the Midwest don't grow worth a darn here. What thrives, can't be stopped. What doesn't thrive is nearly impossible here.
I believe I heard about Kuffelcreek once before. My trees are doing well. Only one of them is at age for fruiting. In the past I get some fruit but I really have to fight the birds for it. I hope to see the best crop yet this year.
I think I identified your orange dragon fruit :) I found a user called "Kona fruit farm", who is also from the Big Island on tropicalfruitforums. His profile picture is an orange dragon fruit, so I went through his posts and he made a thread about the variety a while back. He called it "Big Frankie's red". tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=21628.msg263387#msg263387 I googled the variety and I found this nursery selling it: www.spicyexotics.com/product/frankies-red/ I suspect that your plants are F1 or F2 seedlings of this variety. Not only does the fruit look similar, you are both on the same island :D You were correct with your suspicion that it is a hybrid, it's S. megalanthus x H. polyrhizus
hi Bill,i am a big fan of you,i am fascinated and always learn a lot from your videos,i also have a gardening channel where i post videos from the things i grow here in Brazil,i love making videos but youtube never gets me any views,could you please help me by saying something about my channel in some of your videos ?,i could send you some different species of seeds from brazil in the future,and it would be a very nice exchange of knowledge,for both of us and the viewers,have a great day there !
I would begin by embedding your channel in as many social media sights and websites as you can find. The A.I. program at google/youtube likes me. I seem to give it what it wants so the algorithm keeps giving me a preferred status. The youtube A.I. loves people who change things around and constantly load up material. It loves activity. I'll have to check out your channel when I get a moment and see what your doing there in Brazil. I grow plenty of crops from your home here on the Island. Aloha
Ginseng is a northern hardwood forest plant. IT generally prefers glacial till, on slopes under mixed hardwood maple forests with a deep undisturbed layer of leaf mold. It needs a period of snowy winter dormancy. Hawaii isn't suitable for the herb. I did very well with it in Wisconsin.
Biggest pest for me in Hawaii are slugs and snails. They're ravenous and destroy my plants after weeks of growing. I pick them up with chopsticks and throw them in trash.
I use a 400,000 road tar flamer to prepare the ground from weeds slugs and bugs. I follow that with an application of a tropical formula of parafin coated slug bait. I wait a couple weeks for it to break down then I fertilize and plant. Most crops like lettuce and cabbage are out of the field and in the kitchen before the slugs return. I repeat this every time I plant so my crops are slug free. Slugs do poorly here because of my farming practices. Hard to find most of the time in the garden area.
Thanks Bill. As an ethnobotany student and not being able to get out and see some real gardens this little tour of yours was enjoyable. Your light humor and personality made this fun during a tough time. Thanks
The universe laughs, I just laugh with it. Aloha.
Hi Bill, your garden is amazing and the weather looks nice. Keep up the good work!🍍
Nice weather now but we had 6 days of non stop rain just ahead of it. How does 77"of rain in just two weeks sound? It is about time the sun came out! Aloha
Dear Bill, i live in Melbourne and its now summer and it feels like winter to me, the sun is hiding from us! Ha ha 😁
@@XxDuhBirdsxX I hope it's clouds not smoke. California, Mexico and the Amazon burned last year. This year it's Australia. Good thing Antarctica is fire proof for now. We be rescuing penguins.
At the moment its luckily just clouds, the air quality has been better for the past week, i think its because we had some good rain lately and the fire has settled down a bit for now. I enjoy hot weather and in general the temperature has been disappointing but its better for controlling the fires so i cant complain. You recieved 77 inchs off rain in 2 weeks WOW i guess you dont have to water the garden this week ha ha. Cheers mate👍
@@XxDuhBirdsxX Part of Hawaii can easily burn but the Puna/ Hilo districts are generally too wet and green for a good burn. Watering a garden around here is something that happens once every 50 years or so.
Bill Merrill I happened across you a couple weeks ago daydreaming about where to visit now that I retired. What a treat! Loved your property tours. Few are as knowledgeable about growing in Puna. You must grow a couple hundred varieties of plants, trees and crops. Keep the videos coming. We farmer types love them!
I grow many crops that thrive here and we like to eat. I grow a few others that can be a problem but we like them too. Most of the rest that I don't care to eat are the mother plants for my nursery selection. Many things I don't really care for are popular with other people. Growing crops in Hawaii is often easier than you can image but harder than you would believe! It all depends on what you want to grow. Aloha
Great walk through the garden. You are 100% right, if it can be grown, it can be grown in Hawaii. I have tried potatoes myself and can only grow them every other year for some reason. Great video!
Maybe you are catching a drier weather pattern with the spuds. They seem to get the same diseases as tomatoes here. The blights are always worse in wet weather.
I would have thought blueberries needed to go dormant and have some chill hours to fruit. Do you have any fig trees?
I use blueberries from Florida and the Gulf coast. These are the lowest chill possible. We get by the chill by cutting the plants in two after fruiting and then add a soft nitrogen fertilizer. The pruning and feeding tricks the plants into thinking they had a rest. At times i have pushed 3 crops in one year out of the poor things. One of these days they will just lay down and die from exhaustion!
Rain, birds and figs do not mix. The rain and birds in CA were bad enough on figs. There I got 16"of rain a year. Here I get 150" per year. The mold and rot on figs would be more trouble than it is worth here.
I just moved to Oahu, from Seattle. This was such an informative video. Thank you so much!!🤩
You will find my videos detail growing in Hawaii better than Seattle but Puna conditions are quite different from most on Oahu. It rains a lot here and we are high up the mountain so the air is cool most all the time. Hawaii has 9 of the 11 climatic bands existing on earth. It is hard to imagine a more diverse growing environment. Aloha
Southern gardner here, tomatoes, melons, beans, peas, squash , blackberries, are these good to grow around Kona at the lower elevations, great channel !
All of these are trouble on the east side. Beans get rust and nematodes. Tomatoes pick up several different blights and nematodes. Pea get enation virus and powdery mildew. Most squash go down to the pickle worm. Black berries are bird food. They grow and fruit but I have never managed to get a ripe one past the birds. Citrus, taro, Yacon, dragon fruit and pineapples are much better on this side of the Island. Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli do well here but lettuce must be protected from rat lung worm.
Thanks for this, Bill. Looking forward.
Glad you enjoyed the show.
Do you know what that tree is in volcano often people have that looks like a type of plum or something?
A tree in Volcano, that looks like a plum, or something? I'm afraid that is too non-specific to have an opinion on. Photos of fruit, flowers bark, leave & twigs would be required in order to ID a plant. Sometimes an exact location helps.
When you say plum I think Mume.
I would love to be like this when I retire. Amazing variety!!
I didn't start this when I retired, I just refused to quit even though I don't need the job.
GreenGardenGuy1 awesome! Thanks for the reply. I’m in Kamuela on the wet side. I was searching for videos like yours because I’d like to start my own family nursery. Thinking a lot about palms lately.
@@jondill6024 You certainly have company here with palms. Lots of palm lovers here and a society. Our native Pritchardia palms could use a boost. They have become rare.
Thank you for the great information and things to consider
Thanks for dropping by.
Thank you Bill! Good info
Glad it was helpful!
Good information. 👍
Glad you enjoyed it.
Bill, have you tried growing jujube? They range from cherry to medium plum sized, with a single pit in the middle. Flesh is crisp like an apple (at least for the better cultivars- some are bred for drying), but slightly dryer than most apples. Brix is in the 20-30 range, much sweeter than apple. One big positive is that very little seems to bother them- they can be grown in my area (Northeast) with no sprays, unlike most other tree fruits. The big problem I have is that they need a lot of sun to be productive, so I try to put them in spots with almost no obstructions and they still take quite a while to get going, while I've heard that in Vegas and CA they are almost immediately pumping out fruit. You get more rain than me, but since you are closer to the equator, I suspect that you also have more sun due to longer days and a higher sun angle .
You are right, one year trees will often produce some fruit. I had a collection of them in California but sold them. I do not find the fruit appealing. I usually only grow what I like to eat unless there is real profit motive in it.
Garden is looking great
I try not to show off the messy spots. Thanks for watching.
Helpful video, great info.
Thank you for the feed back. Lots of difference between growing here and in the rest of the US. Aloha
Very informative 😎👍
Glad you think so! I had fun making it. Aloha
Thanks for the good insights, Bill. What kind of soil temps do you have on your farm? Do you find that most of your plants slow down in the winter and gain more vigor in the spring?
I don't own a soil thermometer so I really don't have exact numbers. I suspect the winter soil drops into the 60's and the summer soil is in the 70's. Strange you should ask, I was planning to do seasons as my next video. The higher up you go on the mountain the greater the variation from winter to summer in temp and plant growth.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I had a banana in a container all winter in the greenhouse, sitting on the part with dirt floor, with soil temps around 50F, and it didn't put out a new leaf for months. I moved it a week ago to my heated concrete slab, which is usually around 70-75F and the banana sprung back to life 3 days later with a big new leaf coming out. Air temps were roughly the same for both situations since I have fans moving air around. I think if I can mimic your soil temps more closely, I might be able to successfully grow almost any seeds you send me.
@@bjohnson2003 Soil temp is very important. Tolerant banana types will put up with being slowed by cold but none like it. They make one leaf a week if the weather is warm. I used heater mats with thermostats in CA
You are definitely living a in vegetable paradise. I saw on the other video about living in Hawaii, they said the reverse. So.. I want to go to Hawaii and I miss those fruits and vegetables. I listened further to you and thank you, you just don't just know about planting fruits and vegetable but I am impressed with the information you talked about the weather changes of the Hawaiian Islands.
I can't make heads or tails out of this comment. Statements I made about growing things here have no particular direction so I have no clue what a reverse point of view might be. You seem to complement me but then declare I don't know what I am talking about with this comment "you just don't just know about planting fruits and vegetables but you are impressed with the information I talked about." I have been busy in the garden for well over 50 years, ran the oldest and most well respected nursery in the CA Bay Area for years and have a degree in horticulture. I generally figure I know what I am talking about or I keep my mouth shut. If you ask 10 different experts the same question you may get ten different answers, all of them right depending on point of view. Ask 10 different amateur's the same question and it is more likely the answers will align more closely but most likely be incorrect.
The garden guy. The legend.
Others make the legends, I just talk story while I still can.
Hey bill great video, wondering if you youre Still doing the kava and if so what type do you have and can you give me some tips?
Im hoping to get my own started soon, im on the big island too.
I have lost track of the proper name. Most of the real Kava guys here can tell by looking at it but they all seem to have different opinions. I still have the single mother plant. It is doing fine. I haven't made cuttings for a few years but I might this summer.
Do pomegranates grow in the Hana area ?
Pomegranate will grow over most of Hawaii but high rain fall areas often crack and rot the fruit. The dry sides of the Islands are the best locations.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thanks for the response
Love seeing the farm… thank you 🙏
You're welcome.
Hello, how would coconuts grow and produce in the fern forest/Puna area?
Very poorly. The elevation is too high for most types. I once heard that there may be one type that does fruit this high up but never located one. Coconut grow best here below 500 foot elevation. They are wild at the shores. This is where they are best suited. With one side of the roots in sea water for minerals they seem very happy. I get mineral problems with them up here and use fertilizers to combat it. The one ones I would ever consider planting are the dwarfs and they do even worse up here. Coconut is a liability here. You have to keep the nuts cleaned off or they fall and break your head. They have almost no market value so they are only useful as a home crop and to feed chickens.
You have so many plants all over the place, looks like a forest ^_^
How do you keep tract of what's healthy and what should demand your attention?
I keep track by walking around. It is the same style I used as a manage of business, management by walking around.
do you grow garlic? if so, what is the type you use? and where to get them?
I wish I knew. I have tried 7 different types and none have a photoperiod for the tropic of cancer. They green up but fail to bulb. I hear rumors that the Thai have a different species that grow in tropics but so far no one has offered up material, only rumors.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ok. My garlic did nothing. Inground for a year lol. Guess i pull ..
@@luvlion2617 Garlic that did "nothing" for a year would have to be dead. What usually happens here is the plant grows well, greens up, but when it comes time to bulb dies back instead.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ok. That makes sense.. we grow some coffee, i have a greenhouse for my cucumbers . We have some banana, mango, lemons and avos trees on property. Few citrus, cocunut.. however not many mature .. i enjoy watching all your videos, I am still new to farming, gardening etc.. only 3-4 years maybe.. garden beds, i grow more eggplant, peppers and beans, snap peas etc . Hopefully taro and sweet potato in the future..
@@luvlion2617 For onions and garlic here try using chives, garlic chives, leeks, perennial scallions like Koba and short day bulbing onions. They all do well. I'll be planting sweet bulb onions today.
Aloha Bill from MI. I do know that yes it is the only place you can go from snowboarding on a mountain to a tropical beach in a relatively short distance. Also rainforest on one side and desert or semi desert on the other. Insane the dynamics of Hawaii.
It keeps life interesting. We have brilliant white snow caps on the mountain today. HI is also some of the newest land on earth.
Aloha Bill! Your Garden looks healthy and the vanilla beans...wowser! Where do you buy your Parthenocarpic Cucumber seeds? Cheers, B. from down south.
Johnny's Selected Seeds.
Your located in Pahoa yeah. I’ve been looking for a cinnamon tree and in Keaau .
Nope, I'm in Mountain View. The main producer of Ceylon Cinnamon trees on the Island is 4 miles down the road from here in Kurtistown, Plant it Hawaii. I have one of their trees in my field but it is still too young for propagation. Sometimes I grow the Cassia Cinnamon but have no production at the moment. Check stock at Paradise Plants, they stock Plant it Hawaii stuff.
What are a few of the higher rainfall and elevation crops you would recommend? I will be growing in Lehuanani/Glenwood area approximately 2300' elevation and 220" of rainfall per year. The rain data was taken from climate.geography.hawaii.edu/interactivemap.html The link is a pretty neat interactive map that you can pull a variety of modeled data from. Thank you for the hard work you put in and the informative videos!
Much of that area has some soil so row crops are possible. Cole crops like water and cool weather. Good market for cabbage, kale, broccoli etc. Coffee will grow there as well as taro and vanilla. Lilikoi and limes are also possible. With that much rain fish and ducks will thrive.
Hi Bill I also live on the same Island & I'm currently attempting to chit the following two varieties of certified seed potatoes, that i want to plant them in three 7 gal containers: huckleberry gold & purple majesty, any tips for growing potatoes sucessfully in containers on our Island would be greatly appreciated; I'm trying to follow thesimplyfygardeners methods, but he's somewhere in the UK. I've tried unsucessfuly before with Adirondack blue potatoes I chitted & they either rotted away & literally dissappeared after the 1st watering ; i'm thinking maybe the snails got through the drainage holes & ate them!
Of course, as you know, same Island can still be a lot of different climate conditions. I live in Puna and it's wet. Wet fosters diseases that can eat potatoes alive. If your in one of those locations where tomato is pretty easy then potato may also have a chance. Here tomato is difficult to say the least and potato is impossible. The local diseases kill them in short order. I can only see two solutions for potato here. Use a constant application of fungicides or do your home work and see if some one has bred a special potato that tolerates tropical diseases. Potatoes are a mountain crop. They don't take low land tropics. The sweet potato made it here from south America around 500 years ago. If they brought the common spud too there is no evidence it survived. Hawaii is for kalo, ulu and sweet potato but the spud is a dud here.
How do you grow vanilla bean and orchids, I have a vanilla bean pod from the store thank you can't find answer mostly vanilla bean
The vanilla bean we use in food is worthless for propagation. The pods are picked before seed is ripe and the curing process leaves then dead. Vanilla orchid seed is like dust & requires lab conditions to grow. Vanilla farms use cuttings to produce the crop, not seeds.
What about aphids? I have had so many problems with aphids, and I want to grow organically now. I’m in Kealakekua.
Aphid multiply rapidly and are farmed by the ants for sugar. This makes them difficult. On the bright side, they are easy to kill. Water is a good staring point. Oil sprays, soap sprays and other organic materials will kill them. Keep them out of trees with Tangle Foot. This will stop the ants from farming. High pressure jets of water will clean them off tree stems.
Is it easy to grow melons in Hawaii?
No, the pickle worm is a terror here. IF you use protection and prevention it can be done. Farmers using insecticides find watermelons to be a crop in drier areas. I've grown them with row cover here.
Potatoes kula do very well for me. I love growing them and love eating them :)
The potatoes Kulas is grown on Maui. I'm in Puna with a totally different climate. Potato is impossible here. Diseases take them down at 4" high.
Howzit Bill!
Just thinking about starting to grow some cucumbers here above Kealakekua bay at about 1750 elevation and came across your video about what grows here. You mentioned your pickle worm problem. Can you please reiterate how you solved that issue! Aloha brother!
Two possible ways. Either a constant insecticide program like bacterial BT or use a parthnocarpic cucumber under complete exclusion. I like the parthenocarpic approach.
ua-cam.com/video/v60q9g4Cblo/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/a_8_8F8MPYI/v-deo.html
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There are also some parthenocarpic Zucchini.
I cant lie, I wanna meet ya Bill.
Do things grow "seasonally"? Or can I start a rotating crop outside? May be a stupid question, Ive asked them before.
The Big Island has 9 out of the 11 climatic zones existing on Earth. With a short drive you can get heat stroke and frost bite in the same day. With this in mind, what you can do agriculturally here depends on where you live. Speaking for my sight some crops will grow back to back while others are more seasonal. Lettuce is year round as well as beans and corn. Most peppers, tomatoes and cucumber have their seasons. Each crop will react differently in various locations.
Bill, Ive got blue and red jade vines growing on my property. Any tips or insights you might have on these rare vines? I sell the seed pods and they sell extremely well. And they all seem to sprout easily.🦎🦎🦎
Nope, sorry. I do not raise this plant and have little information on cultivation. It sounds like you're doing fine if you have raised a market for the seed. One thing leads to another. I started collecting a few garden seeds and ended up with a small seed company.
I noticed that your tangerines are orange. At 1600ft do they change color? Isn't 120" inches of rainfall too wet for plants like Rosemary? I mean, it's one thing to have just Orchids and another to have Rosemary too. I have around 80" of precipitation and I live in the tropical low lands (in India). Soil does rain away pretty fast but we have a monsoon that brings quite a lot of rain for 4-5 months with occasional breaks in between, will rosemary survive that?
Tangerines naturally have an orange color when near ripe. Some of my varieties ripen at this time of year.
I live at 1600 feet elevation. Oranges are a bit more difficult than tangerines to develop color in the tropics.
Rosemary usually likes drier weather but it does fine here. If it was too wet it would not grow.
I grew Rosemary in California with 16"of rain and in Hawaii with 120"of rain. It grows in bother places.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you :) . I didn't know that. I live just 400ft above sea level and I have a mandarin planted. Hope it fruits right for me.
How hot does it get there? Here it gets to around 92*F to 98*F max and never hotter than that. It can go down to 60*F s at night during winter time (sometimes to mid 40s if it's a colder year like it was in 2019, last year was a bit freaky, grape vines went dormant here - they naturally don't). Do you think it is my heat that will kill my rosemary plant? Also with that much rain, how well does spring onions (welsh onions, allium fistulosum) and other alliums do? Will they rot?
Ejaz Asraf
Put some egg shells at the base of your trees, this will encourage fruit. I usually wash them and bake them till crispy (10 minutes ) and mash them up with a hammer. It promotes better flowering. 🍊🍊🍊🍊
Hi Bill,
If you were planning to visit Australia in 2020, depending on when you might come, there are apart from quite a number of sights to see, 2 small farm field days that might interest you. The better one, (approximately 3 hour drive from my house) Balingup town small farm field day, is on fairly soon, Saturday 18th April, is in the picturesque south west of Western Australia. The other one which is closer to home, (1 hour drive) Gidgegannup small farm field day is on Sunday 24th May. I live in Leederville an inner city suburb of Perth, there are a lot of different variety of restaurants here in Leederville from Spanish, Thai, Indian, Iraqi, Mexican, Vietnamese or a good Irish pub with excellent pub food Guiness stout and different beers. I live about 20 minutes drive by car from an excellent beach and 30 minutes from the port city of Fremantle, where you can get very good fish and chips and on Sundays outdoor entertainment and pubs. I can certainly show you around. Accomodation, because I still have some minor renovations to do if you wanted to stay at my place you could, but would have to put up with sleeping in the loungeroom which is quite safe and comfortable. If you had plenty of time and really wanted to see the country properly, a trip up the great northern highway to Broome in the Kimberleys or to Esperance on the south east coast would be good, especially the latter. Either way should see a lot of kangaroos, wild dogs, maybe dingoes and wedge tailed eagles (all road kill).
Well thank you. If I decide to head down under i will certainly look you up. All sounds great. Beach, Beaches & Babes? No wait a minute that's Beer, Beaches and Kangaroos. Probably better that way, Ellen hates it when I check out the women.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I rarely go to the beach, but they are as good as anywhere in the world, used to take our dog to the dog beach, haha. Beach babes, yeah but I need to be 40 years younger, haha. As for kangaroos, I don't eat much meat, myself, but if cooked the right way, kangaroo which is a very lean meat can be as good as the best beef steak. The problem is kangaroo meat is expensive but should be cheaper and there should be an industry dedicated to farming it, as is done with other farmed livestock, after all there are over 45 million kangaroos, compared to 25 million people in Australia. Camel and emu likewise could be farmed for meat. I might cop flack from the Green's, for those views, and I attended some "Green" events with a lady friend a few years ago where all the food was vegan, but most people will always want to eat meat.
When I went to the Northern Territory in 2008 with the wife, we happened to visit an orchid nursery and it was impressive, though I'm not into flowers. My wife used to like roses, but I'm not keen on thorny plants. If you visit, the local Irish pub is a must visit and good for a beer or maybe other alcohol. I like a red wine as much as a beer, but for health reasons don't have alcohol that often. Ciao for now.
@@johnmanera4097 I really like beer but these days I get gout if I drink too much of it. Still enjoy it but moderation is the key. Sometimes I wonder if moderation isn't over rated though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I like a beer too. When I went to Tasmania a couple of months ago I sampled a beer maybe every second night, a pint is enough these days, although I may have had 2 pints a couple of years ago with my son, but locally. Of course there are a lot of Aussie beer varieties alone. I was only in Tasmania for a week.
@@johnmanera4097 I used to brew when I lived in the Midwestern USA. These days I let the brewers do it for me but still enjoy the stuff. There is a favorite theory that states civilization came to Northern Europe because of beer. I'll have to do a show on that some day.
🙏🙏🙏💖💖💖✨️✨️✨️
Aloha
There are a LOT of native plants to Hawaii I am learning. Your video explains why. What I don't know at all about is since it is a volcanic island, what is the dirt made out of and how deep is it, and how does that affect plant life? Are there deep root plants or are they all mostly surface plants with shallow roots. I am guessing with all those plants the soil must be as rich as can dreamed of, but what about the minerals of the dirt? Where does the dirt even come from, is it just ground up volcano? Is that a mineral rich source?
Does C&H still have sugar crops there? Does Dole still have pineapple crops there? Are there other crops of food for the locals and the mainland?
Can you tell I am working on a lesson on Hawaiian plants?
Since you are working on an assignment then maybe I should just let you google all this so you can take credit for the work. No point in me getting an A on your paper.
Dirt is what we sweep from the floor, soil is what covers the earth. All soil in Hawaii is derived from volcanic activity originally. Most of the best is made of deep volcanic ash and it is called andisol. There is soil to a lesser extent created by the erosion of A'a, Pahoehoe and basalt. This layer is nearly worthless on the Big Island because it is too thin. In a few places we actually have a bit of sandy loam created during the last Ice Age. As far as depth is concerned there is no standard. 1" to over 20 feet. I have 16 feet of ash, my neighbor has 1 1/2' and the guys around the corner have zero. It is blue basalt to the surface. How the plants react depends on the plant. Somethings struggle here and others thrive. Nothing grows deep here. The rainfall is too high. Moisture and nutrients are most abundant on the surface so the roots grow there. This is true in areas of the state with 60 to 320 inches of rain. Kohala has only 6" a year so plants tend to root more deeply.
C&H left Hawaii a number of years ago. Dole also left Hawaii except for a tiny patch on Oahu so they can sell HI pineapples to tourists. Main crops for export here are Macnuts, coffee and papaya. For the local market a huge variety of stuff is grown. What ever grows at a profit is produced here but nothing is enough to eliminate imports. Hawaii would have a bare bones diet without California.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Wow, just in time! I just got finished transcribing your video. No worries about cheating, I am the teacher doing the lesson. It's a student requested lesson, so I was starting from scratch and overwhelmed by the plant life abundance there. Your video and this answer are godsends. Thanks so much for all your information. A bunch of kids are about to hear it on the mainland in about 2 hours.
@@TheRadioAteMyTV Hawaii is very different from the Mainland when it comes to land, environment, and crops. The most significant difference is the culture though. We do not make politics from virus here. Our Lieutenant Governor is a Doctor. We do not protest masks here or run around in the streets with guns. We protect the kapuna here and tend to follow rules when required. Hawaii is pretty much the opposite of some of the Mainland states. We have a culture of respect and acceptance here. Folks in the other 49 states could learn a thing or two about living together from this Island.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I appreciate your farming knowledge it is great. As for saying stuff isn't political, that just means no one is allowed to argue against it. No worries though, they are shutting down debate everywhere on the mainland now, soon everyone will agree here too, or else cancellation. Yep, nothing political anymore, everyone agrees or starves. America has changed for sure. Though none of that seems respectful or anywhere near accepting, outside of Orwell's definitions of course.
@@TheRadioAteMyTV Acceptance is a state of mind. IF people find life unacceptable then ask me if I care. Not my problem. I make my life acceptable to me. I can't expect anyone else to understand what I need.
Aloha from Hilo. WhT island are you on ?
Oh I hear it now. Well wonderful my neighbor
Yup, I'm up here in Mountain View on S Kopua rd. It's pinned on Google under Green Garden Nursery. Aloha
I have been searching but not finding much in the the way of what will grow at 3000 feet. We have a place near Volcano and would like to plant some fruit & veggies.
3000 feet is Hawaii zone 1, cool tropical. That is cloud forest, it generally rains like crazy. 200 inches is typical. Most of the same stuff they grow in Volcano at 4000 feet grows at 3000. Volcano is just drier and a bit cooler. A few low chill temperate fruits are worth a try. The hardier tropicals like avocado and banana could be grown. Most garden vegetables will grow if you have the right variety and protect from pests.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I really want blueberries and those should be ok but I would also like to try white pineapple. Do you think that would work or too cold?
@@eileenflynn3587 I live at 1680 and both pineapple and blueberry grow fine here. Blueberry would be fine at 3000 feet. Pineapple is questionable. I have never conversed with anyone growing them that high up. You would have to plant and find out what happens. Blueberry has one major issue here, birds eat everything.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ok, good to know....I made a note about the bird issue. We had to net the blueberry bushes in Maine, cherries too or the birds would clean them out. I'm glad to hear bananas are a possibility. Our property is in Royal Hawaiian Est. Always good to have an idea of what we will be up against before we buy anything. Thank you for your input, much appreciated!!
@@eileenflynn3587 Royal Hawaiian Estates is a pretty wet and cool area. It sits in the cloud forest zone of Kilauea Volcano. The weather isn't typical of the Islands and not for everyone. As for the birds, the Japanese White Eye can make it through 1" netting to eat berries. I have given up hope at controlling them without a closed hoop house.
Can Longleaf Pines grow on big island of Hawaii yes or no
With 9 out of the 11 bands of climate on earth represented in a single Island I suspect somewhere in Hawaii the tree will grow. I have never seen one but we do see western White Pine and Japanese Black at elevations here. Importing things here isn't always a great idea though. Some imports have become big time trouble. I tend to stick with what is already here that doesn't seem to cause problems.
Can I grow amaranth?
Yes but ripening and curing the seeds here between thieving birds and rain makes it very difficult.
Can you grow wasabi in Hawaii?
At higher elevation. The plant likes it cool and moist. Getting the cuttings is hard and expensive. Marketing fresh wasabi is more difficult that growing it. Only the most high end sushi chefs use the stuff. We have dozens of sushi houses in Hilo but no one uses it. Most Americans are ignorant to it's existence. They only know the powered horseradish stuff. I have only eaten fresh wasabi once and found it excellent.
I’m reviewing your past videos.
Glad to hear it. I have several thousand of them. Most of them are useful.
- Does teff grow in Hawaii?
- Which type of pomegranate do you favor to plant/ grow in Hawaii?
Teff is an annual grass from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a rather dry climate, much of Hawaii is wet. Raising cereal grains here is nearly impossible. The seeds either sprout on the plant, rot or get eaten by the birds. I sometimes raise grinding corn here and actually have to use a dehydrator on the harvest. The west side of Hawaii maybe dry enough for Teff in spots. The east is a lost cause.
As for pomegranate the trees will grow here but the fruit usually splits in the rain and molds. There are plenty of trees here but i have never seen a piece of edible fruit. Kona side could be better because the climate is seasonally dry.
😁🌺✌
Aloha
Don't forget mountain apple, chiko or sapodila, strawberry guava and ulu or bread fruits are grow in my yard in hawaii still spread Aloha 🙋🏻🌺 from me how rich hawaii😍😍😍
I have mountain apple and I approve of it's rapid fruiting time and good yield. I sell a lot of the trees in my nursery. As a food item I find it insipid but if others like it then that is good. I've never checked but my body tells me it is kind of low food value. I have Chico Sapote trees and I love the fruit. I did not mention it because a 20 to 30 year wait for a crop isn't expedient for the kitchen. If you have old trees at fruiting age you are blessed. Strawberry guava is one of the worst weeds in Hawaii. I seldom promote weeds. Besides you do not have to grow it, the stuff will fruit off your truck tires if you don't drive much.
No can wait for come home!!! We pray Yahuah Alahim makes it possible soon.
Never heard of it. Good luck
Just FYI, don't plant blackberries in Hawai`i. They are a pest there. Nice one Bill! Mahalo!
One thing I never do is tell others what they should be doing. If you have an issue with blackberries then I suggest that you never plant them. As for me, I love blackberries, manage the crop well and they are perfectly legal in Hawaii. You will find Natchez, the thorn less blackberry in almost every nursery in Hawaii. I am imagining your concern is over the Himalayan Black berry with it's wicked thorns. We do not grow that plant here. Cultivation is the key with growing this crop. You have to manage it as I have been for over 50 years now. Like the Coqui frog and the rat it is a bit too late to worry about berries here.
Can't wait till this covid thing is over so I can get over there and start my farm down the hill from you.
Sadly the covid thing is likely to get worse before it gets better. HI cases are in decline and they have allowed the Japanese tourists back in because they got a handle on the virus. The rest of the USA is terrible and getting worse fast. I now have some family infected. If you really want to get started I'd just get going covid or not.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Sound advice. I'll look for ya when I get there. Until then, I'll keep enjoying your videos. Thanks bud
@@thecatguy4301 My channel has been dead since the election. You are one of the only comments today. The election has stolen my garden channel! I think I'll have an election with vegetables today!
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Ya man. I'm 100% of the belief we gotta grow our own societal constructs and local economies starting with gardens. So I vote for gardens.
@@thecatguy4301 With that said you are right in line with my latest video. Aloha
Probably would have a shorter list of what doesn’t grow in Hawaii
There is a lot of stuff that grows here that refuses to grow in the Mainland USA but many of the crops that were very important to me in the Midwest don't grow worth a darn here. What thrives, can't be stopped. What doesn't thrive is nearly impossible here.
How is the apple tree doing? Do you get any apples?
Btw, have you seen this website on apple trees in the tropics? kuffelcreekapplenursery.com/
I believe I heard about Kuffelcreek once before. My trees are doing well. Only one of them is at age for fruiting. In the past I get some fruit but I really have to fight the birds for it. I hope to see the best crop yet this year.
I think I identified your orange dragon fruit :)
I found a user called "Kona fruit farm", who is also from the Big Island on tropicalfruitforums. His profile picture is an orange dragon fruit, so I went through his posts and he made a thread about the variety a while back. He called it "Big Frankie's red".
tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=21628.msg263387#msg263387
I googled the variety and I found this nursery selling it: www.spicyexotics.com/product/frankies-red/
I suspect that your plants are F1 or F2 seedlings of this variety. Not only does the fruit look similar, you are both on the same island :D
You were correct with your suspicion that it is a hybrid, it's S. megalanthus x H. polyrhizus
Yes, I have finally concluded the fruit is likely Frankies Red.
hi Bill,i am a big fan of you,i am fascinated and always learn a lot from your videos,i also have a gardening channel where i post videos from the things i grow here in Brazil,i love making videos but youtube never gets me any views,could you please help me by saying something about my channel in some of your videos ?,i could send you some different species of seeds from brazil in the future,and it would be a very nice exchange of knowledge,for both of us and the viewers,have a great day there !
I would begin by embedding your channel in as many social media sights and websites as you can find. The A.I. program at google/youtube likes me. I seem to give it what it wants so the algorithm keeps giving me a preferred status. The youtube A.I. loves people who change things around and constantly load up material. It loves activity. I'll have to check out your channel when I get a moment and see what your doing there in Brazil. I grow plenty of crops from your home here on the Island. Aloha
Haven't seen ginseng...
Ginseng is a northern hardwood forest plant. IT generally prefers glacial till, on slopes under mixed hardwood maple forests with a deep undisturbed layer of leaf mold. It needs a period of snowy winter dormancy. Hawaii isn't suitable for the herb. I did very well with it in Wisconsin.
Biggest pest for me in Hawaii are slugs and snails. They're ravenous and destroy my plants after weeks of growing. I pick them up with chopsticks and throw them in trash.
I use a 400,000 road tar flamer to prepare the ground from weeds slugs and bugs. I follow that with an application of a tropical formula of parafin coated slug bait. I wait a couple weeks for it to break down then I fertilize and plant. Most crops like lettuce and cabbage are out of the field and in the kitchen before the slugs return. I repeat this every time I plant so my crops are slug free. Slugs do poorly here because of my farming practices. Hard to find most of the time in the garden area.