I do a bit of collecting to keep the nursery stock interesting for folks. By in large the plants exist because they are well adapted to local growing conditions. We eat them so we need them to grow here. Not everything does grow well in HI. Aloha
They are just the nastiest little birds. I've had days were I enjoy dispatching them. Most of the time when creatures arrive from out side of the environment they have a hard time fitting in. Maybe in a million years or so the Cardinals will learn some aloha. Well planned bird netting is probably the best long term solution. Thanks for the comment, Bill
This common method using CD's does not work at all. I've tried it several times and it has no effect on birds. The reflective bird scare tape is a bit more effective but it actually attracts the crows. They like shiny things. After 50 years of battling birds and fruit my conclusion is that nets are the only means of control that work to a reasonable success rate.
My Garden problem can't be more different. we average 4 inch of rainfall a year.All of my stone fruits and apples tree had set fruit, with the exception of the front of the house/ north face the cherry trees and all other stone fruits trees are starting to buds and all the citrus trees and grapes are ready to burst with flower , the guava and banana trees needed more heat and I'm getting my first white sapote fruit setting and I'm hoping the cherimoya and paw paw will make it through their first year. I recently harvested strawberry and honey the the Pakistan mulberry will be ready in four week and the boysenberry shortly after, and I'll be starting the spring vegetable planting soon. I have a colection of over 60 fruit trees not counting the berry bushes. we have two grown season here in Las Vegas. Thank you for all the garden videos especially the videos about living in Hawaii. Happy gardening.
So you garden issues are different because of the low rain fall? Yes, that can change how you do business. Gardening expertise is a local thing. Generally someone on the east coast can't tell you much about the west coast etc. I manage to cover a lot of ground because I have gardened from AK to AZ, WI to CA and on to Hawaii. Aloha.
I live next to a creek and the neighbor has a pond. You should hear the roar. Every cane toad from 600 acres beats it down to that pond to mate. My place is full of them both the short leg and the long leg that run like dogs. I am sure they eat slugs.
I’m really glad that I found your channel. Now I know why some of my plants failed. Did you have any luck with garlic and potatoes? My potatoes never got larger than a golf ball Mahalo🤙🏽
The photo period is wrong here for most types of garlic. I understand there are some Chinese soft neck types that might work here. I saw some in the Hilo farmers market that looked like it may have been grown here. I almost picked it up but walked on by. maybe next time. Using what you can find locally seems to improve success. I would say potatoes are a lost cause here. Too many diseases, the same ones that attack tomato. I grow the starchy types of sweet potatoes and also Kalo instead of spuds.
I've had success on the drier west side of Kauai with potatoes grown in those poly sacks w flaps, sitting on lava rocks to drain. Not really worth the trouble though, IMHO. Thanks for the explanation why garlic won't grow here - I was wondering! Failed twice.
Yes but I will do that in summer. Peppers are peak then. Right now the poor things are just hanging in there. The nights were pretty cool up here this winter. I have some new types in the nursery too.
Great 👍🏽 Hawaii info. I did container gardens for my herbs and Jersey tomatoes 🍅. I didn’t have major problems, but never grew that much in Waikaloa. In Towaco Farms (NJ) I am growing 8 varieties of tomatoes, tons of squash varieties, lettuce (container only) and I’m having issues with my garlic, potatoes and onions this year. I have damn chipmunks 🐿 rabbits and squirrels...my arch enemies here in NJ....don’t let the bugs 🐛 get you down. Have you tried putting garlic 🧄 in blender with boric acid or diomatious earth? Keeps my slugs, bugs, and some birds...away from my crops. Don’t laugh...I use..used black tea bags and the soap (Irish Spring) as a way to keep some pests away...I don’t use any pesticides..I’m allergic. Plus I drink from an aquifer under my property....so far so good...water tests are Hard as hell, but no chemicals YET. Rat Bastid developers have moved uncomfortably near my property. Thus my months in Hawaii...can’t stand people up in my business. I like wide open spaces....in NJ if you sneeze..the neighbor next door, passes you tissues. WAY too close for me. Aloha! Mahalo Nui Loa.
I've tried many different home recipes but find none of them work to the commercial level. I use bacteria insecticides. I have never heard of a person who is allergic to these. Mostly they bother bugs. Your climate in Waikaloa is so different from Puna it is like another world. I have tried t bulb 12 different types of garlic here and none of them will cycle properly in tropic of Cancer photo period. You actually get your garlic to bulb properly like they do in CA?
GREAT video, Bill. You have all the gardening "challenges" in Hawaii I thought you would have, plus a few I didn't expect ( like those Cardinals exported from the Mainland. -Like who knew ?!! ). I was wondering though; might having a few Chickens running loose picking off the beetles & insects help you out any ?? Or would they just end up being something ELSE you'd have to Manage & worry about ? In any case, I admire your horticultural hard work & experimentation, & I wish you continued success with everything you try to grow. :)
I will have to assume you have never raised chickens and a garden at the same time. Chickens do eat insects but they eat a lot more vegetables than they eat bugs. The only time chickens can be allowed in the garden is if it is fenced and fallow. An active garden is a banquet for these birds. In fact a chicken is second only to a pig or a goat in the garden. Hawaii is full of wild chickens and I shot several a week out of the garden but usually not before they destroyed something. A duck, if it can break the skin on a tomato, will eat the entire thing before moving to the next one. A chicken enjoys running down the row and pecking a hole in every tomato it sees, destroying the entire crop before it decides which one to eat. The popularity of chickens has led to a lot of myth about they are good for. They make great BBQ, the eggs are wonderful and loose in the garden they are a feathered flame thrower.
Aloha Bill, I’m gardening here in Puna and am new to gardening in Hawaii. I’m experimenting with all different crops, I live at about 600-700 elevation. I feel out of sync with timing for seeding different vegetables and the seasons here. Trying to do this intuitively with our subtle seasons but I haven’t found a lot of information on this online (planting guides for Hawaii). My zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumber, okra, and watermelon all went straight to flower after seeding. I know we are not receiving as much sun and it will be winding back up for peak sun in May/June. I will try those crops again then. My question is if you have a guideline for which crops to plant each month of the year here in Puna. My beans and sweet potatoes are loving it right now. Tomatoes flowering and eggplant having a hard time getting pollinated and setting fruit. Pumpkin trying for pollination as well. Mahaloz for all of your awesome content! 🤙
What you do and when you do it depends mostly on your elevation. Tomatoes do pretty well near the shore year round. Up here at 1600 the survive but they do not thrive in winter. The best advice I can offer is to stick with the usual vegetable division, cool season crops in winter and warm season crops in summer. Some of my warm season crops like peppers, tomatoes and sweet potatoes are still in the field but the crops being planted are the ones that love winter. I've been planting onion, lettuce, cabbage broccoli and peas. Even up here some of the warm season stuff like corn and beans will grow but not as well as in summer. At your elevation you can plant just about what ever you want to plant. Flowering on the crops you mentioned isn't directly controlled by day length. If they are flowering and the plants are small then I would suggest stress as a cause. The need for fertilizer here is extreme compared to most Mainland soils.
Wow, thank you so much for your response and advice. This will help me to piece it together so much better. I was starting to think I was gardening on another planet. Continuing to learn so much from your videos and knowledge. Much appreciated! I have not been super happy with the soil I have purchased for my rows but was trying to skimp out on adding amendments since I just bought the soil load. 🙃 Need to get my hands on that county mulch for top dressing. Probably going to take my soil into Hilo to test it and then decide what to add before spending money. It’s a red cinder/Macnut mix I bought without researching thoroughly first and it’s pretty lifeless. Just added chicken manure pellets to it so far and a small amount of biochar/worm castings.
@@scrabbledabbledoo The cinder and macnut mix is a decent media for roots but it has almost no nutrients for your plants. Without fertilizer they will starve to death in it. Chicken manure pellets will solve the problem but I suspect it will take a larger application than most people apply. It burns out in a month or two so more applications are required. Consider raising cover crops and stick mulch crops that enrich the soil like soy beans, pigeon peas and perennial peanuts. Both organic matter and nitrogen vanish rapidly here so frequent applications of both are required. Consider looking at some of the tropical crops that grow well here. Taro, Manioc, Plantain & Roselle grow much better here than Zucchini, melons and bush beans.
I will work on all of those great suggestions. You have been so helpful to me! So far I have added more chicken manure and Mexican sunflower to the beds, going to work on many more cover crops for the time being to make my ground more fertile. Happy gardening!
@@scrabbledabbledoo Nitrogen is flushed away by rain, systems that add it and compost that holds it in place are required. Phosphorous stays put but gets locked up in acidic soils. Raise the soil pH to limit phosphate starvation. Kukuhi nut stick mulch supplies phosphates and Inga stick mulch provides nitrogen. Aloha
In Qld, Australia where there still is a sugar cane industry, they make a horrible dark rum, terrible stuff, Bundaberg rum. Mauritius make a quite decent cane spirit or rum, but I don't drink alcohol too much now or even in the past. But Mauritian rum once you got used to drinking it straight, not mixed, you could get nicely wiped out with no hangover. Unfortunately alcohol can certainly extract a high price on people's health. Talking about plant health, I know my nectarines tree is healthy, but I just noticed today some very small fruit have pieces out of them. I'm thinking slugs or snails. I will see what is good to kill them. I have heard a saucer of beer, might try that if the copper film doesn't work. I may get a better quality copper film if I find the small fruit ruined. I haven't checked out the other possible organic ways to kill slugs or snails. And assuming I can get rid of the slugs or snails, I'll probably have the medfly to contend with. I'll face that hurdle when I come to it, but provided the fruit are still mostly good following the snails or slugs, then I'll try the mosquito netting again. It did work before.
We are lucky here that Hawaii makes world class rum. We have a few distillers that make average rum, several that make excellent but no one making poor rum. The prices are very good too. Alcohol is only costly to the health of folks who abuse it. Slugs could be what cause the holes in your fruit. They would be superficial and eaten in a path like a road. If they are punched into the fruit the it is likely birds. Copper does work on slugs, I use it all the time.
Start off by opening up the entire channel. I have covered that exact subject several times in the past. I will continue adding new videos once per week or so but right now there is around 900 of them.
@@thealohaschoolofmu5106 I have a few new ones in mind but do scroll back through the 900 I have already done. Lately I have been spending time working with mushrooms instead of fruits and vegetables.
They grow like weeds here. I put down one dose of organic fertilizer when I planted them 11/ 2016 and have been scared to do it again for fear they will be on the road. I have to get out there and prune them. They are eating a row of pineapples next door. Bill
GreenGardenGuy1 We have a dead citrus tree that kicked the bucket a few years ago. I think I'm gonna train them onto that tree. Make it useful. Saw a guy do that with a dead tree and it was so gorgeous when it blooms. They could sit under it and not feel a drop of rain. Plus the passion fruit hangs down. No need to bend and pick.
I never pick them from the vine anyway. The fruit is so much better when you allow them to fall to the ground and rake instead. I once had a compost heap that sprung up in avocado, papaya and rambutan trees from the seeds. Once they were about ten feet high the passion vines germinated, covered the entire batch of tree and used them for a trellis. Similar to your idea but it did the work without my help.
This video was less than 2 months before lava took Leilani Estates and nearly all the homes on the coast 700 of them or so....changed everything in that area of Puna as far as property ownership in than area...heat coming up from the lava under that dried lava in Leilani estates...gases...acid drinking water...so sad.....boat ramp blocked off forever...
Pele' rules the lava fields here. She does what she does when she does it. Sad when it gets in peoples way. I have several friends that lost property in the last flow. Both came out way ahead from insurance and government programs. They aren't crying. I will miss the Waiopae tide pools but they were a mud hole and didn't exist in 1975. Nothing stays the same, except change. Hawaii is a microcosm of the entire universe in your face, everyday. It all works that way. Sad is a human viewpoint. No lava, no Hawaii. No volcanoes, no rainforests. Aloha
Over time either foolish people or accidents have caused exotic birds to be released here. The cardinal was both. In 1929 a caged cardinal escaped. It's owner foolishly released the mate. They are now an invasive species on all Islands and a bad agricultural pest. They have no place in nature here so they pray on human agriculture. We have both the northern cardinal and the Indian Ring neck. I don't know who released the Indian here.
Hey man I’m moving to mountain view from humboldt in CA. Any chance we could be friends? I’d love some knowledge on how to set up my place perhaps some suggestions? Anything to get me garden eating in hawaii! Mahalo!
The nursery and the farm are open to the public when ever the gate is open. I freely share information with people that ask questions I can answer. Since I do not share the social media facebook concept of what "friend" means. I am always willing to consider the idea though.
A few opuntia cacti are eaten for their flesh but i have never heard of anyone eating the dragon fruit branches. Since it produces an edible fruit it runs a chance of having edible flesh. A person would have to taste it first and I have never tried. Some cacti are mild but many are bitter. The dragon fruit cacti would be some pretty sparse eating. You would have to remove the spines, peel off the skin then core the flesh to remove the woody center. The resulting yield would be tiny for all the work.
If the raised containers have copper barriers or copper with 9 volt batteries attached they can limit entry by snails and slugs. Almost all other pest either fly in, fly in and lay eggs or walk up the container side to enter. Containers are of almost no use as pest protection other than mollusks.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 - Thanks for the info and the quick reply. Would netting help as well with elevated containers or maybe not so much. It seems like a tough decision between protecting from insects and allowing for proper pollination.
@@morgenoghmanann8746 When trying to protect against pests you really have to get specific. Every area has different problems, different pests have completely different habits hence different means of control, many crops have pests that are specific to the crop. I grow most of my crops unprotected and have little trouble with most. The crops i do have trouble with the control issues can be unique to the pest. Here our main concern is Rat Lung worm disease carried by slugs. The pickle worm is a bit issue here as well. Chinese fruit flies and root knot nematodes are also problems. All of these have very specific controls, there is no general approach. Depending on where you live and what you grow you problems will specific with specific controls.
I change what I do from time to time. Lately I've switched to Aji Dulce', Aji Amarillo, Hawaiian Cocktail pepper, Hawaiian Chili pepper and Rocoto. That looks like a question with out a "?" about hot sauce? Aloha
The property is 2 acres and so far I have filled a few hundred square feet with the mushroom. The mushroom doesn't persist unless I keep adding wood chips. The chances that I will ever have more than small patches of it around is unlikely. For the most part the harvest of fresh fungus for my table is the greatest advantage.
Have you tried growing marigolds right next to the plants which are prone to nematodes? Marigolds are a reliable and natural weapon against nematodes and I think I’ve seen them growing in tropical climates like Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Yes, if you look at videos of my vegetable gardens you will often see marigold scattered between the crops. It seems to work to some extent. There is no one magic bullet though. A variety of different techniques together work best. Currently I have been trying to raise enough marigold seeds to have them become the major weed in my garden.
@@benxy8358 You weren't rude. I just assumed you had not seen any of the videos where I discuss nematode control. The channel has over 700 videos these days. Even I forget what I have posted from time to time. I have discussed the use of mustard as a cover crop for nematode too. Research indicates that certain varieties of french Marigold like Tangerine Gem are best for repelling nematode.
GreenGardenGuy1 Oh wow that’s interesting. Funny how we (people from Europe) assume how easy it must be to grow vegetables in such a ‘favorable’ climate simply not realizing that you just struggle with different problems than we do. I believe you that growing your own food isn’t that easy. The scenery around you still looks like paradise to me. 😉😍 Many greetings to lovely Hawaii from f***ing cold Germany 🥶
@@benxy8358 I've been growing most of my own fruits and vegetables for over 45 years now. I have grown food near the arctic circle, the Upper Great Lakes near Canada, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, The Midwestern Prairies, California for 25 years and lately Hawaii. I found the Midwest and California to be the easiest places. Where ever you grow food the crop mix will change because of conditions, along with it the diet changes too. Tropical crops are pretty easy to raise here with few problems. It is the temperate climate crops that I grew up eating that can be more challenging. In general tropical crops grow well in tropical environments and temperate crops grow well in temperate climates. Issues can arise when temperate crops are grown in the tropics.
Seed not so much and they are unregulated but scion wood can carry disease or insects. It would require inspection by AG. Even with inspection it could still carry unseen virus.
I plant them here but it is a silly thing because my elevation is too high for them to fruit. The plants will grow but that is about it. There are a few experts around here that claim there might be a variety that will grow up here but I have not seen it. Only the dwarf Samoans would be good for me anyway. There is no way I can climb the trunks for harvest like the local boys do. If the nuts fall from the tree they can break your neck. Coconuts belong at the shore. They like the minerals from the sea water.
Diatomaceous earth is useful on insects that have hard exoskeletons. The fine particles are very sharp, they get into the joints of the insects and scratch away the waxy coating on their shells. This causes the insect to dehydrate and die. It doesn't have much other application in the garden. If you live where rainfall is limited it can work on ants, roaches and as a dust for fleas in chickens. It has almost no effect on mollusks, soft bodied insects or in areas where rainfall is high. It isn't a broad spectrum control. It is very specific in action. It is also fairly expensive.
Actually it is myth that Cannabis thrives here. It is one of the more challenging environments for growing the crop. The medical cannabis industry here has been plagued with fungal and bacteria infections due to the high humidity. Mildew in covered crops and Botrytis on open air crops a terrible problems. Never the less there is a lot of the plant grown here but it is challenging.
Yes, I use them. I have some mustard going now but the marigold does much better in summer here. They seem to work to some extent. If I ever get enough seed I will try sold cover crops of the two mixed. Then cut an lay them as a mulch.
Yes I have. As I mention in the video I have an Italian plum I use but it has a much smoother shoulder than Roma. The roma being a tomato from Mediterranean climates hates Hawaiian rain. The leaves blight badly here.
Those pesky fruit flies and melon worms are my biggest problem here on the West side of Oahu. They can decimate a garden in no time. Love your videos! Thanks for making one highlighting the unique challenges of island gardening. I was beginning to think I was the only one with issues.
In general it is a really good idea to wash or peel anything you pick. I do not always follow that rule for a few reasons. One, I bait slugs and there numbers are lower than most places. Secondly I bait rats and at times they do not exist here at all because of the bait. The slugs get the parasite by eating rat crap. Slugs do not crawl far so if I have no rats, my slugs are not likely to carry the lung worm. If an item shows no signs of slug damage I am less concerned about. Any slug that found the strawberry I ate would have left a hole in it so I assume it was clean. Since I had a case of Rat Lung worm way back when the disease was new here I should probably be more careful because it wasn't much fun. Safe and careful have never been words i used much though. Right now there hasn't been a rat sign on the farm after I poisoned the last one 6 months back. So my concern is low.
Please be careful. I enjoy watching your videos. I started gardening in Papaikou from June 2014 to June 2017 and found it very relaxing and fun. By the way, people don't believe me when I tell them that slugs have this high pitched sound. This is how I know to go hunting for them. My yard had no couqis and few slugs. :)
They make a sound? When you kill them or just when they are sitting around whistling Dixie to themselves? I have 5 kinds of slugs here in Mt View and I have yet to hear them speak. Perhaps it was all those years playing rock music that toasted my ears.
I never get near chlorine, is has a missing electron in the out shell and binds with anything it can find making all manner of strange compounds. Bleach is something that the ad people did a selling job on to the US public. Many of us are unaware of it's dangers. At the atomic level it is a nightmare waiting to happen. I use hydrogen peroxide instead. It is less toxic.
No. They are popular and seen all around this area but I have no love for Eucalyptus trees. They do not integrate with other plants well and grow huge making a large shadow with toxicity to other plants in the debris
GreenGardenGuy1 I only ask because my wife is from Mindanao and they are all over there. Interesting she is from a town called Alubijid. Alubijid is the local name for wild Mango or Spondias pinnata which are everywhere in town. I’ve never seen this fruit outside of Southeast Asia.
Love your video. 👍🏽 so much information. Amazing collection of plants.
I do a bit of collecting to keep the nursery stock interesting for folks. By in large the plants exist because they are well adapted to local growing conditions. We eat them so we need them to grow here. Not everything does grow well in HI. Aloha
Nicely detailed, and real. Glad to have found this.
Aloha, Sub & click the bell. Mahalo
Bill love your information concerning gardening in Hawaii. Yes Cardinal and Myna’s are my problem. Had to put bird netting on the back yard.
They are just the nastiest little birds. I've had days were I enjoy dispatching them. Most of the time when creatures arrive from out side of the environment they have a hard time fitting in. Maybe in a million years or so the Cardinals will learn some aloha. Well planned bird netting is probably the best long term solution. Thanks for the comment, Bill
Love your videos bills!! I will definitely be visiting you for some plants and wisdom when I move out there in a few years!
See you then. Aloha Bill
Gardening challenges in Paradise. Yup I understand. Best wishes Bob.
Bob, after the last couple of rants I just had to find something out in the garden to talk about before i scared everyone off!
I guess that is a good idea. We are close to the same age have have the same views so I'm good with the rants, but not all the time. Have a great day.
I've literally just moved from Missouri to Minnesota and now I'm moving to Hawaii! 😂
I figure Missouri and Minnesota are about as good a place to live as any. I lived in Wisconsin and Illinois for years. Next door to MO & MN
How do you like living there so far? Are you living off grid?
You can use old CD disks to hang in your garden. Birds dont like the light reflecting from those disks.
This common method using CD's does not work at all. I've tried it several times and it has no effect on birds. The reflective bird scare tape is a bit more effective but it actually attracts the crows. They like shiny things. After 50 years of battling birds and fruit my conclusion is that nets are the only means of control that work to a reasonable success rate.
My Garden problem can't be more different. we average 4 inch of rainfall a year.All of my stone fruits and apples tree had set fruit, with the exception of the front of the house/ north face the cherry trees and all other stone fruits trees are starting to buds and all the citrus trees and grapes are ready to burst with flower , the guava and banana trees needed more heat and I'm getting my first white sapote fruit setting and I'm hoping the cherimoya and paw paw will make it through their first year. I recently harvested strawberry and honey the the Pakistan mulberry will be ready in four week and the boysenberry shortly after, and I'll be starting the spring vegetable planting soon. I have a colection of over 60 fruit trees not counting the berry bushes. we have two grown season here in Las Vegas. Thank you for all the garden videos especially the videos about living in Hawaii. Happy gardening.
So you garden issues are different because of the low rain fall? Yes, that can change how you do business. Gardening expertise is a local thing. Generally someone on the east coast can't tell you much about the west coast etc. I manage to cover a lot of ground because I have gardened from AK to AZ, WI to CA and on to Hawaii. Aloha.
The cabbage does look happy! I’m at 1180 feet elevation, lower Puna, I’ll give it a try. Thx.
Hawaii Food Basket was very pleased with the cabbage I sold them last week.
Nematodes here in Lahaina...can't grow sheet except local color flowers, chilies, and basil...oh, and bananas.
You don't have to live with nematode. Try cover cropping with mustard.
Hey I have a suggestion for slugs if you make a pond for cane toads to live in they will eat the slugs works great 👍
I live next to a creek and the neighbor has a pond. You should hear the roar. Every cane toad from 600 acres beats it down to that pond to mate. My place is full of them both the short leg and the long leg that run like dogs. I am sure they eat slugs.
I’m really glad that I found your channel. Now I know why some of my plants failed. Did you have any luck with garlic and potatoes? My potatoes never got larger than a golf ball
Mahalo🤙🏽
The photo period is wrong here for most types of garlic. I understand there are some Chinese soft neck types that might work here. I saw some in the Hilo farmers market that looked like it may have been grown here. I almost picked it up but walked on by. maybe next time. Using what you can find locally seems to improve success. I would say potatoes are a lost cause here. Too many diseases, the same ones that attack tomato. I grow the starchy types of sweet potatoes and also Kalo instead of spuds.
GreenGardenGuy1
Thanks for the recommendation😁🤙🏽
I've had success on the drier west side of Kauai with potatoes grown in those poly sacks w flaps, sitting on lava rocks to drain. Not really worth the trouble though, IMHO. Thanks for the explanation why garlic won't grow here - I was wondering! Failed twice.
Bill! Can you do a video just on your peppers? Those bushes looked beautiful.
Yes but I will do that in summer. Peppers are peak then. Right now the poor things are just hanging in there. The nights were pretty cool up here this winter. I have some new types in the nursery too.
good info, thank you
Aloha, thanks for watching.
Great 👍🏽 Hawaii info. I did container gardens for my herbs and Jersey tomatoes 🍅. I didn’t have major problems, but never grew that much in Waikaloa. In Towaco Farms (NJ) I am growing 8 varieties of tomatoes, tons of squash varieties, lettuce (container only) and I’m having issues with my garlic, potatoes and onions this year. I have damn chipmunks 🐿 rabbits and squirrels...my arch enemies here in NJ....don’t let the bugs 🐛 get you down. Have you tried putting garlic 🧄 in blender with boric acid or diomatious earth? Keeps my slugs, bugs, and some birds...away from my crops. Don’t laugh...I use..used black tea bags and the soap (Irish Spring) as a way to keep some pests away...I don’t use any pesticides..I’m allergic. Plus I drink from an aquifer under my property....so far so good...water tests are Hard as hell, but no chemicals YET. Rat Bastid developers have moved uncomfortably near my property. Thus my months in Hawaii...can’t stand people up in my business. I like wide open spaces....in NJ if you sneeze..the neighbor next door, passes you tissues. WAY too close for me. Aloha! Mahalo Nui Loa.
I've tried many different home recipes but find none of them work to the commercial level. I use bacteria insecticides. I have never heard of a person who is allergic to these. Mostly they bother bugs.
Your climate in Waikaloa is so different from Puna it is like another world.
I have tried t bulb 12 different types of garlic here and none of them will cycle properly in tropic of Cancer photo period. You actually get your garlic to bulb properly like they do in CA?
GREAT video, Bill. You have all the gardening "challenges" in Hawaii I thought you would have, plus a few I didn't expect ( like those Cardinals exported from the Mainland. -Like who knew ?!! ). I was wondering though; might having a few Chickens running loose picking off the beetles & insects help you out any ?? Or would they just end up being something ELSE you'd have to Manage & worry about ? In any case, I admire your horticultural hard work & experimentation, & I wish you continued success with everything you try to grow. :)
I will have to assume you have never raised chickens and a garden at the same time. Chickens do eat insects but they eat a lot more vegetables than they eat bugs. The only time chickens can be allowed in the garden is if it is fenced and fallow. An active garden is a banquet for these birds. In fact a chicken is second only to a pig or a goat in the garden. Hawaii is full of wild chickens and I shot several a week out of the garden but usually not before they destroyed something. A duck, if it can break the skin on a tomato, will eat the entire thing before moving to the next one. A chicken enjoys running down the row and pecking a hole in every tomato it sees, destroying the entire crop before it decides which one to eat. The popularity of chickens has led to a lot of myth about they are good for. They make great BBQ, the eggs are wonderful and loose in the garden they are a feathered flame thrower.
Aloha Bill, I’m gardening here in Puna and am new to gardening in Hawaii. I’m experimenting with all different crops, I live at about 600-700 elevation. I feel out of sync with timing for seeding different vegetables and the seasons here. Trying to do this intuitively with our subtle seasons but I haven’t found a lot of information on this online (planting guides for Hawaii). My zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumber, okra, and watermelon all went straight to flower after seeding. I know we are not receiving as much sun and it will be winding back up for peak sun in May/June. I will try those crops again then. My question is if you have a guideline for which crops to plant each month of the year here in Puna. My beans and sweet potatoes are loving it right now. Tomatoes flowering and eggplant having a hard time getting pollinated and setting fruit. Pumpkin trying for pollination as well. Mahaloz for all of your awesome content! 🤙
What you do and when you do it depends mostly on your elevation. Tomatoes do pretty well near the shore year round. Up here at 1600 the survive but they do not thrive in winter. The best advice I can offer is to stick with the usual vegetable division, cool season crops in winter and warm season crops in summer. Some of my warm season crops like peppers, tomatoes and sweet potatoes are still in the field but the crops being planted are the ones that love winter. I've been planting onion, lettuce, cabbage broccoli and peas. Even up here some of the warm season stuff like corn and beans will grow but not as well as in summer. At your elevation you can plant just about what ever you want to plant. Flowering on the crops you mentioned isn't directly controlled by day length. If they are flowering and the plants are small then I would suggest stress as a cause. The need for fertilizer here is extreme compared to most Mainland soils.
Wow, thank you so much for your response and advice. This will help me to piece it together so much better. I was starting to think I was gardening on another planet. Continuing to learn so much from your videos and knowledge. Much appreciated! I have not been super happy with the soil I have purchased for my rows but was trying to skimp out on adding amendments since I just bought the soil load. 🙃 Need to get my hands on that county mulch for top dressing. Probably going to take my soil into Hilo to test it and then decide what to add before spending money. It’s a red cinder/Macnut mix I bought without researching thoroughly first and it’s pretty lifeless. Just added chicken manure pellets to it so far and a small amount of biochar/worm castings.
@@scrabbledabbledoo The cinder and macnut mix is a decent media for roots but it has almost no nutrients for your plants. Without fertilizer they will starve to death in it. Chicken manure pellets will solve the problem but I suspect it will take a larger application than most people apply. It burns out in a month or two so more applications are required. Consider raising cover crops and stick mulch crops that enrich the soil like soy beans, pigeon peas and perennial peanuts. Both organic matter and nitrogen vanish rapidly here so frequent applications of both are required. Consider looking at some of the tropical crops that grow well here. Taro, Manioc, Plantain & Roselle grow much better here than Zucchini, melons and bush beans.
I will work on all of those great suggestions. You have been so helpful to me! So far I have added more chicken manure and Mexican sunflower to the beds, going to work on many more cover crops for the time being to make my ground more fertile. Happy gardening!
@@scrabbledabbledoo Nitrogen is flushed away by rain, systems that add it and compost that holds it in place are required. Phosphorous stays put but gets locked up in acidic soils. Raise the soil pH to limit phosphate starvation. Kukuhi nut stick mulch supplies phosphates and Inga stick mulch provides nitrogen. Aloha
In Qld, Australia where there still is a sugar cane industry, they make a horrible dark rum, terrible stuff, Bundaberg rum. Mauritius make a quite decent cane spirit or rum, but I don't drink alcohol too much now or even in the past. But Mauritian rum once you got used to drinking it straight, not mixed, you could get nicely wiped out with no hangover. Unfortunately alcohol can certainly extract a high price on people's health. Talking about plant health, I know my nectarines tree is healthy, but I just noticed today some very small fruit have pieces out of them. I'm thinking slugs or snails. I will see what is good to kill them. I have heard a saucer of beer, might try that if the copper film doesn't work. I may get a better quality copper film if I find the small fruit ruined. I haven't checked out the other possible organic ways to kill slugs or snails. And assuming I can get rid of the slugs or snails, I'll probably have the medfly to contend with. I'll face that hurdle when I come to it, but provided the fruit are still mostly good following the snails or slugs, then I'll try the mosquito netting again. It did work before.
We are lucky here that Hawaii makes world class rum. We have a few distillers that make average rum, several that make excellent but no one making poor rum. The prices are very good too. Alcohol is only costly to the health of folks who abuse it.
Slugs could be what cause the holes in your fruit. They would be superficial and eaten in a path like a road. If they are punched into the fruit the it is likely birds. Copper does work on slugs, I use it all the time.
Nice view🌈🤙
Yup, the place found us and we agreed to buy it. We call it a hundred thousand dollar property with a million dollar view. Thanks
Aloha, I would love to hear what you have seen which plants worked and which plants did not work and maybe why they did not work in Hawaii.
Start off by opening up the entire channel. I have covered that exact subject several times in the past. I will continue adding new videos once per week or so but right now there is around 900 of them.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 thank you for responding. I just found your video today, I look forward to more information. Thank you
@@thealohaschoolofmu5106 I have a few new ones in mind but do scroll back through the 900 I have already done. Lately I have been spending time working with mushrooms instead of fruits and vegetables.
The passion fruit looks divine! Boy, if I get my vines that thick I'm going to market.
They grow like weeds here. I put down one dose of organic fertilizer when I planted them 11/ 2016 and have been scared to do it again for fear they will be on the road. I have to get out there and prune them. They are eating a row of pineapples next door. Bill
GreenGardenGuy1 We have a dead citrus tree that kicked the bucket a few years ago. I think I'm gonna train them onto that tree. Make it useful. Saw a guy do that with a dead tree and it was so gorgeous when it blooms. They could sit under it and not feel a drop of rain. Plus the passion fruit hangs down. No need to bend and pick.
I never pick them from the vine anyway. The fruit is so much better when you allow them to fall to the ground and rake instead. I once had a compost heap that sprung up in avocado, papaya and rambutan trees from the seeds. Once they were about ten feet high the passion vines germinated, covered the entire batch of tree and used them for a trellis. Similar to your idea but it did the work without my help.
GreenGardenGuy1 Haha. Work smarter , not harder! Like the idea of that . Aloha Bill.
Yes, If you are working too hard you are probably doing it wrong.
aloha from orchidland!
Greetings from Mountain View.
Strawberries with rum, could be a good partnership! :-)
They are but mom just wasn't ready for the idea!
This video was less than 2 months before lava took Leilani Estates and nearly all the homes on the coast 700 of them or so....changed everything in that area of Puna as far as property ownership in than area...heat coming up from the lava under that dried lava in Leilani estates...gases...acid drinking water...so sad.....boat ramp blocked off forever...
Pele' rules the lava fields here. She does what she does when she does it. Sad when it gets in peoples way. I have several friends that lost property in the last flow. Both came out way ahead from insurance and government programs. They aren't crying. I will miss the Waiopae tide pools but they were a mud hole and didn't exist in 1975. Nothing stays the same, except change. Hawaii is a microcosm of the entire universe in your face, everyday. It all works that way. Sad is a human viewpoint. No lava, no Hawaii. No volcanoes, no rainforests. Aloha
Cardinals.. in hawaii? are they the red chested variety?
Over time either foolish people or accidents have caused exotic birds to be released here. The cardinal was both. In 1929 a caged cardinal escaped. It's owner foolishly released the mate. They are now an invasive species on all Islands and a bad agricultural pest. They have no place in nature here so they pray on human agriculture. We have both the northern cardinal and the Indian Ring neck. I don't know who released the Indian here.
Hey Bill, are Acai palms grown in Hawaii?
Yes they are. A friend of mine has some in his nursery.
I was trying to say I specialize in making hot sauce for fun and for gifts.
Got it.
Hey man I’m moving to mountain view from humboldt in CA. Any chance we could be friends? I’d love some knowledge on how to set up my place perhaps some suggestions? Anything to get me garden eating in hawaii! Mahalo!
The nursery and the farm are open to the public when ever the gate is open. I freely share information with people that ask questions I can answer. Since I do not share the social media facebook concept of what "friend" means. I am always willing to consider the idea though.
I have a question about the dragonfruit plant. Is the plant itself edible or used for food?
A few opuntia cacti are eaten for their flesh but i have never heard of anyone eating the dragon fruit branches. Since it produces an edible fruit it runs a chance of having edible flesh. A person would have to taste it first and I have never tried. Some cacti are mild but many are bitter. The dragon fruit cacti would be some pretty sparse eating. You would have to remove the spines, peel off the skin then core the flesh to remove the woody center. The resulting yield would be tiny for all the work.
Are some of the pest problems mitigated at all by using elevated gardening - stock tanks or tall planters, for instance?
If the raised containers have copper barriers or copper with 9 volt batteries attached they can limit entry by snails and slugs. Almost all other pest either fly in, fly in and lay eggs or walk up the container side to enter. Containers are of almost no use as pest protection other than mollusks.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 - Thanks for the info and the quick reply. Would netting help as well with elevated containers or maybe not so much. It seems like a tough decision between protecting from insects and allowing for proper pollination.
@@morgenoghmanann8746 When trying to protect against pests you really have to get specific. Every area has different problems, different pests have completely different habits hence different means of control, many crops have pests that are specific to the crop. I grow most of my crops unprotected and have little trouble with most. The crops i do have trouble with the control issues can be unique to the pest. Here our main concern is Rat Lung worm disease carried by slugs. The pickle worm is a bit issue here as well. Chinese fruit flies and root knot nematodes are also problems. All of these have very specific controls, there is no general approach. Depending on where you live and what you grow you problems will specific with specific controls.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 ~ Again thank you. Appreciate the info. Love your channel!
Coming to Hilo soon would like to meet up with you and purchase your habaneros as many as you have. How do you specialize in hot sauce. Aloha brother
I change what I do from time to time. Lately I've switched to Aji Dulce', Aji Amarillo, Hawaiian Cocktail pepper, Hawaiian Chili pepper and Rocoto. That looks like a question with out a "?" about hot sauce? Aloha
Are the wine cap mushrooms not enough to handle your nematodes? Are you still using them?
The property is 2 acres and so far I have filled a few hundred square feet with the mushroom. The mushroom doesn't persist unless I keep adding wood chips. The chances that I will ever have more than small patches of it around is unlikely. For the most part the harvest of fresh fungus for my table is the greatest advantage.
Have you tried growing marigolds right next to the plants which are prone to nematodes? Marigolds are a reliable and natural weapon against nematodes and I think I’ve seen them growing in tropical climates like Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Yes, if you look at videos of my vegetable gardens you will often see marigold scattered between the crops. It seems to work to some extent. There is no one magic bullet though. A variety of different techniques together work best. Currently I have been trying to raise enough marigold seeds to have them become the major weed in my garden.
GreenGardenGuy1
Sorry, that was my first video of yours that I watched. Didn’t mean to be a smart ass
@@benxy8358 You weren't rude. I just assumed you had not seen any of the videos where I discuss nematode control. The channel has over 700 videos these days. Even I forget what I have posted from time to time. I have discussed the use of mustard as a cover crop for nematode too. Research indicates that certain varieties of french Marigold like Tangerine Gem are best for repelling nematode.
GreenGardenGuy1
Oh wow that’s interesting.
Funny how we (people from Europe) assume how easy it must be to grow vegetables in such a ‘favorable’ climate simply not realizing that you just struggle with different problems than we do. I believe you that growing your own food isn’t that easy. The scenery around you still looks like paradise to me. 😉😍
Many greetings to lovely Hawaii from f***ing cold Germany 🥶
@@benxy8358 I've been growing most of my own fruits and vegetables for over 45 years now. I have grown food near the arctic circle, the Upper Great Lakes near Canada, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, The Midwestern Prairies, California for 25 years and lately Hawaii. I found the Midwest and California to be the easiest places. Where ever you grow food the crop mix will change because of conditions, along with it the diet changes too. Tropical crops are pretty easy to raise here with few problems. It is the temperate climate crops that I grew up eating that can be more challenging. In general tropical crops grow well in tropical environments and temperate crops grow well in temperate climates. Issues can arise when temperate crops are grown in the tropics.
Does scion wood or seeds bring in the same kinds of challenges with diseases?
Seed not so much and they are unregulated but scion wood can carry disease or insects. It would require inspection by AG. Even with inspection it could still carry unseen virus.
Also have you grown any coconuts or is it to high up
I plant them here but it is a silly thing because my elevation is too high for them to fruit. The plants will grow but that is about it. There are a few experts around here that claim there might be a variety that will grow up here but I have not seen it. Only the dwarf Samoans would be good for me anyway. There is no way I can climb the trunks for harvest like the local boys do. If the nuts fall from the tree they can break your neck. Coconuts belong at the shore. They like the minerals from the sea water.
Just something to remind you of the beach
Have you tried DE, diotimatous earth ?
Diatomaceous earth is useful on insects that have hard exoskeletons. The fine particles are very sharp, they get into the joints of the insects and scratch away the waxy coating on their shells. This causes the insect to dehydrate and die. It doesn't have much other application in the garden. If you live where rainfall is limited it can work on ants, roaches and as a dust for fleas in chickens. It has almost no effect on mollusks, soft bodied insects or in areas where rainfall is high. It isn't a broad spectrum control. It is very specific in action. It is also fairly expensive.
Pakalolo grows great there, everyone should grow it
Actually it is myth that Cannabis thrives here. It is one of the more challenging environments for growing the crop. The medical cannabis industry here has been plagued with fungal and bacteria infections due to the high humidity. Mildew in covered crops and Botrytis on open air crops a terrible problems. Never the less there is a lot of the plant grown here but it is challenging.
Mustard greens in marigolds will solve your nematode problem plants in the ground just plant these babies around it
Yes, I use them. I have some mustard going now but the marigold does much better in summer here. They seem to work to some extent. If I ever get enough seed I will try sold cover crops of the two mixed. Then cut an lay them as a mulch.
have you tried roma tomatoes
Yes I have. As I mention in the video I have an Italian plum I use but it has a much smoother shoulder than Roma. The roma being a tomato from Mediterranean climates hates Hawaiian rain. The leaves blight badly here.
Right, live in South MI so yeah. Love roma and cherry tomatoes grow nuts here
Also the squash you have is a tropical pumpkin/squash since roots at all nodes
Those pesky fruit flies and melon worms are my biggest problem here on the West side of Oahu. They can decimate a garden in no time. Love your videos! Thanks for making one highlighting the unique challenges of island gardening. I was beginning to think I was the only one with issues.
Its so terrible when Hula Girls step on the seedlings....
At least the traditional ones wear edible clothes. You busted my cabbages I'm gonna cook that grass skirt for dinner!
Isn't it dangerous to eat anything right out of the garden?
I cringed when you ate the strawberry.
In general it is a really good idea to wash or peel anything you pick. I do not always follow that rule for a few reasons. One, I bait slugs and there numbers are lower than most places. Secondly I bait rats and at times they do not exist here at all because of the bait. The slugs get the parasite by eating rat crap. Slugs do not crawl far so if I have no rats, my slugs are not likely to carry the lung worm. If an item shows no signs of slug damage I am less concerned about. Any slug that found the strawberry I ate would have left a hole in it so I assume it was clean. Since I had a case of Rat Lung worm way back when the disease was new here I should probably be more careful because it wasn't much fun. Safe and careful have never been words i used much though. Right now there hasn't been a rat sign on the farm after I poisoned the last one 6 months back. So my concern is low.
Please be careful. I enjoy watching your videos. I started gardening in Papaikou from June 2014 to June 2017 and found it very relaxing and fun.
By the way, people don't believe me when I tell them that slugs have this high pitched sound. This is how I know to go hunting for them. My yard had no couqis and few slugs. :)
They make a sound? When you kill them or just when they are sitting around whistling Dixie to themselves? I have 5 kinds of slugs here in Mt View and I have yet to hear them speak. Perhaps it was all those years playing rock music that toasted my ears.
I picked them up with tongs and place them in an empty clorox wipes container.
I never get near chlorine, is has a missing electron in the out shell and binds with anything it can find making all manner of strange compounds. Bleach is something that the ad people did a selling job on to the US public. Many of us are unaware of it's dangers. At the atomic level it is a nightmare waiting to happen. I use hydrogen peroxide instead. It is less toxic.
Do you have some Mindanao Gums on your property?
No. They are popular and seen all around this area but I have no love for Eucalyptus trees. They do not integrate with other plants well and grow huge making a large shadow with toxicity to other plants in the debris
GreenGardenGuy1 I only ask because my wife is from Mindanao and they are all over there. Interesting she is from a town called Alubijid. Alubijid is the local name for wild Mango or Spondias pinnata which are everywhere in town. I’ve never seen this fruit outside of Southeast Asia.
Neither have I. If you mail me some seeds I will plant it in HI. Bill