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Re: Bismark palm
If this a Bismarkia nobilis, you might want to check with someone from the Hawaii Island Palm Society about moving it. I used to sell them (before the coqui put me out of business), always potted in a tall 5 gallon because they are one of the very few palms that have a main tap root.
There is a web site, and they are very helpful.
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quote:
Originally posted by Kelena
Some guy told me about a place that will come and get coconut palm trees, and maybe other types, that have reached a certain height and haul them away for you and even pay you for the privilege. I forgot the name the moment he told me.
Does anyone know of such a place? I have a bunch of coconut palms --some quite large-- that I would love to go away. It's an odd problem to have, but I think I am getting used to things being a little strange around here.
I think realtors either started or perpetuated the rural myth that resorts (or their intermediaries) will come and get your coconut palms and pay you for them. I know at least one realtor who said it... but the truth is that they won't.
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Aloha Punaperson! I was wondering how the Coqui Frogs put you 'out of business'. I know this is a bit off-topic but your comments have my curiosity piqued. My email is kaialohahawaii@hotmail.com if you feel like you want to drop me a line ~ MUCH Aloha ~
Punanny
Kaihekili
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The short answer is that being infested with coqui lost me about 80% of my customers.
Longer version - feel free to skip: I started very small, and sold to Puna and Hilo. Over the course of several years I expanded sales to Kona, Waimea and Kohala. My nursery was certified, and I was shipping to Maui regularly, and had just started selling to Oahu. Then the coqui arrived. I spent many many thousands of dollars trying to keep my plant material coqui free. Then the State declared East Hawaii a coqui quarantine area for shipping off island, and I would have had to incur serious debt to meet the new certification requirements. My customers from the other side of the island could not risk bringing the infestation there, thanked me for many years of excellent product, but would no longer buy.
I am by no means the only person who went through this. There used to be many people here in Puna who were able to make a decent livelihood in the plant nursery business. Now, the Puna/Hilo market is too small, the cost of becoming certified is too high, and a prime agricultural area has very few people making a living in agriculture. As mentioned in a previous post, the Big Island Association of Nurserymen's plant sale events used to have long lists of people waiting for space to to sell - now they can't even fill the floor with the few nurseries still in business.
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Seems like the solution is to get the other islands infested with coqui and LFA to open these markets up. Maybe the guys who brought the axis deer here can help?
