07-05-2015, 02:03 PM
The Ohia rain forest tree dying throughout this area is very sad and disturbing. So many other trees seem to grow well while the Ohia dies quickly. Some fruit trees that grow well or at least Produce something are worth while. Lychee, avocado, tangerines, bananas, guava, coffee, mountain apples, star fruit, citrus trees(lime,lemon,oranges) and a very fast obnoxious growing ice cream bean tree does well in leilani. From my experience mangoes struggle and produce very little for some reason. We like the look of the kukui nut, monkey pod, rainbow eucalyptus trees and they grow fairly fast without losing to many branches during storms. Can't go wrong with the podocarpus, ironwood, or albezia for future job security.
Is it really time to give up on the Ohia in Puna, they can't be saved?. Maybe the yellow Ohia would continue to grow, or could be planted in stands in a few years? Could some resistant Ohia take to being grafted? if any do survive this black plague. Doesn't look good at this point, we don't even know what caused the Ohias to start dying, or where it truly started, or all the ways it can spread? The stopping of this disease or finding a cure for it to save the Ohia could take awhile. The Ohia tree was probably a very important tree to many generations before ours, sad to see it destroyed this way in lower puna.
Is it really time to give up on the Ohia in Puna, they can't be saved?. Maybe the yellow Ohia would continue to grow, or could be planted in stands in a few years? Could some resistant Ohia take to being grafted? if any do survive this black plague. Doesn't look good at this point, we don't even know what caused the Ohias to start dying, or where it truly started, or all the ways it can spread? The stopping of this disease or finding a cure for it to save the Ohia could take awhile. The Ohia tree was probably a very important tree to many generations before ours, sad to see it destroyed this way in lower puna.