01-11-2017, 06:17 AM
I took the liberty to email JB Friday and copied the original post.This is his reply :
"Wood ash is generally good for plants. It also functions as a liming agent in acid soils. Slash and burn agriculture works and has been used for millennia based on the fertilizer properties of wood ash. Effects of ash would vary greatly depending on the soils and would be very different on the organic muck soils of lower Puna vs the deep ash soils north of Hilo. That said, I don't think it would help at all in preventing Rapid Ohia Death. The trees that are succumbing to Rapid Ohia Death are not nutrient starved. The fungus is systemic in the tree, throughout the stem, so cutting individual branches won't do anything to eliminate the fungus. There are other fungi that cause localized infections and pruning will indeed help these. If just one branch on an otherwise healthy tree dies, it may just be one of these other diseases that causes a localized infection. In that case pruning as described would work well. Burning does kill the fungus so burning would be a safe way to dispose of infected material. You would need a burn permit from the County to burn agricultural waste. Lastly, I know it is wet in lower Puna, but burning is dangerous and wildfires are common, even in wet areas like Puna. Please be careful with fire. "
Aloha
JB
"Wood ash is generally good for plants. It also functions as a liming agent in acid soils. Slash and burn agriculture works and has been used for millennia based on the fertilizer properties of wood ash. Effects of ash would vary greatly depending on the soils and would be very different on the organic muck soils of lower Puna vs the deep ash soils north of Hilo. That said, I don't think it would help at all in preventing Rapid Ohia Death. The trees that are succumbing to Rapid Ohia Death are not nutrient starved. The fungus is systemic in the tree, throughout the stem, so cutting individual branches won't do anything to eliminate the fungus. There are other fungi that cause localized infections and pruning will indeed help these. If just one branch on an otherwise healthy tree dies, it may just be one of these other diseases that causes a localized infection. In that case pruning as described would work well. Burning does kill the fungus so burning would be a safe way to dispose of infected material. You would need a burn permit from the County to burn agricultural waste. Lastly, I know it is wet in lower Puna, but burning is dangerous and wildfires are common, even in wet areas like Puna. Please be careful with fire. "
Aloha
JB