Eradication Strawberry Guava (leaf gall)

[Mitzi M]

Killing strawberry guava by hand in the forests (and miconia for that matter) is darned hard work! First of all, you generally have a long commute through the thick woods. Not much traffic, but the mosquitoes are bumper to bumper - if ya know what I mean. And you have to wear your "business suit" - which includes long pants, long sleeved shirt, glasses and rubber gloves. (It gets kinda toasty like that in the dank humid strawberry guava thickets). When you finally make it to work, you spend all day trying to find enough room in the mess to sling your machete into the trees and squirt some herbicide in the cuts, being very careful to avoid any native plants that might be left. Maybe the hardest part is psychological - it feels like it's an impossible task. I think I'm an optimist ... or whatever. I want to try and do something positive rather than stand idly by while the forest is consumed.

I think this biocontrol will buy some time and help slow the infestation. It's hard to believe how anyone could oppose getting rid of strawberry guava, knowing that it WILL destroy the last remnants of windward native forests - SOON - if left unchecked. If you live here and you've been paying attention in the right places, you know that this plant is serious bad news. There is NO REASON not to do our best to control strawberry guava. As others have stated, there are myriad other sources of fruit, wood and ornamental plants here in Hawai'i - even for the wild pigs.

'A'ole waiawi!