08-29-2009, 02:13 PM
Hand clear the guava? I think it would be impossible. Say 5 people can clear three acres in a day, times the number of acres, times doing it every year for 10 years and you get what? A big number.
We have only three acres on which I did careful hand clearing. I made one big mistake and left a few of the larger guava, thinking it would be nice to harvest a few fruits. Without the others to hold them up, they bent over and spread seeds like crazy. Seven years later I still have to make regular passes through.
According to Stiling and Simberdoff (2000) there have been 243 instances of biological control in Hawaii. 33 had unintended consequences. The science has improved since the days of mongoose and cane toad, which was done by planters not scientists. For one pro release but balanced site see
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava/
then do a Google search for biological control and study the issue.
Regarding goats they eat everything and you end up with ground free of vegetation.
Jerry
We have only three acres on which I did careful hand clearing. I made one big mistake and left a few of the larger guava, thinking it would be nice to harvest a few fruits. Without the others to hold them up, they bent over and spread seeds like crazy. Seven years later I still have to make regular passes through.
According to Stiling and Simberdoff (2000) there have been 243 instances of biological control in Hawaii. 33 had unintended consequences. The science has improved since the days of mongoose and cane toad, which was done by planters not scientists. For one pro release but balanced site see
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava/
then do a Google search for biological control and study the issue.
Regarding goats they eat everything and you end up with ground free of vegetation.
Jerry