Koa trees in lower puna

[Daniel]

For anyone interested in purchasing Koa trees or other native trees, the farm that sold me my koas was Schaffer Family Farm. Their plants are organically grown. They were very nice and helpful. 808-968-8531 They are located in Mountain View.

Thanks for all the input about koa trees. I havent actually seen one growing in the lower elevations(500 ft or less) Does anyone know of one and what condition it is in?

Daniel R Diamond

[David D]

Has anyone tried to raise Sandalwood with Koa? With the Koa being a Legume, it seems like they would be an ideal fit. Any comments?

David D

[Mitzi M]

I think sandalwood and koa would make good bedfellows because sandalwood is hemi-parasitic, meaning it sinks roots into other plants to get nitrogen. But this quality may also be one of the things that makes sandalwoods really hard to propagate. I have heard that the average germination rate is 10% - 50%. Anyhow, I was just at Kipuka Puaulu and noticed some shrubby sandalwoods growing among the koa trees. If you get them to grow they would probably do better planted with koa. Other plants thought to be good hosts are: a'ali'i - Dodonea viscosa, koai'a - acacia koaia, and ko'oko'olau - Bidens spp. Santalium ellipticum is a coastal species endemic to the Hawaiian islands, and S. paniculatum grows from about 1500 feet up, and is endemic to Hawai'i Island only. I read that during the early 1800's virtually every last stand of sandalwood on these islands was cut down for export, after which the somewhat fragrant wood of the native tree, naio - also called bastard sandalwood - was cut and substituted (unsuccessfully). Sandalwood was believed to be extinct in Hawai'i by the early 20th century. Fortunately, a few of them made it through, but the difficulty in propagating them has been an obstacle to restoration efforts. I think it's a good example of why you can't treat the forest like a cornfield, mow it down and expect it to grow again in a short time. One other thing...they can't be planted anywhere near where herbicides are used or near traffic (auto OR foot traffic). David, if you (or anyone else) has luck growing them it would be great to hear about it!

Aloha,
Mitzi

[Guest]

Here is an interesting article on how to grow Koa trees FASTER w/out adverse ecosystem effects.

Of note:

They found the potential koa crop trees in the test area on the eastern slope of Mauna Loa annually increased their stem diameter at chest height by nearly 120 percent.

In addition, they found the treatments did not adversely affect the growth of native understory plants and non-native grasses did not grow more where tree thinning had occurred. Scientists even found fertilizers reduced the growth of these alien grasses when compared to unfertilized test plots.