maile, maybe it's your elevation?
I can put a shovel in the soil and turn it over and it will have roaches in it, palmetto bugs I guess they are ... and have seen the same bugs in every place of low elevation on the island.
If you want to smell mold, try looking for a house here in a damp area. I have been in many houses that had such a bad mold smell that I couldn't stay in the house.
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@ Mary. Never had a problem with mold and mildew in my garden. Maybe try focusing on what you can grow. I don't do tomatoes in the winter due to lack of heat plus the fruit flies. Fertilizing, mulching are just part of gardening here...I just accept that. Air circulation is vital. I space everything and prune appropriately to make sure there is air circulation. What other plants are you losing? The only thing I've killed so far has been a Warwitzia coccinea...an expensive loss.
I fertilize every 10 inches of rain, sometimes more. I have chickens too so I have access to their manure as well. I feed my Brugmansia a shovelful every two weeks. Gardening is hard work...but it's supposed to be enjoyable. If it isn't why bother. Gardening is all about challenges, figuring out what works and what doesn't.
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I use baking soda as an herbicide; it's quite toxic to plants, and contaminates the soil (with sodium) as well, so nothing will grow until there's enough rain to wash it all away.
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Andy
i do grow vegetables all year round, plenty of tomatoes even now are getting red, i guess it has to do with elevation diff? not sure... 50 percent of my blueberry plants died due to rust and mildew. 3 tomatoe plants died. i am controlling everything with some sulfur and baking soda, but for the most part the plants aren't doing well in this kind of weather when it just mostly rains with little sun.
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BigIslandlovers,
What ever you expect it to be here probably will disappoint you but you may,like me, perfectly enjoy the surprises that were not part of the expectations.
-Cat
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well after reading much and not participating... here i go. yes i have noticed that people are harshly forthcoming about moving to puna like a sign that screams turn back, turn the **** back!
obviously we all get that the job scene is super poor and the weather is very rainy. there are bugs and roaches. there is some discrimination from some ignorant few. we all get that. we plan to be as consuming of the culture as we can be in every effort of respect. we have read all the books and everything that goes with them. we have scoured the internet for every blog. we know about the mold. we certainly do not want rat and lung disease. we want to thrive in a new enviroment. we want our vegetables to grow.
we do not want to be next to rooster farms. we have heeded all the warnings. we are not moving over sight unseen expecting paradise, that does not exsist.
but what if you are from houston... lived there all your life. as the bayou city is rainy. you have considered moving to costa rica as your ultimate ideal and it is super rainy. the only other place you have considered is portland oregon, which is also very rainy. and now you have come to this magical place on the big island called puna. and every person who aays it has problems also has to admit that it is a magical wonderland that they can't cut from their vocabulary who cares about rain? too much sun would be a concern for me.
you desire more than anything to find people who are not into social climbing. people who are into helping one another. people that are in tune to positive remarkable possibilities.
is this an impossible concept?
ALL I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS:\
WHAT DO YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE ABOUT PUNA??????
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The beautiful blue waves, kayaking with dolphins, watching a baby humpback doing WHEEE breaches, the weather (I LIKE rain), the gardening (a stick will grow here), the small town feel - hard not to know a lot of people here, the food, the snorkeling, the university, the music, the community theaters.
ETA: and snow to look at, but not to shovel, unless ya really wanna...
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quote:
Originally posted by notsoonenough
ALL I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS
WHAT DO YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE ABOUT PUNA
To be with my loving wife.
A free bus ride to Kona when I need memories.
Being able to drive to Hapuna.
No longer dealing with snow.
Lots of my kind of people.
The ocean, ah, the ocean.
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nah...... we are full enough - please dont tell anyone about the good stuff here - its all bad news - Riverside ca, Boise, Flagstaff and west Maui are nice this time of year and better places to live to boot (grin)
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13979
