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My gripe lies with the govt introducing something that is going to directly affect my land, and my wallet. This is the part I dont like. Yes, that's great if they want to clean up the volcano nat'l forest etc. but these insects dont discriminate.
The other issue that I have is the difficulties that our islands will have feeding ourselves in the event of a catastrophe. I personally know of entire families that rely upon the wild pigs for a regular source of free food. And I dont want any "hatemail" regarding my "perceived racism" but I even had a kid ask me "do you eat dog"? And then tell me the story about how his uncle was hungry and ate the family dog. Yes, there are food stamps, and yes, there is the food bank, but I still see people relying on other food sources. It is possible that without so many wild pigs and with more open grassy areas available for grazing -that the goats or whatever, will just reproduce more and then be eaten. I dont know.
It's all just such a wildcard to mess with an established ecosystem. I also do understand that the straw guava is really aggresive and problematic a lot of the time.
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This government program might affect your land eventually (meaning in your lifetime perhaps, maybe) but if it does slow down the guava it will affect it in a positive way. With guava on a property the issue becomes do you own it or does the guava own it?
My guava choked acreage is producing nothing. The ohias are being killed. And there is no practical way to remove the guava without removing everything. SG is a menace.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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IF I owned 30 acres that was infested, I would feel as you do. My guava is manageable on 2 acres and only in some places. IT is all about personal opinions and that's what's great about the internet. But, I am wondering, "How is your land going to be "more" manageable with all the sick trees?" I would actually prefer it if this bug actually killed the trees! Then a property owner wouldnt have to pay to remove them when they become eyesores!
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sorry, please disregard.... I posted under my roommates screen name 
Kealoha
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I hope it helps KILL that POS plant off!
But Im sure it will only slow it down a bit like most of the other 'bugs' that have been introduced for the worst invasive plants here...
Waiwi is slowly spreading into the pristine endemic rainforests off upper Stainback Hwy/Kulani area, it needs to be stopped and destroyed ASAP! IMO
Kealoha
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
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I think it is about more than personal opinions. The science is done, the facts are in and a rather weak, cautious approach to SG is being undertaken. Probably forty or fifty years too late anyway.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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The wonderful thing about this introduction is that it is a fairly easy insect to control, as most scale insects, and doing the minimal control most of us do for our fruit crops already to control the host of other insects that were brought here WITHOUT scientific research that have a broad spectrum of hosts (things like whitefly, thrips, fruit fly & such) will knock off these insects....
For scale insects a simple vinegar & water spray will eliminate an infestation in your tree & the ever present (in our orchard) oil soap spray will definitely knock em out....
so if you want your strawberry guava to look dashing, you just need to care for them (something you probably would do anyhow if you want to eat the fruit sans fly maggots...)
Added: have you seen a plant with gall? they are not really eyesores (most of the non-native hibiscus you see on these islands is heavily infested.... I have yet to have anyone comment that mine are an eyesore! In fact many want cuttings because the plants still look good & the flowers are still spectacular,,, of course beauty & eyesore is in the eye of the beholder, but you have seen my hibiscus...You probably did not notice that they were heavily infested with galls....
I do not think they are eyesores... I used to combat the buggers, but then the hibiscus would overtake everything, so I am allowing the galls to controll the individual plant growth, which still exceeds my trimming...so I do not think that the T. ovatus will even be noticed, EXCEPT that the RATE of spread will be slowed, it will still expand...
And after hearing the uncle, dad, grandpa, aunt, brother, etc. kills the family dog because they were hungry story over the years I was in the schools, I do not doubt what happened, but I did start to doubt the motive. If you follow up on the story more... usually there is much more to why....
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quote:
Originally posted by unknownjulie
My gripe lies with the govt introducing something that is going to directly affect my land, and my wallet. This is the part I dont like. Yes, that's great if they want to clean up the volcano nat'l forest etc. but these insects dont discriminate.
The other issue that I have is the difficulties that our islands will have feeding ourselves in the event of a catastrophe. I personally know of entire families that rely upon the wild pigs for a regular source of free food. And I dont want any "hatemail" regarding my "perceived racism" but I even had a kid ask me "do you eat dog"? And then tell me the story about how his uncle was hungry and ate the family dog. Yes, there are food stamps, and yes, there is the food bank, but I still see people relying on other food sources. It is possible that without so many wild pigs and with more open grassy areas available for grazing -that the goats or whatever, will just reproduce more and then be eaten. I dont know.
It's all just such a wildcard to mess with an established ecosystem. I also do understand that the straw guava is really aggresive and problematic a lot of the time.
I'm not sure how to address your comments. Do you believe anything that the EA says? The scale insect DOES discriminate. That is the single most definitive characteristic of a bio-control. If you don't believe the EA then why do you assume that the scale insect will do anything at all? Because the EA says it will? But wait, you don't believe the EA.
If the barges stop coming, a very small percentage of the population will continue to feed themselves by hunting, for a while. This resource will not be available to the majority of Hawaii residents. To assume that a resource that is barely utilized by a handful of residents will successfully be utilized to its fullest and distributed widely, by the same people who said "F*** You" to the rest of us when they sneaked the deer in, seems hopelessly idealistic and compares unfavorably to the process by which this scale insect has been studied intensively by responsible researchers for so many years. It is hugely ironic that this intensively studied bio-control that will have a small but positive impact is demonized while hugely damaging invasive species like pigs and guava are championed. They are essentially the same thing, organisms introduced by man for their own purposes, as were the canoe plants brought by the first inhabitants of Hawaii. The difference is that recent bio-controls have been intensively studied to ensure that their impact is limited and acceptable to all, whereas the deer for example were sneaked in because it was assumed even by the people doing the sneaking that the impact would be unlimited and acceptable only to a few. Everything about the "Guava is food" argument is a straw man argument. Someone who would eat the family dog has problems that go beyond mere economics.
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Thanks for all of the info guys. Something was already attacking my waiawe before this bug was even mentioned I guess then. My leaves have what look like brown pimples on them. They turn gray after a bit and just leave a hole in the leaf. I always assumed it was some type of fungus.
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Asians eat dogs. It does not mean the family has "problems". Anyhow, we'll see what happens. Yes, Carey, I did notice the gall on the hibiscus and will try and get rid of it on the plant. The pictures from brazil that I saw did look pretty bad, but I guess we will all find out soon enough. The bug does not "discriminate between public and private land" was what I was referring to there. I will definately be trying to keep my guava healthy, so I guess I'll find out how much work this will entail on 2 acres!
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