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New invasive noxious weed found on Big Island
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09-07-2021, 09:33 PM
Get yourself a hoop-house
I have a greenhouse as well as outdoor raised beds. Some vegetables grow better in full sun. It's good to have that option. Which we have now. 
09-07-2021, 10:54 PM
(09-07-2021, 08:53 PM)Kimo1967 Wrote:(09-07-2021, 08:44 PM)AaronM Wrote: Some day Puna will be reduced to Albezia trees and Devil weed. I hear ya. They are a serious nuisance when the tropical storms hit. 
09-08-2021, 02:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-08-2021, 03:04 PM by Olohana 1790.)
priorities way out of wack here!!!
extremely stupid to put so much MEDIA attention on this single nonwoody weed (we have 15K of them already)... when you have the WORST PLANT ever introduced to Hawaii ~ Taking Over Upper Puna as we write about this BS!!!!~. that never makes the fauken news! if you a newbie to invasive species or tropical plants in general.. MICONIA is the #1 MAIN plant to be WORRIED ABOUT Today in this STATE! Period!!! not devilweed found in one selfish malahini infested subdivision.. Miconia is huge and has as many fauken seeds! its tall, grows super fast, has 3 foot leaves and will shade out all other plants making a huge mono forest! its started all along the hwy11 NOW, its doubled in last 2 yrs alone, every block now has it.. and some boneheaded land owners encourage it a bit too! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miconia_calvescens it has Fauked Up many islands in the Pacific, it Has also screwed up Hamakua completely, (even though they used to spend millions per year trying to contain it yrs ago) Miconia was never really seen in upper Puna pre 2015, NOW its all along Hwy11's sugartowns between Keaau and Volcano... blowing up in the abandoned sugar field invasive areas of Kurtistown, Ohia, Ferndale, Kukui, Pulu, MtView, Glenwood, etc. etc. Media needs to catch a clue! and so does much of Puna's selfish landowners who dont give a flying ........... Please GET Educated on ALL invasive Species here... not just the once every few months short story kine bs on the local media... PRIORITIES! The REAL threat!!! MICONIA! Miconia calvescens has become one of the world's most invasive species. The tree can grow to a height of 15 metres (49 ft) and has very large leaves, each up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. The sweet fruits are attractive to birds and other animals which disperse the seeds. A young tree with only two flower panicles can produce 200,000 seeds in its first fruiting season. This heavy seed production and potential for long-distance dispersal help make miconia an invasive threat. The seeds can lie dormant in the soil of the forest for more than 12 years, and whenever a break in the canopy allows sun to shine through to a patch of soil the seeds there undergo germination. Once the plants grow to full height, their enormous leaves shade out all the space below them, preventing any other plant from growing nearby. It also has a shallow root system that facilitates soil erosion. The Invasive Species Specialist Group list the tree as one of the world's 100 most invasive species in the Global Invasive Species Database. The seeds are dispersed from gardens into natural forest habitats by fruit-eating birds. Once dispersed into tropical moist forests it takes hold vigorously, invading any spot in the understory that receives patches of sunlight, and becomes a noxious weed. It is known for being the worst invasive plant in Hawaii, where it is commonly referred to as the "purple plague", and threatens to destroy entire ecosystems. The velvet tree has been known to replace the native understory of Hawaiian mountainous forests. The plant itself has a shallow root system as compared to the native species. This shallower root systems are unable to bind the soil together which has led to landslides in certain regions of Hawaii. Hawaiian populations of miconia were first discovered in the 1990s, and since the plant's invasive potential was already well-known, control and eradication efforts began immediately. Uprooting and herbicides are used to remove plants, but biological control has not yet met with great success. Teams of volunteers often lead expeditions into the forest to remove miconia plants by hand. The tree has become an invasive species in Tahiti and a quarter of the rainforest on the island is now made up of miconia stands. For this reason, it is frequently called the "green cancer" on the island.
09-08-2021, 09:26 PM
They manage invasive species for Oahu.
And Kauai. (and Maui) The first fire ants on Big Island were discovered on a single lot in HPP. They were traced back to the nursery that imported them. Government authorities could have investigated recent sales and shipments by the single nursery responsible, but they didn't. A recent outbreak on Kauai received an all hands on deck response. The report included this historical notation: One infestation is known in the Kalihiwai area since 1999 and is under active control by KISC and HDOA. As of 2019 it has been reduced to close to undetectable levels. https://www.kauaiisc.org/kiscpests/lfa/ 
09-15-2021, 03:49 PM
"Please don't attack me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that albezia, though it presents problems, is nitrogen fixing and also helps build soil. Just playing Devil(weed)'s advocate....I wonder if there is any upside to our new guest. Aloha"
In response to your question Kimo, there almost always is an upside to every plant. Just like the upside of the albezia that you pointed out. More often than not the upside doesn't outweigh the negative with these invasives though... Wound Healing Property Review of Siam Weed, Chromolaena odorata https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5414454/ Chromolaena odorata: A neglected weed with a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities https://www.spandidos-publications.com/1....2017.6133
09-29-2021, 04:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-29-2021, 04:43 AM by Midnight Rambler.)
Olohana 1790, miconia is bad but it's been here for decades (it's been here since the 1960s, not the 90s) and not become the problem that it is in Tahiti and other places. If you never noticed it in upper Puna before 2015 it's because you either weren't looking or because they cleared out so much during the eradication effort in the early 2000s. There were big stands of it around Kurtistown and Mountain View when I lived there around 2008. And there was a ton around Pahoa at that time. There's also a biocontrol moth that will soon be introduced against it.
And yes, devilweed is that bad. On other Pacific Islands, they've had to abandon huge areas of agricultural land due to it. We already have trouble growing food, and this will make things even worse.
09-29-2021, 07:55 PM
Recent article in the H T-H. With photo, info, contacts. And a quote about how fortunate we are that devil weed is in Leilani & HPP:
“Right now, we’re actually lucky that it’s just on the east side of the island,” Brewer said.* https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...evil-weed/ * OK, yes that quote is a little out of context for maximum effect on our Puna-centric website.. Here's the rest: “It usually likes the warmer and drier areas, so if it gets over (to the west side) that could be very bad.”
09-29-2021, 09:38 PM
One point of interest about Devil Weed, is the fact that it's so flammable. Apparently the whole plant creates a sap that makes it go up like it was covered in gasoline. OK, maybe a exaggeration, but it sounds like it burns very well.
Destructive wild fires coming to a town near you. Don't need weeks of drought to prime the fires like the west coast, enough of this stuff and you are sitting on a powderkeg. |
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