Strawberry Guava

[Bullwinkle]

check out the black and decker alligator, cut (pun) my chain sawing time in half with this stuff... same blade no sharpening - now in season three - grin

[asly]

Regarding the weed wrench, we've used these many times on our farm in WA for the scotch broom, a hugely invasive species there. I've used both the largest size and the medium and found the large, just too large. It wears you out as it's quite heavy and seems to have as much leverage and pull as the medium. I can go for a couple hours with the smaller size, the other almost threw my back out! Glad to hear Yogi is willing to let someone try his out before spending money on one. Thanks!

And then, I dreamt of Hawaii... http://crazypineappledream.blogspot.com/

[jerry]

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

[Wao nahele kane]

Goats/chemicals etc...
If one wanted to skip the chemicals and goats, they could cut the guava out (burn it/etc, the removed portion) and then cover the stump area with a good black weed cloth. After a few months the area should be free of the Guava and all else.
The absence of light and the generated heat coupled with moisture will accelorate the germination of seeds/etc and quickly expell all the vegitation of any remaining life.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[DanielP]

You can lead a horse to the Garden Exchange, but....

[Bullwinkle]

nah .... amazon.com for those black and decker alligators - grin

[Wao nahele kane]

Cutting the stuff is easy with common heavy duty pruners, I could cut it for hours non stop and fire up the chainsaw for the 3"+ diameter stuff.
I'm not sure about working in the higher elevations around Puna or where there is some wind but down in Waa Waa, no breeze... It's most exhausting to pull them down through the trees and then to haul them off to a pile. We have to run the Jeep non-stop with AC on max and jump in it every 15 to 20 minutes just to cool off while consuming mass amounts of water. My tanktop and shorts end up saturated in sweat in less than 1 hour of removing these damn things. I was only able to go at this for 8 hours one day, the rest of the time we limited it to around 4-6 hours a day.
I've worked my keaster off over in Kona outside, day in day out and I could have ripped this guava to hell over there, but over here in lower Puna... sweat won't even evaporate here. I can't imagine using a brush and grub puller either, not unless I pulled a couple then went back inside and had some lemonaid.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[PaulW]

And all this because some people have irrational fears regarding biocontrol.

[Bullwinkle]

I used a short 16" chain saw year one. I am in very steep rocky wet terrain with about 6 per square foot of these averaging 2-3 inches in diameter... really tall ones thicker up to about 6 inches

I had two issues with the chain saw

1 - slip and fall - not a matter of if, but when

2- spark of death... just kiss that blue rock and its another 45 minutes with the file or 16 bucks for a new chain

This alligator thingy is a two handed electric lopper ... I break the handles off the manual ones btw ... at 2 1/2 inch diameter ... most manual loppers eat it for me, I break the handles off right at the metal jaws..

the thngy has jaws that protect the chain.... ta da! 2 years of trouble free lopping, same chain, no sharpening, no injuries other than my pride having cut through numerous extension cords

dont leave home without it

[Kapohocat]

quote:

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Originally posted by DanielP

You can lead a horse to the Garden Exchange, but....

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When you are cutting them again, call us! We'll help you cut guavi if we can take some of the sticks. I need 6-8''s for my outdoor shower. The reeds are starting to disintegrate!