Trees

[nani1970]

A lot of my Ohia trees are dead in our yard.
still standing, but dead.
Any suggestions for some trees to plant instead, that are not invasive.
Would mountain apple work?
Some fruit trees?

[bananahead]

where are you located? very important because if your Ohia are all dead thats actually very strange really... its the heartiest of all our endemic trees and the only one that WILL compete with any invasive here...

Ohia can really grow right on lava if it has a cover plant at base ie the native uluhe ferns... or some deeper cracks it can get roots down into... its a tough tree really
Mountain/Malay Apples need deeper moister soil than Ohia and dont like hot direct sun...

many Ohias will die in lower Puna especially in the HPP area (tops die back often down there), if you remove all the Uluhe ferns at the base of Ohia... Uluhe acts like a mulch and helps hold moisture during dry spells where there is no soil ie HPP and its 2"-4" of natural soil if that

you can also try to replant Ohia, they grow fairly fast in the right conditions...

most of the faster growing trees are very invasive ie African Tulip, Melochia, GunPowder, both types of guava, Java Plum, Ironwood, Ficus ssp (small leaf Banyan), Indian Rubber (lg leaf Banyon), and all the legume trees ie Albezia, MonkeyPod, IceCream Bean, etc. etc.

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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

[jackson]

Actually Ohia are dying all over and no one really knows for sure why. There are invasives that are deadly to them, specifically the fiya tree which is nitrogen fixing. It also puts out a huge canopy that prevents growth. It also is susceptible to a leaf jumper that can go to the oiha. It is by far the worst invasive in the National Park and deadly to the ohia. They are also dying due to drought if you go just over the crest of Kilauea.

[nani1970]

I live on 24th in HPP.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

My ohia trees have been dying off slowly for 5 years or so now. Sometimes just one in a clump, for no apparent reason. When I checked I was told it is some kind of fungus (if I remember correctly) but that nothing could be done for them at the moment.

[kimo wires]

Shoestring root rot virus
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/do...gtr003.pdf

[bananahead]

Ohia do get the same 'Rust' thats completely wiped out all the Rose Apple Trees here (its a powdery bright yellow stuff on the new growth), but Ohia doesnt get it nearly as bad... that may be the fungus youre referring too. All my Rose Apples are basically dead (alive but with almost no leaves)... its a natural fungus that took years to get here... here is a story on it..
http://www.celebratemaui.com/2013/06/wha...tIo4fZhx7w
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/dis..._rust.html

Ohia is in the same family as Guava, Mt. Apple, Rose Apple, etc. so it was expected...

PS I have only 1 dead Ohia on my property (Rd 2 in Hawaiian Acres 1,300' elev) and I probably killed it digging a fire pit 4' from its base, I have literally a thousand++ Ohia total on 3 acres, but I also get 15' of rain a year too with ground rarely drying out completely. Quite a few of my younger Ohia show signs of rust on the new growth, but I pinch off the affect areas and it seem to control it a bit as the new growth will usually grow back unaffected... No hope on the Rose Apples though the leaves dry up and fall off before they even get out of the reddish color new growth phase...



******************************************************************
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

[bananahead]

nani I'd look around your neighbourhood and see what types of trees are doing good, and add good soil to the treee locations, there are a few Mt Apple trees in that upper area of HPP... other that that maybe avocado, mango etc. but they are average growers so will take quite a few years to get big... unlike the invasives I listed earlier where some will easily grow 10+' a year

******************************************************************
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

[Justin]

Koa.

[Guest]

Well it seems that others are starting to recognize this die-off of ohia trees. I am sorry to write this but if your trees are starting to die then all will die in the next 4 years. I have called everyone you can call for answers including forest departments, Dlnr, mayor, helco, university, u.s forrest, and many others. In fact I have spent so much time on this the last 5 years to no avail that it has become frustrating. Possible conclusions are fungus, beetles, disease, vog, geothermal, drought, dozing, clearing, AND FUMAGATIONS AND PESTICIDE SPRAYING OF G.M.O PAPAYA FIELDS ect. Yet I believe cell-phone towers or larger volumes of electricity could be the problem as the trees die from top to bottom. J.M.O. There has been past die-offs in the 50's and 70's that were important enough to at least study with $$$$, not this time though. Sorry to be negative about it, I spent countless hours already on this. Call the Mayor and J.B Friday if you want to find out more. All you get on this site is that it is natural or caused from drought.
Mountain apples are great in this area to grow. So is avocados, tangerines, rambutan, starfruit, guava, bamboo, longon, and many other trees. Like I have stated before on other posts, Time to say good bye to the ohia and bless our new rain forest tree the(albesia). Because of the dying trees we also have lost our bee hives here and bird houses no longer get the same attention.(sad).