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Aloha all,
I've been on my property for a little over a year, and the previous owner planted a small orchard of various types of trees. I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to tree management, and have come to the realization that I need some on-site help, because my trees are not doing well. Does anyone know of a service that I can contact to have someone come out and diagnose and even periodically maintain my trees' health? I work full-time (or sometimes more) and don't have a lot of extra time to devote to my orchard, but I hate to see the trees suffering. Any ideas are most welcome.
Mahalo!
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Check out the Oranges and Grapefruit post, and other postings in the "Gardening in Puna" section. Lots of good stuff and willing "members" eager to share their knowledge and experience to help you succeed.
Are you a human being, or a human doing?
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If you live in Puna, likely you have very little soil and need to fertilize after every 10 inches of rain.
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Terracore, question. I'm using triple 14 plus trace elements. been doing it twice a year. We average 10 plus inches a month here in Nanavale. So should i be using it every month or so. seems like a lot.
dick wilson
"Nothing is idiot proof,because idiots are so ingenious!"
dick wilson
"Nothing is idiot proof,because idiots are so ingenious!"
Posts: 581
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Joined: Feb 2006
Dick,
A little fertilizer often is much better than a lot occasionally, unless you paying a lot more and using slow release, e.g., Osmocote. I try to fertilize every 2-3 months. In this climate, every 6 months is definitely not often enough. My trees are all young (less than 2 1/2 years) and do not have a layer of mulch or ground cover to slow down the leaching of the fertilizer.
Allen
Finally in HPP
Allen
Finally in HPP
You may need to lime the soil to raise the PH to where the trees can absorb the nutrients. Do your trees have chlorosis (iron deficiency)? Sign is yellowing leaves but with dark green veins. That can be a PH issue.
I was told this by expert at Garden Exchange and this last month at a talk by a farmer he said liming the soil and adding manure for nitrogen is a given for these soils.
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Thank you, KathyH! That is exactly what is going on with almost all of my trees, yellow with green veins. Maybe there is still hope for my poor trees after all.
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The University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture has an excellent website for nearly all gardening, plant, tree, bug, and weed issues.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/UHMG/tropical-topics.asp
It's a great site to have bookmarked if you have any type of garden or orchard.
