What would you plant for part-time enjoyment?

[asly]

So, here's a question. We are thinking that for a number of years we are only going to be able to live and enjoy our east Hawaii property on a part-time basis. Some of the things we are looking for in our time there is tropical fruit growing and tropical landscaping. We will be at lower elevation, under 1000ft.

So, that being said, we also do not want to plant a bunch fruit that will ripen and fall and be a mess while coaxing in rodents and pigs, etc.

We know we will be there in fall and spring as these are our slow seasons with our work.

Any favorite suggestions on what to plant that will ripen/harvest during these seasons?

Thank you! Ann

[Kelena]

Lillikoi. It's sweet AND sour. You can eat it as is, puree it for special drinks, or just enjoy the flowers.

[asly]

Thanks Glen, I hope to try this fruit when on island next month. I've read from some of the posts that it can be landscaped into a privacy screen?

I'd also like to try coffee plants, as they must be harvested in the fall. I wonder how many plants one would need for personal coffee consumption.

[csgray]

Pineapples. The place we bought had been empty a long time and there were tons of pineapples buried in the tall grass, they survived abandonment amazingly well. The empty lot next door looks like people had just been throwing the tops over the fence and they are doing just fine in pretty deep jungle. Since they only have one fruit per year, plus take awhile to fruit, I don't think they would be a huge attractant for pigs. I would go ahead and plant the assortment of avocado trees you need to get close to a year round harvest, again they won't fruit for awhile, so it would be good to get a head start. Mangos take a few years too, and the mangos and pineapples would be ripe at about the same time, just plan your trips for the season!

Carol

[asly]

Thanks Carol, I really do want pineapples, mangos and avacados too! About how many avacados are on a mature tree? When are mangos and pineapples ripe - in the fall? Do white pineapples and yellow ones ripen at the same time or different? Good to know they are so hardy. What about bananas?

[csgray]

We have both mangos and pineapples (both colors) on now. The crop from each avocado tree will vary depending on the weather and variety, it is hard to get a big mango crop here most years but we still got some this year which was a bad year for mangos. My husband says you should plant the fruits you like and want to eat, nothing will be dropping tons of fruit for a few years yet.

Carol

[Carey]

More to worry about is the plant overgrowth that happens if the plants are not tended to. vines & such can overtake your plantings, and many frruit plants do need some care, including fertilizing.

This ol’ thread had some good info on fruits in season here:
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7923

Mangos that do well in Hawaii:
http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop..._mango.htm


Local white pineapple are mainly summer/early fall and most citrus are fall/early winter, as are most lilikoi, some of the species of mango & avocado are also fall bearers, but some are late spring/early summer

Papaya is one fruit that WILL be dropping fruit in the 1st year, so it can wait until you move, and bananas start within the first couple of years & can get messy in under five years.

[asly]

Thank you Carey for the info and links to past threads, all great info. I'm hoping we can find a part-time caretaker to help out when we are not there.

As to mangos, these seem to be kinda iffy as far as production in Hawaii. Is that why often times when we visit the islands the mangos you see in the stores are from the mainland?

[Kelena]

I concur on pineapples. I forgot about those. Once these get started, they need no care. My place has bananas and pineapples. It always shocks me to come over and to see one or the other fruiting. I'm easily shocked.

Mangoes do very well on the west side, although there are microclimates (scary Honolulu Landing area) where they do really well on the West side, too.

The reason you see mangoes from Brazil and avocados from Mexico is that the state and local government have not caught on to the benefits of promoting local agriculture. The local varieties of papayas, mangoes and avocados (especially the avocados) are fantastic. And yet you see miles of papaya farms dying. It's a shame. The only way to get them to promote it, I guess, is to buy it, and insist on it.

Here in California I periodically write a letter to Trader Joe's (where the papayas are three dollars a piece) and tell them to get their papayas from Hawaii. I can get them from Hawaii shipped to me for $3.25 a piece (or less). They humor me.

[kani-lehua]

our mango tree in kailua, o'ahu (east)produced buckets and buckets of mangoes. if it's pruned, then it takes a couple of years to start bearing again. we had one so so season when there was that biblical 40 days of rain.

back to puna somewhere around 2400-2500 elevation: our banana trees are producing like crazy. our first harvest was sometime in spring. we had about 4-5 bunches. right now, we have 8 bunches coming in.

glen: 3.25 each?! sometimes you can get 6 or 7 for a buck over here.



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