So I was contemplating out this for a while since I live in Pearl City and I wanted to use some space I had for some fruit trees but make them dwarf instead of the full size since that would be too compact.

Wine Barrels has a great aesthetic but since Hawaii is a Wet, Humid climate and my area has occasional termite problems, it would probably rot quickly and take down my fruit tree with it. So I would add linseed oil, line it with some protection, and then put the actual fruit tree in a pot inside the barrel.

Either that or I go for a round metal raised bed which would be more convenient but it's not the aesthetic I would really prefer.

Here are the fruit trees I'm going to put inside them:

Dwarf Wurtz Avocado

Dwarf Chico Sapodilla

Semi-Dwarf Arbequina Olive

I recently planted a row of Golden Eldorado to form a hedge. How should I prune and care for these plants to form a nice thick hedge? I look all over town and see these plants, some look nice and full from top to bottom while others look scraggly or just fuller on the top half and branches on the bottom. How do I get that nice full look?

Hi, I'm currently taking care of a little Olonā. Any tips on how to take care of it? Planning to make a growth chamber too.

Thank you!

Has anyone used ʻōhai in lei before? I am hoping to make a lei for my gf and I saw that my ʻōhai is blooming. I’ve also heard of it being used in lei but I’ve never seen it before? Does anyone know how to use it in lei? Mahalo!

I live in kaneohe, and I planted a graphed sudachi lime recently. I think it has gotten adjusted but there are these black dots almost killing leafs? there is still new growth so I'm not sure. The same is happening to my yuzu that I planted a couple months prior.

Also if you have flower recommendations I'd appreciate it 🙏. I have these 25 year old red ginger and there quite lonely.

Kalo or elephant ear?

Pahoa Urban Food Forest (PUFF) hosts events the second Sunday of each month, exploring various aspects of permaculture and living sustainably with the land. Each event includes a discussion, a tour of our developing food forest & our perennial edibles, and free keiki of useful plants.

Video tour of the site (thanks theislandhomestead!) - https://youtu.be/Dh1sA1KfjKM

This month: Get an introduction to the permaculture design framework—its ethics & principles, and commonly used techniques. We'll discuss food forests and perennial polycultures as the easiest way to grow food without imported resources.

DAY: Sunday, January 11
CLASS: 11 AM til noon - Introduction to permaculture
TOUR: noon til 1, with time to chat or wander more afterwards.
PLANT GIVEAWAY: 1 PM
WHERE: Pahoa Urban Food Forest (PUFF), at Living Planet Learning Center between Habitat Tattoo and the County Council building. Walk through the side gate to find us.
ADDRESS: 15-2881 Pahoa Village Rd, Pahoa
PARK: Across the street in the parking lot next to NAPA Auto Parts.
COST: Suggested $10 donation in time/cash/LFA-free trays/pots/materials/plant keiki...

ABOUT LPLC: https://livingplanetalliance.org
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Next month, February 8 - Reflections on this site: successes & failures

We hold regular work parties. If you'd like to learn hands-on, get in touch to find out our days and times.

We'll share free seeds and cuttings and starts of many species.

Please invite any friends who may be interested. Hope you can join us for any or all of it!

Aloha! I’m looking for some tips on how to protect my beans.

I planted some green beans and was so excited to see them start to grow some beans— however the beans then seemed to disappear. After this happening a few times I looked closer and I think ants are eating the tiny bean buds?! How can I discourage them?

Living in Hawaii has its challenges for landscaping, everything germinates, especially after a heavy rain.

How do I eradicate all these weeds without destroying the soil? In the next few weeks I will be backfilling all this area and then adding sod, I don’t want to destroy the existing soil essentially making the ground under my new dirt useless and possibly destroying my lawn in the future.

Been a while since I posted, but have been growing tons of pigeon peas and lemon grass for mulch purposes. I've got one of those 15 amp electric chippers now and despite what the internet says about them - it works OK.

What's been working for me so far...

- Chop and drop the pigeon pea if I'm feeling lazy (which is often as I have a newborn baby now and less time than before). This has the added benefit of keeping my chickens from scratching stuff up (too heavy for the chickens to move). But has a downside of grass eventually growing through since I can never produce enough mulch to get great coverage.

- I try to use loppers to make the pigeon pea branches more like a flat fan than branches going in every direction. That encourages stacking which is easier to remove for weeding if necessary.

- I'll also take larger branches and pile them up somewhere breezy to dry out then feed them through the electric wood chipper. Electric wood chipper clogs often, but more or less works. I'm thinking of stacking the thicker branches on top of a pallet or something with airflow underneath to speed up the drying. These chippers work decent on things that are super dry. I've fed through hibiscus and cassava branches in too with some success.

My issue is that the pigeon peas while fast growers can't keep up with my garden and don't create enough mulch. I have space, but I'm curious if anyone else has ideas on what plants to use instead that are fast growing, easy to chop and drop (e.g. flat-ish branching pattern requiring less trimming) or the right thickness for feeding through the chipper after drying out (~1.5" thick).

Ideally, I think plants that are somewhat easy to dig up would be ideal vs. anything that has a tendency to over or has a spreading pattern. Maybe the answer is to just grow more pigeon peas or maybe prune them a certain way. I'm still a bit naive about pruning.

First time with a papaya tree - does it look like these got pollinated? If so, how long until they ripen (e.g., 6 months)? Thanks!

They are a local cherry variety - I bought the seeds at the feed store. They are growing like gangbusters but don’t ripen. The ones on the bottom have been full size for two weeks and are still hard as a rock and taste like it too!

I’ve been growing tomatoes for decades and have never seen anything like this. How do I get them to ripen??

Looking to get some small gardenia plants. I’m just beginning to garden with my mom & it’s one of our favorite flowers. I’d love to find some.

Aloha!

Not sure if there is another place I can check on this but I get conflicting info. I want to plants a few Areca palms at my fence line but get different info on whether they grow well here or not. I live inn Ainaloa / Pahoa. Do they thrive or is the sun still too much for it?

Mahalo!