Another...
Help me select fruit trees for my tropical yard!
Oh Scull, that looks so nice and I LOVE your conch shell decoration!
We have made our own mulch but the shredder is not reliable and we wanted to cover the ground as quickly as possible. Now that it has a good covering on it we will be getting the shredder blades sharpened (we inherited the tempramental beast) and hopefully can keep up with adding layers. We have a program here that you put in green waste and after a certain number of loads you can withdraw a finished ( ie cooked) load for a small amount of cash. It used to be free but they were not refunded this year. I am very pleased to say that this stuff is not full of viable weed seed like the County mulch has been in the past.
Look what I saw today - I believe it might be a sealing wax palm (Cyrtostachys renda) Please correct me if I have got it wrong. It truely was a thing of beauty...
Also my Abiu is flowering! They are not very pretty and at first I thought they were the start of new leaves but now they are bigger I am sure they are flowers. They also have a lovely fragrance. Now I have hope that I am going to get some fruit this year....
That does look like the Sealing Wax Palm, although I'm used to seeing them growing multistemmed, in a clump.
Thanks BHM! It does not look like much but I can see the improvement:) The conch shells are on top o keep the cows from jumping over and eating everything! I love your Abiu tree! It looks like it will really have a good crop. Dave
Scull - if you're still out there I've got a question for you.
I was re-reading this thread and was interested in hearing more about your grey water system. Aruba is also a desert island, so I would love to be able to use as much 'free' water as possible. What has worked for you?
Hi, The greywater system I put in was pretty easy. It is a branch drain system. There is a small book called create an oasis with greywater by art ludwig. Very good. Really all you do is find the pvc pipe coming out of your house from your kitchen and or bathroom to the septic. (not the toilet line) . cut it and dig trenches leading from it to your garden where you lay pvc pipe slightly pitched for water flow. Use black flow splitters and elbows to connect and "branch" the system (you can find these online at RV supply sites) I water about 10 trees from my bathroom and laundry. (you can no longer use bleach products) I use method organic based detergent now. At the end of each pipe put a small bucket upside down with a hole for the pipe near the top (which used to be the bottom) bury it and you are done. Works well, very easy.
cool. thanks for the info. I will keep an eye out for that book. I think that approach would work perfectly since my plumbing is near the surface and easy to figure out. Caribbean construction occasionally has its benefits!
Hoe about Asian persimmons?
I'm not a big fan of Asian persimmons - I lived in Japan, where they make a pretty big deal about them, but I could never really get into them. I'm also not sure that they would grow in our super tropical climate...
Right now I'm concentrating on mangoes and citrus, both of which are going really well!
Oh! Persimmons - I love them! They don't grow in my area here at sea level (well, almost) but do very well at higher elevations.
I have just bought a star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito) and I am hoping it will manage to make it here in dry Kihei. Has anyone else grown one? Any first hand growing tips would be appreciated. We just love the fruit.
Jenn
Hi Jenn!
The Star Apple needs a lot of water. It thrives in wet areas and tolerates temporary flooding. It is not particular to soil but needs regular applications of a balanced fertilizer.
Caimitos or Star Apples grow very well here where there is a distinct wet and dry season. While our house was being renovated we lived in a large park in our RV and there were several huge caimito trees. They were delicious but you had to beat the iguanas and the birds to them. So, I'd say they can take a season of dry but then need a lot of water to simulate the wet season.
Mahalo Dave and extranera, I have an area of grey water from my Mom's washing machine but it is in shade - that can be fixed by diverting it with a bit of new piping though. The water presently runs onto the mango, and it really doesn't need it. Can I plant the star apple in the full sun here in Kihei?
Presently it looks a bit sun burnt, I was told that it comes from waiting on the tarmac for inspection in Honolulu after arriving from Big Island - don't know if that's the truth or not, or if it does need a bit of shade. Everything I have read says full sun, but this is Kihei! I thought it was in worst shape than it really is because of the golden undersides of the leaves - LOL! The little tree also arrived covered in scale so it is in the "ICU" area for now.
Thanks again!
Jenn
Hi Jenn!
It is a common practice in hot dry areas of Hawai'i to plant young fruit trees with a shade cage. It is a circular frame covered with shade cloth, and open at the top. The shade cage should be as tall; as the plant. Let it grow up out of it; the tree will harden off in the sun as it gets larger.
The cage also protects the plant from the hot drying wind in Kihei.
Aloha, Dave
Dave's idea makes sense, they grow in full sun here and we've got some serious sun but we also have high humidity and that probably makes a difference. I would guess that in the wild the small trees would grow up under larger trees and then break through to the sun slowly. Dave's description sounds very natural.
Aloha,
Thanks you guys, I happen to have a piece of heavy duty wire fence about my person! Will get a bit of shade cloth this weekend to encircle it - thanks so much, great tip! I can almost taste those "apples"!
Hey Braveheartsmom: how does the mango like the washing machine water? Do you use any specific types of detergents? Anything else I should know before having my shower and washing machine water a mango tree here?
Aloha,
Yep, the mango seems to like the wash water just fine, so does everything else that it runs off to. I think she uses "Tide Free" at the moment, but it doesn't seem to matter which soap she uses. I do know that she only uses half the amount called for on the package as her clothes are not filthy dirty after she works in the garden, unlike mine which are really grubby! I think "grey water" is commonly used here in Kihei to help water our gardens, especially if you are not on the town sewage system like we are - every bit helps.
Jenn
the water running from our washing machine watered a bunch of cannas, and they completely went NUTS!!! i constantly had to thin them out. now i use it to water a coconut tree, which is bigger than the other two which were planted at the same time. so using washmachine water, is a good idea!
isaac