#tropicalag — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #tropicalag, aggregated by home.social.
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Looks like I have a cashew sproutling ☺️.
pic 1 shows the sprout, pic 2 shows the fruits it came from. i planted the seed (at the bottom of the fruit). the pic of the fruits is from june, so that's how long it's been.
the fruit was gifted to me from @saltphoenix who planted a bunch more and got a bunch more sproutlings. i think her technique is more successful because she kept the seeds moist until the nut split (i just put mine in the pot before waiting for it to split). tbh i'm kind of surprised i got a sprout at all.
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A very nice interview with a scientist who's mapped the ecological impacts of past coconut plantations on Pacific atolls: https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversation/2024-12-30/new-study-looks-at-the-impact-of-coconut-plantations-across-pacific-atolls
It was fascinating to learn the different ecosystem effects depending on whether an atoll had random coconuts washing ashore and taking root, vs indigenous residents bringing coconuts when settling the area, vs coconut plantations that clearcut large areas of forest to plant a monocrop.
#pacific #ecology #ecosystems #coconuts #TropicalAg #tropical #science
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Doing a little light weeding today 🙄
Friends, I recommend that you NOT let guinea grass develop at your place. And definitely don't let it get 12 ft tall or spread across an area.
It's highly aggressive, grows very tall in thick patches, the roots are very difficult to remove, I had to use a literal saw to get through the thick stems, and it's covered in these hairs that are sharp and horrible and get on everything (like fiberglass fibers, if you've ever had the misfortune of dealing with those).
#plants #weeds #InvasiveSpecies #gardening #grass #tropical #TropicalAg #hawaii
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Big, orange pumpkins are an expensive import product here on Hawai'i Island (since they don't really grow here), but there are plenty of tasty local varieties, like the one pictured below.
I love local pumpkins. They're tasty, cook quickly, and have a long shelf life without needing to be refrigerated.
The Hawaiian word for pumpkin is pala'ai and here's some more info from the Hawai'i 'Ulu Cooperative:
"While palaʻai originates from the Americas, there are numerous varieties that perform well in Hawaiʻi. Kabocha squashes are the most familiar varieties to consumers in the islands and can often be found at farmers markets or grocery stores - there are several varieties to this family of squash. However, Kabocha varieties tend to be both less productive and susceptible to pest or disease infestations. Squash in the moschata families, presenting as large and round with a dark green flesh, are a tougher tropical variety which are less disease-prone than kabocha types, while Pepo varieties do well at higher elevations with variability in shape, color and form and are able to be eaten either mature or immature." - https://eatbreadfruit.com/blogs/farming/growing-squash-in-hawaii
#pumpkin #hawaii #halloween #october #fall #autumn #agriculture #TropicalAg #plants #food #gardening #farming
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A very nice article about breadfruit in Wired, but they describe it as bland and paste-like! It sounds like they've never actually tried breadfruit because it is actually delicious!!
Breadfruit does best in the tropics, but if I lived in a subtropical climate, I might plant one now, because by the time it matures, that climate will have gotten hotter.
https://www.wired.com/story/breadfruit-caribbean-pacific-climate-change-super-food/
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A new pineapple plant is growing at the place where I harvested the last one. When it gets a little bigger, I can break it off and plant it in its own soil.
If you didn't know already, you can plant the top of a pineapple. Now you know!
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Do you know inga edulis (ice cream bean, although "cotton candy bean" would be more accurate because it simply DOES NOT taste like ice cream)?
It's a tropical fabaceae tree that grows easily on poor soils (like the non-soil I have at my place). It's a nitrogen fixer, so it can be used to improve soil, and due to its size, it can provide windbreak.
Pic 1 shows the pretty white flowers that have a faint scent.
Pic 2 shows the whole tree.
Pic 3 shows the inside of one of the seed pods. The edible part is the white fluff around the seeds. This is a paltry example, but in a good one there's a lot of fluff. It's got a pretty mild flavor and there's not much to each one, but it can be a nice snack.Note: it is considered a weed in subtropical parts of Australia: https://www.milkwood.net/2015/04/02/foraging-ice-cream-beans-inga-edulis/
#plants #trees #tropical #nature #tropicalag #flowers #bloomscrolling
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View from the kalo 💚
#kalo #taro #hawaii #TropicalAg #offgrid #plants #gardening #garden #farm #farming
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Taro appreciation post featuring @saltphoenix & one of her massive taro 💜
#taro #kalo #hawaii #plants #food #farming #gardening #TropicalAg
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#ForestForensics #plants #pests #tropical #TropicalAg @plants
i found this part of a leaf on my trail and immediately thought "uh oh!".why did i think that? what did i see that made me concerned?
hint: it's part of a banana leaf
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it makes me feel sooo much better about myself when i see a master gardener step over his janky-ass "door-gate" that doesn't actually open and is just made out of random stuff piled up lol. and he has to lift the vine to get in - just like me!!! 😭
stills from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfrucQya_eo
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can you identify the plants for sale at this farmers' market in the puna district of hawai'i island?
hint: they are all food plants.
(bonus pic of the 'free seeds' box because plants are all about abundance, amirite? ^-^)
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have you ever had an orange/jamaican lilikoi (passiflora laurifolia)?
they're quite different from yellow/purple passionfruit. the shell is soft-ish. the inside is mild & perfumed. not sour at all.
they have beautiful purple flowers & cover everything (like other passionfruit). it seems like the flowers & fruits only occur on the "outside" of the plant curtain, so maybe i should thin it out a bit to get more fruit..
#plants @plants #tropicalAg #fruit #gardening #VineGang #vines
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this visually-confusing scene shows vine-on-vine action: lilikoi (passionfruit) vine crosses horizontally.
climbing vertically, and holding on to the lilikoi vine, are some water spinach plants (which, although they are considered water plants, do indeed climb as well!).
on the left is an unripe lilikoi hanging from a different section of that same lilikoi plant. so in this case, the lilikoi vine is acting as a trellis for the water spinach!
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now THIS is impressive tree mulching!
(this is not my place, it is the neighbor of a friend)
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any tips for fertilizing plants that are mostly or entirely in the air?
i have some #vanilla plants that are crawling their way through the forest. i have no idea where they touch the ground, but they have plenty of air roots.
i was thinking of fertilizing them, but realized i don't know what to do. maybe a mist or spray bottle? but then what goes in the bottle? at what concentration?
thanks in advance!
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#dragonfruit is a remarkable plant. it's a cactus that likes to climb & then hang down. it grows air roots to grasp whatever it's climbing.
you can break off segments & plant them. full sun is fine. it does very well in tropical dry places.
it has an amazing ability to recover from wounds or rot. it can even live with little scabbed-over holes in its flesh, like the hole seen below.
i love their giant flowers & tasty fruit. <3 dragonfruit!
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sometimes dragonfruit plants get The Rot. it spreads & liquifies the plant. pic 1 shows a pretty bad case of rot.
i've seen different suggestions for fixing it, but the one that seems to work is to scoop out all the rot w/your bare hand.
i did that, washed it with soap/water (like a wound) & it dried up within a day. (see pic 2.)
i'll monitor this section for more rot. if it repeats, i might split this section off.
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yesterday's vine work: freeing the 'ohi'a lehua in image 1 from a bunch of lilikoi (passionfruit) that had nearly covered it. i needed a ladder & everything. pic 2 shows some of the vine after i pulled it off. it's really remarkable how heavy it can be. the poor 'ohi'a was overburdened.
once again, i did it to myself: i put some lilikoi starts next to the 'ohi'a & forgot to put them in final locations. so they grew & grew.
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more vine removal tips on day ?? of vine clearing:
if you can find where the vine emanates from, you can cut a perimeter & then slowly shrink the circle (or circles).
i don't pull vine all day every day, but i do try to pull a little vine almost every day.
the vine expands, i trim it back, & the cycle continues. i merely surf the vine growth. the vine creeps forward, i push it back. it is a dance i do, me & the vine. fin.
#VineGang #TropicalAg #FoodForest #InvasiveSpecies #gardening
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what you would see if you were hanging out in a breadfruit tree :}
#breadfruit #ulu #TropicalAg #plants #trees #hawaii #nature @plants
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my feelings on the third day of clearing these invasive vines.
@saltphoenix says goats love this stuff. but i don't have goats & this is what happens when you don't have large herbivores in your garden ecosystem: YOU become the large herbivore having to remove & stomp down the stuff you don't want.
at least they don't have thorns!
#gardening #homesteading #CleanUp #garden #ecology #environment #InvasiveSpecies #farm #garden #plants #TropicalAg #FoodForest
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Working hard #today in the field. I was gifted 10 lbs of ripe avocados and a very refreshing ice cold coconut. #agriculture #farming #tropicalAg #islandLife
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#ForestForensics: sometimes one's kitchen junk box grows a vine (apparently)!
at first i didn't notice it (sneaky plant!), then i was mystified, & then i discovered the air potato i must've set down among the rubber bands b/c i couldn't decide whether to plant it (b/c i don't remember if this is the edible kind, & i don't want to plant the invasive non-edible variety.)
air potato is dioscorea bulbifera.
compare edible/non-edible types here: https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/76447/file/Air%20Potato%20Quick%20Identification%20Guide.pdf
#plants @plants #tropicalAg
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as i was weeding the other day, i found what i think is a tiny #papyrus plant! i must have planted it & forgotten.
it looks just like the larger papyrus i have elsewhere (pic 3), including the distinguishing "tall bit with more leaves coming out" (pic 2).
i still haven't figured out exactly where papyrus wants to live in our climate, but these ones aren't dead yet!
they're meant to grow in water, but the air is water here, so they can grow in soil maybe
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i checked in on my #vanilla #propagation experiment.
i was about to move this friend because it didn't look like it was doing too well, but i happened to look at the node to see if there had been any more bud growth & THERE WAS A ROOTLING. i was shocked. i just put it back in its spot & covered the node with a little bit of moss.
in pic 3, the red circle is around the new bud, & the white circle is around the new root.
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any #azolla enthusiasts out there? azolla are tiny aquatic ferns that can be used as green mulch, animal feed, & more.
they double in number extremely quickly, so can overtake a pond. we grow them in buckets & kiddie pools. they like shade & can happily share space w/water spinach.
the other day, i started a new azolla pond using just a handful of azolla from the orange bucket in pic 2. i arranged some ferns over it for shade. now it'll just go!
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#ForestForensics: do you know this #plant? it's growing in a tropical wet climate on hawai'i island. (hawai'i people & other people in the pacific probably know.)
@plants #ecology #tropical #TropicalAg #garden #gardening #plants
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happy #FlowerFriday from these turmeric bracts & flowers that came up from rhizome even before the leaves (like ginger, turmeric dies down in the fall & comes back in the spring). i almost didn't notice these!
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i love this #beehive setup that one of my neighbors has.
the hives are off the ground, covered from rain, and even have a tarp in the back to keep the sun off. you can see the bees hanging out at the entrances. love it!