Pruned trees

Over the past couple weeks we have pruned back the tips of the tallest trees. 

The a Rollinia in the front yard took the biggest cut, about 4-5 ft off the top, and trimmed some precarious long side branches as well. Trimmed the Marang and tallest Ulu to try to balance the apex growth. Trimmed back the lawn avocado and the two largest lime trees. Hacked off a large south pointing limb of the orange tree to balance the tree a little better with the "ti corridor" in front. 

New trees planted

Yesterday and Tuesday , planted out two rollinia from 1 gallon pots. (4h). Planted one in former "fern grotto" near site where we lost a mangosteen. Planted other in spot near mauka pond where we formerly cut a guava. Had to dig out the remaining guava roots first. Rollinia were from Garden Exchange and cost $10 each. 

Today, purchased two 3 gal ulu from Home Depot. ($32.95 each). A bit more expensive than Plant It Hawaii's tree sale would have been, but I was eager to get the last two in the ground, bringing total ulu to 12. The two new ones were labeled "Samoan Ulu" and branded "NG: Novelty Greens". Took about 3h to prep and plant the ulu. 

All four were planted with the weed block and hoop technique. This time, two perpendicular layers of weed fabric were layed down (with a slot cut halfway across each for the tree trunk). A hog wire hoop about 3-4' tall was secured atop the fabric using scrap wood stakes pounded into the ground, tied to the hoop with shoelaces or wire. A small amount of black cinder (0.75-2 cu ft) was poured atop the fabric, inside the hoop, under the tree's bottom most leaves, to hold down the fabric and provide more light block. Some perennial peanut stolons were planted in the cinder to assist with weed blocking eventually. 

Tree sizes update

Breadfruit and marang are growing fast. Second smaller row of ulu needs fertilizer soon-- leaves are looking pale but they are growing. 

Rollinia has nearly doubled in size in the past six months. 

Driveway trees have developed nicely since July. 

Oil palm check

•  Checked on oil palm in Back 40 property, in the most accessible section.  The palm has easily tripled in size from planting (since July). 
• Tammy weeded around cacao and mangosteen in pasture (30m). Field cacao is looking very healthy, large green leaves with little rose beetle or other damage.  This cacao has a small barrier on the stem, which was some paper bundled with fiberglass tape. Perhaps this is keeping beetles at bay.  Mangosteen is still healthy, has added a few new leaves since planting but is not much larger.
• Mowed several spots in the pasture that were long after most recent mowing by lawn service (4h). Some spots such as the former "fern grotto", jaboticaba area near shed, near mangosteen and cacao in field,  and the driveway trees were completely overgrown as lawn service did not touch them.
• Jaboticaba trees were completely overgrown with grass and vines. Hand-weeded and whacked (1h).  Trees are roughly the same size.
• "Spanish lime" lychee relative tree planted along road near shed has apparently not grown at all.  Still shows a few leaves but is stagnant.
• Ohia tree on main lawn was completely dead. Pulled it out.  My guess is that there was not enough space dug out for the roots before planting, or perhaps inadequate soil prep. 
• Banana trees near Mango tree show some small flowers but no fruit. It's not clear whether this variety of banana actually produces fruit. These were resident before we arrived.
• Vanilla orchid on areca palms by bbq lanai looks very healthy and has climbed well up the areca palm. 

Check gulch cacao

- Harvested some limes from tahitian lime trees
- Large avocado tree continues to drop good-sized avocados, 3-4 per day. Some are animal-chewed either before they hit the ground or shortly after.
- Processed 3 gallons of avo into ziploc freezer bags with lemon juice.
- Cleared weeds around cacao in gulch (45m). Counted seven (7) seedlings, between 12 inches and 24 inches in height.  Trunk size still not big, maybe pencil-sized.

Main orchard status

The ulu are looking healthy, though #3 is a little yellow. 

Most recently planted mangosteen is nearly dead. Might've damaged its roots during planting. Mangosteen near mango tree is growing slowly. 

Two newest Tahitian ulu have one male flower each. Seems premature. 

Fertilizing again today

Will fertilize ALL fruit trees since it's been about a month since the last round of fertilizer (2h). 

Will also weed around field cacao and put up protective wire (45m). Might help with bugs eating its leaves. 

In other news, cleared African tulip trees that were shading lawn avocado and pomplemousse (4h). Hope this will give them more sun.