Growing Hints
Food, especially in Hawaii, is very expensive, and it is difficult to avoid GMOs and toxic chemicals. Growing your own clean veggies and leafy greens is one of the most important investments you can make in your own health.
Here are some growing hints and tips:
The Kratky Method (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratky_method) for growing lettuce is a passive hydroponic technique where nutrient water (and BioWash) sits in a tub and the lettuce roots grow down into the water, stimulating plant growth. No pumps are required, but it does pump out lettuce, watercress, and other leafy greens. LED lights are super-efficient and do not heat up. Mylar helps reflect the light.
The Gardyn is a recent invention that is attractive and functional and is being improved all the time. The nutrient water in the base is circulated up to the top of the vertical pipes and trickles down, delivering nutrients to the roots, which also have air for thriving plant growth. I find my own fertilizer works better than the company-supplied fertilizer, and, of course, there is BioWash in the water as well.
Breadfruit (Ulu) is remarkably nutritious and helped feed over one million native Hawaiians who once inhabited the Big Island. Ulu is one of the best food trees to plant.
Breadfruit smells like bread when it is being cooked and can be used as a potato salad, Ulu fries and many other ways. One thing is for sure: you must pierce the skin all over prior to baking it, or you will have an explosion.
For the best results for orchards, use a backpack sprayer to foliar spray the leaves, the underside of the leaves, the branches, and trunks. Every three weeks, I will mix water-soluble fertilizer with the BioWash for a powerful, growth-supercharging foliar spray. Backpack sprayers come in different sizes, and smaller pump sprayers or spray bottles can also be used.
The dripline of a tree is directly below the further extremes of the branches and leaves. It is important to water close to the tree’s trunk, but it is more important to water out to the dripline, as that is where the newest roots are for the tree. In general, the roots of a tree mimic the branches of the tree in size and breadth. Imagine rainfall hitting this tree, and the water will drip down to the ground at the edge of the leaves; that is the dripline.
Pineapples absorb most of their nutrition through their long, sharp-ended fronds, so it is best to feed them by spraying or pouring nutrients and BioWash over the leaves and in the middle of the plant from above. Pineapples die back after producing a fruit, so it is critical to continue to make new plants. If you plant the crown of a Pineapple, it takes 2 years to produce fruit; if you plant a node off the Pineapple plant, you will have fruit in 14–16 months.
One of the most important tools for any gardener is a Chlorine filter to remove the Chlorine that is put in city water to kill bacteria. If you are on catchment water, this does not apply. If you put a bucket of city water out for 24 hours, the Chorine will gas off. A more effective way is to buy an inline Chlorine filter to remove this element from hose water instantly.
Compost Tea is highly aerated fertilizer water that contains an explosion of bacteria growth that can then be applied to plants foliar or by a soil drench to enhance plant health. A company called Boogie Brew makes the most foolproof compost tea mix. Also, an air pump and air stones will be needed.
Few substances make plants grow better than worm castings and worm juice, which are best derived from a worm farm. The best worm farm is a bathtub with a slanted bottom and a drainage hole. Look up vermiculture for more information on the process.
