Growing Dwarf Red Bananas

A Dwarf Red Keiki
2 weeks from transplanting

There's a plant nursery in the islands that's wholesaling tissue culture bananas. Tissue cultures are clones that are disease free. They're marketing a good selection with some of the hard to find varieties like Ice Cream and Dwarf Red.

Kula Hardware & Nursery and the Kahului WalMart have tissue culture bananas available periodically. The keikis were really skinny and I was skeptical about them but I purchased a Dwarf Red in October of 2011.

4 months from transplanting

The plant was a little slow to grow at first but it didn't take long
to begin developing at a normal pace.

9 months

At 9 months it was taller than the Dwarf Apple was at maturity but it still had not flowered.

Just Beginning to Flower
12 months

Finally, at 1 year from transplanting the flower started to emerge. The center of the plant was over 9 ft from the ground and the top of the leaves were about 15 ft. The Dwarf Red flower was distinctively different from Dwarf Apple.

Harvest Day was Getting Close
16 months

The bananas were ready within 5 months from flowering and weighed over 50 lbs. Just as the top bananas were beginning to turn color the tree fell over due to the weight of the bananas.

Dwarf Red was 3 feet taller than Dwarf Apple, they took 6 months longer to flower but ripened a month earlier.

Transplanted 10/1/11 - Harvested 2/15/13

Oddly, the Dwarf Red variety I planted produced light yellow bananas. When peeled, they had the peachy color tone that's typical of red bananas and they were so ono!

Growing Buckwheat in Kihei

Buckwheat is a heat tolerant seed crop that can be planted year round in Kihei.

Tokyo Buckwheat
6 weeks

Although buckwheat is typically planted as a cover crop

 it can be grown just for it's lovely flowers.

Tokyo Buchwheat

Harvested at 10 weeks

Buckwheat is not a grain but a seed that's often used as a gluten free substitute for grain. In contrast to wheat and sesame, buckwheat seeds were easy to liberate from the plants. In a world of changing climate patterns and food crisis predictions, these types of crops are of particular interest to me. In the event of food shortages, we could grow buckwheat in Kihei even during the hot summer months.

Buckwheat Cover Crop

3 weeks

5 weeks

I planted half of a 55 sf garden bed in an organic, generic unhulled buckwheat and the other half with corn. Buckwheat seeds are broadcast over the soil and raked in or covered with a thin layer of soil.

Green Manure Crops: Buckwheat

The organic unhulled buckwheat that's sold in the bulk section of the natural food stores will sprout and can be planted as a cover crop. If your not planting buckwheat as an heirloom food crop, purchasing organic generic seed in bulk is more economical than purchasing from seed dealers. If you're planting buckwheat as a grain crop, heirloom seeds are available from Sustainable Seed Company.

In Japan, buckwheat soba noodles are traditionally eaten on New Years day. In raw cuisine, sprouted hulled buckwheat can be made into raw crackers, granola bars and mixed with flax seeds to make mini-pizza crusts or tortillas. Unhulled buckwheat can be sprouted in soil or a soil-less medium, similar to the way wheatgrass is grown, and eaten as a salad green. Organic buckwheat hulls are used to fill pillows and zafu cushions.

Buckwheat Sprouted Lettuce
Sprouted Buckwheat Bites

Sprouted Buckwheat Flat-Bread

How to Make Buckwheat Soba Noodles
Buckwheat Hull Pillows
Buckwheat Hull Zafu Cushions

Hot Weather Micro-Greens

An Assortment of Micro/Baby-Greens

Normally I don't plant salad greens from May until October as they don't tolerate the 85+ degree temps and the intense summer sun. The hot sun stresses the seedlings and that attracts white flies and leaf miners that suck the pigment from the leaves. Also, many salad greens bolt early or become bitter when grown in the heat.

This summer I trialed some of my more heat tolerant salad green seeds, sown densely as micro/baby-greens, and planted in diffused light conditions. They had a few hours of sun in the early morning, diffused light and shade the remainder of the day. Surprisingly, some of the seeds I trialed grew well and weren't bitter when harvested as baby greens.

Green Romaine

Seeds that grew well as micro and baby greens during the summer
in diffused light conditions:
Arugula

Celery

Chard

Chijimisai

Green Romaine
Komatsuma

Mibuna
Mizuna
Osaka Purple Mustard
Tango Oakleaf
Tatsoi

Wasabina

Summer Solstice

From seeds to baby salad greens within 30 days.

Any type of celery works as a micro-green - it isn't bitter in the seedling and early stages of growth. Celery takes 2 to 3 weeks to germinate and is very tiny at first. I planted it

separately from the other greens.

The chard I planted was Flamingo - a small pink heat tolerant variety.

I grew the greens in containers under a trellis that covers the lanai on the east side of my house. I mix Black Gold Earthworm Castings, or an OMRI fertilizer and Green Sand

into the potting soil. Green sand isn't necessary for growth but I use it to

to add minerals to the soil. Hopefully it adds minerals to the leaves.

I watered predominately in the evening to cool the soil at night.

The seeds were sown as a mix and also in sections since some grow faster then others. The leaves had minimal insect damage and in 3 weeks were large enough to start cutting for salads. I start a new container every 3 weeks to have a continuous harvest through

the summer. As I trial other seeds I'll update this seed list.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Etsy are good sources for reasonably priced seeds. 

Another good source, especially for sprouts and growing indoors, is True Leaf Market

If you aren't a fan of spicier greens you might want to avoid the 

mustard greens and arugula unless they're noted to have a mild flavor.

Beautiful salads featuring micro-greens:
A New Meaning to "Garden Variety"

Growing Dwarf Apple Bananas

Just Harvested

The first Dwarf Apple banana I attempted to grow was a young plant from Plant It Hawaii that I purchased at one of the Kahului garden centers. I planted it in a 30 gallon container - don't believe anyone if they tell you a Dwarf Apple banana plant can be grown in a container. It didn't take long for the roots to outgrow the cramped space and the banana plant to begin to die. But, it produced a keiki or baby plant and I cut down the parent and transplanted the banana keiki into the ground.

At 2 weeks from transplanting.

On August 4th, 2011, I planted the keiki in a hole amended with a lot of compost and a generous amount of an organic all-purpose fertilizer. 

At 2 months from transplanting the plant was growing vigorously.

It doesn't take long for a small banana plant to produce corms. If they aren't removed the planting area will become seriously over-grown with keiki banana plants before the parent plant produces any fruit.

I use a pic-ax to remove the corms unless I'm going to transplant one. I like to transplant them into a pre-dug area rather then let them grow next to the parent plant. From my experience, they're rooted better into the ground. If a banana plant isn't properly anchored it can blow over in a strong gust of wind or fall to the ground due to the weight of the bananas.

At 6 months from transplanting, the flower stalk started to emerge.

When the flower stalk began to emerge, the banana plant was over 7 ft tall at the center and the tops of the leaves were over 11 ft from the ground. No wonder it couldn't be contained! Dwarf Apple Banana plants are a lot shorter than the regular bananas like Cavendish.

At 7 months the baby bananas were developing.

At 11 months the bananas were getting heavy but the tree

appeared to be well rooted in the ground.

What I especially like about growing dwarf bananas is that everything about them is manageable. I don't have to recruit anyone to help me cut down the banana stalk or to cut down a 20 ft tall plant after the bananas are harvested. A bunch of Cavendish bananas can weigh 50 lbs and usually requires a ladder in order to cut them down. I didn't weigh the Dwarf Apple bunch after I cut it but I would guess the weight to be around 25 lbs.

And on July 28th, 2012, almost 1 year from transplanting, the top bananas began to turn yellow - the bananas were ready to harvest.

I decided to plant dwarf varieties of bananas because my patch of Cavendish bananas were way too tall and blocking my neighbors view. I cut them down and dug them out twice but they grew back. Eventually I had to hire a landscape person to dig them out completely. Bananas should be managed and maintained or they become over-grown and invasive like ginger.

Bananas are bothered by several pests and diseases. Aphids and white flies go for the older leaves. I hose the under sides of the lower leaves with water to remove as many aphids as I can and I cut the leaves off as they get older. There's an aphid that causes "banana bunchy top virus". So far, none of the banana plants I've grown over the last 6 years have had this disease. If my plants were to contact this virus I would dig the infected plants out completely but I would not use the recommended toxic herbicides.

There are differing opinions about fertilizing bananas. I've been giving the plants a generous amount of an organic all-purpose fertilizer and compost once a month. Supposedly, fertilizer encourages the plants to grow taller. In my opinion, the quality of the fruit improves when the plants are well watered and well fertilized.

When the bananas are harvested the hands tend to ripen all at once. There are several ways to preserve a banana harvest. I freeze ripe peeled bananas for making smoothies and banana bread or slice them vertically and dehydrate them. Another way to use perfectly ripe, unpeeled bananas is to grill them and then slit the husk or skin open vertically on one side and eat the cooked fruit from the husk with a spoon. Grilled bananas are so ono especially over ice cream.

Growing a Papaya Plant From a Seed

 

From a Seed to a Lusciously Ripe Papaya

In July of 2011, I planted seeds from an organic Maui Sunrise papaya. Sunrise is also known as Strawberry papaya. It took over 4 weeks for the seeds to sprout and they grew very slowly over the next month.

At 3 Months - Sunrise Papaya Seedlings

At 3 months the seedlings were large enough to transplant into a garden bed.

Solo and Sunrise are the most commonly grown papayas on Maui. Their seeds predominately germinate hermaphrodite plants which are self-fertile.

The following link is a pdf with photos for identifying the sex of the papaya flowers:
Growing Papayas in Hawaii

At 7 Months - Hermaphrodite Flowers Began to Bloom

The seedling grew rapidly and the tree began to flower when it reached 5 feet tall. The first flowers appeared around 7 months (4 months from transplanting). Hermaphrodite flowers are cylindrical.

At 8 Months - The First Fruit Began to Grow

I don't recommend using seeds from Big Island or Oahu grown papayas as GMO papayas are aggressively being grown there. Cross pollination has been a significant problem for the non-GMO and organic farmers - organic papayas from the Big Island and Oahu could be contaminated.

Solo and Sunrise papaya should be planted in the ground as their root systems are too large and aggressive to be contained in a pot. Like other tropical fruit trees and plants, papaya grow very well in our acidic soil.

At 9 Months - A Tree Full of Developing Fruit

Several pests and diseases can affect papaya - the most common problem in Kihei is the nematode. Nematodes can destroy the root system of a papaya tree in a short period of time. French varieties of marigolds are suppose to deter the nematodes. I planted a mix of French marigold seeds in my garden bed and I also mixed ground eggshells into the soil. Finely ground eggshells reduce the population of rose beetles and ants but I don't know if they'll actually work for controlling nematodes.

At 11 Months - The First Ripening Fruit

Birds can damage the ripening fruit. The easiest remedy is to harvest the fruit when they just start to turn color and let them ripen in a protected area or indoors. In some areas of Maui the oriental fruit flies will attack ripening papayas. Although oriental fruit flies are found in Kihei, the population has been low in my garden.

Papaya ring spot (a mosaic virus) has been a problem on the Big Island and Oahu and that's why they have GMO papayas being grown there. Maui is considered ring spot virus free, another good reason to use papaya seeds from a Maui grown papaya.

Before I planted, I amended the garden bed with lots of compost. I added additional compost and a generous amount of an organic all-purpose fertilizer once a month. Some sources note not to over water papaya trees but it's hot in Kihei and I watered most every day. When transplanted, the papaya seedlings should be spaced at least 6 feet apart.

Solo and Sunrise are the most common papayas grown in Hawaii but there are other varieties of seeds sold online. Any variety that produces hermaphrodite flowers should grow well in our climate. If it produces male and female plants, I recommend finding out if the species of insect needed to pollinate the flowers is common in the area and elevation where your papaya trees will be growing.

Hawaiian Papaya Salsa
Thai Green Papaya Salad
Papaya Raspberry Smoothie

Papaya seeds online
Aloha Seed & Herb

Growing Dessert Grapes in Kihei

The 1st Flame Grapes

Wine grapes are grown Upcountry but I don't know if grapes have been grown successfully anywhere else on Maui. Flame and Thompson grapes are grown in the low desert areas of Arizona and California and require a long hot summer. I thought they would be ideal grapes to trial in Kihei.

Grape, fig, pomegranate and olive trees are noted to require chill hours. I've been successful growing fig and pomegranate trees in Kihei where we have no chill hours but olive trees do require them in order to fruit. I won't know until next spring if chill hours are also required for grapes.

A budding grape cluster 4 weeks from transplanting.

In February, my order of bare-root trees arrived from Bay Laurel Nursery. Bay Laurel has a good selection of bare-root plants, including grapes. I purchased a Flame grape and planted it in a large container in early February. In 2 weeks the plant started to show signs of life and within 4 weeks it produced the first grape cluster.

Although I considered planting in the ground, I decided to plant in a 30 gallon container as I didn't want to construct a grape fence or trellis until I determined that grapes really could be grown in Kihei.

I put the container at the end of an 18 ft x 5 ft wire fence that I use for tomatoes. Grape plants vine vigorously. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to construct a basic grape fence and the techniques for training the vines for best fruit production.

What's eating the grape leaves?

I haven't figured out what insect has been eating the grape leaves at night. I've gone out with a flashlight a few times but the bugs fly off before I can ID them. I have lots of rose beetles everywhere - I suspect they're responsible. No insects bothered the fruit.but I recommend covering the grapes when they get close to ripening as they can be damaged by birds. 

Grape leaves are used in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines.
Some pickling recipes call for grape leaves.
How to Preserve Grape Leaves
 

From a bud to a cluster of ripe grapes in 75 days.

The individual grapes didn't grow as large as the Flame grapes at the market. From my research into growing grapes in a home garden, that seems to be normal.

In April, I found baby Flame and Thompson grape plants at Wal-Mart for $5. That's the first time I've seen grape plants at any of the Kahului garden centers. Although I did find out that Kula Hardware has grape plants available during the spring. They keep a call list and there's no obligation to purchase if you put your name on the list.

Vegetables & Small Fruits in the Tropics A-J
(Scroll down to "Grapes In Warmer Climates")

Thompson

3 months from pruning

In November, after reading the information about growing "Grapes In Warmer Climates", I decided to hard prune the Flame and Thompson plants. Within a few weeks they were producing leaf buds..In late December the Thompson grape plant was growing more vigorously than the Flame and had produced 3 baby grape clusters.

By March, the plant had not produced any additional buds so after I harvested the grapes I pruned the plant back again.

3 Thompson Grape Clusters

The Thompson grape was larger than Flame but the clusters were smaller. Thompson needed close to 90 days to ripen.

Both grape plants grew okay in a container for about a year and produced fruit one time. But growing Flame and Thompson in containers isn't realistic. Their root systems are wild and aggressive and they need to be planted in the ground.

Wine grapes have been grown successfully at sea level in an experimental garden at the Natural Energy Lab in Kona using ColdAg technology. ColdAg involves a closed pipe system buried beneath the soil that circulates cold deep ocean water. The pipes chill the soil to 45 degrees and moisture from the air condenses into the soil.

If the soil can be cooled and regulated with technology, we could grow just about any fruit tree or vegetable year round in Kihei. This technology is fascinating and there are other systems being developed that don't require access to ocean water. More info about ColdAg can be found here:
ColdAg - DOW (Deep Ocean Water) Technology

Deep Ocean Water Agriculture

Growing Heirloom Cauliflower

Precose Toscana

Almost 5 months

When I grew cauliflower in 2009 I planted seeds in late October. The plants didn't flower and as is typical of brassicas they began to succumb to heat stress due to the rising temps in March. I then read that cauliflower needs a period of 60 degree weather to produce a flower. In Kihei, night-time temps during late January to early February are in the 60 to 65F range but the days are usually in the 80s.

Romanesco Italia, Precoce di Toscana and Violetta Italia

Then I learned that cauliflower could be grown in Maui Meadows. After growing cauliflower again I've concluded that the planting date is more critical than with other brassicas.

Violetta Italia

3 months

Most varieties of broccoli are ready to harvest in just over 3 months. Cauliflower and Romanesco need 4 to 5 months and ideally the flower should develop during our coolest weather - mid-January through mid-February. I usually start the brassicas in mid to late October but cauliflower should be started in late September. In moderate 4 season climates, cauliflower is predominately planted in August so the flower will develop during cooler weather.

Sicilia Violettto and Precose di Toscano

3.5 months

Cauliflowers are big plants and as they grow larger they need a lot of water especially in Kihei. The plants grow well in the large 10 gallon size self-watering containers available at Walmart. Self-watering containers can also be purchased with free shipping on Amazon. I recommend blocking the reservoir - I use a rolled up plastic bag - as the water can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Cauliflower needs a generous amount of an organic all-purpose fertilizer once per month. 

Precose Tuscana

Just starting to flower - 4 months

At 4 months the newly emerging leaves of Precose Tuscana (Early Tuscan) 

began to twist and curl. Within two weeks a small creamy white flower started to develop. Some varieties of cauliflower are self-blanching and form these protective leaves. Once the flower begins to form it takes 2 weeks for the head to grow large enough to harvest.

After 5 months Violetta Italia didn't form a head - it may be too warm to grow it here.

Sicilia Violetto
Just starting to flower - almost 4 months

Sicilia Violetto formed vertical leaves rather than curled. They were long enough to tie a string around to protect the flower from the sun.

Sicilia Violetto
4 months

Sicilia was the earliest cauliflower I've grown. The flower above formed between 12/26/13 and 1/11/14 during a period of cool and windy weather when our nights in Maui Meadows were in the low 60's. It had a slight purple blush but it didn't turn purple.

Romanesco Italia

4 months

Depending on the source, Romanesco is classified as a broccoli or a cauliflower. In my opinion it's most similar to cauliflower. I think it may be too warm in Kihei to grow decent Romanesco. Although my plants formed flower heads they didn't produce the bright green fractal flower typically seen in seed catalog photos. Instead they were small, brownish and distorted. And, Romanesco Italia didn't form protective leaves or long enough leaves around the flower to tie together.

The major pest that attacks the brassicas is the cabbageworm. I keep the cauliflower under a row cover with the cabbage for the first two months or until they're too large to contain. Last year they were hardy enough at 2 months to grow uncovered and withstand moderate cabbageworm damage. This year they were severely damaged by cabbageworms and I'll have to make individual tulle tents for them next year.  Slugs and snails also eat cauliflower leaves - I use a product for organic gardens to control them.

I planted cauliflower in the fall of 2009, 2012 and 2013. The white varieties appear to grow okay as long as they're planted in the early fall. The flower heads aren't as large and picture perfect as those at the market probably due to our intense sun and high day-time temps. The purple varieties and the Romanescos appear to need temperatures that are cooler than we have in Kihei.

 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Gourmet Seed

have large selections of cauliflower seeds.

Roast Leeks and Cauliflower

Warm Peekytoe Crab with Cauliflower and Curry Sauce

Lemon Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin and Sumac

Shrimp & Cauliflower Pancakes

Pickled Cauliflower

Cauliflower Kim Chi

Growing Cima di Rapa - Broccoli Rabe in Kihei

I've been wanting to try Cima di Rapa but I've yet to find it at the local Whole Foods or Maui farmers markets. So, I decided to plant it in my fall/winter garden.

Cima di Rapa is known by several names - the most common are Broccoli Rabe, Rape and Rapini. Cima di Rapa means turnip top in Italian. I planted seeds in October, December and early January. The first variety I grew was a quarantina, or 40 day, and the center flower stalk was ready to harvest at 45 days from seed.

Cima di Rapa

Quarantina Riccia di Sarno

45 days

One of Cima di Rapa's best assets was that it didn't attract cabbageworms and I didn't have to cover the plants with row covers or tulle. The flower-heads look like broccoli side shoots but they don't taste like broccoli. They have a stronger and somewhat mustard green like flavor.

Cima di Rapa required our coolest temps as the heat increased it's bitterness. I found the best time to plant the quarantina was in December as the October crop was too bitter. There are 40, 60, 90 and even longer day varieties of Cima di Rapa. To avoid bitter flowerettes, I suggest timing the planting of the different varieties so they produce the flower-heads in our coolest weather.

Cima di Rapa

Producing side shoots

Six days after cutting the center flower stalk lots of side shoots were ready. Like broccoli, the Cima di Rapa flowerettes will bolt rapidly. When the center flower-head begins to form, I recommend checking it every day and cutting it before it reaches the stage of developing tiny yellow flowers.

Rapini 

90 days

I also planted Rapini seeds that I purchased from Baker Creek. It looked like the Cima di Rapa quarantina but the plants were larger and took 3 months to produce their first flower stalk. The Rapini I planted must have been a noventina or 90 day variety. It produced larger flower-heads that didn't bolt as rapidly as the quarantina.

A Rapini flower-head

Cima di Rapa quarantina grew about as large as a typical broccoli plant but Rapini was similar in size to a Piracicaba broccoli. All of varieties I've grown can be planted in 10 to 15 gallon size containers. The plants grew well in full sun and needed daily water.

Gardeners who love Cima di Rapa, and live in a 4 season climate, plant seeds of the 40, 60 or 90+ day varieties at the same time for continuous harvesting throughout the growing season.

Cima di Rapa

Riccia di S. Marzano

Riccia di S. Marzano was a unique and lovely sessantina. At 65 days the plant was 3 ft tall and produced a center flower stalk and slender side-shoots with delicately curled leaves.

 Seeds From Italy have a large selectios of Cima di Rapa seeds from the different regions of Italy. Rapini seeds are available from
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

How to Grow Cima di Rapa
Tips for Preparing Rapini

Broccoli Rabe with Pasta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa
Rape Stufate
Broccoli Rabe with Olive Oil & Garlic
Broccoli Rabe & Yukon Gold Potato Salad
Broccoli Raab, Rape et al
Wild Rapini with Orecchiette and Garlic

A Few Heirloom Asian Greens

This was my first experience growing Asian greens in Kihei.
And surprisingly, they were tolerant of our fall and winter climate.

Tatsoi

30 days from seed

Tatsoi is my new favorite green - it's great in salads and so tasty when sauteed in olive oil or butter. It's a cool season green and I thought it might be sensitive to the intense afternoon sun so I planted it with full sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The plants didn't form the short classic rosette in the Kihei climate but they didn't bolt either.

 I planted Tatsoi seeds from October through February with good results. I planted it individually and in salad green mixes - it grew really fast.

Choi Sum

45 days from seed

Choi Sum brings back memories of eating really ono dim sum in Honolulu. It's a popular cart item in many Chinese restaurants that serve dim sum for lunch. They prepare Choi Sum by blanching or steaming it in a bamboo basket and serve it with oyster sauce.

Choi Sum grew fast too - so fast it was hard to get the right timing for harvesting the plants before the flowers sprung out. I planted seeds in full sun from October through February.

Ching Chang Bok Choy

75 days from seed

I grew 2 types of small bok choy that were noted to have good heat tolerance. Ho Tau Bok was so bitter it was inedible but Ching Chang was really good. Ching Chang could be harvested early or at maturity. The plants began to form a flower head at 2.5 months.

I planted bok choy in full sun from October through January.

Gai Lan

Ready to harvest at 60 days from seed

Gai Lan is a Chinese broccoli. It's not like a typical western type of broccoli as it produces a very small flower head and few side-shoots. The plants were almost ornamental with lovely paddle shaped leaves and stalks of white flowers. They grew as large as a typical broccoli plant but the draw-back to Gai Lan, at least in the Kihei climate, is that it didn't produce much broccoli.

I planted Gai Lan in full sun from October through January.

All of these Asian greens can be grown in containers. I also grew Tatsoi and Choi Sum hydroponically in a simple and inexpensive set up that can be found here:
An Inexpensive Hydroponic Method for Growing Salad Greens