Vegetable Gardening

Hawaii can be a gardener's dream come true. But it isn't as easy as it might seem. There are unique pest problems like nematodes that invade plant roots, and fruit flies are attracted to the vegetables and can ruin your plants. Tropical soils get leached by rainfall and are mostly acidic. Leaching is the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil due to rain. Laterite is a soil and rock type rich in iron and aluminum and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. These metallics chemically bond with nitrogen and  adding fertilizer is a waste time and of money until acidity is lowered. Composting is the biological foundation of every garden, whether man made or natural. The process occurs naturally in all ecosystems. In a forest, leaves fall, and animals die, and they enrich the soil as they decay. By composting, you can add nutrients to your earth and develop a good soil structure, which means healthier, more productive plants. It’s also an easy way to recycle food, animal and plant waste, and turn it into a usable product. So gardening is actually about fostering bacteria in the soil which chelate inorganic minerals and convert decaying plant matter into plant food. Composting in the tropics is quite different from other geographic areas. Excess water and heat can destroy your compost so gardeners looking to make compost in the tropics thus have lots of challenges when it comes to making high quality. The compost may need to be covered with a tarp because too much moisture can promote anaerobic conditions and you get a soggy mess. Compost made up of leaves and grass clippings and twigs or soft wood chips is benefited by Mac nut shells which are hard and durable which will harbor colonies of bacteria for longer periods of time, and also contribute beneficial carbon to the mixture. For more details see the Hawaii Composting Guide. In summary, Hawaii soils need to have acidity lowered, then amended with organic matter. Hawaii County Compost Facility offers free compost at some Transfer Stations. Vegetables Grow Best In Hot Weather Sweet Potatoes, Hot Peppers, Melons, Okra, Malabar Spinach, New Zealand Spinach, Eggplant, Yard long beans, Corn, Southern Peas, Blackeyed Peas, Cow Peas, Armenian Cucumbers, Tomatoes Winter Vegetables Amaranth, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Collards, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Turnips Hawaii gardening basics Raised Beds Why Plant Vegetables Now Hawaii Vegetable Gardening Hawaii's Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables Growing Edibles In The Warm-Temperate And Tropical Zone Hawaii soil amendments   Basics of composting The Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture UH Cultivars  Hawaii Organic Farming Association  Hawaii seeds for sale