Because of the challenges we are currently facing at the farm, I’ve gone back to being involved at the most basic levels of our farm operations. Last week I walked each of our 135 plant houses and looked at every single plant.

The other day I wrote here that we are taking out all the virus-infected plants. But I have learned, through years of experience, that one must always challenge assumptions. So I asked Dr. Scot Nelson, a plant pathologist from the UH Hawai‘i at Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, if he would come evaluate our virus problem.

The first thing he said was that the samples I’d submitted the other day tested negative for virus. I could not believe it. Everywhere I looked in the tomato houses I observed it. How could there be no virus?

I showed Scot what I thought were virus-infected plants and he took four samples, each slightly different in its stage of infection. Besides taking samples of what I thought were virus-infected plants, Scot took apart the growing media of an infected plant and evaluated the roots, which looked perfectly healthy. They were all white except that there were no roots where water sits in the bags holding the plants in the media.

He surmised that the roots were waterlogged and lacking oxygen, so the roots could not survive. I made a note to cut a drain hole in the bags.

Because of the lack of roots, he also left open the possibility that it might be a nutritional deficiency, caused by the roots’ inability to take up nutrients. He suggested we do a tissue analysis to check on the plants’ nutritional status. If the levels are low, he told me, we might have to compensate by spraying some fertilizer on the leaves.

I filed all this away.

This afternoon Scot called me. The three youngest samples tested negative for virus. But the oldest sample tested positive. Scot had told me that sometimes viruses cannot be detected in the youngest leaves that exhibit symptoms. So it appears we do indeed have a virus; just one that is difficult to detect in young tissue.

I’m writing all this down because it illustrates the truth that one needs to check, double check and question assumptions in order to be a plant doctor. One can never assume anything.

There’s a lot more to being a farmer nowadays than just sticking a plant in the ground and waiting.

Later this week, nutritional consultant Pete Bunn is flying in from O‘ahu for the day, and we’ll see what else we learn.

This is my friend Jim Murray’s garden.

Jim lives in a condominium and has a limited amount of ground area to work with. Earth Box is the simplest method of growing vegetables that I know of, and I was happy to see it in action at Jim’s house. The farming principles are sound, and it’s what I will use to grow stuff for myself.

From the Earth Box website:

The patented EarthBox was developed by commercial farmers and proven in the lab and on the farm. Our maintenance-free, award-winning, high-tech growing system controls soil conditions, eliminates guesswork and more than doubles the yield of a conventional garden-with less fertilizer, less water and virtually no effort.

I see this method of gardening as useful to someone with a limited space to plant. It is also good for someone who has a full time job and not enough time. Another plus – you do not need machinery for ground preparation.

Certainly there are other systems of gardening that might be more appropriate for feeding larger groups of people. But this system works well for a small family.

This system is meant to lower maintenance time. The light film on top prevents weeds from growing by preventing light from hitting the soil. If the black side is up, it retains heat. If the silver side is up, it keeps the media cool. The silver side is probably best for Hawai‘i.

There is a pipe that one fills with water. Since there is a drain hole about two inches from bottom of the box, it self-drains. At the time of planting, low-release fertilizer is buried about an inch in the growing media. One application is enough for the life time of the plant.

To change the subject for just a moment – When we toured Taiwan many years ago we observed that their water table is extremely shallow. So shallow, in fact, that sometimes the plants grew on the top of the row of mounds while the walkways were under water. This observation led Dr. Bernie Kratky of the UH Manoa Extension, and others, to realize that the top part of the roots were taking in oxygen while the bottom part took in water and nutrients.

This is the basis of the theory of non-circulating hydroponics – that is, that plants need to have a portion of their roots exposed to air or they drown. The Earth Box takes care of this problem with holes in the bottom of the containers, so drainage is assured. And it uses soil, instead of water, because soil is more forgiving as a growing medium.

A roma tomato plant and a regular beef tomato.

Note that the container is elevated to discourage slugs and make it difficult for ants to carry aphids around. One could also put the chair legs in water to accomplish that. Rosemary, basil and other aromatic herbs are said to repel insects, too.

One can plant many different types of crops this way. Here are some strawberries and eggplants.

When my friend Jim told me how his system worked, I realized right then that it was sound practice. So much so, that I will use this method to grow plants for myself.