Palm Pilots pg.2
He said he the injection system seems to be the only successful way to protect the palms, as many have tried spraying products on the leaves and roots but with no results. But the injection can’t save infected trees. Once the disease has spread into the heart of the palm, there is only about a 15 percent recovery rate.
Visintainer, a Maui resident for 15 years, said he got involved with saving the coconut palms about 5 years ago when he was managing a 40-acre tropical plantation along the road to Hana. He said he noticed palms rotting and dying at an alarming rate.
“University of Hawaii started doing research on this problem back in the 1980’s, but when Hurricane Iniki hit, everything was destroyed and they never got any results,” he said. “After that, no one really seemed to be doing anything and the problem slowly got worse.”
Visintainer said he began to work with researchers at University of Hawaii and they flew specialists in from all around the world to help. A bill was approved by the legislature so that he would have the funds to continue. He was then able to test different products based on previous research and other species of the same fungus.
“I looked at what other people had done and adapted it to coconut trees,” he said. “And the injection not only protects the tree from heart rot, but it makes the tree grow faster. It’s really a win-win situation.”
He said the heavy rains this winter caused the fungus to spread easily and as a result there has been a large outbreak. It usually takes 4 to 8 months for palms to show their first symptoms, but it can take as long as up to a year.
