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“It is really hard to detect symptoms because maybe only one or two trees out of a grove of 20 start to rot. Unless you are looking really closely, they just blend right in,” he said. “Also most people don’t notice it until the leaves are yellow-brown and falling off. By that time the disease has already rotted the heart. So while there is not a cure, the most important thing is prevention.”
Visintainer, who is an active member of various organizations such as the Maui Landscape Association of Professionals and on the board directors of the Maui County Farm Bureau, said he wants to see the problem taken care of now while it is still on a manageable level, not 20 years down the line when the trees are completely wiped out.
“A lot of people say this isn’t really a concern and take it for granted that the trees will just be around forever,” he said. “But they will not if we don’t control it in this stage. There is a similar fungus seriously threatening oak trees in California and we can let that be a lesson because we don’t want it to get to the same point here as it is there.”
Visintainer hand injects coconuts on Kauai, Maui, the Big Island, and is starting on Oahu. He charges $20 per tree, $15 per tree if there are 50 or more trees to be injected.
