Those that have been reading my blog know how much I hate effing mosquitoes.
A high school senior in Samoa is coming to Hawaii to defend his findings in three plants that may help reduce mosquito colonies.
A senior student at American Samoa’s Tafuna High School, Samuel Meleisea, has won a science symposium with a project aiming to help reduce mosquito numbers…
…Mr Meleisea is to present his paper and defend his research findings at the Hawaii science symposium next month.
He says he decided to test the impact of phytochemicals in the leaves of 3 local plants, the Sasalapa, Mosooi and the Neem tree…
More Here
Sasalapa
mosooi
So my next question is… where can I find some of these plants and will they grow here in Hawaii? I’d love to surround my place with them.
Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Something New?, Sustainable Living Tagged: | Agriculture, Environment, Something New?, Sustainable Living
We have a neem tree in our garden, which did not do very well until, at the recommendation of a friend who is super-smart about trees, we mulched it with some old cement mortar bags to raise the pH much higher than most trees could tolerate.
Don’t remember exactly where it came from — likely one of the nurseries that sell on the back row at Maku`u market.
Neem is widely known to be an effective insecticide; and it is report to have other properties:anti-fungal, anti-bacterial.
My favorite is using a twig for cleaning my teeth — the anti-bacterial properties help remove plaque. :)
Also, it makes a good plant nutrient (fertilizer).
Damon,
The sasalapa is known as soursop. Rusty (Delan) and Jenny Perry had quite a few producing trees a few years ago. Check with Rozette’s Nursery near you in HPP.