aloha! heres a quick little backstory. i live in hawaii, on big island, and have been drinking kava regularly for about 2 years now (always buying from Gorumet Hawaiian Kava- thanks for a delicious local product!).
i got my first kava plants from an auntie who lives down in HPP a few years ago. she said she used to be a kava farmer north of hilo. over the years i lost all the varieties i got from her except one. i recently went back to her to gather some more plants as ive acquired 12 acres in hakalau, and i see kava as an important crop, and was trying to identify the one cultivar i still have around from that first interaction. she was quite vague and said varieties she sells are hawaiian and are from Paupa New Guinea.
ive ruled out the hawaiian cultivars. during my research ive basically determined its one of the two PNG varieties iwi or isa, as far as i can tell those are the main PNG cultivars here in hawaii. while reading, Hawaiian ‘Awa: Views of an Ethnobotanical Treasure, i noticed the only descriptive difference between the two is isa is pubescent. while taking a hard look at my plants, im thinking this could be the pubescence described?
the real question: is this PNG isa?
this plant grows too easily. i started getting suspicious about it when basically every cutting ive planted has taken off. the real hawaiian cultivars ive gotten do not grow the same, probably due to my cultivation. my oldest planting is about 5 years old and im thinking about harvesting. i do want to be sure on cultivar before i consume though. im trying to determine if i should continue planting this one out or if i should stop propagating and focus on just the hawaiian cultivars, which is probably what i want to do! ive read about isa and how its not a noble nor tudei, so this isnt a discussion on isa per se.
i can take some pictures of the older specimen later in the week when i head over to my old site. my oldest plant here is about a year or two old. so identification may not be ideal as it isnt so mature. let me know if i need some better photos for identification.
please excuse the burnt leaves. just harvested a banana and cut back two large pigeon peas, check out that mulch though!
i got my first kava plants from an auntie who lives down in HPP a few years ago. she said she used to be a kava farmer north of hilo. over the years i lost all the varieties i got from her except one. i recently went back to her to gather some more plants as ive acquired 12 acres in hakalau, and i see kava as an important crop, and was trying to identify the one cultivar i still have around from that first interaction. she was quite vague and said varieties she sells are hawaiian and are from Paupa New Guinea.
ive ruled out the hawaiian cultivars. during my research ive basically determined its one of the two PNG varieties iwi or isa, as far as i can tell those are the main PNG cultivars here in hawaii. while reading, Hawaiian ‘Awa: Views of an Ethnobotanical Treasure, i noticed the only descriptive difference between the two is isa is pubescent. while taking a hard look at my plants, im thinking this could be the pubescence described?
the real question: is this PNG isa?
this plant grows too easily. i started getting suspicious about it when basically every cutting ive planted has taken off. the real hawaiian cultivars ive gotten do not grow the same, probably due to my cultivation. my oldest planting is about 5 years old and im thinking about harvesting. i do want to be sure on cultivar before i consume though. im trying to determine if i should continue planting this one out or if i should stop propagating and focus on just the hawaiian cultivars, which is probably what i want to do! ive read about isa and how its not a noble nor tudei, so this isnt a discussion on isa per se.
i can take some pictures of the older specimen later in the week when i head over to my old site. my oldest plant here is about a year or two old. so identification may not be ideal as it isnt so mature. let me know if i need some better photos for identification.
please excuse the burnt leaves. just harvested a banana and cut back two large pigeon peas, check out that mulch though!
