Maui Fruit Farm Tour, Maui

USDA certified organic farm. It is located in West Maui, about a five-minute drive from Lahaina. The farm specializes in growing dragon fruit and other delicious, exotic fruit. We offer tropical food tasting tours and alpaca tours.

Red Ginger

Leaves smell like fruit loops
From Malaysia
Brought to Hawaiian islands by royalty
Can live up to 3 weeks after cut
Red part is brackt (encasement for flower)
Self propagates
Helps women with morning sickness
Medicinal properties in roots

Short coconut leaf

Trade winds up to 75m/h
Plant dwarf palm varieties
Triangle palms (fan out)
Bottle palms (champagne palms)
Palm oil from the seeds
Both palms are drought resistant
Lahaina is dessert region (24 inches of rain a year)
Susceptible to fires and drought

Plumeria

Signify relationship status
Men hand to women
Left ear means taken
Edible
Release scent at night so more fragrant in evening for the moths
Iao valley – 9th wettest place in the world
Mountains provide water reservoir

Aloe Vera

Torch aloe will leave yellow tint on skin and leave a smell
“Chicken noodle soup aloe”
Candelabra or pineapple aloe
95% anti fungal and antibacterial
Can drink, it’s good for digestion

Travelers palms (imposter palms)

More closely related to banana trees
Fronds more closely to banana
Related to birds of paradise
Vibrant blue seeds
Can access up to a quart of fresh water from the base

Coconut tree

Usually 80ft tall, but Samoan variety are dwarf variety
Takes 10 years for coconut tree to produce coconuts
Will produce all year round
New bundle every new moon (synced with lunar cycles)
Will produce for up to 80 years
Sprouted coconut – wait until it falls naturally and then roots

Octopus agave

Really sharp points
Native to Mexico
Ends used as sewing needle
Not the type used for tequila
Part of century plant family and will
Shoot a 30 foot stalk and then will die

Dragonfruit

Stanchon – Vietnamese way of growing
Takes 7 years from seed to producing fruit
It’s a cactus
Drought resistant
Native to central/South America
Each spike has potential for fruit to grow
Start off as tiny bud and then into huge white flowers
The flowers only bloom at night for 1 days
Really small window to pollinate
Bats are native pollinators
Hawaii doesn’t have bats so they are hand pollinated here
Season is May – November
Flower will die off and fruit will grow at the base
Four varieties – white, pink, dark purple, cross-pollination mix
Low in sugar content

Pineapple

Takes 2.5-3 years for 1 pineapple
Would twist crown and expose root nodes and plant that to get new mother plant
Sometimes mother will shoot new crown and that is called a retune (second generation pineapple)
Can produce up to 4 generations but they get smaller and sweeter
They all hold same amount of sugar content so smaller is always sweeter
Spikes start out as tiny purple flowers
You don’t want pineapples to be pollinated! It will actually destroy the middle of the fruit
Hawaii has banned hummingbirds to stop pollinating
Each spike is an individual berry, so 200 berries to make 1 fruit

Banana trees

These ones are small and burnt in a fire
They regrew after the fire but stunned their growth
Still producing

Sour sop

Same family as cherimoya
Almost like jackfruit like texture
Big black seeds in middle
Pollinated by beetles
Beetles don’t like pesticides so they pollinate organic farms
In citrus family
Leaves boiled to make tea, anti cancer properties

Buddhas hand

Also in citrus family
Mix of lemon and lime
Leaves used more than fruit
Fruit is all rind
Pollinated by bees

Guava

Invasive species
Encouraged to pick

Papaya

7 months from seed to fruit
Stems are hollow so grow quickly
Only produce for up to 3 years

Blue java banana (ice cream banana)

Purple thing is the heart – where bananas come from
Ants pollinate
Want to sever heart after bundle done growing and nutrients go to ripening bundle
Takes about 9 month for tree to reach full size
Just cut down base and it regrows
Banana trees are largest herb
Can eat every part of it