The Unique Challenges of Gardening on Pohnpei

If you've ever visited or lived on Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), then you can you can probably make some educated guesses about why growing non-native fruits, vegetables, and herbs is not a walk in the park.

Think rain. Lots of rain. Three hundred plus inches of rain a year. That's more than 27 FEET of water falling every twelve months. The good news? Running out of water will probably not be an issue. The bad news? Everything exposed to the elements is wet all the time. And constant wetness means rot, mold, fungus, mildew, and more.

Humidity. The humidity is more than 80% on average. Many days are in the 90-99% range. That's saturated air. When it's that humid, things don't dry. The air is full; it doesn't want to take on any more water. Evaporation happens at a snail's pace. That's not an awesome situation for plants that are happy in dry, hot Mediterranean climates.

Let's talk about temperature. It's eight-two degrees Fahrenheit a good share of the time. Maybe up to 87 degrees once in a while or 78 in the opposite extreme. Seventy-five degrees would be pretty freakish, if possible at all, as would temps in the 90s. So, we're talking pretty warm, hot even, most of the time . . . but not Southern California hot. That means that most species that need at least a little cool weather are probably going to have trouble germinating. :(

Seasons. There really aren't any--at least as people in temperate climates would think of them. Historically, Pohnpei is slightly drier from November through March. January and February tend to have the least rain. Meteorological data in the 1970s suggested that there were an average of three entirely cloudless days on Pohnpei per year. Three. That doesn't mean it's solidly overcast the rest of the time--but there are clouds, usually large billowing cumulus, floating around most days. A typical day has varying periods of sun, clouds, and torrential rain.

I said 'historically' earlier because global climate change has thrown a wrench into all that. Yep--climate change is real, and now things are less predictable. One year we have almost solid rain from October through the end of the December and then almost no rain from January through March. The next year, hardly any rain from September through mid-February. December 2012 and January 2013 had some of the sunniest skies I've ever seen here. Day after day of clear, hot, sun. This is not normal. That said--in general (as general as you can get with Pohnpei weather)--'winter' is drier and windy and summer is wetter with less wind. The sun comes and goes at all times of the year.

Pests. There are a lot of them. In temperate climates pests come and go with the seasons. On Pohnpei, they're here all year around. This is where pests come to retire. This is where they gather to party. This is Orlando or Palm Springs for pests. Devilish worms. White flies. Beetles. Scales. Snails. Ants. And that's just the fauna. I've already mentioned the mold, the fungi, the mildew, the yeast.

Sun. From what I said about the clouds and rain, you can deduce that it's pretty hard to gauge when the sun will be around and where. It pops out and disappears a hundred times a day. If you are growing plants that require lots of hot, direct sun to flourish and bear, then you have a puzzle to solve. Will your basil get enough sun to get leafy? Will your tomato plants grow green and lush, but never produce any tomatoes?  Is raised-bed or in-the-ground gardening going to work out for these kinds of plants? There will be plenty of questions.

I've decided to tackle all of this. What's the worst that can happen? Nothing grows. Plants rot. Fruit get diseases. Pests flock to my porch.

The best that can happen? We have regular fresh, delicious fruit, herbs, veggies.

I think it's worth a try.

This blog will document my attempts to grow a wide variety of edible plants in this most uncooperative of climates.

Here goes!