Incase you have not seen what a kava plant looks like I have attached this image.You will notice there are different ways of planting kava in this part of the world. Here kava is being planted amoung other cash crop plants such as taro.
Kava plants normally grow from a period ranging from 3 - 5 years before ready for harvest. It has been observed by kava growers and kava exporters that the best period to harvest kava is after 3 years but no later than 5 years , the kava will grow very big and look healthy but the quality of the liquid kava will diminish as it grows older than this period.
In Vanuatu there are many species of kava and I cannot estimate the exact number of kava species. The kava species here most are for drinking and the rest people consider them to be for decorative purposes which means it is not for drinking. The plant can grow up to 2 meters long and sometimes it is being trimmed. Normal height of most kava species found around in Vanuatu can grow up to 1.5 metres.
There are diseases that can affect the healthiness of a kava plant some common ones are chinese rose beetle or scientifically the disease name (Adoretus sinicus) where the rose beetle greedily eat and punch holes on the leaf of the kava plant. Mexican leafroller or (Amorbia emigraletta) is another disease which attacks the poor kava plant on the leaf. A proper inspection on the plants could reveal the culprits (rose beetle/ants/insects) therefore sometimes it is advised to use pesticides on extreem cases.
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