Gardening (beta ver. 1.0)

Developing a productive garden in the Daintree can be a challenge. For a variety of reasons tropical rainforest soil is exceptionally nutrient poor. Unlike the Pacific islands and the local Tablelands (which tend to be basalt derived), the soil in the Daintree area is derived from granite or metamorphic rocks which contributes to this lack of nutrients plus the heavy rainfall leaches the nutrients out of the soil very quickly (most of rainforest soil nutrients are actually in the trees and the nutrients from rotted material is quickly taken up by a network of fine roots close to the surface. Rainforests are considered the "ultimate recycler". Clear the forest and the remaining nutrients get washed out very quickly which means that a lot of work has to be done to restore them and the soil structure.

In addition to soil nutrition fungus infestations (e.g. Fusarium wilt), insects (e.g. grasshoppers), and animals (e.g. brush turkeys) with the munchies are other important garden considerations.

Download the complete Gardening Factsheet (pdf, [file size]). Rainforest garden challenges, soil nutrition, what to plant, fauna, water, and weeds.

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Related Factsheets

Water Sources (pdf, [file size]) Water table and rainfall fluctuations; contamination and filtration; water conservation and recycling, Water system installation and maintenance issues for rain, stream/creek, and bore sources.

Waste Management (pdf, [file size]) Grey water systems, composting, recycling non-organics, e-waste options, creative reuse, burning or, as a last resort, the dump.

Weed Control (pdf, [file size]) Weed locations, identification, herbicides, and control methods.

Animal Care (pdf, [file size]) Prevention of disease and protection from danger for: pets (dogs, cats, fish, birds), domesticated (horses, chickens) and native (cassowaries, crocodiles, dingos, bats, brush turkeys, jungle hens, rodents, and pigs) animals. Animal control: runs, fences, snake relocaters, pig traps and hunters.

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