Hawaiian ti plant – Indoor House Plants

Hawaiian ti plant is also known Good luck plant. It is an extremely well-known houseplant because of its exotic textured leaves and distinct coloration, each green leaf has an excellent pink striped margin with a splash of creamy yellow. In warm atmospheres in produces mauve flowers and bright red berries. An extraordinary plant to light up any edge of a room or an office environment. It is said to be toxic to cat’s and dog’s if ingested.

Scientific Name: Cordyline fruticosa.
Synonyms: Cordyline terminalis, Asparagus terminalis, Convallaria fruticosa, Dracaena terminalis, Terminalis fruticosa.
Common Name: Cabbage palm, Good luck plant, Palm Lily, Ti plant or Hawaiian Ti plant.

 

 

 

 

How to grow and maintain Hawaiian Ti plant:

Light:
Ti plant does well in partial shade to almost full sun. It needs more water if grown in full sun. Indoors, Ti plant loves a splendid position, but out of direct sunlight. Although it will survive in quite low light, the foliage will never develop its full potential colors. Ensure the plant gets sunlight for a minimum of 6hrs a day when planted indoors.

Soil:
A peat (2 parts) based potting blend with perlite or sand (1 part) added works well, or other well-draining types with bark.

Temperature:
They flourish between 65 degrees F and 80 degrees F. They will suffer if it gets too cold and cannot tolerate freezing.

Water:
Water the plant thoroughly once the top part of the soil becomes marginally dry. During the winter water much less. Ensure you have the plant placed in a pot which drains well to avoid causing root rot from the waterlogged soil.

Fertilizer:
Fertilize the Ti plant each month utilizing balanced granular fertilizer in the ratio of (10-10-10). Apply manures only to the damp soil and then water immediately after fertilizing. Also use organic matter such as compost, manure, Neem oil, insecticidal soaps and baking soda to deter pest problem.

Pruning:
The ti plants require hard pruning strategy and mostly preferred during the mid-spring season. Just expel the dead leaves, cut back to side shoots, basal shoots up to the ground level. After pruning encourages new growth by an application of balanced fertilizer in spring.

Re-Potting:
Re-pot once every two years when the plant is young and growing in height. Once it matures you can re-pot once every 3 -4 years and just replace the topsoil the years it’s not re-potted.

Propagation:
Ti plants are easy to propagate by taking stem tip cuttings and re-potting them. The size of the cuttings does not seem to matter. Rooting hormone can be used on the cutting to be planted, although it’s not basic.