mjs - The seeds are easy...they should be ripe and fresh. I rub them in a sieve to take the pulp off (the pulp has a chemical in it that inhibits germination) and scatter the seeds on a loose mix, cover slightly and keep damp and warm. Easy.
Carol
Happy New Year...Ti for Thee
Thanks for the seive info, Carol. Have been trying to get rid of the chaff on seeds I have saved. A little rough on the hands.
The plain green Ti, Cordyline fruticosa, is a Hawaiian introduction. Ti is a Polynesian name, Hawaiian is Ki or La'i.
Someone who provides Ti to others: Kumulau (Carol).
A place where Ti grows: Wahi ulu o ke ki. (Carol's place.)
It is good luck to plant Ti!
Thank you, Dave. Had to copy and paste that to MS Word.
Aloha....You could send some of that rain this way....we could use it..........
mj
bubba, soaking seed with peroxide helps a lot of different seed.
E ka 'ohu kolo e ho'oua i Deland, Florida!
Started rubbing the moss off some canes...I am going to cut a mess of them back. Under the moss, roots!!! These plants are pretty easy to grow!!!!
Dave...your Hawaiian is surpassed only by your knowledge about plants (Oh, yeah, and you ARE good looking!).
When I 'do' the seeds, I soak them after rubbing as much coating off. Then, with a lot of water, i swirl the water to pour off the stuff that has the bits of coating...like panning for gold (or how they told us it was done). Soaking them in Hydrogen P. is a good idea, too. Many seeds like the Ti are 'built' for birds to pass them thru their system, I think.
Carol, you're makin' me blush!
And I think she's enjoying it immensely!! LOLOL!!! I know I am!!
Ti are definately a symbol of good luck here in the Marshalls. I have several, but none as gorgeous as the one's at Carol's place. I like to put the tall sword shaped leaves near the broader wide leaves and weave in some croton for bright contrast. The "good luck" comes by having a ti plant near every door...luck for visitors and for residents.
My luck must be holding, the coconut palm guys just chopped the 6 trees I have in my yard, (they are making their usual trip around the island), and even though the fronds and coconuts were flying all over the street, I only lost a couple of small branches off of my other plants as collateral damage. When you hear large coconuts hitting the street from 60 ft. up it sounds like you are under attack from heavy artillery! But they did a great job, and a few small mishaps is a small price to pay for the security of not having those babies hanging over our heads!
Happy New Year everyone!
Yokwe,
Shari
Metro....thank you...hopefully "dancin in the rain" tomorrow....I think that might be like the "rain turtle" my D's SO draws in the sand...who knows...maybe it does work!!!!
Soooo what, is there a pic I missed somewhere of Metro ...;-)........anyway, I will try the Ti plant seeds and see what happens. She did tell me she got them from a local Big Box store..(ha...surprised the things set seed !)..and see what I may or may not end up with.
mj
Shari! Don't Worry! It is common knowledge that coconuts only fall on the heads of bad people.
Mj, here's a pic of Dave. There's more floating around but I found this one first.
www.davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5668433
Aaaah, if only that were true! I can't begin to count all the plants that have been wiped out by falling coconuts, an extremely large bunch fell on our lanai cover a couple of months ago and we had to replace all the ribbing. It is just too scary having all the little munchkins walking to school through my intersection knowing that at any moment disaster could strike. We all breathe so much easier after the chopping! These guys earn their pay, that's for sure!
But I am taking it as a very good omen that my yard was the first one done in the new year! They didn't work yesterday, so I managed to be first in '09. Cool! Hopefully that will add to my "wish power" for everyone! Ha Ha.
MJ, when you plant your seeds...think to yourself "I am a bird, I am a bird"...maybe you can fool them into thinking that they have been "processed"! Good luck with your ti!
Here is a "Rumrunner" hib wanting to send Happy greetings!
Yokwe,,
Shari
haha...How do you "wolf whistle" on a keyboard!!!
I am a bird, I am a bird, I am a bird..............
mj
LOL!!
Great hibiscus Shari!!
Thanks Pepper, that was me soon after I was found in a coma and diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1.
Here I am about a year later, gettin' back in tune!
That's the pic I was looking for but couldn't remember where it was. lol.
And for those of you who don't know...he actually has a beautiful smile!!
The custom here s to plant a green ti at the entrance to your house/property .... they will keep out the bad spirits!!
More rain....ah...just when we thought it was safe to go out....
Well, I found this thread so inspiring that on New Year's Day I potted up cordylines rather than following my natural inclination to crack open a bottle of champers and watch the Dexter marathon on TV. Ann
Beautiful leaf, Ann. Thanks!
Much as I am not a fan of Walmart, looks like I will be making another trip today to buy all of the Ti they have. I already have 2 small plants but that is not near enough to cover all of my doors and gates. Only problem---here they have to be taken in in the winter or they will freeze. Anyone know if they are root hardy and if so will they just be little tykes all summer by having to start over?
What a beautiful collection of Ti you have Carol...I have a rather dull green one by one of the doors - now I know why it was planted there! I always figured that if times get really hard I could at least make myself a skirt...
A warm Aloha to all of our new friends.
Jenn
The original grass skirt.....
How hard are your freezes, Cristi? They may survive with alot of mulch...light freezes will toast the plant but the roots survive.
In the twenties fairly often. Worst of it is the jumping back and forth. Yesterday the bird bath was frozen when we got up. By noon we were in shirt sleeves. So hot last night didn't get below 65, today 75, tonight 50, tomorrow 80 and high of forty on Sunday. Keeps everything messed up. Will sometimes put out new growth and then we have another hard freeze in the low 20's. Then back to 70. Bananas and EE's die almost to the soil but come back in early spring. I do mulch my beds pretty heavily. Our ground never freezes.
If the ground never freezes, I would give them a try!
Thanks Carol. That one is called Opal Hue.
Some varieties seem to be more cold tolerant than others. I'm not sure which but will ask around. I do know that in some varieties the white and cream bits of leaves have less chlorophyll and the cells expand and contract quickly in the cold, sometimes leaving you with brown burnt looking tips in winter.
This is another one of my favorites. I believe it comes from your side of the pond.
Waihee Rainbow
Ann - thank you for the explanation of my brown tips! I'm never sure why, but quite a few of mine get very brownish just on the tips of the leaves. We never get cold here, but the lack of chlorophyll is an explanation that goes along with variance in water and light levels.
Yokwe,
Shari
Tip burn (brown leaf tips) is often from a lack of potassium.
You guys are more uniformly warm than we are in our tropical and subtropical climates. I know in bananas and heliconias nutrient uptake can be slow in winter and can cause tip burn and yellowing but I'm a novice when it comes to soil chemistry. And I'd kill to have rich volcanic Hawaiian soil!!!!!!! Carolyn Clarke ( big Aussie cord lady) did a trip over there last year and felt that you guys get much better winter color from your rich soils.
This is Tartan, think it was originally imported from Thailand. People went nuts for it.
Ann
Dutchlady, I'm afraid I'm not one for spraying. In spring the grasshoppers go a bit nuts :(
Ann
Feliz Año Nuevo, for all the garden lovers. I have only one Cordyline in my garden at this moment no pictures availables. Cordyline here is called Caña India roja= Red Indian Cane. Some people call it Dracena roja (Dracaena); which is not taxonomicly correct.
In Costa Rica for good luck, on December 31 st, we give a as a present a plant called Santa Lucía= Ageratum conyzoides L. It is a common plant in higher altituds so I live at 700 m.s.n.m. My wish in this forum for this year is to learn more from all the knowledge that you are sharing and to enjoy the passion for plants.
Ann, that Ti is really beautiful....
This one is Miss Andrea and she came out of a tissue culture. Now, the neat thing about this Cordyline is that she sports into all kinds of colors...and the next photo (while really bad) is a photo of a red sport that is just stunning as all of the leaves are red with a few streaks of darker red.
Bignonia...Bien Venido!!! Have fun... I am stuck inside with the rain and others with snow...so we are playing!!!
This message was edited Jan 2, 2009 3:48 PM
Here is Miss Andreas sport....
