Ti Plants

[Patrick]

Hi everyone.

I'm just finishing up a trip to Oahu and I was thinking that some Ti plantings in my yard might be nice. I'm in a solid Zone 9- 25f being a safe bet in the winter. I've heard that Ti is pretty tough and was wondering if some of you know some of the "tougher" varieties out there? Red, pink, green- so many colors & sizes!!

I also had a question about rooting. I have a type (ID anyone?) already that has done quite well in the cold and was thinking it needs a bit of manicuring. I will have excess stalks when I am done and would like to root them. Any thoughts or advice on how to best do that? It would be a shame to waste the good plants I already have.

Thanks for the advice and help in advance, it's greatly appreciated!

Take Care!

patrick

[John Case]

  Patrick said:

Hi everyone.

I'm just finishing up a trip to Oahu and I was thinking that some Ti plantings in my yard might be nice. I'm in a solid Zone 9- 25f being a safe bet in the winter. I've heard that Ti is pretty tough and was wondering if some of you know some of the "tougher" varieties out there? Red, pink, green- so many colors & sizes!!

I also had a question about rooting. I have a type (ID anyone?) already that has done quite well in the cold and was thinking it needs a bit of manicuring. I will have excess stalks when I am done and would like to root them. Any thoughts or advice on how to best do that? It would be a shame to waste the good plants I already have.

Thanks for the advice and help in advance, it's greatly appreciated!

Take Care!

patrick

Patrick,

I have tried a number of Ti plants with zero success. Howver, there are cordyline species that are tougher than the Ti varieties. I have a C. stricta in the yard that you can get a cutting from or we can try and air layering on it. Give me a buzz....

Thanks,

john

[mppalms]

I'm having luck with a black-leaf (narrows at the tip) form of Cordyline fruticosa. I believe it is actually a hybrid with another species, because it doesn't seem to have any issue with the cooler winters and out-of-season rain. You can find these in retail nurseries in the summer. I keep the two pots of them outside fully exposed to the elements but somewhat shaded from the hottest sun in summer. These are such winners that I think they'll go in the ground late in the spring.

I'm trying a multi-colored form (pink/white/green) that is supposedly hardy. It is hardy, but the snails eat it relentlessly.

I'm also having pretty good luck with a short-leaved (blunt-tip) form that I picked up from Phil at Jungle Music. He said it survived 25 F under cover, and it has had no problems with temps down to 32 F for me. I keep it slightly drier in winter. Again, snails love it; so, I always need to bait for them, and I use a copper barrier on the pot (which I'd rather do without).

And, it looks like the plain old green Ti plant will do well.. I ordered some "logs" from a Hawaiian source. Nothing special. They seem to do o.k. if I keep them a bit drier in winter (under an overhang).

Stay away from most of the fancy-leaved forms. I have heard they just don't like the cooler weather we get in the bay area.

Jason

[mnorell]

Cordyline fruticosa/terminalis do well in most zone 9 areas...they can handle down to about 28/29 in exposed locations (in dry freezes without much frost on their leaves, at least) and about 27 under canopy, perhaps taking slight damage in a long advective 27F. I have found that virtually all varieties behave similarly in that respect.

However, in a long-duration freeze below about 27F, the tops will be killed. But the rootstock and any submerged woody stem (hint: think about mounding before freezes) will generally survive. They will resprout but I have observed that only the plain green forms do so vigorously under shady/part-shady conditions. Certainly in the Bay Area, because you have a much longer period of cool temps than we have here in the Gulf south, you will want to make sure they are in a suntrap, generally S- or SW-facing, so the soil warms and the plant can start back into growth as soon as possible. Plant them in raised beds, in a soil-mix of pine-bark mulch mixed with COARSE sand and small-gauge lava cinders if you can find them. Plant under overhangs or just under the canopy to maximize sun in winter and spring, and they should return.

I leave my plants up and above-ground down to about 27F, and when a freeze below that is forecast, I chop the tops off the plants, defoliate them, and throw them in a bucket of water or well-drained soil in the greenhouse to re-root, which they do readily. I mound the in-ground plants' stems as high as possible before the freeze so growth can begin higher up on the stem in spring. Then I plant the rooted tops near them in March/April. Thus you can propagate more plants and your previous season's plants will be the 'little guys' below the larger stems in a nice, healthy clump.

Make sure you stick with big, thick-stemmed varieties. The various greens do beautifully here and 'Peter Buck' does well for me here also. Also 'Rooster Tail.' Just stay away from the 6" and 8" plants you find in the houseplant section, as their stems are thin and weak. Go to an interior specialist and get the thick rooted trunks from Hawai'i. These will stand the best chance of long-term survival in a cooler climate with freezes. They are resilient plants, but the difference between green and the colored varieties lies in their vigor in returning after a freeze knocks them down. They all tolerate long periods of chilly weather without flinching. My winter average temps (Dec-Feb) are almost identical to those in, say, the Santa Cruz area (about 43/60 in January), though of course we have a much more schizophrenic climate here. But it is dang cold here for three months...the difference being that after that we go into steambath mode pretty quickly.

Also, try Cordyline stricta, the narrow-leaf palm lily from Australia. Has very much the feel of a Hawai'ian Ti plant but with narrower leaves. Large plantings of this species have adorned Disneyland's Tiki Room for decades and achieve the desired effect beautifully. Mine look pretty good after 8 freezes this winter so far, the worst a 15-hour, 24.1F advective event. The young, tender apical leaves burned but the other leaves, green stems, and woody trunks look great. The Cordyline fruticosa, meanwhile, melted down to pretty thick-caliper trunk, as usual.

[Phil]

Patrick,

A few years back we began carrying various types of Crotons and Ti's. I've come to find that there are lots of differences among species, not only in terms of appearance but more importantly in terms of cold hardiness. Some survive our winters better than others. With cold intolerant Crotons, the "bad ones" seem to drop their leaves and become sticks over winter. With the Ti's, some get brown edges and just go downhill in time. This is particularly true (I've found) with the sherbert colored Ti's. The darker ones and dark red ones seem to do better. So, when you pick some out ask the nurseryman which ones do better with the cold that you will undoubtedly experience.

Phil

[Neofolis]

In terms of rooting spare stems some, at least, are very easy. I found a stem of my "Lemon & Lime", that had been knocked off, on the greenhouse floor. I've no idea how long it had been there, but I just put it in a pot and it started growing and producing loads of offshoots.