Keiki-fy your Green Ti Plant

This three-step tutorial shows how to boost Green Ti plant/Umbrella Tree Plant growth (Cordyline fruticosa Glauca) using Keiki Paste. Keiki Paste contains plant hormones called cytokinin that encourage cell division in plants. It can encourage your plant to grow new shoots, stems, and leaves more quickly than it would otherwise. 

The Green Ti plant looks very similar to the dracaena, so much so that botanists used to classify them as part of the same Cordyline genus. However, the dracaena has orange to yellow roots where the Green Ti has white roots.

The Green Ti Plant is extremely important to many indigenous cultures in Austronesia, the Pacific, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea. Many cultures in these regions believe they hold souls inside them. Some believe that the Green Ti is a symbol of peace and healing. In New Guinea, they are planted to indicate property boundaries. The Ok-speaking people use it as a totem to represent their ethnic group.

The Green Ti plant is not as popular as the dracaena but we don’t see why this is. It is very easy to care for, with bold elegant lines understated enough to suit any interior space.

You can achieve more of those beautiful dark leaves on your Green Ti plant using Keiki Paste. Here’s how:

Step 1: Find nodes

First, select ‘nodes’ to apply the Keiki paste to. Nodes are parts of the plant where new leaves emerge from. Keiki paste contains growth hormones that encourage cell division in the nodes.

Green Ti Plant nodes show up as slightly raised rings around the stem. These rings are a slightly paler green than the rest of the plant.

Step 2: Apply Keiki paste to nodes

Score the nodes slightly with a needle, pin, or knife, making sure not to sever the plant or damage it. This will make a slight wound. 

Scoring the stem will expose the plant better to the hormones contained in the Keiki paste. Green Ti stems are quite thick so scoring them is important for the paste to work as quickly as possible.

Dip a cotton bud in the Keiki paste and dab the paste onto the wounds you have made. You only need a tiny amount. 

The photo below shows a wounded node applied with Keiki Paste. 

Step 3: Wait

The Keiki paste can take up to a month or two to work. During this time, place the plant in optimal conditions for growth.

The Green Ti Plant likes bright, indirect light. A good position would be a South, East, or West-facing window with net curtains that filter the light. The temperature should be between 60°F and 75°F.

The soil should always be slightly damp - don’t ever let the soil dry out completely. This does not mean that you should constantly saturate the soil, however. Just stick your finger into the soil occasionally to check the uppermost levels are still moist. 

Humid conditions will help the Keiki Paste take effect. The Green Ti is a tropical plant and prefers high humidity anyway, but this is especially important as it pushes out new growth. Ideally, humidity around a plant treated with Keiki Paste should be 60%. Mist the plant heavily every day using a spray bottle or place the pot on a tray of pebbles half-filled with water. Make sure the pot is not touching the water, however, since this will waterlog the soil.