Question
I just recieved a pot of 4 Red sister stalks for my birthday. They are beautiful but I do not know the first thing about taking care of tropical plants! I literally have had them for about 2 days now. I put them in a bigger pot so the roots have room to expand. And the soil was absolutly bone dry so I watered them good with miricle grow. I also dusted off their leaves, but besides that what else should I do? How much light do they need? How often should I mist them? What else should I do with them?

Also I have a bundle of Red Ti leaves coming in from a friend in HI. What should I do with these leaves when they come in? Do I just put them in some water and wait for them to sprout then pot them? Are their special intructions that go along with Ti plants?

Please help!
Thanks,
Kelly

Answer
Kelly,

Your Red Sister plants are a variety of Hawaiian Ti plant, Cordyline terminalis. They should not be moved to a pot more than 2 inches larger than the pot they were in when you received them. This plant needs the soil to get bone dry between waterings so the roots have a chance to breath in carbon dioxide through the roots for a day or 2 before the soil is drenched again. If the soil is constantly moist the roots will rot and the plant will die. It is best if they are planted in a mix of potting soil and sand or potting soil and extra perlite to make the soil drain better. If the Red Ti leaves coming from Hawaii have some trunk attached to them you can dip the lower end of the trunk in rooting hormone powder which you can get at any garden center such as Lowes or Home Depot or Wal-Mart then insert that trunk in a pot of fres soil. Or if you put your Red Sister plant in too big a pot you could put the Hawaiian Ti stalks around the outside edge of that plant and grow them together since they are both Ti plants. In any case your Ti plants need to be kept above 60 degrees and in a very sunny location. We are talking about plants that grow in full sun outdoors in Florida and Hawaii. Set them next to the sunniest window you have and keep all window coverings open from dawn to dusk. Water them during the winter only when they have been bone dry for 3 days and 2 hours after you water empty the drain tray under the plants. During the summer move them outdoors in a semi sunny location at first and gradually move them out into full sun so they don't get sunburned if you move them out too soon. While they are out during the summer they will need watered more often, generally every 3 days but when the temperature is over 90 they may need watered daily. In the summer they grow a lot more and need a lot more water.
So dryer during the winter and more moist during the summer. Fertilize once a month. Mist every other day during the winter and during the summer outdoors you shouldn't need to mist. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good look.

Darlene