ʻIke ʻIkena | Lāʻī: Planting & Care

Lāʻī, also known as ti leaf, is one of the humblest but most important plants that we have around. Lāʻī can be used for ceremony, cooking, hula, lei, and more. Hawaiians always have a use for ti leaf, so we make sure to always have it around. It used to be that you could tell a Hawaiian household because there was always lāʻī planted all around the house and yard. Now it’s a little trickier because we don’t all have yards, but lāʻī is hardy, resilient, and easy to cultivate.
Ānuenue Pūnua gives some tips on how to grow and use lāʻī in the first of two ʻIke ʻIkena videos that we filmed at her family home in Kāneʻohe. Stay tuned for the next video as well, where Ānuenue and her two daughters show you how to make lei from lāʻī, pua kenikeni, and pua melia (also known as plumeria).

[@kahalamorse8910]

Love your yard! I need to do this, in my yard! MAHALO! ❤️🤙

[@adrianafox4451]

Aloha!!!

[@albertubaldo8652]

The Hawaiian varieties thrive well in direct sunlight, I could only get a smaller one that doesn't like direct sunlight like the red ones high moisture and tropical weather

[@rolanddelosreyes9308]

Wow, you got some big ones. When you put the cuttings in the water, does it matter which end is up? Can you send me some cuttings? I’ll pay for the shipping. Probably not, probably won’t pass inspection. I tried.

[@josephuahinui2182]

Do you have extra stocks I want to grow in my yard let me know Mahalo 😊

[@christyenos9992]

Do you have to put cutting in water to root first if you’re planting horizontally not upright?

[@locomojoboy2]

We want the bigger ones to have easier time wrapping laulau