My Grandma put her Large "Menehune" tree out side on a nice day but the temp dropped pretty low (@ 45f) that night and this BEAUTIFUL 2ft tall by about2.5 ft around plant lost all it's leaves.... It is still getting leaves and new growth but the lower part of the branches are very barren and sad looking. Near as I have researched, I need to cut in back to about 4" and start over. If that is the best way to save her...can i do air layering first, or just take fresh cuts and use like ROOT TONE and directly plant? Help I have never had one of these before and NO ONE I know has a clue. Than-x
Well, you could wait for it to come back some more if you want it to be more tree-like. Having bare branches near the base from frosting a few years has yet to kill my mother's off - and her's is about 25 years old! Otherwise, I would suggest clipping off the branches that are budding and potting them in some peat mix after some sort of rooting method. I have never tried air layering with this plant but I don't see why it wouldn't work! Would probably be less of a hassle than water and a bit of miracle grow in a cup...cleaning out the cup when it is ready to plant is a pain. Be careful when you do this to make sure you give it enough plant food/water while it has no leaves to encourage growth but not so much that it dies from overfeeding or over watering.
thank you i told my mom that it was not dead just unhappy. lol...I did air layering on 5 of the branches, another type of "rooting" I found on line on one branch, and there are still like 7 branches that have new growth that I have not touched yet in case none of the other "starts" processes work.....If i have to cut her back to get a good bushy looking Menehune again, I would like to get some starts. So far so good my little greenhouses seem to be exactly as everything said they should look like/do.
Just got 6 healthy plants off my starts! YEAH me! My friends are now enjoying their own Menehune trees
