Hey thanks for the info. just a couple more questions if possible.

When you say "plant 4 in a row", how far apart would you plant them?
Also, how are the puakenikeni's roots when planted close to a rock wall.

Thanks...

Aloha;
Since you said you had four plants, they would make a good grouping. I would plant them about 4 foot apart. At least 3 ft.

I don't see how a wall would effect the roots. They would seek their own path of least resistance. I would plant them at least 2 ft from the wall to give the plant room to grow.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.
Phil

Thanks.. will do... will let you know how it goes...

I've heard that as a general rule of thumb, trees' roots tend to spread out to the same diameter as the canopy. I don't know how this applies if you keep the canopy trimmed though. I don't know if the roots keep growing to the size the canopy would be if left un-checked, or if they will only grow as big as needed to maintain the canopy.

I am interested in starting puakenikeni. How do I go about getting a plant started..is it possible to root it from a mother tree. If so does anyone have a starter shoot?

I'm from the Valley Island of Maui, and have seen a Puakenikeni tree about 40 feet tall, with a spread of 30 feet in Ioa Valley, planted in a large front yard. I have 3 Puakenikeni in my backyard and since my soil is hard clay, my trees are 10 feet high, smell out of this world (when in bloom) and planted 4 years ago. If you like how gardenia's smell, this tree, sometimes grown as a large shrub does deliver. They are worth every penny. Slower growing than many trees, they are mostly air layered, and sometimes brought into the larger home improvement gardening centers, if you can't find them in local nursery's. Not a good idea to plant them close to a wall. I'm wondering if the plants you brought home from Lowes were really Puakenikeni. They are solid green, and the flower is white to yellowish, and usually it takes a long while to see flowers appear. Don't think it has color? Anyway whatever happened to them??????????

I have a Puakenikeni tree that was given to me as a potted plant about 2 years ago. I transplanted to the ground (dirt), and for the first year, it was doing fine - blooming, growing, very green. However, for the past year, it has not bloomed at all. I have tried different fertilizers and potting soils. The tree is doing very well, aside from producing NO flowers. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

I am wondering if epson salt can be as valuable to Puakenikeni as it is to plumeria and pikake. If so what is the recommended application? Thanks.

My puakinikini has a LOT of bulbs. Very few flowers. I was told to remove the bulbs and flowers will generate from that. Not sure if it was good advise or not. Any suggestions?

Been having problems with my Puakenikeni. It was growing well indoors (very well) and then i moved it to a bigger pot and put it on the balcony. It suffered greatly and lost a lot of leaves before stabilizing, much smaller. During that time, It seemed to get big spots of the sort I photographed here. Now it has another. Any ideas what this is? Should I cut off the leaf?

Does anyone know how to preserve puakenikeni flowers, need to make a lei, but not enough fresh flowers bloom at a time !

Puakinikini is not a plant that should be planted close to your house. These plants can turn into trees. 15-20' trees. We just past 2 huge trees on I would transplant immediately. A corner of the yard or and area where they can grow 8" in diameter.
The smell of these flowers are heavenly though, they usually bloom at night and turn yellow after that morning.
Check out these two trees on Keaahala St in kaneohe, over 18' tall.

Nikki, you should have never planted this plant near you home. Relocate that buggah to a more open space in your yard. Aloha

Dear Tropical Gardeners,

live in Puerto Rico and I have quite a garden of rare and scented tropicals; however, I find that the folks who live on the "mainland" not have too many truly rare plants. In Puerto Rico, we are part of the "standard" mail system, and the rates are the same for priority mail, so I trade a lot.

I also have a website that you might find interesting: Facebook: tropical garden of Puerto Rico.

I also spend a lot of time way out in the rainforest gathering rare orphans (fallen after storm), pups, seeds, and rootings. Just found a rare plumeria the "experts" are having trouble identifying :)

Yes- I got clippings :)

Would you like a list?

Thanks so much!

Frank :)

OUR EVER-BLOOMING TREE OF PLENTIFUL PUAKENIKENI IS 40' HIGH AND CANOPIES OVER OUR 400 SQ FOOT DECK. BE PATIENT...IT TOOK FORTY YEARS...