Training Unwieldy Millionaire's Vine Branches

In a recent entry, I mentioned how a the Millionaire's Vine (aka Princess Vine) can be trained on its trellis. This is especially when the vine is still young and is just establishing its growth.

There will come a time however when the growth and foliage has become so lush and thick that adding more thin wires to hook the vine branches may no longer be practical. Shown below is such a situation.


The new outgrowths will naturally rise up and cling on to the wall. The vine's tendrils can sometimes be aggressive and even latch on to the wall's rough and grainy surface. Left on their own, these unwieldy branches will continue clambering up on the wall.

So here's what you can do.

1. Carefully remove the grip of the unwieldy branches from the wall. Note the natural direction of its growth and take it to that direction. In the example below, the direction is to the right.
   
   
   
2. Pick one of the already established old branches on the trellis and insert this new branch under the old branch. You could use just one hand doing this. Raise the old branch with your thumb and index finger. While the old branch is raised, use the middle finger to slide in a part of the new branch.
   
   
   
3. When the new branch has been inserted underneath the old branch, gently pull it from the other side using the thumb and index finger. It will be like weaving one branch into another.
   
   
   
   
   
   Be sure to pull gently until the topmost part of the new vine has transferred to the other side.
   
   
   

Weaving the branches this way effectively hooks them to the rest of the mainstream branches. Using this technique will make your vine's growth more compact as shown below.


It is much cleaner to see all the foliage neatly bundled up. Here's a view of the vine from the trellis showing its hanging threads below.