Current ecological discourse rarely captures the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) held by Indigenous land stewards or the ongoing experimentation they continue to undertake. Methods that can capture this knowledge are necessary to elevate TEK and indigenous experimentation, which deepens the totality of our understanding of ecological relationships. This is particularly true in the context of plant-plant facilitation. In Hawaiʻi, co-planting and successional planting are central to Indigenous agroforest restoration. Through qualitative interviews and site visits with 25 practitioners, we document how they observe, experiment with, and tend positive plant–plant interactions in lowland forest systems. We explored which species are currently grown together, which pairings demonstrate facilitative potential, and what ecological and cultural mechanisms underlie these relationships. The research also considers how practitioners decide which plants to cultivate together and the diverse knowledge systems—such as ʻike kupuna (ancestral knowledge), community observation, and experiential learning—that inform those choices. Through these interviews, we identified key plant–plant relationships and the stewardship practices used to nurture them. These practices varied in response to the distinct environmental stressors present in each forest, such as heat, light, and flooding. This work highlights Indigenous frameworks of learning and stewardship that shape adaptive, place-based restoration. These findings contribute to broader understandings of facilitation ecology while centering Indigenous expertise in cultivating resilient lowland forest landscapes.