I live in an older house that has several jalousie windows. Lately I've been seeing reports of thieves breaking into homes, specifically through these types of windows. I don't necessarily want to go so far as to put bars over my windows, nor do I have the money right now to completely retrofit or replace all the windows. I am looking for suggestions for plants (presumably something spikey and sturdy) that do well in Hawaii that I could potentially place along the outside of my house under my windows as a deterrent. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: I have cameras and floodlights already in place, along with a decent sized dog.

I live in an older house that has several jalousie windows. Lately I've been seeing reports of thieves breaking into homes, specifically through these types of windows. I don't necessarily want to go so far as to put bars over my windows, nor do I have the money right now to completely retrofit or replace all the windows. I am looking for suggestions for plants (presumably something spikey and sturdy) that do well in Hawaii that I could potentially place along the outside of my house under my windows as a deterrent. Any help would be appreciated.

Bougainvillia is one thorny bastard of a plant. 

Beware - once they start growing, they take a bit of pruning to avoid having them take over the yard.

Bonus:  They  have some very nice looking flowers.

One caution about plants and windows.  You need to make sure the plants don't afford a burglar cover while they are trying to break in.  That means the protective plants either need to be close enough to the window to block access, or they need to form a complete barrier in front of the window   Either way, the plants will have to be very close to the house.

Maybe motion-activated lights would be a good solution in the interim.  Plants take time to grow.

I was wondering about cleaning the windows.
 Or painting.
Maybe some jalousie locks would help.
Motion lights.
Real or fake vidèo cameras.
"Trespassers will be shot" signage. 

I live in an older house that has several jalousie windows. Lately I've been seeing reports of thieves breaking into homes, specifically through these types of windows. I don't necessarily want to go so far as to put bars over my windows, nor do I have the money right now to completely retrofit or replace all the windows. I am looking for suggestions for plants (presumably something spikey and sturdy) that do well in Hawaii that I could potentially place along the outside of my house under my windows as a deterrent. Any help would be appreciated.

I grew up in a neighborhood where all of the houses were single wall construction with glass jalousie windows.  They aren't very hard to break into houses, with some personal experience to getting inside the family house after being locked out.  Anyways, many of the homes that seemed to get hit often were the ones on the corner of a main road and a quieter side road.  Two houses at the top of the street that I grew up on were frequently hit.  High perimeter fences and dog were first, then eventually bars on the windows.  Understand that you want to avoid that, but just know that plants are easily defeated.  Have some experience with just how easy since physical security was part of my job for many years.  There were groups that would hire guys to test security measures, including hiring former burglars, but that was a long time ago.  As a side note, I've seen some pretty interesting and innovative ways of how they figured out to defeat security measures.  Sometimes very simple things could defeat measures that one would think difficult.  Pretty scary actually what a motivated criminal mind is capable of. 

I've seen some people put stuff around the perimeter of their house.  Ladders, garden tools, etc as a deterrent, makeshift booby traps, etc.  Just be careful you don't catch yourself in any of those.  Not fool proof of course, but what appears to be very effective in the neighborhood I grew up on are lots of retired and VERY nosy neighbors.  The house I grew up in is downhill from many houses where the retired occupants spend a lot of their time in their back yard or balcony on the back of their homes.  Pretty interesting what my neighbor reports them seeing.  He walks his dogs around the neighborhood and talks story with many of them.  They've spotted many of homes needing roof repair.  Haha.  Gotta love those nosy retirees.   

I have bouganvillia. The nursery told me that they grow fast but mine seems to be just starting to vine. This was over a year ago. I also have cams but with cams they capture after the fact and only if the police investigate. I can only imagine a house with plants put in defensively can also obscure criminal activity as well.
This is a reality now. I've been playing around with some Arduino boards and Rasp Pis. The plug ins for motion tracking are out there. The only firewall are laws and criminal rights.

I have bouganvillia. The nursery told me that they grow fast but mine seems to be just starting to vine. This was over a year ago. I also have cams but with cams they capture after the fact and only if the police investigate. I can only imagine a house with plants put in defensively can also obscure criminal activity as well.
This is a reality now. I've been playing around with some Arduino boards and Rasp Pis. The plug ins for motion tracking are out there. The only firewall are laws and criminal rights.

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that'll take care of those pesky neighborhood kids

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meh

I got weeds worse than that

The balance of utility and maintenance of plant is a good point.  I have a buddy that has Areca palms on at least two sides of the house.  They are excellent for separating neighboring properties and privacy.  However, those palms grow pretty quickly and wildly and seems like the maintenance can get pretty labor intensive. 

You might also check with the xeriscaping.  There used to be a xeriscape yard/facility in Halawa valley that was operated by Board of Water Supply.  Not sure if it's still there, but I recall many of the drought friendly plants being effective for other home considerations, including security, deterrence, etc. 

I live in an older house that has several jalousie windows. Lately I've been seeing reports of thieves breaking into homes, specifically through these types of windows. I don't necessarily want to go so far as to put bars over my windows, nor do I have the money right now to completely retrofit or replace all the windows. I am looking for suggestions for plants (presumably something spikey and sturdy) that do well in Hawaii that I could potentially place along the outside of my house under my windows as a deterrent. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: I have cameras and floodlights already in place, along with a decent sized dog.

Just one dog?  I have 5 that free roam.
I have a lot of plants but purposely keep
them at the property perimeter.  You don't want to
interfere with your grazing fire.
I assume you are a city guy on a small lot.
I'd suggest dogs over plants.
I don't know if they allow them here,
but the very best guard is a peacock.
get two. Geese are also good.

Just one dog?  I have 5 that free roam.
I have a lot of plants but purposely keep
them at the property perimeter.  You don't want to
interfere with your grazing fire.
I assume you are a city guy on a small lot.
I'd suggest dogs over plants.
I don't know if they allow them here,
but the very best guard is a peacock.
get two. Geese are also good.

I grew up with geese at a family business/property. I raised a few from soon after they hatched. Super loyal to me, but damn vicious if not recognized. We had African one that as she got older didn’t like anyone except for my mom. Hated that fucker. Would sneak up and bite me from behind. 

     Seems like the jelly windows is your big concern.

    Take out the jalousie glass and wash the glass (or wood) as well as the clips they slide into.
Then fill the jealousy hardware clips with clear silicone and re-install the glass, wipe off excess overlapping (smearing) onto clip. 
Won't be able to remove the jalousie so now they'll have to break glass (a.k.a. make noise /.time) to get in.

    To make that even more difficult, after the glass is installed and silicone is dried, tape the glass lengthwise including clip in wide clear packing tape.
(If it is obscured glass, only one side is smooth enough to tape)
Now if they break glass it won't make noise but it will remain in place with the caulk and tape. 

    If they are redwood jalousie's, just use the bronze caulk, no tape.

If their bright enough to see your work, they'll say " too much trouble" and most likely move on to the next house.
 

I agree with above. Caulk is good at the ends. I also use "S" clips around the handle at 1 end and the other is wrapped around the jeaousie frame. Whatever its called where it pivots to move. Of course, i have my windows closed. Idk if you leave your windows open or closed when your not home. I also have cats. Alot of cats. Lol. Both indoor and outdoor (thank you neighbor lol). Some are akiddish but some are damn territorial.  I remember once a church group came knocking. One of the cats that free roam outside started hissing at them lol. I watched from my window. Lol. They also kill all roaches and cebtipedes. Lol. Plus i live on a quiet street with retired neighbors. Always doin their garden and they are always on key. They also have dogs.

Build a cheap alarm for each window

Haha thanks for all the feedback guys. I really appreciate it.

i think you should get more dogs..

I have a stupid dog that is so friendly, he would help the burglars carry stuff out....then go home with them.

I have a stupid dog that is so friendly, he would help the burglars carry stuff out....then go home with them.

I had one of those also.  But he was a solid black Newfoundland that weighed over 160 pounds.
He liked to play,  so seeing something that big,  chasing you down tended to keep people away.
He slobbered so much, you'd think he had rabies.  He had free run of our 5 acres.
His favorite trick would be to run up and put his front paws on your shoulders( I'm 6 foot tall)
and try to lick your face.  I taught him not to do that to me, but I could never break him from
doing that to strangers that came around
unexpectedly.  He'd also try to get in your car as he liked to ride around.

I love stupid dogs.  They are the friendliest.  I had a stupid dog.  He's gone now but I think about him now and then.  He was the bestest and stupidest dog in the world.

His name was Kaimi.

But he never knew that because I would always say "come here, stupid dog....."

Little Shop of Horrors comes to mind.