A Plumeria Thread

[saltydad]

Looking good!!

[cherokee_greg]

one flower opened today my first ever

[The Hollyberry Lady]

Congrats on your Plummie flower, Greg! Your pics are gorgeous!


: )

[saltydad]

Yayy, Greg! Very nice. How's the fragrance?

[Bob]

Congrats Greg, what a great feeling to spot that first bud and flower. I want to know about the fragrance too. Some are heavenly and others seem to have none at all.

[ClevelandCATHY]

Everyone's flowers look so good. I've never had one to bloom so far, always hoping. A friend gave me some seeds this spring. I planted them, and they are about 5 to 8 inches tall now. Just wondering how to overwinter them. I let my bigger ones go dormant. Will these survive going dormant too? Or, should i try to keep them alive?

[jack hagenaars]

Ok..I hate everyone who has had their plumeria bloom...jelous!!!!As fall has arrived on the west coast here...Should I put my plumeria into dormacy for the winter...or grow it under lights for the winter....It has never bloomed and have put it into dormacy the last 3 years....I havew been using a high middle number fertilizer but now understand thats not the best..any advice for flowering would be great...thanks Jack

[Want Them All]

Jack,
I used grow lights last winter, and most of mine flowered, but when spring came around, none did. I think I probably screwed up their "biological clock" or something . This winter I'm planning on just letting them go dormant, and let nature take its course.

[saltydad]

In the past I kept my large plumeria potted and in the living room next to a large bay window. It would bloom just as winter was ending. Last year I planted it in the ground for the season, then stored it bare root in the basement. It told me when it was spring by beginning to show the shiny cap on the ends of the branches. Obviously it didn't bloom then, or indeed all summer on the patio in a large pot. It now has one inflo starting and should bloom in a few days.

[Clare_CA]

Originally Posted by ClevelandCATHY

Everyone's flowers look so good. I've never had one to bloom so far, always hoping. A friend gave me some seeds this spring. I planted them, and they are about 5 to 8 inches tall now. Just wondering how to overwinter them. I let my bigger ones go dormant. Will these survive going dormant too? Or, should i try to keep them alive?

Originally Posted by jack hagenaars

Ok..I hate everyone who has had their plumeria bloom...jelous!!!!As fall has arrived on the west coast here...Should I put my plumeria into dormacy for the winter...or grow it under lights for the winter....It has never bloomed and have put it into dormacy the last 3 years....I havew been using a high middle number fertilizer but now understand thats not the best..any advice for flowering would be great...thanks Jack

Cathy, seedlings should be kept growing in the winter with heat and lights at least for the first year or two. They should, however, survive dormancy but are more at risk for desiccation. In order to get flowers the soonest, seedlings should be grown in greenhouses in nontropical areas year 'round or at least in the winter until they bloom (about five or six years old in non tropical areas).

Jack, a plumeria will always do better with grow lights rather than dormancy. In most tropical areas, plumerias don't go dormant at all. Dormancy is actually a survival method for dryness rather than cold.

I have about 150 in the ground here, and they don't really start blooming well until the heat really gets going in July or August, but they bloom well through December. When I had many in pots that were small enough, I would put the blooming ones and the ones with inflo's in the greenhouse in the fall in order to have blooms through the winter.

It's actually not uncommon to get inflo's coming in toward what should be the end of the season. For those who don't have a greenhouse, a bright south facing window can work well too, but lack of light can make the blooms lighter in color and smaller.

This was my greenhouse in March, 2007:

[Clare_CA]

Originally Posted by cherokee_greg

one flower opened today my first ever

Congrats, Greg! That's a pretty one!

[jack hagenaars]

I have a greenhouse that I grow phal orchids in,but I find the plumeria always gets spider mites there,despite the 7o per cent humidity.....the other option is under the lights in the plant room in a 70 f basement...which do you think would be better? Thanks for year responses...and do I keep fertilizing in the plant room?

[palmtree]

Originally Posted by jack hagenaars

I have a greenhouse that I grow phal orchids in,but I find the plumeria always gets spider mites there,despite the 7o per cent humidity.....the other option is under the lights in the plant room in a 70 f basement...which do you think would be better? Thanks for year responses...and do I keep fertilizing in the plant room?

Plumeria are really vulnerable to spider mites. I think that pretty much everyone gets them on their plumerias indoors. The only thing you can do is continue to treat the problem with things such as neem oil, or you can let it go dormant. I have NEVER had a problem with spider mites when my plumerias go outside for the summer, but I have yet to have one plumeria that hasnt faced the problem indoors! I would not give it nitrogen or any fertilizer indoors. It shouldnt be growing much when indoors. And maybe if you can take it out on a few mild rainy days in the winter, it will help keep the plant a little cleaner.
Good luck!


Clare, Wow, great blooms!

[barnercora]

Wow! congrats to all that grow plumeria and have blooms. What do you all feed them? I have some seedling growing and cuttings, all they do is grow but no bloom. They get plenty of sun and i feed them often as i fertilize my other plants(brugmansia, desert rose) with miracle grow, 13-13-13, bone meal, blood meal or whatever i have. I don't have a greenhouse and only have few so i kept them in 3 gallons pots for winter storage.

The seedlings are about 4 years old and the cuttings are 2 years old.

I very much appreciate everyone's suggestion/advice.

Thanks,
Cora

[Clare_CA]

Originally Posted by jack hagenaars

I have a greenhouse that I grow phal orchids in,but I find the plumeria always gets spider mites there,despite the 7o per cent humidity.....the other option is under the lights in the plant room in a 70 f basement...which do you think would be better? Thanks for year responses...and do I keep fertilizing in the plant room?

Originally Posted by barnercora

Wow! congrats to all that grow plumeria and have blooms. What do you all feed them? I have some seedling growing and cuttings, all they do is grow but no bloom. They get plenty of sun and i feed them often as i fertilize my other plants(brugmansia, desert rose) with miracle grow, 13-13-13, bone meal, blood meal or whatever i have. I don't have a greenhouse and only have few so i kept them in 3 gallons pots for winter storage.

The seedlings are about 4 years old and the cuttings are 2 years old.

I very much appreciate everyone's suggestion/advice.

Thanks,
Cora

Jack, your plumerias should do better when kept growing in a warm greenhouse as opposed to a warm basement with growing lights. Using a fan 24/7 will help to keep the aphids and spider mites down, but Palmtree is right that they are inevitable indoors. The good thing is that they really don't affect the health of the trees much if at all. A good rinsing of the leaves on a regular basis in the greenhouse with the house will help as well. You could try a regime of Avid, Forbid, and Isotox, rotating their use. I agree with Palmtree that fertilizing is best from spring until fall. Even if you keep the trees growing with grow lights or in a greenhouse, their growth will be slower than during the regular growing season.

Cora, your fertilizer of 13-13-13 is fine. Six continuous hours or more of full sun during the growing season, plenty of water, good drainage, frequent repotting (if not planted in the ground), and a regular fertilizing routine should make your cuttings bloom soon. Sometimes a plumeria will skip a year of blooming to put on growth. Your seedlings, however, are a different matter. Seedlings can take many years to bloom -- usually five or more years in nontropical areas. If your four-year-old seedlings are in three-gallon containers, then they are probably stunted. Four-year-old seedlings should be in 15-gallon containers by now if they are healthy seedlings. Many people store them bareroot for the winter, sometimes lying down in the garage, if they don't have a greenhouse.

[jack hagenaars]

thanks all..the greenhouse it is...will let you know iwhen it blooms.....

[barnercora]

Claire, thanks for the advice. If they all come back next year i will plant them in the ground. Hopefully they will take off from being root bound and reward me of blooms.

Cora

[Sanatic1234]

Here is my plumeria i can't wait till this blooms
]Banana Gallery - canna indica[/url]

[palmtree]

I wanted to share my newest plumeria bloom (and largest so far with a diameter of about 4 inches!)

[snc]

Cora,

I put mine in the laundry room, which gets no sunlight but is bright, for the winter. I maybe water them 1x/month...just basically ignore them. In about may when I bring them outside, I start hitting them with miracle grow bloom buster 1x week and have had great success with blooming. The one cutting I had just bloomed this yr for the first time in the 3 yrs I have had it. This works for me and have had one that has been blooming since December of 2009. Patience seems to be the key to plumerias. Good luck with yours

Originally Posted by barnercora

Wow! congrats to all that grow plumeria and have blooms. What do you all feed them? I have some seedling growing and cuttings, all they do is grow but no bloom. They get plenty of sun and i feed them often as i fertilize my other plants(brugmansia, desert rose) with miracle grow, 13-13-13, bone meal, blood meal or whatever i have. I don't have a greenhouse and only have few so i kept them in 3 gallons pots for winter storage.

The seedlings are about 4 years old and the cuttings are 2 years old.

I very much appreciate everyone's suggestion/advice.

Thanks,
Cora