Plumeria - IT BLOOMED

[merkity]

i suspect in the warmer climates, they may not need ot rest as much? but when i was reading through the forums, apparently most growers will basically tuck their plumeria in the garage once it drops its leaves and only water it enough to keep it alive, then when it warms up they pull it out and put it back outside...
my winters aren't that cold, we only get below freezing a few times a year - but since the plant did drop its leaves, i let it sit quietly in the shade until it started growing again, my hibiscus also tend to go dormant in winter - they simply kinda freeze at one point and pick up again in spring( the flowers are weird when they over winter). while it was in the house, it didn't drop its leaves, just kept growing but no blooms until this year. the test is going to be my second one. if i get a bloom in the spring that would only be 1 - 1 1/2 years from rooting.

[AussieVanda]

You can get them in basically 2 forms, evergreen and deciduous. They all like free flowing potting mix a common one is 50% course sand with 50% potting soil. They do not like wet feet or you'll rot them. Size wise ranging from compact dwarfs right through to the very large Singapore white. In the cooler areas try growing the next to brick wall for reflective heating.

[tarev]

Plumerias go dormant in winter due to the cold temps. It will drop its leaves and go to sleep. So pretty much no growing there. Some would uproot them and hide the cuttings whole winter season, and just repot come warmer days in Spring.

Some would just put entire container indoors and kept in their basements. No watering needed at all this time. Some would cut the leaves when it is already late Fall, to help the plant go on dormant mode faster.

Like merkity, it took me awhile to understand this dormancy thing. I have killed cuttings due to untimely watering. I have now learned to really withhold the water and only to start bringing them out in late May, keep it in part shade till it acclimates again to outdoor conditions and once those new leaves show, watering regimen can resume. Typically a good cutting to root should at least be 18 inches long, if it is too short, not enough stored energy for the cutting.

[AussieVanda]

A really good book for plumeria is titled 'Frangipani, A practical guide gor growing frangipani at home.' By Linda Ross, Lorna Ross, John Stowar. The dewey number is 635.93393 The isbn is 9781877069550

[tryingtoflower]

Does anyone know why the buds sometime develop then dry up?

[AussieVanda]

Originally Posted by tryingtoflower

Does anyone know why the buds sometime develop then dry up?

Individual buds or the entire head? I loose individual buds or a few in an entire head, usually insect attack, nothing too drastic. Sometimes though if the roots are too wet the flowers are affected.

[Tindomul]

Awesome, very jealous. Makes me want to try growing one here in NYC. Maybe that's too much ambition.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by AussieVanda

Plumeria make fantastic live mounts for orchids to grow on as well.

The Plumeria in Hawaii always had such a large whitefly population, I don't know that I'd want to subject orchids to that.

Originally Posted by merkity

I had it in morning sun and it loved it, lots of leaves. didn't realize these guys go dormant in winter......

Hmm, been a lot of years but I recall ours going dormant in the summer in Hawaii. HOWEVER, we were also living on the dry side of the island. During the summer, many plants on our side of the island would turn brown and a number of plants (like Plumeria) would drop all their leaves. In the fall/winter -- when the rains returned -- things would green up and leaf out.