Growing Plumeria Indoors?
 

Does anyone have any experience with growing plumeria trees as a house plant in a colder climate? My friend's mother brought back a cutting of her daughter's plumeria tree when she lived in Hawaii and I have wanted one ever since, but she wasn't successful with getting it to bloom annually. It blooms every two or three years for her.

I would need to be able to bring it indoors during the winter and possibly keep it indoors year round. Is it possible to keep them small enough to do this?

Is my idea of attempting this in Washington completely crazy? :D

Would love to hear your feedback! Thanks!

Plumeria are actually perfect for places where you need to winter them over. They can be placed even in a Northern window for the winter and will retain leaves, as long as the spot is warm (some of mine even bloomed during the fall/winter). I give mine the occasional watering during the winter and keep them near a window but some people just put them in a dark spot and forget them until spring (and they then lose their leaves). When summer comes, you just move them outdoors. If they are dormant, they begin to grow new leaves.
I had four of them for fifteen years but three became too large for the home so I only have the one, now, a smaller variety (and yes, they do sell ones that stay smaller).
I have no idea what triggered blooming. Some of mine would skip the occasional year and, for me, they could bloom when they were indoors or during the summer. One bloomed in February, even with the Northern window.

How cold is cold? Frangipanni (plumeria) can tolerate an occassional frost but in ongoing cold weather will need shelter. I suggest that you pot your frangipanni so that you can take it inside for the winter. I don't know if having it as an indoors plant year round would be viable, from my own experiences frangipanni love full sun.

It's cold. Getting down to -10 degrees F is not odd for winters for us. In a typical winter, we will get a foot or more of snow that sticks around until early March. This winter that we just had was unusually warm.

I don't have a north facing window. I have a southeast facing window that I currently grow my dendrobiums in. It's overcast here for most of the winter. We don't usually see much sun at all in the winter months, so I don't think it matters what window I put any plants in as far as wintering them. They are going to get less light, whether I want them to or not. I can provide artificial lighting to supplement though.

I have a spot outside that gets full sun the entire day from spring until late fall, but it's on my deck. It's totally exposed, with shade from the house happening in the late afternoon until evening. So it would get a lot of light there. Maybe too much though since it is very direct sun over the deck and I can't even stand to sit out there between 11 and 2, even with the umbrella open for shade.

your deck sounds like the perfect location for a frangipani. seriously, these things thrive in that type of environment. Go an oversized pot with a 50/50 potting soil and course sand mix. My orchid tree is also a frangipani and is potted up similarly in a like location. Mine stits out year round and the pot is a very heavy glazed terracotta one. If I had to make it moveable I'd probably make a small trolley for it. Something you may wish to consider if you need totake it indoors for winter.

My local garden center actually sells plant stands that are on casters that should hold a pot large enough for one of these, so that would work perfectly.

Thanks everyone! I think this will be my next project, a plumeria! :D

By specifying the North window, I simply meant that these can be abused. Plumeria would very much prefer a brighter window, naturally. :) I just have too many other plants that NEED the brighter windows. Full sun outside will make them very, very happy.
Twelve inch pots will actually work (mine did fine for fifteen years in them). The only problem is that if you have the ones that get very tall, the pots tip over easily. Still, if you have many, many plants that need moved, the smaller pots help save your back. :|
I agree with the 50/50 soil and sand mixture.
They are prone to spider mite in the winter if you have lower humidity but that is the only pest problem I have ever had on them.
Have fun! :)

Tipping over pots is a concern for me. I have big dogs with great big tails. If they get really happy, they will knock over anything. LOL! What about anchoring the pot to the plant stand with some bungee chord?

We have some pretty rough storms here but I learned to wedge them between the pots of some of my other large plants. I don't need to worry too much about the one I still have.
The best thing about them being in the smaller pot is that even if you get a summer with plenty of rain, you don't need to worry about the roots rotting. :)