I finally started putting in a drip system today with the help of DH. I am so thrill not to have to hand water, and the soaker hoses weren't working great either. I have mostly two-gallon per hour drippers with two at each tree. I'd like to hear from Davie, Dete, Mike, and others that have a dripper hose set up. Please tell me how often you water the ones in the ground and for how long. Thanks!
Drip System
Pushing this back up to the top! C'mon, you guys!
Hello Clare...been out for a while now. this is what use, remember much hotter here and I had my plants planted in pure sand...for smaller plants, 1'+or-, I use one 4 gph dripper. medium plants, 2'-3', two 4 gph drippers, larger plants,4' +, two to four 5-10 gph adjustable heads depending on size of plant. I water everyday about an hour before the sun comes up. In the spring the system runs for 15 minutes. During the hottest part of the summer it runs for 30 minutes. I try to supplement the drip waterings with deep waterings at least once a month to push salts, we have a high salt content in our water and it builds up over time.
Let me know if you have any more questions, I will try to get back to you taday.
Davie
Thanks, Davie! I've got pretty much 2 two-gallon per hour drippers on all sizes, but I can add more two-gallon drippers to the big ones for 6-8 gallons per hour, or I can just let run for two hours instead of one. I'll watch and see. I'm in a lot of sand too, but you're definitely hotter than I am. Thanks much. You've been a big help:-) I hope all is well where you are.
Doing great just really busy...just moved.
I can relate to that. What a pain! Take care of your back. Are you digging stuff up? Poor thing. Moving is the pits.
A pain indeed...especially as hot as it is here right now!
I dug up around 50 plumeria, 10 addeniums, a citrus tree, some hibiscus...etc. all done now! What sucks is, I am moving to Gila Valley which is colder than my house on the mesa (kept it, just renting it out) so no plumeria in the ground! Well maybe just a few noids or virus plants just for testing....I am now offically a pot guy again or a digger like most...not looking forward to that, but not going to give up on plumerias...no way!
Oh, man. I'm sorry to hear that. Since you kept your house, maybe you can move back some day when you're retired and plant there again. You probably don't even want to think about moving again right now since you just did it. I feel for you, buddy. All that digging is a tremendous amount of work, especially given the heat. I hope you are taking care of your back and staying hydrated as you work. I feel a lot of empathy for you. Now that I have so many in the ground, I don't think I would ever want to dig them up if I had to move unless, maybe, they were still small. I'm thinking that I would take cuttings with me if I had to move or if fire was coming down the hill or something. It's tough.
So you planted adeniums? Interesting. Were you going to leave them there for the winter or bring them up? I have been very tempted to put my adeniums in a little bed that I have in front, but our winters are kind of cold and damp so I don't think they would like it much in the bed even if it were kept dry.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe you dug up a hibiscus. It must have been fairly small because those roots and trunks can get massive.
Pots won't be bad, but as many as you have, if you can set up a dripper system going into your pots, it will be much easier on you, I think. I did pots for many years, and it's not too bad if you keep on top of the transplanting every year.
Hey Clare thanks for all the empathy and comisseration...moving is a female dog!
I doubt I will be moving back into that house...but will eventually move back to town...Retirement is way to far away to even day dream about! Not that old yet!
Yep finally gave in and got a bunch of addeniums...originally I bought them to sell(got a deal from Esteban of Lorescos tropicals out of Puerto Rico), but wound up keeping most of them...hard to sell here...nobody knows what they are lol. I did plant them in the sand and man did they love it! Flowered most of spring and summer, and have never stopped growing. i was going to leave them in the ground this winter, but now they are all back in pots. How cold do you get? What is the threshhold of addeniums.
The hibiscus was just a small patio tree, and the citrus a variegated dwarf pink lemon, so not too big...had plumeria much bigger and harder to dig...but luckily so far everything has survived.
Living out in the country has been pretty cool so far, and I think it will be a good experience...plus no mortgage, how could you go wrong with that!
I have some places out here that are sheltered by large trees and overhangs so I may be able to get away with a few plumeria most years...put those virus plants to use! In the summer a select few will make it out in pots or transplanted...but most will have to stay at the office and be enjoyed there for now.
Sheer Beauty
LOL about the female dog part;-) True dat. Yeah, I know you're a youngster, but I started dreaming about retirement since I started working full time at about age 17. LOL!
Good for you for getting a deal on Adeniums. I paid way too much for mine, I'm afraid, but I was lured by the low maintenance factor. I bought a variegated one from Logee's, a bunch from Snowbelt Adeniums, and a bunch from Buried Treasures. I just moved a bunch to larger clay pots and used Supersoil mixed with coir and perlite. It seems to drain well. I may eventually try them in the ground. It gets into the 40's at night here in the winter with a dampness from the fog and influence of the ocean. For a few hours before sunrise, it can drop into the 30's, but it almost never gets below about 34. I'm going to put up a greenhouse this year for my AeAe's and adeniums. I had a big adenium outside all year in a pot a few years ago, and it did okay underneath a semi-protected patio. I think, if they are kept dry, they would probably be okay. It's hard to risk such a large financial investment though.
"...a variegated dwarf pink lemon..." Wow! Awesome. I would have dug it up too.
Yeah, plumeria can survive real abuse and do fine. Here is a picture of Paula's plumeria trees below. She does this to them every year to bring them inside for the winter. It's amazing what they can take.
Living out in the country can be great. It can be quiet and peaceful with more wild life around. I loved it when I lived in Buellton, CA, for five years, but it was definitely colder than what I was used to. It got down into the 20's and low teens in the winter. I used to make raging fires at night in the fireplace -- almost burned down the house a few times. Yeah, under the protection of taller trees, your plumerias might be fine, and you can always cover them and put a space heater underneath for the really cold nights.
'Sheer Beauty' is awesome. Mine should bloom very soon.
I started dreaming about retirement my first day of work!
I don't know know if I qualify as 'Youngster' anymore but thanks!
Is that Paula from the plumeria society? Yeah next spring I will plant some in ground here that I will dig up, but only my favs...may cut my collection down until I get in a place where can enjoy them year round...that may be hard to do since they are all larger plants.
Do you have a new GH or the comfort house pop ups? mine only lasted a season...but were worth it for the time I used them.
What are AeAe?
Davie
Wow, Clare, you have done a lot of digging!
dbrooks, I think she means musa aeae. (if so, Clare, don't you have a pup? I am trying to get my hands on a musa aeae for years now without luck)
LOL, Davie. I'm 45, so if you're younger than me, than I can call you a youngster! I look 35 though, so I've been told a lot, so we're peers!
Yes, those are Paula's pics, the president of the PSA. She digs them up around Thanksgiving every year, I think.
Good luck this winter. Keep in touch. Yeah, I was thinking if you could erect some PVC pipes around your planted ones and throw some plastic over them -- a few makeshift greenhouses to protect them so you won't have to dig them up, or you could buy a few of the pop up ones. I gave away all of my greenhouses when I moved, but I think they were pretty thrashed anyway. I bought a new one at Harbor Freight Tools at the end of the year in 2008, but I never set it up because I was too busy with remodeling the house and moving. I think it is sitting in one of our strorage sheds now. My hubby got a canopy-like tent at Costco or Sam's Club for about $75, and as a matter of fact, he erected it today but said he wasn't going to use it. I think I may just use that for a greenhouse, but I'll have to find a way to make it air tight. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow to show you.
Hi Leeuwtje, it's true that I have done a lot of digging this year (see my yard in the picture below), but that picture above actually belongs to another grower who has to dig them up every year to store them for the winter. Yes, you are right. I meant Musa 'AeAe.' I have a few of them now! They are struggling to survive, but I think they will be happy once I put them in a greenhouse.
Davie, there is the little tent that my husband put up. I think I'm going to use it as a greenhouse this year, but I think I have to find a way to seal it up better.
Hello Clare,
I have been vacationing in central Arizona mountains for the last ten days,what a difference in climate,enjoyed the solitude and would have loved to stay longer.My in ground plumeria are watered twice a week with adjustable heads (Orbit) that are fed from a four inch shallow well (fifty five to sixty five p.s.i.) restricted from inch and half to half inch,the duration of flow is set at thirty five minutes,this may sound excessive but as Davie has stated we do have extreme heat,i hope some of this dribble helps.
Mike
I don't know if I want to go to all that trouble this winter Clare...putting things up taking em down...I will just keep some on the GH at work and enjoy those...take this winter off. I am going to try to have some sort of gh out here next winter for the plumeria and tropicals, plus I would like to try some hydro veggies and fruits.
That tent looks like it may work, but it is going to filter a lot of light don't you think?
Hey Mike,I bet the break from the heat was awesome, give me a call when you got time, I have a lot of seedlings blooming at this time and want your opinion on some.
Davie
Hi Mike! Ah, I can see not wanting to come back to civilization anytime soon but welcome back! It sounds really lovely up there in the mountains where you can hear yourself think. I'm big on solitude. I would have to bring John Denver with me though.
Thanks so much for the info. That water dribble (get it? LOL) is music to my ears and helps a lot! It actually doesn't sound excessive to me. With the heat and wind that we've been getting, I've been watering nearly every day, 4 gallons an hour to each tree for the big ones and 2 gallons an hour for the smaller ones. My soil is almost pure sand. Maybe one day we'll get some rain and get some relief.
Davie, you sound like me every year. Every year I say the exact same thing, and then the first night or two of cold happens, and I end up putting up a greenhouse in the dark to protect my babies! LOL! Somehow, I don't believe you. With all your precious ones in your collection, I think you might end up putting up a greenhouse, but I'll be the first to say I was wrong if you tough it out! Either that, or your kitchen, dining room, and livingroom will have a whole lot of houseplants! LOL! You're fun to tease, buddy.
I don't think it filters any more light than my other greenhouses did, but I could be wrong. If I can find my Harbor Freight Tools greenhouse, I may set that up instead because I know that will be airtight whereas this tent is not.
i can't keep up with you guys anymore! LOL back from michigan... every yard should have a plumeria!
clare, i know what you mean about not having to hand water. i put in drip irrigation this summer and a burden was lifted. i still have to water all of the plumies in containers. plus, i have to connect a hose to the irrigation line since it is not connected to the in-ground system. it is still a relief though.
i only use the orbit/dripmaster bubblers. i tested possible emitters and found it to have the best coverage. i let the water run for a while since it is watering the two plumies in the ground and various other plants. i am going for deep watering.
okay, now i have to go back and read what everyone else wrote...
LOL, thanks, Dete. I think we got a little off topic so take your time catching up. I hope you had a nice trip.
Thanks for the info. I love the drippers! I still have to hand water the containers too, but I don't mind now that most everything in the ground is covered by either a soaker hose or drippers.
Life on drip is good!
especially if you're in pain...haha!