no leaves?

I have a single plumeria planted in my backyard. It has flowers on it but the leaves are still very small and reddish in color. Can anyone possibly tell me why this is or help me fix this.

Hi Har_Vee_Dee, sorry you have not had a reply as yet, I've just picked up your thread so will try point you in the right direction.

First of all, scrape away some soil, GENTLY, then stick your finger down into the soil at the root area to check just how dry or wet the soil is,, shortage of leaf is normally the first sign of any plants dropping or not producing proper leaf. However there are some plants that send out flowers way before the leaves are there in spring like Witch hazel has flowers before the leaves have arrived and others to ofcource.

IF the soil is dry around the roots of the plant in question then you need to improve the soil conditions by adding some humus like compost, I use well rotted horse manure as it sweetens my acidic soil, allows air into the soil, feeds the plants from the roots and helps hold onto moisture a bit longer allowing the roots time to take up the water offered.

In winter time I like to add a thick mulch of this manure also as it helps break up the soil as the worms take it below and as I do a spring tidy, I fork it into the soil around the root area.
Most places that keep or use horses are very happy to allow you to take away the WELL ROTTED MANURE for free as they have a daily supply so try get a trailer, or take large plastic bags to get this brown gardeners gold back to your garden.

Well rotted means that there is NO smell like new dropped horse poo, it should crumble in your hands like good soil and be a brown colour like good quality compost, I've arrived to take some of this and found fresh dung / poo piled high but you can remove the rotted stuff from under the heap and this will be warm and ready for use. don't let anyone put you off this by telling you there will be weed seeds there and all sorts of rubbish like that, proper horse manure is weed free as they graze on pasture grass, eat hey and the heat held within the heap would have killed of any germinating seeds.
I've used this material for about 50 years as did 2 other generations before me and I know my father fed a family and neighbours with delicious veg through war 2, and many years following on from that, his flower garden was a sight to behold also, my gardening teacher and more LOL.

Best Regards and good luck. WeeNel.

You live in California so Plumerias should thrive very well. Here are pictures of my plumeria trees this summer. They get repotted every spring and make sure the potting soil is good quality. i use a lot of my own compost.
I think I have over 30 plants and some are blooming right now. this pictures are in Belles Haven Garden 2013.

I agree with Wee nel.

Belle


This message was edited Aug 16, 2013 9:58 AM

Small/turning-red leaves are a sign of some kind of deficiency, possibly caused by very wrong PH. I totally agree, moderate amounts of OM (composted of necessary first) helps a lot, moderates PH, moisture, has some nutrient content.

Is this plant in the middle of a sea of grass? How long have you had it?

Can you post a picture?

Belle

Agree, Picture would help even better than us all trying to guess what your growing conditions are.

Best Regards. WeeNel,