New to Plumerias

Hi,

I am considering purchasing some plumeria seeds. If I plant them this spring, can I expect flowers this year? Should I purchase cuttings instead? What size pots do I use for seeds or cuttings? Thanks!

no, I think it takes 2-3 years. In my experience the cuttings are between 12-18 long and about 1" in diameter. When I've trade cuttings I've used (and received) cuttings in "tube" envelopes. I like cuttings, too impatient for seeds. Most sources are very helpful providing instructions on how to root. I've started with a 6" pot and increased size over time. hope this helps. The main thing is that you need to be religious about fertilizing with bloom booster type fert., or no flowers.

If you go to your local swaps somebody is bound to have plumies. Hope this helps.

Hi rockdrky,

Clare recommended this link to me [HYPERLINK@www.alohapalms.com]
They have a great deal for beginners -- five sticks for $10 -- and the shipping is reasonable, too. This way you get a variety and I believe you can hold them for a while if you want to try just one and see how it goes. This is what I plan to do. Celadine is the one I'm especially after, for the scent and because I like it so much.

Rockdrky, Vossner is right that it takes an average of three years for seedlings to bloom from germination, and seedlings do not come true to the parent so the flower could look like anything. The only way to be sure of what flower you are getting is to start with cuttings. Aloha Palms, Florida Colors Nursery, and Maui Plumeria Gardens all have cuttings at reasonable prices. Kaperc is right that Aloha Palms is a great way to start a plumeria collection because their cuttings are only $1.99. Most cuttings are started in one-gallon containers and can stay in them for about a year before being moved up to five-gallon containers. Seeds can be started together in one container and then be moved to their own four-inch container before being transplanted to one-gallon container. Here is a great site for information: http://www.plumeria101.com/ Check out the links "How to Start Plumeria Seeds" and "How to start Plumeria Cuttings."

I'm going to try my hand at growing Plumerias, and just tried to place an order with Aloha Palms. Their order site did not work, so I e-mailed them.. These are such wonderful plants. Antoinette

edited to say: Thanks all of you for the sites and thank you Clare..


This message was edited Mar 24, 2005 6:59 PM

Hi Antoinette! Sometimes their site has problems; try again later, and it will probably be working again. My pleasure:-)

Thanks so much for your info. I can't wait to start!

Scott

Just placed my order with Packer/Aloha! Celadine (2), Rainbow (2), and pink. Will post back when I receive them and get started. Yippee!

Kaperc, that rainbow can be tricky. It will need lots of heat and absolutely no water while it is rooting. Be sure to follow the directions over at Plumeria 101 for rooting cuttings. I would dip the end in rooting powder and give it lots of bottom heat. You can set the containers on hot concrete outside in the sun during the day, then at night I would put them on a heat mat or some warm location inside your house.

Clare,

I WOULD pick something tricky, wouldn't I? Story of my life. It does get warm here, so maybe I'll wait for the June gloom to wear off before I start that one.

I have the rooting powder, but what does one use for bottom heat? This is a backyard operation -- no fancy stuff. :-) Would a hot rice bag do any good at night? I'm off to 101 for tutoring!

Kaperc, The first time I ordered from Aloha Palms, I was new to plumerias too, and the two Rainbows that I purchased rotted. A couple of months later, I purchased two more Rainbows from them, and they rotted too. But I was new at rooting, and I was trying to root in winter, and I had no bottom heat. As soon as May comes around, the daytime temperatures should be plenty warm enough, and if you have some hot concrete to set the pots on, that should work just fine. Just don't be tempted to water your cuttings until you actually see leaves. Now I can root Rainbows without any problems but I usually water root them first until I see little nubs, and then I pot them up in a very well-draining mix and put them on a heating pad until I see leaves.

For heat, I used to bring my cuttings in and put them on the stove top, which stayed warm from the burners. I've heard other people use the water heater. There are rubber heating pads that you can buy. Some people have used water bed heaters. Outside, anything that absorbs heat during the day will work: concrete, plastic, anything that retains heat. During the winter, the heat seems crucial for hard-to-root varieties, but once summer is here, the outdoor concrete is all you need.

I just got this message from Aloha:

Alohapalms@aol.com Add to Address Book
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:48:28 EST
Subject: Re: Your Order
To: summerthrufall@yahoo.com


ALOHAPALMS
PACKER NURSERY

Aloha,
I am witting you regarding your recent order for Plumeria, etc. from my nursery.
I had a slight heart attack
last week ended up in
Kona Hospital for a few days.
Sunday I must fly to Oahu for a small surgery.
(I hope)
I am very sorry for the delay in shipping your plants.
If you can please bear with me, I will ship all about Wednesday of next week. Please accept my apologies for the delay. If this does not work for you, then just let me know via email and I will refund your money.
My daughter will be handling my email next week.

Again Mahalo' for your patience.

Sincerely,
Ed Packer


I hope he is feeling better. It is always so awful to hear news like this.

A slight heart attack? Oh, my! I don't think there is such a thing as a slight one. Thanks for sharing this, Antoinette. I hate to hear news like this also, and I do hope he recovers quickly. If you don't mind, I'm going to repost this information for others who don't know about it. How sad and on Easter no less:-(

Thanks, Clare, for clarification about the bottom heat. All other options not available, concrete it is!

Sorry to hear about the owner of Aloha -- how nice to send e-mail to a customer at a time like that. Lots of people walk around not knowing they've had a heart attack, but you're right, no such thing as a slight one to me -- it's one of those annoying medical terms that don't tell you much!

That's horrible that that happened to him! My mother-in-law had one a few years ago, and she thought it was just really bad heart burn! Her daughter was with her an insisted that she go to the emergency room. Of course, my mother-in-law hates hospitals and fought all of us about going! We finally convinced her at like 2:00 a.m. in the morning, that she was going if we had to hog tie her!!! She had numerous heart attacks that night, and into early morning, the doctor told us! She had quadruple bypass surgery 2 days later. She's doing much better now.

Kaperc, I used "heating blankets" last winter for my plumeria cuttings. I don't have any heating mats or radiators to heat them on either. I just wrapped the heating blankets in 6 mill. plastic and placed my containers on top. I kept the heating blankets on low to medium setting. I think I had a pretty good success rate!

Randy

Thanks, Randy. After giving it some more thought, I came up with the idea of having my 'builder' make a warming bin with cinder blocks. Might as well harness that sun we get around here. We don't even have much concrete to speak of, just the apron in front of the garage -- everything else is dirt or gravel.

My brother had that 'heart burn' for about a week before his big heart attack, too. He ignored it too long and collapsed on the job; he had to be flown out of Yosemite on a helicopter. :-( He still has problems off and on, but overall is okay.

Kathleen

Randy, I'm sure glad that your mother-in-law is okay. How scary! Hey, great idea about the heating blanket.

Kathleen, I'm glad your brother is okay too. A warming bin with cinder blocks sounds interesting! I hope you'll post a picture of it when it's completed. Gravel works pretty good too because the rocks retain the sun's warmth during the day.

LOL, Kathleen. I bet you're being too modest:-)