This is my first post. I was happy to discover this website a while back and have been enjoying the company of other gardeners. I am new to growing plumeria and have a few questions. I brought back some cuttings from hawaii a few months ago and planted them. 5 out of 6 grew leaves. Unfotunately, the last one rotted and desintegrated. I watered them a couple of weeks ago and am now starting to notice that a couple are getting soft stems. I only gave them a little bit of water and have not watered them since. I'm worried that they will rot away. What should I do to keep this from happeneing? Don't I need to water and feed them once their leaves arrive? I'm unsure what to do next. I also was at walmart last night and found some nice big plumeria plants for only $8.84 each. They looked healthy, so on impulse, II bought 3 more. Any advice on how I should care for these? I eventually want to plant them in the ground but my yard has sprinklers. I'm afraid that might kill them all with over watering. I live in southern california. Please help.
first post, don't want to kill my plumeria
Hi Brownie! Five out of six is pretty good! Congrats! If they have leaves, then they have roots. It is quite possible that they are not getting enough water. Tell us more about what you planted them in and what type of mix you used if you planted them in a container. If you have well-draining soil and a container with good drainage, then they probably need more water. I water every day in the summertime. Plumerias, once rooted, love water, especially in warm weather. It's only when they are initially rooting that you have to be careful not to let them sit in soil which stays wet for a long time. The same is true for plumerias which are dormant during the winter: they should never sit in wet soil. So, you see, they love water but not consistently wet feet. Yes, water and feed once their leaves arrive. Once they get water, the stem should firm up. They are drought-tolerant, but really only after they are well-established trees. Buy those ones at Wal-Mart! That's a great price. Care for them the same way: good drainage, lots of water and fertilizer until fall. You can plant them in the ground if you don't get frost in your area. Frost will kill plumerias. I would grow your plumies in a container and pot up each time until you get to a 15-gallon container, and then put them in the ground. The larger and more mature a plumeria is, the hardier it will be to the weather and watering conditions. The ground generally has better drainage than containers so my guess is that they will do fine in the ground even though sprinklers will water. There are many plumerias planted in people's from lawns here in my town. HTH.
Edited to fix typo and omitted word "never."
This message was edited Aug 20, 2005 11:03 PM
hi Clare, thanks for your reply! Yes, i was surprised when I actually got them to grow leaves. I followed the advice of the woman I bought them from who told me to plant them in cactus mix. I put them in 1 gallon containers plastic containers (recycled from the garden store) and have only watered them sparingly. They are sitting on my back patio which gets morning and early afternoon sun. I wonder if i should put them in a sunnier location? if I water on the weekend, the soil seems to remain moist (at the bottom of the pot) for at least a week or more. i noticed that the plumeria from walmart are a lot thirstier than my cuttings. i will continue to water and feed those, and probably start to feed the little ones too. I bought super bloom today. Do you think I will get any flowers before they drop their leaves? i can't wait to see what colors they end up being! Glad to hear that plumeria grow in the ground in camarillo. our weather is very similar.
Brownie,
Just to be sure you get the right message. My friend Clare's fingers were moving so fast across the keyboard in replying to you that her message actually gives the wrong impression about water in dormancy. During dormancy, they should receive little, if any, water. They do not like to sit in wet soil at any time.
Clare, forgive me. I knew what you meant, but it didn't seem to come out the way I'm sure you wanted it.
Mike
Brownie, yes, full sun is best, and since you have them planted in cactus mix, which drains well, you can water when the soil looks dry. I would water when the top of the soil looks dry and water well and then don't water until it is dry again. The full sun condition will mean that it will need more water than it is getting now. Full sun and lots of water and fertilizer is just what they need to be healthy. It may even be time to repot to a two-gallon or three-gallon container. Here in Southern California, we have an extended summer oftentimes. Sometimes, it is summer weather straight through October. I had my Duke bloom all through October and November, and I put plumeria flowers around candles for my Thanksgiving Dinner centerpiece. If we have an extended summer like that, you could get blooms late in the summer, but since they are just rooted, they will probably concentrate on continuing to develop roots and growing, which is just fine, and you may get flowers next spring instead.
Mike, thanks for correcting me. Feel free to correct me anytime:-) I see I made a typo.
Yes, Mike is quite right. They should never sit in wet soil and can get root rot that way. They are especially vulnerable during dormancy because a cold/wet combination encourages root rot. Most people don't water at all during dormancy. Mine stay outside all year, and they don't really go dormant outside here because it doesn't get cold enough. They may go semi-dormant as they don't grow or do anything. I only had one plumeria lose its leaves entirely, but it didn't drop much below 40 here last winter.
Thanks Clare and Mike. I kind of figured that that's what Clare meant. I will try moving them into a sunnier location and water and fertilize. your thanksgiving blooms look beautiful. I can't wait to see if mine bloom. Thanks for your help. I may do some repotting next week. I've got to clean out my garden bench today!
Uh oh... I've had the plumeria from walmart for less than a week and am noticing that the lower leaves are dropping. Between the 3 plants, I'm losing 3 or so leaves a day! They're yellow. I did repot them over the weekend to 5 gal pots. But I noticed the leaf problem before I did that. Ugh. Is this normal? I know it's normal to lose some lower leaves here and there, but it seems like they are turning yellow quickly and are dropping quickly.
Brownie, how cold is it at night there? Were the plants really rootbound when you transplanted them? Some yellowing is normal. As new leaves grow, old lower ones drop. If a plant is too rootbound, leaves will turn yellow and drop too. Also, if it is starting to drop below 45 at night, leaves will start to yellow and drop as the plant prepares for dormancy. This is all normal. Just make sure you are watering well when the soil is dry and check your nighttime temperatures.
Clare, I'm pretty sure it doesn't get as low as 45 degrees. I think it drops to 60 at night. I did notice when I transplanted that all 3 plants were pretty root bound. The good news is that there are plenty of new leaves growing at the top. i only lost one leaf yesterday. it looks like the dropping is slowing down from the weekend when I transplanted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. i'll keep you posted!
That was probably the reason then. I just pulled a few yellow leaves off of some of my seedlings. They are rootbound too in their five-gallon containers and want bigger ones, but they will have to wait until next spring. Yes, definitely keep us posted:-)