Can't wait to get a cutting of this!
My Mom and Her Plumeria
LOL! Fantastic! You know, you can tell your mom that, if she cuts all three branches off, the main trunk will grow new branches, which will probably flower next spring or summer, and those branches will probably be shorter so the flowers will be more in "sniffing range," and not only will she have a more compact parent tree, but she'll have (or you'll have) three new plants in addition to the parent plant. LOL!
Yeah, well I wish I would get all three but I have many siblings. lol She has to cut it back to get it in the garage over the winter!
Actually she can unpot it and lay it on its side, no need to cut it over the winter. ;)
Okay, Malestrom, you asked for the questions. :-)
What is the benefit of unpotting it? Won't it go dormant and lose top growth anyway? By unpotting it, do you mean taking it totally out of the soil?
Thanks!
T
T, when it goes dormant, it is going to sleep so it won't mind being unpotted and on its side. You can also lay it on its side while in its pot. It should only lose its leaves, not its top growth. Some people store them bare root for the winter because it keeps the roots drier and therefore less likely to experience root rot. It also takes up less room when they are stored bare root.
Wow, great info! So, she can take it out of the pot, shake off the soil and lay it down in the garage. New leaves will grow back on the old limbs next year, right?
That's the way they do it around here. Any freeze will kill it, but you see many on porches and so forth, bare rooted and looking dead.
trois
this is such a disconcerting plant in its off season. looks like a dead stick and then surprises you with all that beauty come springtime.
I can't wait to talk to her about it. She will probably have a hard time believing it will come back after leaving it for a dead stick in the winter. lol
I remember one year around x/mas, I gave my friend one of those dead sticks and the look on her face was priceless. She thought I was nuts! I was vindicated the following summer when the plant put out leaves and eventually bloomed for her.
I bet that was priceless! lol
LOL, Nery!
Here are some wonderful pictures of Paula's -- plumeria_lady here and president of the Plumeria Society of America -- that I like to show people because they are so illustrative of what happens in wintertime in colder zones. I hope she doesn't mind my reposting them. They were originally posted over at Maui Plumeria Gardens for us to see and learn from.
I think this picture was taken around Thanksgiving when all her plumerias were dug up in preparation for going dormant.
Edited to fix spelling.
This message was edited Oct 18, 2005 12:15 PM
Here is her next picture of her plumies being stored in her garage:
Aren't these pictures great? Thanks, Paula, for taking them and showing us how it is done! This shower stall is even utilitized:
See how the roots are just "hanging out" for the winter -- dry and happy.
Clare, thanks so much for posting those pictures! It is a big help to actually see what you are talking about. And a big thanks to Paula for sharing the pics in the first place!
Its not necessarry to remove all the soil from the rootball as you can see.
I only mention this as I tend to overdo a lotof things and would have tried to blast it all out.