Chantell, I love lilacs! You are right that they don't grow well here. I have some Descanso Gardens lilac hybrids which don't need the winter chill to bloom, but they still don't look great in full sun.
Thanks for that info., Michael. It must be.
How do I determine whether my plumeria is dead?
I'm sorry about the lilacs, Clare...but I've seen your pics!!! Believe me...you can grow so many more things then I Wasn't it you that said something about an Orchid Cactus that turned color (purple) when in the sun? I was trying to remember in "whats blooming" in the house plant forum.
Hi Chantell, yes, some orchid cactus leaves turn a reddish color in full sun, and the christmas cactus turns a scarlet color.
Clare,
Thats the most gorgeous Christmas Cactus Ive ever seen.
My Christmas Cactus only gave me 1 flower.... Phoooeey!!
To the compost heap with it if it doesnt behave next year!!
I bought a dried up over crowded one.
Previously $20.- lowered to $2.-
I brought her back from the dead and split her into 8 smaller ones and gave many away.
1 stinkin bloom LOL!!
Thats the thanks she gave me HA!!! :^P
Michael - sure you know better then I but did you let her get cold for at least a few days? The one from my grandmother has bloomed at least 4x...that's the only thing I can think of is this crazy weather we've been having....warm-cold-warm-cold
Thanks, Michael. I think blooms have to do with the decrease in light to signal blooming and possibly a little winter chill as Chantell said. Mine stayed out all year on the patio until I gave it away to my mom. It stays outside at her house too. When the days become shorter in the fall, that signals it to bloom by December.
Clare - ah...forgot about the shorter day thing!!! Gosh your plant is Beau-ti-ful!!!
Thanks, Chantell!
I did the cold thing but not the dark.
Ill do it now!!!
Michael, I'm not sure that you can force it to bloom in a time period other than its natural one by reducing the amount of light it receives, but you can try. I'm not sure what duration it needs reduced daylight, but since mine blooms in December and since the days become shorter in September, I think, three months of shortened days should do the trick. I would give your plant about 9 hours of light for three months, and then gradually increase the duration to 11 hours and see if that works. That seems like a lot of work to me. Some people in colder zones just put theirs in an unused room for the fall (only day light and no artificial light) and take it out in time to see it bloom around the holidays. There are three types of holiday cactus: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and each one has their own leaf shape.
andidandi
Mar 22, 2006
Does anyone have the Packers url? I'm getting unrelated sites even with keywords.
Ill leave her be and ignore her to see what happens.
I dont need more work LOL!!
Maybe shes an Easter cactus!
We shall see!!
Michael, over at the Orchid Cactus Forum, there is a thread with pictures showing the difference between the leaves, but I looked for it and can't find it at the moment. I'll post it when I run across it again.
Andidandi, here's the link: http://www.alohapalms.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi
After reading this whole thread it looks like I really goofed. My 2 baby plumies have been outside for a couple of weeks now with night temps in the 40s. Ouch! One looks like it's trying to leaf out and I really think it's ok. But the other (the one that has y'd) has 2/3 little "bumps" at the tip where it might have been trying to leaf out and it appears kinda' black. Is this what's called "Black Tip"? It was also getting too much water from my sprinkler. The night temps now are in the mid 50s so I guess there's no point in bringing them in now. What do you think I should do?
Barbara
Barbara, cold/damp/wet conditions do seem to stress plumerias, and Black Tip is often a manifestation of that stress. Since nighttime temps are now in the 50's, they are best left outside. Can you take a picture of the tips that are black? You may need to cut those off. Give your plumies full sun if you can. New branches will sprout below the cut areas, but you probably won't get flowers this year on that one, but new branches will grow in.