plumerias and dormancy

I have a question. I overwinter all of my tropicals in a green house. My plumies have always stayed outside until they drop all of their leaves,then they go in the gh for the winter.

I never put my big tree outside this year,the smaller ones are out but the big one is just TOO big to move. This is a runing gh and will be heated all winter and some plants continue to grow all winter. This will be the first time the plumie tree hasnt spent the spring/summer out in the yard.

Is it necessary for the plumerias to go dormant or will they be alright maintaining their leaves and growing year round? I'm not so sure if the big tree will drop its leaves since its been in the gh all year long now.

plumies are usually dormant here from about mid november to around early march then they begin to grow again in the gh.


I know some varieties of plants have to go through a period of dormancy to grow and perform well the following year and didnt know if this was the case with plumes or not.

When I say my big tree is TOO big ,too big means the tree has a trunk at least 4 maybe 4 1/2 inches or more round. The main trunk is only about 12 inches high and then tri splits. From there it just branches out in all directions. Overall the tree is probably close to 6 ft tall and it would probably take three grown men holding hands to stretch all the way around the circumfrance of the tree.

Its just a white/yellow pinwheel type bought from QVC a few years back but it has grown to such huge proportions that it had to be moved inside the new gh before we assembled the side walls! So this is why it stays inside. I just couldnt handle having to move it.

heck I almost couldnt find anything to plant it in. It got so big it was tipping over a 30 inch pot. i finally had to go to lowes and get one of those prefab pond liner type things to plant it in.


If and when I get a spare piece of change that I can afford to let go of in teh near future,I plan on buying a digital cmaera so I can start posting some pics. I feel left out being the only one with all these plants and no way to post pics to share with everyone.


david

Hey David!!
Nice to see you over here!! Did you see Clare's sticky on various Plumie topics? http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/599185/ Not sure if that was covered or not...but thought I'd mention it "just in case"

If it is in the GH it will be fine.
It will probably go through a self induced dormancy period of about 5 weeks once temps start to drop. It can also be induced by the change in the lighting by the suns winter angle.
It will be fine, I keep many going all winter long and just stop watering & feeding them when they slow down.
When you see her perk up again with fresh glistening claws on the tips, water lightly and follow suit as she starts to grow & bloom again.
Id love to see a picture of the 'pinwheel' blooms if you have any.
Im wondering if you stumbled onto an Ammrons Curly White.
It would be some find if you did ;^)
PICTURES PLEASE!! 8^D

Michael,it's not really a pinwheel form. Its a flat bloom. I call the color pinwheel because the flower is basically white with a yellow border. Kind of reminds me of the old foil pinwheels that we played with as children!!

Just a common plumeria I think. But when I got them from QVC they werent labled so I dont know a name for it.

Chantell I drop in here every now and again. I dont know much about plumerias other than whatever i'm doing , I must be doing right!!

I also lurk a lot and just read.

I visit the hoya forum as well but really stay behind the scenes there because I am aslo a member at the MSN hoya forum and there is major conflict between the two with some members.

I feel a lot of tension when I post anything there so I just read and mostly keep my mouth shut.

I also grow brugmansias and used to post all the time on the brug forum but i'd rather be dunked in gasoline and thrown into an open fire before ever allowing myself to post freely there anymore. For any of you plumie growers who may visit the brug forum as well, I have to apologize now but they can be a vicious ,man eating bunch of people.

I love all of my plants but right now cactus is my thing so that's where i'm hanging out the most. It's funnny how you can have certain types of plants that you lean more towards at certain times.

Early spring I was very into my hoyas,now the cacti and once my plumerias have grown some and I start getting blooms i'll post a lot more here.

I only have a half dozen plumeeria plants. All of which have been aquires just since last year. My big tree I the only one i've had to bloom other than the rainbow that should have been JLPP.

david

Hey David, you can get a cheap digital camera at walmart for under $50 they do a decent job as long as you do not try to take super macro close ups usually. I bought one for a friend some time ago so she could share pictures with me. It would at least get you able to share a little. they are very simple to use and download through USB very quickly.

Tammie

look for the ones in the plastic 'blister packs'

To do a real nice macro of something small, use a scanner if you have one.
Cover the item with a sheet if you need to.
I have a friend who does it all the time

Chantell, you are so good, girlfriend! I've got you trained well! LOL!

Hi David, I wrote an article on how I grow plumerias if you are interested in reading it. It is at http://www.plumerias.com Look for Clare's Garden link at the bottom. Here in various portions of Southern California, some claim there are three places that are Zone 11. I'm in Zone 10b. Most of my plumies did not go dormant last winter, and plumerias in fact don't need to go dormant. They do so as a survival mechanism when water and food are withheld in addition to the reduced light, but reduced light by itself won't induce dormancy. Most of my plumies are outside all year in the elements, and about 95 percent of mine kept their leaves and kept growing last winter. They may have entered a pre-dormancy state because growth was slowed, but many developed inflo's, and I had to water about twice a week when the soil became dry.

Your plumie will be fine in the greenhouse and may even flower for you this winter. Many growers who have large plumerias that they have to protect in the winter prune both the roots and the tops before taking them in from being outside. They take a saw and saw off about half the roots and then trim the top branches and store the tree on its side or upright in the garage. In the spring, they replant or repot. Here are some pictures to show you.

I hope you don't feel any tension here. We're all friends here. I can get a little tense when I'm answering posts when I really should be doing other things that need my attention, but I try not to let that tension show!

Here is Scott root pruning before planting in the spring.

Edited to fix grammar.

This message was edited Aug 14, 2006 10:18 PM

Here is the finished product after root pruning. By the way, I think Scott said this tree is 15 years old and the container is a 25-gallon:

Here is the tree once it is potted. Now the tree's roots can grow into fresh soil, and it will respond well to this and not show any transplant shock.

Here is the tree. By the way, Scott lives in Kansas City.

Here is his yard. See all the plumies behind him?

Chantell is right. Check out the Sticky thread for more info. on winter care.

WOW!! I thought my tree was big. Does Scott live near a nuculear reactor!!!

Ah....someday....those are b-i-g!!

He stores them all in his garage for the winter too. I think some lay on the floor for five months of the year. He does use some lighting in there and gets blooms in his garage over the winter. I think he has over a hundred varieties. He is a testament to the fact that these can be grown by those in colder zones and is an inspiration to all.

That's exactly what I was thinking, Clare...so used to seeing ya'lls beauties that live in the warmer areas...now seeing his and what Michae'ls posted...I have faith!!

Keep the faith, baby;-)

:) Will do...just cuz you said so (((HUGS)))

(((Hugs back))) (((Group hug))) LOL! Hey, I just got Scott to join and started a new thread to welcome him! Maybe he can go more into what he does during winter later on. Feel free to grill him with questions! LOL!