Ok .. I've had this plumera going on 3 years now .. nice leaves but no blooms! Pretty soon the leaves are gonna start falling off for winter .. so what the heck do i have to do to make this thing bloom next spring?
X
Really Frustrated
First..
Get it out of that corner give her room to breathe...
Is this a cutting or a seedling?
Seedlings can take a few years to bloom..
Looks like a cutting to me but hard to tell..
Second..
Get her out of that greenhouse and into full sun...
Full sun all day...
Feed her Peters 20-20-20 or Peters SuperBloom 10-52-10
I say Peters because that is the basic nutrient to start off before you go into heavy stuff..
I don't know your weather conditions but if it is still hot she may bloom late otherwise you might have to wait next year..
Next year as soon as it gets above the 60's bring her out into full sun..
If your greenhouse has lights then stick under the lights or closer to them and feed her half strength (no light, no food)..
:0
Thanks! It's in the mid to upper 80's here with nights in the 60's. It's 2 cuttings that I rooted. I apparently was given erroneous information as I was told it wanted filtered sun! I'll get it out of the greenhouse this morning and start acclimatizing it to full sun and of course feed it! Come spring next year I'll put it in a larger pot and bury the pot in my canna bed.
X
You should read Clare's FAQ page at the top of this forum it will answer any other questions you may have..
If you still need help post away :)
Good advice! ;^)
But Id skip the 20-20-20
That will promote green growth
Concentrate on the bloom booster for now and wake her up next spring with the 20-20-20
Youll have a load of blooms next year. ;)
You already got some great information here. Yes, a plumie needs full sun, lots of heat, water, and fertilizer to bloom well. It's getting pretty late in the year now so I would start your fertilizer regimen starting next spring after your last frost date has passed, or you can start in your greenhouse as Robert said. It takes a lot of heat and light to keep a plumie blooming through the winter, and you may not have that kind of set up, but if you do, that is certainly an option too. Robert's suggestion to review the FAQ's sticky thread is a great one! ((Hugs to Robert)) You'll find lots of information and threads there related to growing conditions, blooming, fertilizer, etc.
I may be off base, but looking at your plant, it does not appear the branches are very long for it to be three years old. If the tips, or branches, break off, then you have a while to wait before it will become mature enough to make inflorenses.
It may be that the size of your part is inhibiting its growth. I think some suggested to move it to a bigger pot.
I am definitely going to put it into a bigger pot. Should I do it now or wait until spring? It's in a 2 gallon right now. I will have had it 3 years come February.
X
Or you can pack theam up and ship to me LoL just kiding they look good and healthy Paul
Well, it looks like it shared a pot the first year with other cuttings, and then it grew at an angle in a small pot the second year. It also looks like the tip was cut off twice as I see two center cuts. All these things inhibited both grown and flowering. When you cut off the tip, a side branch has to grow, and this is a slow process and requires energy from the plant. Flowering takes a lot of energy to do and will only happen if the plant has the energy to spare. My guess is the plant has needed the energy to put out a side branch twice, and that is why flowering didn't occur. It is getting too late in the year for repotting for me, and I'm in Zone 10b. I would recommend doing it next spring unless you plan to keep yours growing through the winter in a greenhouse or with a heat mat and lights inside. I would repot to a black plastic nursery five-gallon container and stake to straighten if necessary.
I didn't cut anything off I originally started with two cuttings .. the little one rotted .. The one that rooted was how it came, split like that. If you look real closely at the first picture in the set of three you can see. I stuck a katrina cutting in with it last year that was sent to me from new orleans. It rooted that's why there are 2 sets of leaves in the 3rd pic.
X
This message was edited Sep 14, 2006 4:33 PM
Hi X, that large one had the tip cut off twice by the previous owner, probably due to pruning. That is why it is shaped as it is. You may want to consider reshaping it yourself. If it were my plumie, I would wait until next spring when the tip was about 12 inches long, and then cut it off where it meets the main stem and root it. You will have a nice straight tree then, and it could still flower for you after you root it. I would do the same with the second side branch. At least this way, you will have a straight trunk with possibly two or more side branches. It looks like the tip was cut twice and only one branch emerged from the cut.
Someone sent me some awful-looking plumerias last summer. Many looked like they were failed grafts, which means that they were center cuts that had grown one branch like yours, and many were sunburned with cracked trunks as well. They were misshapen too. They were sold to me for cheap because they were unknown cultivars in which the tags were lost, and they would not bloom. I recut many of them, rooted, repotted, and fertilized them. Six of them bloomed for me this year, and two more have inflo's. It seems the recutting and repotting did them some good. I still have a picture of these ugly ducklings when they first arrived. Some had to be staked as you can see in the picture.
