Hi all! I am a tropical grower in Maine (orchids, Brugs, Passiflora, Asclepiads) and am new to Plumerias. I am wondering when (and if) I should expect blooms from my Plumerias. I have two sticks that someone brought me from HI a year ago, they are well rooted and have put out a couple dozen leaves at about 1ft in height. I also have some yellows (species, but dont know which) that I started from seed. One is 8in (window) and the other is pushing on 2ft (greenhouse). Do they need a dormancy in northern areas? Will they ever bloom in a window, or do I have to wait until I put them outside for summer? Is there a rule of thumb as to when a Plumeria will start blooming? Do I need to stress them or anything? TIA!!!! I have seen some in bloom in New England GHouses before and cant wiat until these puppies start putting out flowers.
Bloom times
I can't really answer your questions but we sold our home next door and a Tropical plant freak ( he called himself )so he says brought so many large plants he had been growing in Ohio ! I noticed the other day the Plumeiras he brought down in pots Nov, 9th and he has sense then planted them in his year a few weeks ago look super great leaves and all ! When the ones we had transplanted to our new yard next door were full of leaves and blooming have lost most of their leaves. I think the gardners just pulled them up out of the ground without much care :((
Good luck with all your plants !
This message was edited Dec 18, 2006 7:23 PM
Hi Mtntrtl! That is a lot of questions! Chances are you have cuttings from Hawaii and P. rubra hybrid seedlings that you started from seed. Your cuttings can bloom for you next spring, summer, or fall, given enough heat, light, and fertilizer and given the right growing conditions. They can even bloom for you in the winter in a greenhouse, given the ideal conditions of heat and light. Usually, a window in a house is not enough to get them to bloom in the wintertime unless the inflo started outside in the fall.
Plumerias can not take freezing temps so many people bring them inside to go dormant in their garages, or they keep them growing with supplemental heat and light.
Plumerias will bloom whenever they have enough energy to do so; some start to bloom in the spring, and some wait until the fall. I find, in general, certain varieties bloom right away in spring, and some varieties bloom a little later in the season. Some of my reds, like Duke, almost always wait until fall to bloom.
Stressing a plumeria is a good way to inhibit blooms, and I don't recommend it.
Be sure to check out the Sticky Thread at the very top of the forum threads as there is a lot of information that you may find helpful there.
This message was edited Dec 18, 2006 1:31 PM
Ah, I forgot to answer your questions about your seedlings. Typically, a plumeria takes 3-5 years to flower from seed. I had a couple flower at two years old, but that is not the norm.
Thank you very much. I will put the cuttings under my lights (teclight, 8bulb 40,000lu) and see what I can do, I often bloom cattleyas under this setup. They came in before the temp outside hit 45deg so they may lack some seasonality. I will just cross my fingers on the seedlings and hope for a year or so. They were growing quite vigorously once I put them out for the summer and had many leaves. If a cutting can bloom at 1ft tall, I may get some this spring [happy dance].