Hi, new here but I wanted to ask the AZ or other hot desert plumie growers if they are able to grow all thier plumeria in fun sun? I am in Lake Havasu and I had mine in sun most of the day since spring. It has been around 120 or so lately. Now they are all sunburning bad. My aztec gold even actually started to sunburn on the trunk. Cerise has really burnt leaves. Now they are all in the shade screen house or on the patio where they get only morning sun. Will they be able to flower that way? I am still awaiting cerise to flower this year.... I have a graveyard yellow, rubra I think its called, that seems to take more afternoon sun than the others.
I also have some seedlings that seem to take the sun a little better than the big ones. Just curious how others are growing them here. Thanks
? For AZ Plumie Growers
Some people may say it is fine but I would never put my plumeria in full sun! I have a freind that has for years been able to do i5 and this year they are frying. Most of my plumie friends grow their plumeria in shade or under shade cloth. I have many of mine growing in the Arizona Room. Yes, they still flower but with this dry heat they are not at their best.
Plumeria can die if they get sun burn bad enough. Some people paint the trunks white to help with that and more leaves will protect the trunk. I am for ever moving my plants when I start to see a leave getting distressed. Plumeria like roses are not happy in this hot dry heat. I think your area is a little hotter than PHX. Once it gets cooler and more humid they will be better.
We have a Plumeria get together in the PHX area if you are interested we would love to have you. The next get together will be on the 21 st.
Mickey
Cave Creek,Arizona
The Phoenix Plumeria Social
i have been growing plumeria in arizona since 2001 and i still don't know the answer to this question. LOL i have observed that root zone temps and maturity are key. don't even think about growing a plumeria in full sun if it's in a container that's not shielded from the sun. the cooler the root zone temps compared to the air temp the better. it can better cope with the temp extremes on the canopy if its roots are not dealing with 100+ degree temps.
i provide filtered light through a shade cloth. some get full sun until about noon. some get direct sunlight with shifting shade. i think some shade is beneficial in arizona. that's in the desert regions of arizona. my friend can leaves hers in full sun all day in a pot in pine top. that will not work in tucson. i would try and give them some shade if you can.
eventually, they'll get large enough were they can deal with more full sun conditions. until then i'd keep them looking appealing to the eye which means they are not under much stress. a toasted leave or two or three is not bad. and like you have already realized, some will do better with the arizona sun than others.
you can get blooms w/o full sun.
this really is a confusing topic for arizona growers. many of us have tried to grow them based on growers in socal, texas and florida. most of these places don't have our dry heat all day for weeks on end or the sun intensity and heat.
i hope my ramblings have helped. LOL
dete
Dete,
Thanks for jumping in and adding your thoughts!
Mickey
Hi thanks for the input. That all makes a lot of sense to me. I know that full sun here (AZ desert areas) can be completely different than full sun in other places.
Do any of you grow yours in black nursery pots? That is what mine are in now and I am not sure if that is a good thing for here or not? I have a 5ft aztec gold tree that I want to put in a square cedar pot that I will spray the inside with pruning seal. I did that for my citrus and it works good here to keep the pots from drying out and cooking so much. The pruning seal seems to help the citrus roots not adhere to the sides. The square pots keep the wind from tipping them so much. It will also need to be staked as it is very top heavy.
~thanks again
This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 5:30 PM
i use the black nursery pots. your square cedar pot sounds like a good idea.
here is a plumeria tree that gets full sun all day in mesa, az.
https://www.quickbase.com/up/baaeyrrxn/g/rcj/ej/va/fulltree.jpg
https://www.quickbase.com/up/baaeyrrxn/g/rcp/ej/va/flowers1.jpg
here's an 8 year old aztec gold planted on the east side of this home in phoenix, az. you can see that it gets a good dose of direct sunlight. this tree is breathtaking in full bloom and litters the ground with blooms. unfortunately, it died back to the ground this year from the freeze!
https://www.quickbase.com/up/baaeyrrxn/g/rcb/ej/va/Aztec_Gold.jpg
the singapores in phoenix, az, have become famous. these get full sun and bloom profusely during the summer. i'll have to find the pic of the larger ones in the front of the resort.
https://www.quickbase.com/up/baaeyrrxn/g/rca/ej/va/Royal%20Palms.jpg
Angel,
Why don't you put your trees in the ground? How cold do you get in the winter? They do better in the ground. I bet they will be fine in Lake Havesu.
Mickey
I have half of mine in the ground and half in buried pots around the garden, we had a freeze this winter (most unusual) so I did what I used to do in UK where we had more freezes than this. I made Newspaper tents, just by clipping multiple layers of newspaper together and making it into a tent, we always covered our tender plants like this (not Plumeria) but it did have the desired effect here, and kept the plants frost free. In UK the tramps (hobos) always shove newspaper inside their clothing to keep the cold and wind out, we also covered smaller plants with cardboard boxes. You could try it if it gets very cold this winter.
seemama,
Here is Arizona the last winter got abnormaly cold. I had friends who lost over 40 plumeria each in the Phoenix area. The newspapers would not have helped. I think Lake Havasu is a much warmer area in the winter. Were I live it got down to 19 degrees F last winter. I had a hard time keeping the green house warm and many people had pipes breaking because of the cold. We only had 2 pipes break.
Some people use pipe wrap on the branches of their plumeria and use christmas lights for added warmth., with all of this it was no help last winter.
Mickey
Mickey, I had no idea but I should have, I know how cold it can get in the arabian desert at night, I never thought that Arizona could get so cold, but here in Florida we actually had a fluttering of snow - I didn't expect that either, but it wasn't as cold as you had and no frozen pipes either. If I had lost so many plants I think I would have just wept. I have only had mine since last year so they haven't grown much - yet! But still the newspapers did do pretty well in UK and the cardboard boxes and it was also very damp cold not the dry cold we get here. Madeleine
hi madeleine,
it was definitely a wicked winter for arizona. i haven't seen so many nights in the 30s before. in one month we had snow and a hard freeze in tucson. only two plumeria managed to take the dip down to 26 degrees w/o any tip damage. they have a special place in my heart now. LOL
i should start working on winter cover frames now since i've planted some plumeria in the ground this year.
dete
Hi tuscon plumeriaz thanks for all the nice photos.
I didn't know there were any plumie trees that big in the ground in AZ~ cool!!
We did have some freezing temps here in Havasu this past winter. Some people's cactus and citrus really looked bad but most seemed to have bounced back. I grew up in Phx but left for 10 yrs after college now we are back in AZ but in Havasu instead of Phx. Most of my family still live in various places around the valley.
Mickey, You are right I should put mine in the ground but there is not much shade here except on the patio and I'm sorta waiting to see if it's gonna freeze again next winter. If I would have left them out this last winter they would have been toast. I have only seen one other house here with plumeria and they were about 7 ft tall. I saw a pink and a white, the other wasn't blooming but they were all in large pots though. If I was braver I would go ask to trade cuttings LOL! I see you live in Cave Creek ! My dh's grandfather and great grandfather built a house in CC a long time ago I * think* it was out on Continental Drive. There was nothing out there then but mountains and coyotes. My dh's granny kept a golf club by the door to whack the rattlesnakes that came up on her porch lol! We used to go out there a lot.
Seemama, AZ does get a little cold. I spent the last four years in Southern Louisiana (right on the coast) and it got colder there than here but it still does freeze here. It just doesn't stay freezing for a long time. About 16-17 yrs ago it did snow in Phx (when I was there) but it melted before it hit the ground. Sure wish I had some of your humidity right now lol~when I was in Louisiana I never thought I would say that lol!
This message was edited Jul 9, 2007 8:45 PM
I would love to send you some of this Humidity it's 9.30am and if i step outside I just melt.
This is a picture of a Red Plumeria tree in Karachi, It's called Champa over there but the heat and humidity is the same as Florida, only thing is we don't get the same Mangoes here, but they don't have our cirtus! Other flowers are the same.
Angel,
If you're afraid to plant the plumies you can plant them with their pots and take them up in the late fall..You can build a raised area and fill it with mulch. That will make it easier to "plant: the plumies. I was planning on doing it this year but we were gone for 3 weeks . I have a lot to catch up with now.( This way your plants roots are kept cooler). I would also get an area with shade cloth over the plumies heads.
You would never belive how Cave Creek had changed! I hate all this building here. They are building a strip mall it town,several areas were they are putting up town houses, another resort is going in on School House Road.The Tree House is gone sadly, the best burgers in town as so is the Mine Shaft.
I know about were your GF lived. We live on Echo Canyon. We have a snake loop at the door and use it often! Values of property are nuts here too.
Mickey
What's a snake loop?
Mickey, I have erected a *shade house* with the shade cloth that lowe's sells. It says it is supposed to make it up to 15 degrees cooler. Then I got some misters and put them around the inside roof line of the screen house. These say it will make it 30 degrees cooler. Ha so that is 45 degrees cooler. I don't think so but it sure feels nice. I ended up having to not use the misters though because I ended up with some fungal problems on some plants (not the plummies). I think it isn't getting enough air circ. so have to work on that now. I just don't want Hot air blowing through cooking things lol..~can't win!
Sorry to hear about all the good things gone in Cave Creek. I have so many good memories of that little town..errr um city now :) At least there is still the chili beer!! It is the best!!!!!
seemama, Here's my guess on a snake loop: A stick with a noose on the end of it? No clue lol.
I thought that might be it, but I leave my snakes where they are! they can go loopy if they wish. It's not the snakes that bother me it's the spiders!
I forgot who had asked what a snake loop was.Here's a photo. We keep it at the front door so we are always able to nab out snakes. It's about 5 foot piece of copper pipe and a cord is threaded in the middle of the pipe making a loup. This way you are far enough from a snake while you loop the snake that you don't get bit. Oh, the fun of living out in the desert.
Mickey
Karen,
Glad to hear that you have a shade house. I put my plumeria under a large pine tree and slowly move them out into more sun. Some leaved may burn and I will put that plant back in the shade a little longer. I moved all my plumeria from my arizona room to the front court yard were they get morning sun. They are doing much better too with more leaf development.
I take a hose at least once a day and hose the leaved off. THe birds always are leaving presents on them. I think it's like a summer shower. They seem to have no problems with it either. I also wet down the concreate to kick up the humidity.
I'm not sure if there are any rules for growing plumeria in Arizona but generic plumeria seem to do well here.
Mickey