plumaria

i have a plumaria tree --i put it in my atrium --it had been growing outdoors before--it is too big to move in and out of the house and so i am planning to keep it in the atrium--will it be enough sunlight? i have a sky light and it is warm and humid which i think is good--it bloomed but now is loosing some leaves--

How many hours is the sun shining into the atrium? If it's most of the day then it may be OK. I'm sure you'll have enough light there that the plant will stay healthy, but if it's not quite enough light then you may find it doesn't bloom as much. Are you concerned at all about it losing leaves? The only time mine drops any leaves is in the winter if I let it get too cold, so I wonder if maybe it's getting too much or too little water? Or if it just dropped a few right when you moved it inside maybe it's just a bit of stress from being moved in which case it should recover fine.

thank you for your advice--yes i am a little concerned about the lost leaves--it has been in the atrium for about 3 weeks and i haven't fed it yet--it did bloom and seemed fine but is loosing leaves now--i will check and see if it is dry--i worry about making them too wet and so may not be doing enough--or maybe i need to feed it?

I don't water mine very often even though it's out in the hottest part of my yard (in a container) so unless you're really letting it get super dry I doubt if it's too little water, I was suspecting possibly too much water, now that it's inside it probably won't need as much water as it did when it was outside. If the plant's stressed which it sounds like it is, I wouldn't feed it just yet, I'd figure out whether there's a watering problem or not and fix that first. Then give it a few more weeks to settle in to its new location before you feed it.

Here is a link to the Plumeria People of Houston. The have lots of info on the care
of plumerias.

http://www.southeasttexasgardening.info/plumeria.htm

I was afraid of overwatering mine, and even with all of the rain that we have had they are doing great! Growing like weeds. Check out the sight.

thanks -- i went to the plumeria website --i think the problem is that i moved it indoors and it doesn't get the hot bright sun but rather filtered sun---i think it is going dormant--but i would prefer not to move it in and out because of the size--i might just have to do so however--i haven't seen anything about people growing them inside only bringing them in for the winter

I don't know if it would get enough sun in the atrium. They're originally from Africa, so they can take alot of direct sun, and need it. There's a plumeria forum here, I believe or you could post the question in one of the other tropical gardening forums, where others have more experience! Good Luck!

i just put it outdoors--in full sun--which as you know is pretty strong here in texas--but i think it will like it better-- i will let you know how it does--

I think it will like it better. It still may drop some leaves, as mine do occasionally. With all of the rain that we have been getting they have kept most of their leaves, so they can actually take more water than most people think. Good Luck!

Plants that can take indirect sun would probably like it there better. Do you have any corn plants? They prefer less sun. I have one that I need to move.

That's why I like things in containers!!! Then if it's not happy...move it! My plumerias are getting pretty big also. Fortunately during the winter we just scoot them in under the patio, so it's only a few feet. Plant movers....or dollies are great for that.

I think your Plumeria will like it much better outside. Air movement seems to be a strong factor in their health, though I rarely see it mentioned. And lost leaves are probably a factor of stress as ecrane3 mentioned. Unless you are expecting a really cold night, it should do just fine outside....Unless it is a dwarf. If it is a tree, it needs to get acclimated to your environment, and it won't be able to do that indoors.

thanks--i needed to hear that since i feel bad putting it out in that terrible heat! i thought it would like it better in my warm atrium--it sure looks pretty outside (even with its almost bare branches!!)

We have plenty of warm weather left. It may sprout a few leaves before it cools off!
There's been years mine did that. Make sure it gets enough water.

you do take yours in for the winter right?

77 *snap, snap*, do you take your's in? How cold does it get in Plano, Linda? They should be okay with a few nights at 50 or so....any colder, you might want to think about it....but if it is gradual, rather than suddenly cold, the trees should adapt.

In zone 9a you're going to have to bring it in for the winter unless you have some way to wrap a bunch of stuff around it while it's outside. Even if it might survive a mild winter outdoors (which is not a sure thing) it'll flower for you much earlier the following year if it's protected. I've overwintered plumerias for 2 years now, the first winter I had it on a covered patio that I wrapped with greenhouse plastic so temps never got below ~35 (but were pretty regularly in the high 30's to low 40's overnight) and the plant survived, but it took forever for it to sprout new leaves in the spring and it didn't flower until probably about September or October of the following year. Then this past winter I bought a greenhouse that I kept heated to about 45-50 on average overnight, except for one cold snap where it got down into the high 30's in the GH overnight for about a week, and the plumie never dropped its leaves and it was blooming by March and has been ever since.

i will take mine in then--we do get below freezing durring the winters---i wouldn't want it to die--it is such a pretty tree---

I have a covered patio that we pull them into. The canvas zips up. They did drop their leaves, but as soon as spring was here they got them back again.

Does anyone else take their plumarias out of the ground completely through the winter. I take mine out of the pot, shake all the dirt from the roots, and let it dry out. Of course, all the leaves fall off, but I hang it up in the garage where it won't freeze, and then I put it back in the ground in the spring. It pops right back out. One year, due to illness, I left the plumaria drying in the garage from about November of one year until August of the next year. I assumed it was dead, but I decided to put it back into the ground and see what happened. It started growing right away after it was planted and watered and it did great. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but it was easier for me to dig it up and store it, than it was to try to keep it covered when it freezes here in Central Texas.

This picture is one that I have on my patio now. It gets removed from the dirt every winter.

I think that it what some of the other's do. We just put ours under the canopy and pull the canvas around it, but we don't get very many freeezes.