Anyone in S. calif? When is a good time to bring out my plumies?They are stored in the shed during winter., with this crazy unpredictable weather, we just never know how its going to be outside.
CA Plumeria
I'm waiting a little longer. We're still seeing 39 degrees early a.m., so they're staying in the greenhouse for now. I remember a bougainvillea permanently damaged by an Easter freeze - and we were in zone 10 there, too.
Most of mine stay out all winter, but I did have ones with inflo's in three portable greenhouses, but I have emptied them all out now. I'm in Zone 10b though, and it shouldn't get any lower than 40 here now this time of year. However, if I were in your zone, I would probably wait as Kathleen said. You could go to the National Weather Service web site or the AccuWeather web site and look at your forecasted nighttime lows. If you are forecasted to stay above 40, I would take them out of the shed.
It has been so nice outside, that I went ahead and brought them out, I repotted some, to straighten them out, just hoping the weather stays nice
would 45*F be ok to put them out???
ahaha DHS ...see u r trying to get a jumpstart huh LOL...did you see mike post he got them today and the pic of them?
yeah i'm soooooo excited, and i cant wait!!!! i already dmailed him about our plans. and if i put one out that was blooming in 45*f weather at night and 70*f in the day, would it lose it's inflo???
Well, I'm anxious to get mine out, but the biggest one is loaded with buds. Wondering if it will shock coming out of the g/h to our breezy weather? Gosh, it's like worrying about kids getting colds or something! lol
i guess thw only way to kno is to take a chance
Nooooo - I don't want to lose those flowers! lol I'll bring the smaller ones out first. :-)
that's how i feel about mine that is blooming
OK I had to post this because it's so funny. I'm still procrastinating about bringing my plumeria out of the g/h. Today I looked at the weather forecast on my browser homepage - you know, the little boxes with cute pictures of a sun or clouds, etc. There was one picture I didn't recognize and when I looked at it closely, guess what it was? "Chance of ice."
:-)
Kathleen
kathleen - isn't that just crazy! i put everything outside and they are talking about chance of snow on monday morning. R U KIDDING ME! i'm glad i only have 35 now...
I double-checked the weather this morning and sure enough, they have severe weather alerts out for the whole county this weekend. We'll be glad to get one more rain shower, but did it have to be such a cold one? I'm glad the ones I bought in the co-op have not arrived yet! Good luck.
same to you.
Kathleen, how do you protect your plants from the cold weather (or not?) All my plants stay outside in the ground too...
January 2007 I lost four plumeria and a bunch of epiphyllums, a three year old banana, a ginger, and several other miscellaneous flowering plants. Oh, and my guava trees in pots were damaged.
This year I used row cover cloth to protect them and put the plumeria and some tender epies in the greenhouse.We also have a cement floor screened room I can use if necessary. Most of the rest are CA natives and either survive or thrive with the low temps.
On the one hand, we don't have cold for too long, and not usually below freezing. Having said that, there's a scramble when it does happen. I'm just going to keep the row cover on hand and grab it when I need it. It is cheap, easy to use, and stores flat.
What a bummer, that's so sad! : (
So what's the temperature that should raise a red flag?
Kathleen, that was a bad winter for everyone -- an unexpected freeze that surprised everyone and broke records. We shouldn't have those kind of temps again for a long, long time.
Rob, most of my plumerias stay outside all winter and do fine. It usually doesn't dip below 40 for most of the night, but it can, for a few hours before sunrise, dip into the 30's. Generally, 33-34 is the lowest that plumies can take. Damage will start to show at 32 usually, but the damage is not always apparent right away.
Thanks!
That's when I start to worry, Clare, in the 30s. I think we are in a microclimate where the cold settles in. That freeze last year was a week in the low 30s and two nights at 28. Not having a huge collection of plants, it's easy enough for me to wrap/move them just in case when we reach the low 30s - then I don't get caught unawares. Once burned, as they say... :-)
Yeah, it was about the same here. We had a week of 32 with one night dipping down to 28 for a couple of hours. Mine were covered for the most part, but I still had cold damage. A couple of other tropical plants were killed also. That was terrible and totally unexpected.
no more cold winters for my plumies!