After a hiatus of many years I decided to grow some plumie seeds again. I got 100 Thai hybrid seed and ALL have come up as of today. The pic was taken 6 days after planting. The rest came up at about 10 days.
Kyle :-)
Seed time again...
Hi Kyle! Good for you! I sowed about a hundred Thai seeds myself last year! Now I don't know where on earth I'm going to put them all.
Here's a picture of them shortly after sowing last October.
Clare.....IT'S A SICKNESS!!!!! >:-P
LOL Kyle
LOL! Yes, it is:-)
I wasn't expecting much when I sowed mine. I had left the bag of seeds sitting around for over a year. But it looks like just about every one is sprouting. I have a large flat with twenty sections and some have two seeds. Here is one.
Plumie seeds keep quite a while if in a dry cool spot. Great job Gardenpom
Kyle :-)
I would take some of your excess.
I planted all the seeds. If I should ever get more from this person, I'll send you some.
Some things are worth waiting for, my first seedling bloomed in 18 months, the rest...well it's been over two years now and out of 500 this is the only one that has produced flowers. I call it Ryan Michelle.
Great to know I may get blooms in 2-3 years. Nice experience anyway. I will probably end up giving most of them away when big enough, since I really don't have much room. I just planted three more cuttings in the only available spot I had left.
That's a great seedling, Davie. I had one or two bloom at 2 years also, but most waited until Year 3 or Year 4 to bloom. I still have ten or so waiting until Year 5 or longer to bloom. I might try an experiment of taking cuttings from the ones that haven't bloomed yet to see if they will bloom as rooted cuttings. These seedlings have branched because they produced a "nub" or a fake inflo in a prior year. I have some that just turned out to be duds, and those made great rootstock for multigrafted trees. Speaking of multigrafted trees, I have one with inflo's that will have five different varieties blooming at the same time on the same tree.
Make sure you share pictures of the Rainbow tree. I just tried my first graph, a Puu Kahea to an unknown rainbow, it took...but I wouldn't show it too anyone...LOL.
LOL! I have some ugly grafts too, but congratulations on it taking. I definitely will show off my multi-grafted tree in bloom when it does bloom.
Kyle, your 'Kyle's Pink,' as I call it, has 2 or 3 inflo's on its four branches. I can't wait until it blooms. I hope your 'Celadine' is doing well:-)
My seedlings.
Closer shot. Every single seed germinated.
Awesome Gardenpom, After you water the next time, when the seed husks are moist, gently pull the outer husk off the cotyledons. This will help to keep the plants from stressing as much.
Davie
Nice seedlings. I cant wait for my chance to get my hands on some plumeria seeds!
But I have a question... When can I expect my plumerias to produce seeds?
Thanks Davie, I'll do that. I am always tempted to "help" some seeds along, and sometimes damage them in the process.
Gardenpom, using tweezers sometimes helps.
FFP, some cultivars produce seedpods more easily than others. In most cultivars, the sex organs are very hard to reach for most insects. Thrips are usually the pollinators, but anything with a long proboscis can do it. Any flower can be pollinated so it is not a matter of maturity. Usually, it is just a matter of whether the pollinators are present in one's yard. Individual flowers can be hand-pollinated, of course, but that is a somewhat tedious process.
It's year 3 for my seedlings. I have a feeling that I may even see a flower or two this year.
New pic of my seedlings from this morning.
Close-up of one.
Clare, all my Kyle's pinks are blooming their heads off this year.The large seed grown white one I posted a year or so ago, has an inflor. that has probably 60 buds+A pyramidal cluster at the top of the cutting.
More recent pic of my seeds.
Kyle
Teresa, I hope you do get to see flowers this year! I bet you will.
Kyle, that is a great pink with a great fragrance. I hope your Celadine blooms for you this year as well. I don't remember your seed-grown white one. You'll have to post a picture of it when it starts blooming. I love the ones with the big inflo's. Your seedlings look great, but for some reason, I feel back pain when I look at them. LOL! Those are going to need a lot of room! I hope you get something good from them in a few years;-)
awesome seedling davie! i hope that all of my seedlings bloom this year... the only way i'll plant seedlings now is if i can leave them outside in the ground all year. well, we know that isn't possible in tucson - no more seedlings for me. LOL
Here in Pakistan white large bloom and white with yellow centers are very common but I never see any seed with them. We always plant cuttings, three years back I received few seeds from USA in a trade and have 8 plants, waiting for the blooms. Any body know when will seedlings bloom? Is there also male and female plant in Plumeria also?
Kaleem
Hi Kaleem, seedlings take between 3-5 years of age to bloom on average in ideal conditions. Most of mine have bloomed at 3- and 4-years-old, but I am still waiting for some 5-year-olds to bloom. It could take even longer for some. There is both male and female sex organs in the flowers. You could see blooms this year since yours are 3-years-old.
Thank you Clare, Here you can see the seedlings.
Kaleem
Hi Kaleem, those seedlings a little bit small for three-year-olds, and it is possible that they may be stunted in their containers. I would repot them to bigger containers if you can or put them in the ground in a protected spot. You can plunge them also. Try to fertilize well and often if possible. Here is a picture of some of my seedlings that were plunged. These were two-year-olds at the time. I'd say you have another year at least of growth on yours before they bloom.
Edited to add: Also, if more than one seedling is sharing a pot, I would separate them and give them each their own pot. Seedlings need a lot of room in the roots to grow into before they can become flowering trees.
This message was edited May 14, 2008 10:37 AM
Those Plumeria are very nice...
Clare Your seedlings are looking great and mine are looking weak, Thank you so much for the tips and I hope these will help me in growing mine.
First of all I will chnage the potting soil and then plung them.
I will post another photo and you will not accept these are also three years old because they are in small pots and looking like one and half year old.
Once again thanks.
Kaleem
LOL, Kaleem. Thank you for the compliment. Plumerias are very forgiving so I'm sure they will still perform well for you in time. The more room you give them to grow, the bigger and healthier they will look, and then they can bloom for you;-)
Just curious... what does plunging Plumeria mean?
Plunging is putting potted plants into the ground. Basically you bury the pot the plant is in so that the top of the pot is close to ground level.
Davie
Here's a good link: http://plumeria101.com/plunging.html The roots grow out the drainage holes, and therefore, the trees grow bigger and stronger than they would otherwise, and then they can be pulled up more easily for the winter if necessary.
Okay. Thank you brooks and Clare... very understandable. I guess I wouldnt know what it means because I never have to worry about the winter temperatures, not to brag! LoL
Tyler
I wouldn't say NEVER. I remember some bad freezes here!
Well. I have only been gardening for about 2 years now and have only 16 years in my memory bank... LoL. So for now, I'm fine!
Tyler
Tyler, if you are indeed in Zone 9b, then your plumerias will not survive in the ground for the winter at Zone 9 temps. They are tropical trees and only hardy to Zone 10.
The woman who gave me the cuttings lives nearby and she has large Plumerias that have survived the last few freezes we had. I see Plumerias all around the area that are rather large, many blooming now.