hi all , ok , i have 4 plumerias they are in their pots.. and i was wondering if plunging them is recommended for my area... i live 18 miles outside of palm springs.. so it gets really hot here.. it gets upward to 120 degrees with sometimes a dry heat and other times humidity up to 54% at that temp... the average summer temp is 105 to 115 , so i was wondering when it gets that hot should i be able to move them under my patio out of the burning sun? or would it still be safe to plung them? im new to plumeria so i dont know that much about them , im reading up on them but thought i could save some time and ask here while its on my mind! thanx!
chrissy
Plunging Plumeria in souhtern cal?
Hi Chrissy, I know lots of growers in the Riverside area that have them in full sun. If you could plunge them somewhere where they get some afternoon shade, it wouldn't be a bad idea, but there are many growers in similar climates that get that kind of dry heat. What it translates to usually is more watering for you and them.
Full sun means approximately 6 hours of sun, and during the summer, there could be 12 or more hours of direct sun so your plumies don't have to have the 12 hours in order to bloom and do well. Some of mine only get morning sun, and some others only get afternoon sun.
Davie owns a plumeria business in Arizona and has a nice collection of his own, and Dete is another collector in Arizona so maybe one or both of them will chime in and give you some advice about watering or what to do during those 120 degree heat blasts.
This message was edited May 15, 2008 4:48 PM
Hi Chrissy, I live in Yuma AZ, we have very similar summer temps to Banning, 120 is a yearly occurance. I plunged 16 plumerias last spring and all did excellent. They get full sun, even during the summer, until around 3:30-4pm. In my opinion...As long as you water enough they should be fine. I would do it as soon as possible that way they ease into summer, and develop a good root system before it gets really hot. No matter what you do, some varieties will still get burnt leaves, while others are untouched. You will just have to experiment with different cultivars in your area.
Davie
Posted at same time as Clare Edited to add the following:
For refernce: Mine are plunged in 3-5 gallons pots. I water mine everyday from June till November for 20-25 minutes. They are all on drip irrigation, I use the yellow 4gph drip emitter.
This message was edited May 15, 2008 4:51 PM
This message was edited May 15, 2008 4:53 PM
Nevermind on the planting advice! You would need to plunge and pull up for the winter. I just checked your zip code in Banning, and you are in Zone 8 or Zone 9: http://www.arborday.org/treeinfo/ZoneInfo.cfm?ZipCode=92220&submit=Look+it+up%21 not Zone 10.
oh i have the wrong zone.. i better change that , duh.. thanx clare, and dbrooks.. glad to know i wont be roasting my plumies in our heat.. i have two in 5 gallon pots... and the other two i bought at lowes right after i got back from maui they are in 4 inch pots , they are cuttings which i had no idea that they sold them that way or u could do that with plumerias at the time.. infact the one that has always fallen out of the pot did so again today and no roots on it , its been about a month or a little less i hope i havent shocked it to death although the leafs on there are turning yellowish , but it has new growth, i think i was overwatering them ,...again didnt get enough info on them at the time.. but have cut the water way back , the other one is more solid and seems to have more growth..anyway , i dont know if the big ones i bought at armstrongs are cuttings ,.. how would i know? they are much bigger then the tiny ones i purchased at lowes.. maybe i should post pics....
ok i went to change my zone but i have it set to dave's garden on.. the link he has says i am in zone 10a for the temps , but the one u sent says im in 8-9 .. i figured i would just leave it set to daves... my temp doesnt go below 30 degrees on very rare occasion it has gone down to 28 or so.. but im confused now on why the zones are different to begin with..hmmm
Chrissy, I would change your zone, if you can, because otherwise you might not get the right advice when you ask and because you are definitely not in Zone 10. I almost gave you wrong advice when I thought you were in Zone 10. You should be able to change it by accessing your preferences. Dave's might just have Zone 10 as a default. Hardiness zones has to do with how cold it gets in your area. Here's a good map to view: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-sw1.html Your plumerias would not survive outside in your zone and need to be protected during the winter.
The plumerias that you got at Armstrongs are probably already rooted if you see leaves on them. The ones from Lowe's in the 4-inch containers were probably still in the process of rooting. I would pot them up into one-gallon containers and put them on a warm surface to finish rooting.
Ok thanx clare , yes i will change it , should i go 8 or 9 and a or b??? i dont know which one best suits my area... also du u think i should repot them now before they root , the small ones.. the one that seems firm have alot more leaves then the one that keeps falling out of the pot... it has no roots but two sad yellowing leaves and i think 2 or 3 new leaves in the center... gonna go change my zone to 9 i guess till i hear different... thanx again.. this is why i have a ALWAYS loved DG'ers such nice wonderful helpful people.. (:
chrissy
Chrissy, based on what you said about a rare 28, I guess I would think you are in Zone 9b, but I could be wrong about that. There are a few other hardiness maps that you can check if you can pinpoint your exact location on the maps. I think Better Homes and Gardens has the clearest map. I'll see if I can find that one for you.
I would just repot the one that keeps falling out of the pot. Plant the bottom two inches in well-draining potting soil, and it should do fine for you and continue to root. It sounds like the other one is rooted or in the process of rooting if you already see leaves. I wouldn't disturb that one because you might break the new roots which are particularly fragile right now.
You are right that Dave's is a great place full of wonderful people;-)
I found this link on BHG http://images.meredith.com/bhg/pdf/gardening/hardiness/hzm_California.pdf
It's still difficult on these maps when you're close to a blending of zones.
That's a nice one, Kathleen. I don't think I've seen that one before. Thanks for posting it. That's true what you said, and one can even raise their zone by a half at least by creating different microclimates as well.
Yes, the other site had me in zone 8-10! I don't know of anywhere in our tiny zip code that gets that cold in winter, unless it's a gully behind someone's garage. :-)
Edited to add: I checked another USDA zone finder on the National Gardening Association web site http://www.garden.org/zipzone/index.php
It says 9a! Have they changed things recently? Every time I checked before I was in 10b.
I'm beginning to wonder if the "Sunset" zones aren't more accurate, as some people have said.
This message was edited May 16, 2008 1:12 PM
Kathleen, that National Gardening Association one is wrong. This is the one that I usually use: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html
ok ladies and gents, i went ahead and changed my zone once again to the 9b... i think it best suits it.. thanx for the advise clare, i will deffinetly repot the non rooted one.. prob tonight or tomarrow.. im very excited to have my 4 plumerias , i did buy seeds off of ebay... to try them , i dont mind waiting so long for them to bloom, i too am one of those gardeners who love to bring life where there before were none... one of my sisters, jennifer , she buys all her plants/flowers HUGE , she likes the ready made gardens when she plants them..., i like buying them cheaper and more of them to cover more area and WATCH them grow... it makes me feel good!!! lol.. so i used to start many plants by seed , am ready to dive back into that in the next week or two... (:
I'm the same way with enjoying growing from seeds and cuttings so I understand completely;-) A good portion of my garden was started that way. Plumeria seeds can be very fun if you don't mind the wait and have no expectations of what the flowers will look like. They do take a lot of work due to repotting and a lot of space when they get huge. If I had more space, I would definitely have more seedlings. If one sows seeds every year for about three or four years in a row, then one will always have some new seedlings blooming every year after that. I wouldn't want to have seedlings only though because there are so many great named and unnamed varieties out there that will bloom faithfully every year.
oh clare i sooo agree with u... about not wanting seedlings only , to me i HAVE to have some more mature ones so i have my plumeria 'fix' , hey here is another question , since u mentioned how big they get and i saw how big they can get (for example in maui) what do i do when they get too big to move for my winter? or can i control their size by the pot they are in???
CiCi One way is to keep it pruned, both the roots and the canopy. And you know what pruning means...more Plumerias.
Clare will probably have more detail...as I have never had to root prune.
Davie
Hi Cici, once they get too big to move, you can cover them with a frost cloth or root prune and top prune as Davie said. Many people who grow them in colder areas do this latter one. Check out some of the threads in the Sticky Thread at the top of the Plumeria Forum for pictures and descriptions of the process. It takes five years or so to reach a full tree size, depending upon the cultivar, so your plumerias should be managable for a while at least. Many collectors just store them in their garages for the winter. Also, check out Emerson's site under "Other Plumeria Pics": http://www.emersonsplumerias.com/dyncat.cfm?catid=3171 He lives in Texas and shows pictures of his garage during the winter. It's pretty amazing.