high 60's/low 70's at night and mid 80's to low 90's during the day. I can't walk outside on the deck barefoot during the middle of the day or I burn my feetsies!
I obviously have no idea what I'm doing and need help please
I just remembered. Mine got an earlier start than yours. I had mine in my upstairs makeshift greenhouse. Have faith :) it will blossom :) I'm sure of it.
I don't think by much tho. I started my the beginning of March and I think you said you started yours at the end of Feb? I probably just got the turtle variety and you have the rabbit one. sigh.
Your funny
happy to amuse. it's just how I feel. LOL
Hey DevilDogs: Just a thought here. Since you had treated the top with rooting hormone, and your photo still shows residue of that, the hormone may have slowed shoot development. Plants maintain their own balance of hormones (auxins and cytokinins) to regulate shoot and root growth. You may be affecting that balance with the presence of the rooting hormone near the shoot. I would suggest you thoroughly risne off the rooting hormone from the shoot and see if that helps your shoot growth.
ok, good idea. How would I go about doing that? It's been out in rain but obviously that's not rinsing it off so would have to use soap or something. dish soap and rag?
You could use a very mild solution of liquid dish soap. Just a couple of drops per quart of tap water should do it. Use an old tooth brush or soft cloth. The new leaves are quite brittle, so be careful not to hit them and don't scrub too hard on the stem. What are you feeding the plant with? The rain you mentioned may have leached away nutrients. A little fertilization might be helpful also. Although I used to be an organic farmer, I use a teaspoon of a soluble Peters complete fertilizer per gallon for my plumaria about once a month. Others that are more skilled with plumaria nutrient requirements may have other suggestions of what works for them. If you don't have any other compounding factors like root or base rot of the cutting, then you should see some results within about 2 weeks.
Well I hate to rub it in, but... I have a bloom, Who-hoo!
Hey Skunk I agree it will need fertilizer, but not until the leaves have fully formed, and peferably a few fully formed leaves. If you fetilize too soon you may burn any new roots as they are very tender and susceptable to burn. When you do fertilize I would suggest a very dilute solution in the beginning an gradually bring up the concentration, that would be for liquid applications. If you are going to do granules or powder I would use a slow release fertilzer with a lower NPK, say between 5-18 for all numbers, with a full range of micro nutrients. The slow release is nice becasuse you only have to fert every so often and it is hard to burn plants using it.
Davie
Hi Davie: I agree with using dilute fertilizer or a slow release if it also has trace nutrients. I take a little different approach with my plumeria regarding when to fertilize. I start fertilizing as soon as I see new shoots. Plants need nutrients for root and shoot development and waiting until the leaves are fully developed may limit the growth rate unless you have adequate nutrients available in the potting mix. That may the the key difference between our approach. Once my plants go into dormancy (and before I have to bring them inside) I thoroughly leach the pots to remove excess soluble nutrients and salts. Any remaining nutrients will be in an organic form; dead roots, microbes etc. It sounds like you have built up the nutrient reserves so you don't have nutrient limiting conditions. Of course my comments relate primarily to potted plants. Well, sorry to have digressed from DevilDogs initial search for information. DevilDogs, best of luck with your plant. The plumeria101.com site is good and should help you keep your plant thriving.
I'm still catching up on old threads. You got some good advice here already, but I'll just add my two cents.
If your cutting came from a flowering tree, there's a good chance that it will bloom during rooting or shortly thereafter; however, that is not the norm. Most cuttings direct their energy toward root growth first in the first year, and they flower in the second or third year. It is not uncommon to not see flowers in the first year of growth.
Davie and Dete gave you great advice to remove the rocks. I don't know why Plumeria101 still has that on their site, but it is bad advice.
My advice is to just be patient, give your plumie full sun, and water when the soil looks dry. Once it has a full set of leaves, you'll be able to transplant to a five-gallon container.
Forgot to mention: whites and yellows tend to root faster in my experience. It looks from the color of the new leaves that you could have a pink, rainbow, or red so your cutting may be taking longer to root. A cutting generally takes 90 days to root once it starts actively growing. When you have a full set of leaves, then you know you have a nice rootball.
This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 4:35 PM
I keep meaning to take a picture of mine and post it. Every time I walk past it I think, I gotta get a picture! I've had a growth spurt. LOL. One leaf has shot straight up. It's not a full leaf yet, but I swear, the stick (I'll call it a plant when it really has leaves) looks like it's flipping everyone off. It must be mad cause I planted it upside down so now it's showing it's feelings. I giggle just looking at it.
Clare, thanks for the info!
That's funny! You're welcome:-)
here's my rude stick
A few years back when I made my first visit to my daughter's home in Brisbane I was blown away by the huge plummies growing in her yard. They were over 12 feet tall and and nearly as wide. As we walked through her yard I noticed what I thought was a small plummie coming up in the far back corner....on closer inspection, it was a pile of branches they had cut from their existing trees a month or so before...still blooming while they waited for the fire pile. Needless to say, it broke my heart to think that those beautiful red, pink and white cuttings were destined to be burned.
Hey DevilDogs, Has your Plumie survived? Here's mine. I'm amazed at how fast they grow.
