OMG Dave, that is really too bad. I hope that 'Divine' and noid both pull thru! I actually just checked all of mine today and so far so good. I appreciate the post though as I am sure it will remind others to check theres and hopefully prevent any big losses!
Andrew

That must've been crushing! Thank you for the reminder--better to catch it early than wait until spring.

Someone a while back made a very sensible argument about giving them water even when dormant through winter because they still need to be able to keep their sap running. The roots are still active, after all, and that being too dry while cold could be the cause of tip rot. I did find my Divine was much thirstier in the fall than many of my others were. Dropped most but not all its leaves. It was passed on to my mom, who tends to water generously, and it looked good growing indoors under lights last time I saw it.

Mine are all getting some water even if leafless and so far, knock wood, their tips all look good, and some are even coming out of dormancy. Of course, my winter is much less severe and shorter than yours.

Jen

Hi Jen,
I agree with what your saying. Years ago, I lost a Nebel's Rainbow because it was dessicated. I tried to bring it back but it just died on me.

I live in zone 6 but I have kept my plumeria warm growing under a 600 watt HPS light. Even with this, my plumeria went dormant except for the Dwarf Singapore Pink, granted it was only for a few weeks.

The 'Divine' plumeria must just be a plumeria that needs more water. Mine is the same way as Jen's. I just got mine this past fall. I know that the pot size is small and I will move it up this spring but I know Laura and others who have this plumeria say that they really do need more water.
Andrew

Hello everyone....

Hi Dave...Jen...Andrew!!!

Yes my Divine definately uses more water during the normal growing season...virses the other Plumeris...However, while they are dormant...I treat the DIvine as all the others...I water the same. I just gave all of my trees a little water last week for the first time since I brought them in (late Nov). I do not give the Divine any more water than the others during dormancy....

Once the warm sunshine blesses us...I will say that the Divine likes to be watered more so than all the others...

Hope everyone is doing well...

Think Spring!!!

Laura in VB

Thanks everyone for the good watering tips. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my Divine pulls out of this. The entire pot is full of roots so maybe I'll get some quick growth with the established rootball.

Next winter I'm definitely going to water more than I have this winter, but hopefully I won't create other problems. One thing I'll try is keeping the leaves on longer and watering less come fall. Thinking back, I might have sent the Divine into shock by cutting all the leaves off and stopping water completely. I'm just so mite-phobic that I usually don't bring in any plumerias with leaves because they always get spider mites.

I might have to break my own rule for the Divine though if it lives. Right now it's been given some water and is sitting a sunny warm south facing room. I'll post any progress it makes.

That is tragic. I have to know though, what was the temperature and the light level that this plant was experiencing? Is it a fairly newly-rooted cutting? You have given it no water at all? Since what date?

If it was a newly-rooted cutting, sometimes they need more water and light the first winter to pull them thru...until they get beefier.

I usually cut off most leaves in November prior to 'storage', but leave a few (2 or three) on the ends of each tip as the plants go into winter. I want to make sure the sap keeps running to the tips to support the leaves. I also spray the tips, branches, leaves, and top of soil with bug spray (I actually used Home Defense this Fall) to keep spider mites down. So far so good. I've seen no bad spider mites yet. Then, since i have a few leaves, I keep watering sparingly around the perimeter of the pot (not at the base of the plant) -- just enough to keep the soil ball from shrinking up. (I usually poke my finger down into the soil and if it's dry two inches down, then I water a bit). And I've been able to keep my plants above 54 degrees this winter. Also, all the plants get some light. The ones in the garage get a small compact flourescent bulb on for about 9 hours or so. I'm still tweaking my setup.

So far so good.

The light level went down pretty much as I moved it inside the garage. The garage faces south and has three windows on the door and two on the wall. Garage temps were no lower than 45 degrees. Once I moved it in the garage I did not water it. It was pretty dry when I moved it in which was November 11. About a week later I cut off all the leaves and then I brought it inside the basement about a week later where it sat in a room with 1 window and temps in the upper 60's. I gave it no water while inside the basement.

Here is a photo from November 11 when it was happily growing. {{gwi:1150549}}From Garden 2010

Then maybe this variety just can't take the 45 degrees? Perhaps it can't take it bone-dry either. Or possibly the 45 degrees shocked it somehow. Hard to know exactly. I usually give my smaller plants some water in the winter, but there's a very fine line between 'some' and 'too much'. I'm not sure I've found the happy medium yet! Kinda reminds me of adenium - I've killed every one I've ever had for some reason!