Plumeria newbie

11 years ago

Hello all!

Every year I choose a new plant to obsess and learn about. I've done everything from coleus to hybrid tea roses. I don't have a lot of time because I work full time, have two year old twins, and a horse which is also my hobby.
I've never taken much interest in plumerias and didn't really understand the price or attraction of them...
Our next door neighbor has a very large plumeria (white with yellow) and it often hangs over our fence. Two years ago I pruned it back and my mom and grandmother freaked out that I was going to throw away the "cuttings" and they rooted ten of them. What are you going to do with ten white trees I wondered?
Last year, my grandmother moved out of her house and had to downsize to an apartment. She loves plants (maybe I got my green thumb from her) and was devastated that she had to leave behind a large pink plumeria in the ground. She had always tried to root cuttings from it but never got it to work, even with rooting hormone or whatever.
So that brings me to this year. I discovered a half-rotted bucket of cuttings from my grandmother's pink plumeria in a bucket taken right before the house closed escrow. Someone had poached the rest of the tree to a stump.
My mom was commenting that she should plant the cuttings but that they probably wouldn't root anyway. Three of the cuttings looked like they might have a tiny spark of life, and I thought "Challenge accepted!" And I claimed them for this year's learning plant.
In the two weeks since I've potted them, I've bought JL Pink Pansy and Waimea seeds (to try my hand at seedlings) and a couple rooted plants from "Fuzzy" in Honolulu. I want to use the white cuttings we've got rooted as my test subjects for learning to graft since I've never done it.
I'm sure I will have lots of questions for you... Two weeks ago I didn't know what the heck an "inflo" was or where to get perlite from...
I'm kind of interested in finding someone nearby to get fresh cuttings for grafts since they've got to be very fresh I think?? I've scoped out some trees in the neighborhood but I'm afraid of being creepy knocking on a strangers door to ask for a piece of their tree...
Thanks for your time!

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Comments (10)

Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
11 years ago
Goodness you have your hands full!

But welcome to your latest obsession! If they are growing these in the ground in your neighborhood, you should have no trouble and hopefully these plants won't take up too much of your time.

There are lots of growers in your region and likely clubs and sales you can attend.

Welcome. There's a lot of information in this site!
tdogdad
11 years ago
It helps to know which city you are in. So. Cal is bigger than many states. There are forum people spread around and each area has distinct advantages and problems. I see Disney which might make you in OC and you may want to check on the South Coast Plumeria Society meetings which are now in Anaheim (1000 s. state College just north of Ball Rd.)(next mtg. 1st sunday in June)and have many cutting and plants for sale. Also Chris Roy at Orange County Farm Supply on chapman just west of Main is the supply guru. If you are farther south or north, there are others.

Here is a link that might be useful: So. Coast P.S.
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I'd be surprised if you can get them to do well as a houseplant in Washington state, or as in indoor in winter and outdoors in summer container plant. They really want and need 80F plus temperatures to grow well, along with bright sun, and if you can't give them sufficient heat and light in the warm months, they just tend to struggle along. Your best bet may be growing them in a south facing enclosed sunporch, if it has great light and warms up into the low 80'sF during the day. Speaking from experience, they are marginal even here in the San Francisco Bay Area in areas closest to the ocean/bay, yet can do surprisingly well in more inland valleys or places like Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, etc if summered outdoors as a container plant, and forced into dormancy in a protected spot indoors in winter. They barely bloom at all by the very end of summer here in Berkeley/Oakland outdoors, but I have seen thriving plants in a San Francisco enclosed west facing glassed in sunporch, which did bloom regularly. They are very prone to getting scale and/or mealybugs if they are suffering from lack of proper heat, so be aware that you may have to constantly battle these. I wouldn't think they would do all that well west of the Cascades, maybe better in the inland, hotter summer areas. They will definitely tend to rot out even here in the SF Bay Area if left outside and rained upon in winter. If you can give them the sustained heat in the warmer months that they prefer,(and this includes at night), they are perfectly fine even with dull sunless winters, when they can be allowed to go dormant and leafless, and just barely watered once a month.
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Hi puglvr. Here's a pic of mine last year - flowers are at about 5' Underneath the clay pot there are bricks holding it off the ground so that water can freely flow out of the pots drain hole. That, combined with the gritty mix has been fine for not being too wet. Cold protection - well probably need some, but they are tougher than I initially thought. Since it weighs probably 80lb, no way I can move it for freezes! The spot is fully under the canopy of an oak, which I've found gives about 10 degrees of frost protection, and being right up against the house helps too. This past winter I didn't protect at all, and it did great. The previous year it was small enough I could use a towel as a frost cloth. Of course these past two winters have been mild, so I expect it would take damage in bad winters, even in this sheltered spot. This spot gets dapples shade until the sun sinks low enough to get under the oaks canopy. It is a west exposure, so full sun from maybe 4pm on. Based on the way it is growing toward the light, I'd say it would like more sun than that. But I don't have a better spot for it. The spot you have sounds like it will work well. I rooted this one without knowing much about plumerias, so just did what I always do with cuttings - stick them in some soil, put in a shady spot that gets sprinkler water and mostly ignore it. I don't really recall how long it took to root. But I got it in December, so I didn't really expect it to do anything until it got warm. So someone else will have to advise on how long it should take and watering frequency. But just from looking - yours look great. No sign of stress in the leaves. Now that I'm learning more, I can see that my noid is a large grower. This year it looks pretty gangly, not sure what to do with it. But now that I know that miniatures exist, I think the answer for me might be to trade it for a smaller growing variety. More blooms on a small plant would be wonderful - my favorite thing about them is the fragrance!
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Hi TP First off welcome to the forum! There are so many good people here, I know you will enjoy it and learn many things. Let me suggest the search feature of this forum. You can type in what you want to learn and all posts with answers will come up for you to read. I learned so much this way, but do not ever feel like you cant ask a question here, people may be busy but someone will always answer. Ok I am not an expert, just the opposite, I am a newbie also, but I have learned so much here I am assuming when you say cuttings, they are without roots? Let me explain a little of what others have taught me here. With a new cutting ( no visible roots ) you need to remove all leaves and inflos (flower stems with flowers) Your cutting is without roots and the leaves and inflos will take so much energy from the cutting rooting it will be slow if at all. Also if the cutting was sent with the leaves and inflo intact I am assuming it is a new cutting. The bottom needs to callous over before you plant it. I leave mine out for at least 10 days to dry and callous over, that is where your roots will come from. Now after it has calloused over, I soak in a solution of superthrive which you can find at home depot and water while I am getting my pot and soil ready. I know some people soak for a few hours as well. To pot your cutting I suggest using a clear container. I use empty water bottles, that way you can see roots without moving it around to look. roots are delicate when they first start so do not mess with it. Bottom heat is very good for the rooting process. I use a seed heating mat. You can find those on ebay or some hydroponic stores carry them. I have the same greenhouse as you. I dont know about your humidity but I do think 90 degrees will most likely sunburn your cuttings. I learned this the hardway and lost a lani that way. To root my cuttings I pot them in waterbottles (holes in the bottom) water them in once till water runs out the wholes and leave it alone. Also I use a rooting hormone to help speed it up. Once you have soaked it, put some rooting hormone on a paper towel and roll the cutting around on the paper towel and make sure you get the bottom of the cutting covered as well. pot it maybe 3 inches or so in the soil or whatever potting medium your useing. put it on a heat mat and leave it be. No water, the cutting has water stored inside and doesnt need it to root. If you keep watering it, you are more apt to rot it. When you see about 6 or so leaves about 5 to 6 inches long you know it has started the rooting process. I spray the tips of mine when I have a couple of leaves, just do not let water run down the stem. Good luck and I hope I have helped a little. We learn from each other and I am hoping someone else with more experience will come and answer more. Just have patience, thats the key to rooting. Jackie
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In my opinion, outdoor heat, humidity and air circulation are best this time of year for rooting plumeria where you are. If you can let it get sun all morning then shelter in the afternoon that would be optimal. In that kind of heat the occasional bit of rain shouldn't hurt it, either, as long as it's not sitting in soggy soil. Most of my cuttings get several hours of blistering sun--morning to early afternoon--and a few have sunburned stems, but that won't stop a cutting from rooting if it's meant to root. Just my opinion. You can protect the stems with cardboard tubes from paper towel or t.p. rolls, too, if you're worried about stem burn. Good luck.
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beachplant
11 years ago
Run away now! Too late, you are already becoming addicted.
I don't understand paying hundreds for a tree or a cutting really. But there are tons of varieties that don't require a second mortgage and most plummie growers are happy to share.
It sounds like you are off to a great start already.
Tally HO!
disneyhorse
Original Author
11 years ago
I live in Yorba Linda, and work at Disneyland. So yes, I've seen the plumeria society meets right down the street from where I work but sadly I work on weekends during their meetings. My husband might think me crazy if I take a vacation day to check out a plant club...
I haven't heard of Chris Roy... What exactly does he "supply"?
disneyhorse
Original Author
11 years ago
Can someone post a photo of what a "sunburned" plant looks like?
tdogdad
11 years ago
Chris at OCFS is the place for any garden supplies. Soil mixes, fertilizers, superthrive, seaweed extract, etc. Chris was the speaker at the first society meeting. He is a collector too. Mention you heard from his surfer friend Bill (me) and he will take care of you. Click on my page and e-mail me and I can directly help you as I know most of the local growers. I am in Costa Mesa near So. Coast Plaza. Bill
PRO
the_first_kms2
11 years ago
Some on this forum might think you are crazy to not take a vacation day to attend. :)

Here is the most cursory went out to the backyard and just took cell phone picture of sunburn on a cutting. The sunburn is actually from last year.
rox146
11 years ago
I learned on this forum...wrap foil around the burn....roxanne
disneyhorse
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks! Yeah, I may have to attend a meeting. How long do they normally run? Is there a newsletter?
Thank you for the photo of sunburn. Can they burn in a day, or does it happen over time? Does it severely damage them? Plumerias don't seem to have much in the way of "bark" I suppose...
PRO
the_first_kms2
11 years ago
I would say that is a fairly light sunburn. I don't know that it happens quickly as much as the effects become noticeable all at once. In other words it gets noticed only after the damage is done. Then its a matter of how much damage.

In this cutting's example i simply moved it to an afternoon shade location and turned it so the sunburn side was opposite the sun. it is a broken branch from a JL Candystripe and rooted over winter. Earlier that evening something knocked it out of the container hence the rock to help support it while the roots take hold again.

Plumeria newbie

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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A

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