omg no!! Don't kill the plumies! Where do you live? It can't be THAT bad! Post pictures!

Hey, don't give up! If you decide to get rid of them, I'll trade with you for them.

This is my first year and I actually got an inflo. If it turns black I would be pretty pissed lol, but seriously is it that bad. Maybe you need a bloom booster high in phosphorus. Trust me I feel your pain, most of this summer in my area has been cold and I only got 3 sunny days in the month of june and the only real heat we got was in april when temps were in the 90s for 3 days in a row with no clouds in the sky and high humidity. Now at least it feels warm with the humidity.

No matter what dont kill them. Its better to just sell them on ebay, you make money, and your plumerias get a nice home hopefully somewhere tropical where it will bloom all summer long.

Good luck!

Be patient, sometimes it takes a few years to get them to flower. Try to enjoy the lush green foliage until then.

I had my first plumeria for three years before it flowered. Be patient and read all you can here in the forum. So much great information from beginners to seasoned experts!

Don't give up yet. Those of us in the cooler zones know how frustrating it can be to get them to bloom. Maybe you could invest in a good grow light and keep them going inside for a couple months at either end of your growing season. I use 1000 watt MH HID lighting systems but I have a couple hundred plants (not all plumies!). You could get away with a much smaller system for just a few plants.

I feel your pain. I dome in here and see all the people in Texas and CA with blooms and enjoying their plant. This is year 4 for me and I vowed if I do not see a hint that they are going to bloom I was going to let snow and ice have their way with them.

I am tired of dragging the pots in every year and do not see any results. This year I even put glad bulbs in the pots so I did not have wasted pots with no bloom in them.

I have had wonderful hot sunny weather but I do not think these are plants for northeners.

{{gwi:105793}}

The older a plant gets, the more easily it blooms. You have to show patients to get them mature. In the long run you will have a rare flower for your area and friends will appreciate your success. We, in the easy growing areas, respect those who prevail in the hard zones because we know you have much more effort and less cooperation by nature. Hang in there. We want to share your eventual victory. Bill

My plant that is currently working up some blooms is 3 years old. Really, I never expected much but I have fed it, watered it and overwintered it per it's needs. Finally....!!

And if they turn black and drop off just before they open, I'll shoot that plant with meyermikes's gun. Then I'll wait for the other plant to bloom. :)

Just playin' :)

hey mike and all

mike...i'm just north of montreal and have purchased many plumeria the past year to go with my large tropical collection...brugs,iochroma's,palms,ginger,etc...
i bought them knowing it might take a few years to get flowers...it will just make me appreciate the blooms that much more...when they finally start..
i open my garden for a big tour the town runs every year with procedes going to kids in wheelchairs...5oo people asking "what are these plants" helps me keep going..
i like things others in the area don't have...it's not a question of will they grow,but when will i see and smell these incredible blooms...
and yes it is a pain to haul everything in and out all the time....but it is also special the have the plants to do that...
good luck.
cheers
p.s.
thx to all(special note to bill and karen) for the expert advice...

diggy, you are doing a commendable service. I love tropicals and mike you are right it is really great when my guest asked what is that? LOL I have 30+ tropical plants that I bring in every fall. But.....

This plant has really stumped me. I was so very sure that after 3 years of giving it everything I could think of and had read all the needs that by year 3 I would see some progress toward a bloom, I thought I was determined but I do not think I have a 5-10 year patience line.

hello, Mike, I know how you feel. I have been asking myself "what was I thinking" when I got into growing plumies. I have been lured into thinking I can grow these here in the North by the wonderfully beautiful flowers that everyone posts here. in our area, it has been raining and cold, too. every day, when i inspect them, i tell myself to be patient.
sue

Mike...

Be patient...you will be greatly rewarded!!! A plumie that I acquired back in '04 finally bloomed this year! It is the most beautiful UNKOWN Rainbow and it has been blooming it's head off for four weeks!!! Such a beautiful, glowing, sweet smelling surprise!!! I almost gave up on that one, but stuck with it!! I'm wondering if Hurricane IKE gave it trauma and it decided to show it's stuff the season after!!! :)

I highly admire everyone up north growing plumeria! Plumies are just so pretty...and I have to agree with Bill:

In the long run you will have a rare flower for your area and friends will appreciate your success.

And we will be here to celebrate with you!!!!!

Hang in there!!!!

~Mary Jane

Man. I don't know what to say everyone.

Really, I am so discouraged. I suppose if I live anywhere further south than where I do, I think my plants might have more hope to produce these beautiful flowers.

I can't undertand how Logees can get some as small as a foot high, the miniature ones, to flower of all thing, and me, when I buy them IN bloom, like last year, this following year they produce nothing.
In fact, I went back this spring and actually bought one with an inflo growing to see a reward, a short cut way, to the point of ready flowers ready to open last week, until I went out the other day just to watch them all fall off from blackened bases and shriveled up blooms. They just bent over and fell off. I wanted to cry, and I never cry. They were my only hope to show off any of my plumies...

To make matters worst, on my cuttings, I lost all the inflo's too..

Just want to say thanks for trying to make me feel better. If I do decide to give up, I will offer them to everyone here.

I saw pictures of some on a plumeria thread recently, about a show that went on in California one day that many here went to, and when I saw those plumies in one gallon buckets pictures all spread out on tables, mind you, with one stem in flower, that is when I felt that age had nothing to do with it.
I am begining to think enviromental factors play the biggest role, and my area just doesn't have what it takes to produce such beauties. Sheesh, I am so sad writing this!
:-(

Thanks everyone for caring enough and for your support...

Mike

Mike I think you are right about enviromental factors. I am going to try some other methods. Sometimes what works for someone in one region will not work in other regions.

At this point since I am not having success trying a few experiments cannot hurt.

I will try a couple of out of the norm and see what happens.

I did that with a brug that would not bloom. Everyone said they loved water but it had to drain well. I was traveling so much one summer I was not home to water. I set it in the pond on a rock and forgot to take it out before I ran to catch a plane. A month later after sitting in the pond it had so many bloomes it had fell over laying in the pond and had started to root on the stem that was laying in the water.

Right now my plan is more fert and more water. As I think of other things I will post and report my results.

Hey Mike,

I feel your frustration in that I feel the same way about Lemon Trees!!! I know that you grow trees up in MA...but I'm having trouble with them here in VA. My trees won't bloom at all...and when I bring them in to winter over they always die on me!!!

Plumerias are easier for me...but lemon trees are easier for you...I still haven't given up hope for my Lemons....so don't give up on your Plumerias!!!

I was told to ignore my Lemon Trees...that they like to be neglected...so that is what I am doing...maybe that is what you can do for your Plumies!!! LOL maybe you are caring for them to much!!! I know that feeling because I try to hard myself!!! Don't give up.... I know you will be successful!!!

Laura

Mark, that is amazing!. If you do fiqure something out that would help us both, please let me know..
I am looking at them now, and I do like the new leaves they are growing, but I also know there is so much more potential for them, and seeing them not do so, really bothers me.
As you can tell of all my threads all over these forum, most every if not all my plants I grow, I buy specially for fragrance, that forum being one of my favorites.
I am not satisfied with all these plumies with no fragrance.
like many say here, maybe someday. i am glad some have that confidence in me and my plants, especially Bill who has been so so generous and even sending me some that had inflos on them..

You are a great bunch of fellow plumie growers!

Thanks loveplants2, for your encouragement. Thanks for noticing that I do well with all my citrus..I love these. Funny, you would think they would do better for you where you live. You can put them outdoors earlier and bring them indoors later..weird. Well I will do what it takes to help you be sucessful if you ever need it.

Thanks again, with much appreciation!

Mike..;-)

Hey Mike, I know this is a late post and I dont know if you want to try this but it cant hurt to mention. I live in Northern Pa and my area has been cold and mostly rain so not alot is growing well. With my new plumies I found a nice size fish tank, cleaned it out with bleach and dryed it then bought an aguana heater, its a mat that sticks to the underside of the tank then i put a thermomater inside just to monitor the temps. Also placed a cup with water and placed inside of the tank where it sits ontop of where the heating mat is sitting outside under the tank. I also placed a light that simulates daylight, it is a floor length lamp over the tank. So far it is helping me. It might be worth a try.