Do you have any predominant winds that could affect the stability of the plants? If so, you may want to place a structure next to where you want to plant them.

We have plants that are in excess of 5 ft tall planted in the middle of the lawn but with a lattice privacy fence behind them to protect them from the wind; and to have a place to tie branches to/stalks to to give them added protection.

Water, we watered ours every 3 or so days - sometimes just a quick squirt with the hose [including the leaves but early in the day so they dry out]. About every 10 days we'd take the hose and bucket and dump a bucket load in at a time until all air bubbles were gone.

We've had periods when we've had 5 or more inches of rain in just as many hours - hasn't done any damage.
Just ensure you have good drainage.

Sun - ours are in full sun which means temps often 100oF plus.

Hi SoTexas.
sure you can prepare a area in your yard, grassy area, like preparing any area for bushes or flowers. Some do plant the pot into the ground, with rocks and sandy soil below, read the categories, there is a answer for you there...buttt. I have the same problem in one area, pure shade. they will grow, but doubtful flowering..need sun to grow, just moved a plant, too much shade.. Pure sun have that too,, will burn the leaves, but will grow..partial shade need at least 5 hours or more sunshine to grow..

kbauman - mine have been in full sun since we took them out of storage around April [as soon as the temps were over 55oF constantly]. As the temps are still in the high 60's plus at nights, they are still out in the yard in full sun. Same routine every year for the last 4-5 years [depending on when we purchased them].

Burnt leaves? Never have had one! We live in a semi-rural area where there are wide open spaces [hence the need for support because of the winds] and there are no trees nearby to 'shelter them'. They have done extremely well growing in excess now of 6ft.

Sure there's been a couple of leaves that have gotten cut because of brushing up against the fence. Considering the winds we get here, that is minor compared to what would happen if they were not tied/supported/sheltered by the lattice fence.

Can't be too bad as one plant has at this time, 11 seed heads growing on it and the others are also sprouting seed heads.

Basically it is up to each individual.

Hi So Texas,
here in the Valley has been over 104 and 100 most each day, today cooler 90..thats pretty high heat..Actually the plants in the ground are getting greener, until temps go over 100, then burn edges crisp...I have several in the ground, have to hope they will do well. Sounds like you have your own problems too. For the fall weather, think I might put my pots in the grounds have wicked winds here that start up in the night, don't want them to blow over.
Karen B.

Karyn,

Next Summer I'm considering setting up a raised bed with lots of good organic soil and planting them in there (either in their pots -- drilling extra-large holes in the sides of the pots for roots to grow out, or removing the pot entirely). If you plant them out of pots, you may not have to water them much. If you plant the pots, you'll have to water frequently at first, until the roots grow out of the drainage holes and into moist soil.

Hi Dave,
yes, thanks, think I am going to do that, drill holes in the side and put the pots down in the ground, our Sana Anna Winds can just pop up, hate to see them go over and wreck them for the fall..or bring them on the patio, will see what the weather is later in the year. Can't be taking them back and forth to the patio and back to the ground area cause of weather changes, have to make a decision where they can stay..was always concerned the pot in the ground would be too hot on the plant.

On putting them in the ground might there be a problem if the roots do go out of the pot and into the ground? Would hate to break off some of the good roots when removed, don't know if Plumies are like roses and have a tap root.

Because I have such sandy soil, the ones in the ground dry out sooner, course depends on the heat. The ones in the cans for me, takes 2 to 3 days longer to dry for some odd reason.
Good luck on your raised bed with the good soil, sounds like a good idea for your plants.
Karen B

Dave is it absolutely necessary for me to raise the bed for the plumeria? I'll definitely have to ammend the soil because I sit on one big chunk of red clay : ( My only fear about not using a pot is that I'll cut too much of the root system when I dig them up in the fall. Many of the plants that I sink aren't bothered by a good root trim at the end of the season. How will a plumie react?
Karyn

kbauman 9 - We have two different weather patterns i.e. we have high humidity nearly every day [and night]. Most likely a contributing factor as to why the leaves don't burn.
We do get nasty winds here at the best of times so building a support fence and tieing them to it was a necessity.
As for drainage, I use nothing - just dig the hole and plonk the pot in. WE have about 2 ft if we are lucky of dirt then caliche thereafter.

Hi sotexas,
Yes, where I live is very dry, and gets so hot, and stays warm at night. So the west sun is hot. Humidity, can't handle, am originally from NW Missouri, is so humid there, we get humid, but not as bad..yes sure that helps your plumies. But I rinse mine down, spray some, work so far.
Yes, thinking on putting the pot in the ground, but am curious too about the roots that may go into the ground, then if you take it out, will it hurt the plant. Seems ok, if you are going to leave it there, but if bad weather, I would put them on the patio.
Karen B.

Karen B: When pulling up a pot-planted plumeria, yes, the roots will get cut off. Will it hurt the plant? I doubt it. You might try to salvage as many roots as you can, but the finest roots will be lost. When they go dormant, loss of roots is apparently no big deal. Considering that some people store them bare-root in winter, apparently they can take a lot! Not sure if they bloom as well after that treament though.

I'll need to root-prune a couple of my largest plants this winter. When you root prune and add fresh fertile soil, it apparently gives them a boost for the next growing season. We'll see. My largest just cannot hold buds to maturity. I suspect it hates being pot-bound and needs some new soil to develop those fine roots.

My largest plant has seven inflos, but can't seem to bloom well (buds keep falling off):

karyn,

The only reason I might create a large raised a bed (with really friable soil) is so I can dig them more easily in Fall. I would remove the railroad ties and, hopefully with a limited amount of digging, be able to pull the plants.

Hi Mike,
answered my question, thanks.
Karen B

Karyn- another idea from a friend of mine. He sinks a same sized pot in the ground and then puts his pot into the other pot. He then changes pots based on what is flowering. Another friend puts a larger pot in the ground. Then puts small rock in the bottom until the plant pot is level with the ground. Then he fills around the plant pot with small rock to hold the pot in place. Removing is easy and the rocks can be scooped out for next year. He uses small Mexican river rock from a building supply place. It is used in cement work and for decorative rock gardens. You could also use pea gravel from and home building store but it is not as pretty. Bill

That sounds like a great idea Bill, thanks. I think that's just what I'm going to do next spring. I never would have thought of using the rock. It should help with drainage in our miserable clay soil too. I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to dig deep enough and ammend the soil enough to keep the plumies from getting "wet feet".
Karyn

Hi Bill,
understand the double pots..can see the rocks in the bottom too, would discourage the roots from going totally down. Pots upon the ground look very vulnerable to me.

I am more worried about celidine, its my largest plant in the 5 gallon container. Don't want it to grow into the ground. Will then put the pots in the ground..doubled. so can remove if bad weather. I suspect eventually clelidine, aztec gold and daisy..etc will end up on my patio for protection..But needed to know all this. I also battle my neighbors cats....grrr. ha
thanks,

OOOOOOOh... think I read on here, on a new cutting like my plastic pink, has about 10 5 to 7" leaves and growing, can continue to feed? Fed it yesterday half food and small dose superthrive. Now...hate to stop is so new to growth..what do I do? prefer to leave it outside, unless too cold
Karen B