Stick your finger about two inches down into the soil. If it feels moist, they probably don't need water. If you have a moisture meter, use that. Rick Stone advises to feel the leaves. If a leaf in the sunlight feels hot, the plant needs water, if it doesn't feel hot, it doesn't need water. I noticed the other day that some of my plants had leaves that felt hot and others did not. Yet they all get the same care regimen. So some are more sensitive to heat than others, it seems.

If the leaves are drooping, the plant probably needs water.

The soil you use is important. Some fast draining soils almost make it impossible to overwater. Check how fast water leaves the bottom of the pot to get an idea. Mine will show water out the bottom within about 10 seconds.

I would give them a small drink frequently to see if they perk up.

Sometimes plumeria will experience leaf drop as the days get shorter in response to less sunlight.

Hope this helps.

I live in Orange County. My plumerias are all in pots with fast draining soil. My watering rules are:

If they have leaves, water them as if they are tender water thirsty tropicals

If they start losing their leaves because the days are getting shorter and cooler, reduce watering.

No leaves = no water from hose

When most or all leaves are gone in winter, treat as dormant succulents. Standing water or saturated soil is a killer.

Thanks for the help. I liked the advice of feeling the leaves to see if they are hot. Pretty interesting! In fact some felt hot and others felt cool. After giving them a little drink, they became much cooler to the touch. The weather has cooled now, so I can go back to my routine. Thanks again, I just love having friends that I can turn to for advice on caring for these beauties!

Hi Musarojo.
Agree with you..nooow the comment "saturated soil". Now I have pots sitting on soil, water them. Is that what you mean by saturated soil? Do you put pots into the ground? sitting on soil or cactus soil? curious.
Karen B.

Hi Karen,

What I mean by saturated soil is soil around the base of a plumeria that doesnÂt drain, that always feels wet. Right now all of my plumerias are in pots, the larger ones are in huge tree pots. I use a lot of pumice in my soil mix, so that water (including rainwater) runs out of the pots quickly. I am considering putting some of my plumerias permanently in the ground, however this would involve removing plants that already occupy the spaces where I want to put them, and amending the soil. My soil is adobe that turns into a heavy slimy mess in the winter and then slowly dries to the consistency of brick in late spring. After removing the current plants, I would need to break up the soil and amend with lots of green sand to improve drainage. I would also need to add more organic matter so worms would maintain drainage for me. This would be a time consuming and expensive project I just donÂt feel ready to tackle right now.

As long as water can drain away from your plants, you are ok. In the winter, my pots are sitting on top of the heavy slimy adobe in my yard and are just fine. Plumeria can tolerate cool temperatures above freezing, but cannot survive having roots that are wet and cold.

Hi Musarojo,
thanks for the comment. I was thinking under my pots, have them setting on soil..with your comment saturated. Sorry about your soil, that is tough. thanks for the help.I have thought about putting some of the pots in the ground for the fall, but afraid roots will go through the pots..not sure what will happen there if I move them in the spring.

Karen B.

musarojo,

as far as putting your plants in the ground and soil amendments...I have read a lot of people make raised flowerbeds just for this purpose. I am thinking of doing this next summer as I live in the desert and as the soil dries it becomes hard as a rock! Plus that way you can make a new flower bed and not have to move any of your other pretty flowers. Hope this might help a little.

Hi Mike.
wellll the idea on the leaf being hot if needed water..right....I did not go along with that..was a good one.

now. today. Its hot, obviously leaves must be hot..checked my others leaves, cool, in west sun....checked celedine, was dry..THE LEAVEs were HOt!!! cannot believe that..ha. Well of course watered. checked a few hours later, were cool.. Well I'll be darn!!! lol.. It worked! now I will check that. Then went and checked my others, were cool, did not water..yea. you found a good one. Going now to do leaf checks..ha ha ha
Karen B

Mike,

I am getting so much good advice on this post I'm estatic. I love the leaf touch Hot vs. cold. That makes it so easy to tell what's going on. Not going to comment on all the other great advice you gave I'll be going on forever. Just want to ask you one thing. If I use cactus mix and perlite for my pots should I still use pumice and add to the mix or is it OK! with just cactus and Perlite.

Plumie