Wow Andrew, 44 degrees, & I thought we were getting cold here @ 58.... :P

So what kind of light do you use to keep your trees growing over winter, T5, or maybe something beefier like a hps or metal halide? I've got a led I'd love to try out on my trees. Maybe one day...lol

Sorry about the poor flowering rate, if it makes you feel any better my color wasn't that great this year. ::

Good luck with your over wintering!
Jason

I am right with you Andrew!! Argh!!!!

Rust is being a pain and I'm trimming a few at a time as well.
My temps are still in the high 50's at night so I will have another month
Before I have to bring them in...

I'll leave a few with inflos alone to wait to see .. Sally Moragne and Lava Flow and Metallica have inflos. I hope the others stay quiet. I don't want to see anything try and start to show signs of Inflos now.. They just don't have any time left. L

I'll spray with Bayer 3n 1 fir mites etc. then I'll also spray with fish emulsion too!! Stinky. .. Lol. ;-)

It seems like a short summer here too. We really didn't have the high temps like last year. So bummed, but I did have a good year. Just hope I can figure out where I can put them all this tear.. Oh boy. We have this same problem every year. ;-)

Hi Jason!! At least, you have a longer summer ? When do you bring in yours ? Do you leave any outside? I use T-5 lights during the winter for a few .. Especially the newer rooted cuttings..

Andrew uses another set up of lights. I can't remember his type, but I'm sure he will see and respond.

Hope you are well!!!

Take good care!!!!

Laura

I think everyone is considering what mad game of tetris will have to be played to store our plants.

We still have until Thanksgiving week as the traditional end of Plumeria Season. Its always neat to see how everyone sets up their storage and greenhouses for winter. I have considered a light in my greenhouse but did not want to disturb my neighbors.

I have 6 new ones in 1 gallon pots I purchased from JJ. They are not ready for 2 gallon yet. Mine will be going dormant next month or 1st of Nov. I have very limited space inside under grow lights. I have some rootings which go under the lights. Should the new 1 gallons from JJ be placed in the house under lights. Not sure I can get them all in. I paid a lot of money for some of these and don't want to lose them. I can place some in my extra bathroom tub but don't have any grow lights in that room. Any recommendations or suggestions???????

Kitnor I strongly suspect you have more time than 01 Nov based on your zone. You could keep them outside in a sunny spot unless temps are predicted to be below the low 40s. Then bring them to cover. Once temps recover then bring them back out. are 1 gallon size so small enough to carry without much effort.

Another idea is a sunny south facing window in your house in addition to your lights. Or a pop up greenhouse and small fan or foot heater as a safety?

Kitnor I strongly suspect you have more time than 01 Nov based on your zone. You could keep them outside in a sunny spot unless temps are predicted to be below the low 40s. Then bring them to cover. Once temps recover then bring them back out. They are 1 gallon size so small enough to carry without much effort.

40 degrees by itself isn't enough to kill a plumeria. 40 and wet, and on cold concrete and a small or weakened plant may become a problem.

Another idea is a sunny south facing window in your house in addition to your lights. Or a pop up greenhouse and small fan or foot heater as a safety?

hope this helps.

Its already in the low 70s at night and they are forecasting 60s tomorrow. Due to change my plants are already dropping leaves in a big way. They are very sensitive to change in weather. Where are you for zone 6? I'm 35 miles NW of Orlando. Now Miami weather is different from me. They stay in the 70's all winter at night. We drop down between 40s and 50s and occasionally sometimes 30s. For one whole week we got 20's. Lost a lot of plants even though all were covered with frost cloth.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Glad to help. I am in San Antonio. Roughly same latitude as St. Augustine, FL.

@ Laura -
I bring mine in when night temps start hitting the 40's, so I also have another month or so. We don't get much frost here so I guess it might be possible to leave well established trees outside, but they'd have to take safety measures like frost cloth & pipe insulator.

I have a couple nice lights I could run durring winter, but honestly I don't heat my place durring (free cold thermogenesis... :P) & I'm afraid to mix water with low temps at night.

Jason

Hello everyone. Thanks for all the responses. It is kind of fun to hear how everyone plans to store there trees.

My dear sweet Laura, I do have a light set up. I have my 600 watt HPS light. It works very well for me but because it produces such intense light, and HEAT(the heat being the spider mite magnet), I do run into issues with the darn S.M. This year I plan on being very selective with what I keep under my light. This year it will be my ETLD, Rainbow 36(by the way has yours bloomed yet?) my gorgeous purple noid from that was gifted to me from Sonia, and the trees that are blooming...JJ Orange, and also Divine and Psycho since they are nicely budded. Divine is the furthest behind as the inflos are barely an inch long.

Plumeria are tropical trees, but I have to say, they are a lot hardier than what some people think. When I turned on the weather before going to bed at 2:00 am, we were at 44 degrees. This morning at 5:00am we hit 38! OUCH!!!

We are warming up now, but it need to stay a head of the game, I know that some of my trees will grow more leaves if I decide to leave them out longer than this weekend, which if may decide to do. Last fall, I waited to the last possible minute. We had an actual freeze and I had to bring all my trees, plus all my other tropical plants and fruit trees in all in one night.

The people that have been a part of this forum for a few years know that I have had several back surgeries now, and I just cannot risk hurting myself, so I really am trying to make it easier on myself. Last year it took me about 2 hours to haul everything in, and my poor back felt like it was ready to go on strike. I actually was laid up the whole next day, and part of the following day!

Andrew

I can understand the back issue as I have an arm problem. Right arm does not work well and lifting and carrying is very hard on it. I have to move my children over several days so I must plan ahead. I will also have to cover the front yard and back yard with frost cloth when it starts getting real cold. I did spring for industrial grade frost cloth which you can leave on plants for a number of months. Very expensive but worth it. Only have to cover once and leave on till February. It would really be nice if it does not get cold enough to have to cover anything but I think I'm asking a lot. Maybe the man upstairs will grant my wishes. Have to wait and see.