They should grow well. Get ready to battle mites.

Hi Dave! I already have. You have to watch for them very carefully and quite often, or they sneak up on you and multiply by the thousands!

Dave,
Is there any kind of systemic to battle these mites with? To head em off at the pass so to speak?

John

I wish I knew. I have tried pesticides on leaves, but too dangerous inside the house. Neem doesn't work for me. There are miticides like Forbid and Avid but they are VERY expensive. Systemics like Cygon just seem dangerous to me -- we have cats and a baby. I might consider Bayer Rose treatment, but it also has a fertilizer in it and again, it's not made for indoors. Maybe best thing is to spray and wipe down leaves weekly, using a spreader (wetting agent) like Coco-Wet and a small amount of alcohol.

I had to fight with some spider mites on my plumerias too. So far ive found spider mites, aphids, white flies, and scale on my indoor plants, and unfortunately there are very few that dont have them (but the good ones are far away from the bad). Rubbing alchol is working great to treat the scale on my coconut palm, and warm water mixed with soap is helping to get rid of the spider mites on my pluemria. As for the aphids I usually wash the aphids off the leaves, but if they get out off control I cut that part off (since its on my hibiscus the growth can easily be pruned back). It looks like the plants indoors have a long winter ahead and I still have some more tropicals outside that I have yet to bring in (luckily we havent had any freezes yet).

I also have some grow lights for my papaya seeds Im trying to germinate. The max temp was 96F (I hope that wasnt too hot). They are very good at keeping plants warm though!

Good luck!

I have been using insecticidal soap to spray for the spider mites (safer than typical insecticides, so they say), and it seems to work fairly well, but you do need to spray them periodically since new mites hatch from eggs that may not have been killed from previous sprayings.

strange....same for me...i just use trounce and don't seem to be having any problems......yet....lol

Your T5HO lights shouldn't generate much heat. HID (MH/HPS) on the other hand do generate quite a bit of heat. The fluorescent bulbs are great, especially for seedlings because they can be placed so close to the plants because of the low heat output. HID bulbs need to be a minimum of 4' away.

I use Forbid and Floramite miticides and both work very well. You only have to spray one surface of the foliage and both contain ovacides so reapplication isn't necessary to kill the eggs. As Dave mentioned both are very expensive but you use very little product per application. Sometimes there's co-ops on DG and you can split a bottle between several people. You might also be able to find smaller amounts on Ebay but I'm not sure that I'd go that route because you might not be getting the real product.

Karyn, can you comment on the toxicity to pets and humans on those products when used indoors?

Dave I've only used it in the house once and only treated a few plants so it wasn't like there was spray going everywhere. I have a house full of pets and nobody exhibited any strange symptoms. The room was also well ventillated. I normally use it in the greenhouse but have used Forbid outside on brugs for broad mites. It's fairly mite specific so it probably has a lower toxicity then some of the broad spectrum insecticides but I really couldn't say for sure. I'm pretty anti chemical but had to resort to the miticides for the Broad mites. I didn't notice any reduction in the number of beneficial insects in the garden/greenhouse after the miticide treatment. I'm sure there must be info online.

Is it really necessary to keep the growing like this all winter to produce blooms for spring into summer?

Are some folks just doing this because they like to keep them in a constant state of active growth?

In other words, what is the reason why some are so determined to keep them in a state of extreme growth, when by nature, they like a period of slower growth all over the world??

Do they require a dormancy period, or a rest period?

Thankyou

Hey Mike, I don't want to speak for Artic, but I would imagine some folks just want to get as much growth out of them as possible. Most of those in the photo above looked like seedlings to me. And we know how long it can take to get seedlings to bloom. And not all seedlings go dormant anyway.

I do not believe plumerias go dormant everywhere in the world...in tropical, year-round-moist climates like Thailand and near equatorial regions, I would imagine they remain in at least some stage of growth. As I mentioned before, I had mine grow and bloom all winter under lights set at around 12 hours. If they go dormant it might be for weeks rather than months. They don't 'require' a rest period, but in climates that have dry seasons, cool seasons and/or short days, they are equipped to go dormant and survive just fine.

I keep mine in growth so my plant doesnt look bare. I dont want to look up and see the main part of the plant. I want at least the leaves to be at eye level so the plant appears fuller. Unfortunately I did force one of my plumerias into dormancy today. All the leaves were cut off and I hosed the whole thing down (to get rid of the spider mites). As I write this it is outside drying off in the cold. Temps are only going into the mid 40s which shold be cool enough to shock it a little, but more than warm enough to keep it alive. Its probably going to go in the basement and a plant which doesnt have the option of going dormant will take its place.

I didnt cut off the inflo. though (only had about 5 buds left anyway) just to see if it still manages to bloom.

Good luck everyone!

Great info...Thankyou..

It must be hard for a few here to decide whether to keep growing them all winter, or just chop of the leaves off and stick them away...It can be quite a challange trying to decide every year..

When it comes to me, I want to keep them in leaf so bad,they are so beautiful, so full and green, but being where I am, it is a choice between constantly battling spidermites which could take over my whole plant room because of these magnets, or just sticking them away and not have worry the whole winter.

I guess the sticking them away always wins out with me..:-(

If it wern't for possible mites, and my growing area, I would most certainly do as many have chosen here to do, to keep them in an active state of leaf growth..

Good luck everyone and happy growing!!

Mike

I don't have the space to keep mine growing year round. A couple exceptions are young seedlings and my P. pudica. I just stripped foliage off my mature plants and put them in storage this weekend. Last year I'd kept a few in the greenhouse and even though it was warm they went dormant anyway. I guess from the short daylight hours but the ones kept in the greenhouse broke dormancy much earlier then the plumies that I'd stored. We had such a cold, wet and miserable spring that many of the stored plants broke dormancy almost a month later then usual. I ended up with very few and very late inflos. Most of my late inflos didn't open completely, if at all. I couldn't schlep them inside at night and back outside during the day. I wish I had the room to store them somewhere warm even if they do go dormant.

Since I have a very short growing season, and cool climate in this high mountain valley in northern Utah, I've got to keep these plummies going full time in order to see any blooms at all! We can have frost any month of the year where I live, although not a killing frost.

Well, here are mine, quite the contrast compared to 2 months ago..:-(

In their dungeon till March...

Happy sucess with of all yours everyone this winter..:-)

Hi Mike. Just wondering if you felt you cut your leaves off a bit early? I'm in NY and mine are still blooming. I drag them in and out. It's been cold here in the low 50's but they still have their leaves and continue to bloom. Very odd, thought they'd go dormant. Tonight it was 37 when I brought them in.

I need them to go dormant because I don't have the space to overwinter. I notice yours are making leaves again. Are you keeping lights on them?
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Jane{{gwi:1222684}}

Mike not to change the topic but I love your variegated clivias. Have they bloomed yet?

Hi..

I think I did cut them early come to think of it, but I wasn't about to find room for so many of them in my house..lol

The only sunny windows in my home are loaded with plants that can't throw into the darkness...That is why I have no problem with plumeria or clivias....I can just stick them somewhere, where nothing else would exist, and whalla, they grow into beautiful plants just as soon as I decide when to pull them from the dungeon, or provide more light...:-)

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the weather in NY a tad bit warmer than here in Mass? I may be under estimating my growing zone....Hummm

Karyn1,

Thankyou for the compliment..;-)

I have grown several with flowers, givin the same treatment as my plumies...Therefore, they make great bed partners....lol

So all in all, I have about 20-30 plants I can stick in almost total darkness, and still have room for my other tropicals throughout my home that require sunny windows..I love these plants!

Jane,

I give them all about 4 hours of flourescent lighting, to keep them in a semi-dormant kind of stage, to encourage them to drink a bit of water and just rest..I will increase light starting at the end of December..I use to start providing more light later than this, like February..But I figure if I start extra early, I might have time for the inflos to bloom this time around by July and not October as this year showed me..Yikes.
Remember the God awful cloudy summer we had?...Arg
I still have a white one flowering in my pop up greenhouse...

Is the electric bill a lot higher with your grow lights on? How much more, percentage wise?

Thanks,

I don't know how much warmer, I am about 40 miles north of Manhattan. Inland, woodsy and hilly. About 3 hours from Mass., 4hrs to Boston.

I usually wait for the Plumies to drop their leaves and store them in my furnace area. It is warm and dry. I bring them up in March and put them in a chilly sunroom. This year was unusual because the weather was cold and rained both June and July. Horrible summer. Inflo's didn't start until Aug.

I'm not putting them outside anymore, its just too cold. I'm not sure what to do with them as they still have many buds.

Jane

Newgen, I'm not sure how much my electric bill will jump, since I haven't received it yet for last month, so I will update this post when I find out. It will be tough to figure out, since I have four outdoor palms under styrofoam boxes (one box covers a 12' windmill palm) with screw-in florescent light bulbs to keep them alive, and that also adds to my bill. Oh well. Might as well spend it on electricity as some other expensive hobby!

Kevin

With just the grow lights going my bill jumps about $50/mo but I have a lot of lighting. The HID lights are the biggest drain. My problem is the electric greenhouse heater. That along with the lights is significant. I should convert it to propane or natural gas.

My electric bill has only gone up about 5 extra dollars a month...That is with regular florescents on at the 4 hours..When they go up to about 8-10 hours a day, my bill goes up about another 5-10 dollars a month..Not to bad..

But, if I use my halide and compact florecents bulbs, whoo, it can go up as much as 30 dollars extra a month..
I have found a way to not have to use them just yet, as I use to start using them by the time October started..

Mike

Sorry to get a little off topic, some of you mentioned a greenhouse. Can you elaborate on what brand, size you have? Did you build it from scratch, or buy a kit greenhouse? I see some 6' x 8' for around $600+, they go up in cost to several thousands! I may just get some grow lights and leave my plants in the garage, certainly a lot cheaper than getting a greenhouse + heater.

The one I paid for was a pop up greenhouse..8x12 feet, and all it cost me was 110 dollars..Worth every penny.. It was faster than putting up a tent!!I still have plumeria flowering in there, even up here in New England, this late in the year..

You can get them at the Lowes of Home Depots we site..It is the best thing I could of ever done to my plants as suggested my one of the nicest and most knowledgable members here, Bill!!

Than God for a member like that..Thanks Bill!!;'-)

meyermike: How do you secure it to the ground to prevent it from getting blown over? Do you get nasty windstorms in the winter? Is your popup greenhouse heated?

THanks,

I have 4 greenhouses. 2 commercial size (200' x 75' & 75' x 25') at the farm and 2 hobby houses in my backyard. The one I keep most of my tender tropicals in is a 10' x 12' x 12'. We bought this as a kit from Harbor Freight for about $600 and put in another $600 worth of modifications. It's well worth it as comparable greenhouses are about 3K. Depending on your zone all the modifications we did might not be necessary. I also have a 7' x 14' hoop house, kind of like a pop up. I use that mainly as a cold frame during the colder months but it can be heated. I bought that one off of Ebay for under $100. I use an electric 19,000 BTU heater for the backyard greenhouse. The greenhouses at the farm are heated with propane. Actually we no longer heat the farm greenhouses much above freezing which is why I bought the backyard greenhouses. Even using propane it became ridiculously expensive to heat one and we only heated them for my personal plant collection. Everything we grow at the farm can be held just above freezing over the winter. The last year we heated the big greenhouse was about 4 or 5 years ago and propane ran 8K during a mild winter. Too much for my hobby : ( It's been so difficult for me to go from almost unlimited greenhouse space in the winter to a dinky 10' x 12' space? lol

I hear you about a dinky space..Boy would I love a much bigger one that would allow me to sit in there during cold days and allow me to have a cup of coffee while I enjoy the warmth, humidity, and watch my plants grow!

It always smells so tropical in there....I LOVE it!

I love spraying the hose all over evrything, including the plants...

I use a radiator heater for the evenings an that keeps the temps up to about 60 by mornings...When the temps are above 30 at night. When below 30 at night, I use two of them..The temps are still kept up to the 60's by morning.

I think I figured out how to keep the temps satble..lol

Karyn1, WOWOW I wish I had your space..lol

Newgen.

They come with tie down stakes and ropes..They hold great. I never had to use them because where I keep my pop up is protected from the winds anyway..
Up against my home facing the full south sun..:-)
It has withstand 75 mile an hours winds, thunderstorms, and cold fronts with huge wind gust with no problem..

Ok guys, I need a little direction here. I have a 2-car garage, I'm willing to park 1 car outside and use that space for plants. Is it just as effective to keep plumies growing, using grow lights and heater, compared to a greenhouse & heating? In the morning I can move them inside the house next to a south window to catch the sunlight, night time they return to the garage with heat/grow lights. I figure this way it's much simpler than having to set up and maintain a greenhouse.

Thankks,

This is the way it is..

In order for plumies to perform their best, fully leaf out, and flower, you need at least 14 or more hours of direct "intense" sunlight and hot temps..

In fact I frequent a nursery, and just last week, yes, with our weather and lack of sun, I saw all their plumies fully leafed out, but no flowers.. I will post a pic this weekend..So it can be possible, probably by luck though. They had just the right conditions. Very powerful hot lights on for over 14 hours a day, loads of humidity, and very warm conditions...Their temps in that greenhouse were over 85...It was like being in a HOT tropical enviroment.

It is pretty much very difficult to imitate exact summer conditions which plumies desire and LOVE, unless you have the time, money and know how. This nursery spends thousands to duplicate outdoor summer conditions....

On the other hand, with what you plan to do, they may do well, just don't expect them to please you as much as described up post.. They will grow more than nothing at all though..I would think if they just continue to grow and stay alive, this alone will make you happy till nature does it's miracle again, for free..:-)

Happy growing,

Mike..:-)

Looking forward to that pix of the nursery. I'm not looking to have them in "summer" condition, just to keep all the green leaves and whatever growth that can be sustained. I can build a temporary partition, like a popup portable wardrobe closet to minimize heat loss. I figure with the right HID lights, the plants will get pretty comfortable in this "closet".

Thanks,

Just make sure to keep a HID light 4' above your plants or you'll fry the foliage.

Thanks, I'll make sure to keep it away from the plants.

Hopefully I have the right conditions in my basement room under the HO florescents. It is now 88 degrees in here, with lots of humidity. Maybe they will flower eventually!

Kevin

Good Luck Kevin with your Plummies!!! All of my plants were given a close shave and put to bed early...But with your picture...it makes me want to try your method!! I have about 18 plants that are placed in a bedroom...I hope that the spider mites stay away...several plants have grown leaves...so I hope that they go dormant soon...

Good Day!!

Laura in VB

Kevin, that sounds awsome...

I hope they do, and if they do, please let us know how they did..:-)

Just keep a close eye for mites..I suggest you invest in a good magnifying glass, and closely watch them on a regular basis..Have some insecticidal soap ready at hand just in case... Goodluck;-)

Mike

Thanks Laura, Mike and everyone else. It's one big experiment, but I love trying the impossible. That's why I grow 12' palm trees and 20' banana plants outside in zone 4! I love the tropics, and if I can't live there, I will certainly bring it here! Can't wait to set some blooming plummies along side the palms and banana plants next Summer.

Kevin

Karen, my God your plumies are so pretty!!!

I have access to see pics on my puter here at home, and I can finally see yours..WOW..

Great job!!!!

Mike