Hi Phy2ek, I have 3 mpb that I started the cuttings last March...each had 3 tips and never stopped blooming the inflos all summer. great growth and smell. Are you sure what you have was not mislabeled? It is cold sensitive a bit bit not near as much as the white singapore...roxanne

Hello and welcome! Well, I think it just needs more sun and heat, which may or may not be a difficult task depending on your climate. For a 7 year old plant it just isn't reaching its potential.

A lot of people are successful in cooler climates but they typically supplement with a grow light if their winter is extended / climate too cool. Can you give us an idea of how much sun and fertilizer you are offering the plant?

Also, make sure your soil is well draining and that the plant isn't root bound - have you repotted it / looked at the roots in the last year or two to make sure it has room to grow? That could also stunt its growth.

Let us know and we'll try to help you get this one going!

Nice. It's Mpb for sure. I got the grafting from Florida Colors. The leaves are thick and glossy, with a little point at the tip and never went dormant. Maybe I'm not fertilizing enough. How often do you fertilize? Thanks!

Elucas,
It sits by the window during the winter months. In the summer I've only been fertilizing about once a month, which I assume is not enough? The last time I reported was a years and a half ago. Should I repot it again? Is now a good time to do it? Thanks

Oh, and in the warmer months, it sits outside where it gets sun pretty much all day.

Since your plant is over 2 years old I would let it go dormant in the winter time. So in the fall when your temps drop below about 45 - 50 degrees consistently, bring it inside and store it in a dark, cool (not under about 50 degrees) dry place. Give it maybe a cup of water a month only & then bring it out when spring is coming and put it in front of the sunniest window until it can go outside.

Once spring / summer comes, the plant needs to be exposed to the warmest, sunniest place you can put it. If your plant isn't getting 6-8 or more hours of sunlight a day it is not enough. It also needs to be about 75 to 80+ degrees for it to be warm enought to really thrive. I think this is critical since it sounds like you are fertilizing a decent amount.

Check the roots and if it isn't rootbound then you don't need to re-pot, but make sure your soild is really well draining. Do you have it in potting soil mixed with anything else (like Perlite) to make the soil more aerated? If you have just straight potting soil it could be too tight for the roots.

If you do need to repot it is a good time. good luck, let us know how it goes!

Thanks. Question about the plant going dormant. It is an evergreen plumeria like the Singapore. Does this particular tree go dormant? It has never lost its leaves. Just keeps growing. Another about repotting. If I repot now, will it help in the blooming process for this spring/summer?

Hey Phy2ek,
Yes Mela Pa Bowman is evergreen. Ive had my MPB for about 8yrs and yes it is LEGGY, grows tall and then spreads out really wide when it starts branching out. My MPB stays green and sends up new leaves all year except for about a 2 month period unless it gets super cold night temps during the coldest months which usually is Jan and Feb (even in early Jan I had new leaves trying to grow and a few single blossoms.) in costal So Cal. I had a vacation home in Alkai Beach for about 10 yrs and kept a few plumies there like Celadine, MPB and few others. During the winter months the MPB was kept by a bright window with a grow light above it on timer and it grew all year long. When I sold the house I gave my plumies to a friend from MPG that lived in Kalama. When was the last time you repotted the MPB? My MPB grows like a weed, even the one i had in my house in Alkai. I think with certain plumies its not about the time invested but the amount of growth it has before it flowers and on the plant itself. I had a pink plumie I picked up in Hawaii and grew for over 12yrs before it flowered for the first time (it was super tall/leggy before it branched). Even if you sand the tip down or cut it usually with MPB you will only get 1 or maybe 2 tips max that will grow back. So basically you will have to wait and invest time. My MPB didnt bloom till it was about 4 1/2 to 5 ft tall the first time. So basically you will have to invest time equity as plumies bloom when they want to bloom. The one thing that makes MPB worth it is the gorgeous Dark green glossy foliage and the super strong smelling blooms. Since you do not have blooms yet here are some pics of mine blooming.

This MPB is my other one that was grown in partial shade so had a larger inflo...weird..

Have patience
Cheers

Thanks freak4plumeria. Those are some nice pics of your mpb. I can't wait for mines to bloom. I'm originally from Oahu and when I heard of a plumeria that was made from the 2 common plumerias around where im from, i had to get it. My plant is about 4 1/2 ft tall and the last time I potted was about a year and a half ago. I'm thinking about repotting, but will doing so sacrifice my chance of blooming this summer? Thanks

Phy23k
If you repot it to a larger pot I think your MPB would actually derive more benefits from it. If your plant is going to flower this season it probably already has the inflo in the tip so there should not be any issue. The other thing is since MPB is evergreen just like Dwarf Singapore Pink the plants get pot bound quickly. So go ahead and repot it and when it gets warm enough put it in the brightest spot outside, especially next to a wall of your house or brick or stone fence (reflected heat). I know unless you live in East WA like Yakima it dosnt really get warm till late June. MPB and DSP are plumies that actually like moisture so you can water it when it looks dry on the top in warm weather.

Good Luck
Aloha Nui Loa
Cheers

Thanks freak4plumeria! I will pot it in a larger pot. So this means I will have to repot every year since it doesn't go dormant. Well thanks for the info. Hopefully this year is the year. One more question, once this particular plumeria blooms for the first time, then it will be constant? Or is it going to be another few years of waiting?

Phy2ek,
Id repot maybe every other year to a larger pot, but at a certain point you can root prune and keep it in the same pot. My MPB is in a 30gal pot and I root pruned it last year, actually cut off like 75percent of the root ball then repotted it back in the same 30gal pot.
As for your question, since MPB is a leggy grower you may or may not get more tips out of it, usually I get 2 tips, rarely 3, and sometimes after the inflo falls off you still have a single tip. If your MPB flowers this year and does not tip out then it may flower again for you next season or this season. If your MPB gives you 2 or 3 tips then you will have to wait till the tips get long enough to flower.
Post pics if your MPB flowers this season.

Cheers

Freak4plumeria,
Thanks for the info. Right now mpb is the only plumeria I own because of space. I was really having doubts about it since it hasn't bloomed. But now I know more about its habits, I will be more patient. How tall is your mpb? Do you have a full pic of the plant? Trunk and all? Just curious how leggy they look when branched.

I'm so glad you brought this up, phy2ek, because I had no idea MPB would get so leggy! That flower is so tempting for the ideal plumeria shape and smell but I think a lot of us will think twice if we know it's going to take years of upward growth before we see blooms.

James, thanks for the great pics and info--it's very helpful, as usual. Btw, did you get my email? I sent it maybe a month ago through this forum.

Jen

I will look through my pics, I think I have a pic from 2 or 3 yrs ago of the plant. Since my plumie patch is not where I live it takes me about 45 min to over an hour (with traffic) to get there from my house I am not planning on driving down to take a current pic of it lol. I actually bought my 2nd MPB that was newly rooted and it was about 3 1/2 ft with blooms. In my patch MPB grows very quickly so in one season I can get enough growth where it blooms the next season. I think some people have better luck getting MPB to bloom on a shorter plant. As the plant gets older and has more tips/branches it will bloom more frequently. So if you have limited space then it may not be a plant you will want, but with any plumie sooner or later it will become a tree.

My apologies, did not realize this was evergreen!

Aww man, looks like I'm gonna have to figure out some space for my tree. But if anyone have a full pic of a grown well established mpb so I get an idea of how it grows, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

My 3 cuttings from a year ago are now reforming blooms on the old info...(called indeterminate?) very exciting to see them all blooming so soon again and yet still pushing out more new inflos...mine does not look leggy at all...I will ask the man who gave me the cuttings...his tree in the ground is over 10 feet high. I like MPB, great holding power and smell....aloha, roxanne

I totally agree with James (Freak4). I would give my MPB a couple of spoonfuls of common epsom salts to replenish your magnesium. This will also help the plant process fertilizer to set blooms. Next Dec. I would saw around the edge of the pot about 2" inside, pull out the plant and cut about 3 " off the bottom. Add new soil mix, reposition the plant and add soil around the sides. Just add water to the outside new soil in the pot to encourage roots to seek out moisture. Give epsom salts in March and fertilize as the plant shows signs of growing.
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Mele Pa Bowman is a lei quality flower but is most often used for a haku lei or head lei or for flowers placed in the hair.

OK, spent a while looking through literally thousands of pics and could not find a pic of MPB plant. I had to go to the South Bay today to meet a contractor for one of my apartment tenants so went by and took a pic of MPB. In Feb there were 2 night where the night temps got down to 38 degrees, so at the end of February I had all the leaves removed as they were not looking their best (if MPB does go dormant it usually is Feb/March). Basically my MPB only went dormant during Feb.
I actually measured MPB and she is 7'-0" at her widest and 8'-0" tall. Basically if you look at the pics the main branches that connect to the trunk are leggy at least 3ft long before it branched. I noticed that last years growth flowered on shorter tips like a Celadine. So basically I think Mele pa bowman needs to be either so tall or old before it blooms on a short tip. I am attaching a pic of an Inflo that i son like a 3" tip: Again my Mele Pa Bowman is leggy and grows wide not tall.

Full view with church in background: (the irony is that even with a church there people still steal from my patch)

Inflo starting on 2" tip:

Nice tree!!! Yeah it is pretty tall and wide, but I still love it. Thanks for showing me that pic, freak4plumeria, now I know want to expect for this kind. Looks like there is more than a few inflos on your tree. Also Tdogdad, thanks for your input, I didn't know that mpb had a good keeping quality. Few sites stated poor keeping quality. But if its used for leis or haku leis, then petals must be as thick as a celadine.

Phy,
A lot of inflos were cut off, but yes last year and the year before it had inflos on almost every tip.
Thanks

Oh and I've kept the MPB in the same 30 gal pot for the past 5yrs, just root prune it so it will not get to large or it would be huge by now.

Update... With this hot weather we been having in Washington lately, I have my first flower. But it has 6 petals. Is this normal?

I have had a few come with 6 on the MPB every now and then. Love that smell, don't you?

Alright cool. I thought it was weird. But I guess its normal. Lol. Yeah I do like the smell of it. It takes me back home.

Usually just one or two do this. Basically normal unless all are 6

Alright cool. Another thing is that I had this plant for about 12 years now. And the trunk isn't getting fat. Its stays skinny. I'm wondering because of the weather here in Washington state is making it grow very slow.

might be a weak root system. That is pretty small for 12 years

Any suggestions on how to beef it up? Its in a 5 gallon pot I put in last year.

Your soil mix might not be airy enough or it might need root pruning. Just a guess