most plumies need a little time to let the soil dry out although some larger plants can handle a lot of water. Im sure some of the more experienced ones will have some advice for you,

anyone know? I really need some help please. I'm very worried. Not sure how well they will do in the ground.... Just to repeat my old post, I've planted 2 plumeria in the ground. I live in Southern California and used cactus soil to plant it. One I put 5 days ago and the other 2 days ago. I'm afraid they will rot. The soil is moist but not soaking wet. Will they rot? How wet is too wet? Do they have to be completely dry? They are in the ground, and we have sprinklers in other areas of the yard, so it won't get completely dry beneath all the soil. Thanks. Info is greatly appreciated.

Dig a hole next to where your plants are. If the hole fills with water and retains water for more than an hour or so, it's too wet.

You probably shouldn't have use the cactus soil to backfill the planting hole. If the native soil gives you concern because it gets soggy, the planting hole filled with cactus soil in the middle of the native soil will act like a bathtub and fill with water first; it even has a name - 'the bathtub effect'. The idea that you need to 'fortify' the planting hole with peat or compost has fallen out of favor, and backfilling with native soil a matter of course.

Al

This post was edited by tapla on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 16:43

Good info Al! I cannot comment on planting in the ground but I do know that I have had my potted trees stay moist for 2-3 days without noticing any rot. I don't like having the pots stay moist for that long. This is why is I mix a ton of perlite into my mix.

I would just keep a close eye on them and if they look like they are not doing very well, I would pull them out. Plumeria are pretty tough trees except when it comes to having there roots wet.

Good luck!

Andrew

Moist is good. Wet or soggy isn't. The more water your (container) medium holds inside or on the surface of soil particles and the less it holds between soil particles, the better your plants will like it.

Al

I tried it and it was ok. I dug the hole and it didn't even fill with water. The native soil isn't soggy. It's just moist. Thanks for the info....

I live in SoCal too. I planted 3 plumeria in the ground last year. They were adult plants for sure, about 3 feet tall. My soil was mostly sand so when I planted them I dug up a bigger hole and I mixed cactus mix with perlite then planted them. I have sprinklers going on in the area all the time, including during the winter. They were all fine. They are planted on a hill though so the water doesnâÂÂt actually sits on the ground.