Hi Samantha and all others,

Today I was wondering the exact same things!
Apart from the questions Samantha asked, I would like to know if they require any fertilizer?

I live in Holland so winters are cold and air is dry. Now I mist my seedlings, should I continue doing that in winter/colder time??

Hope the experts will help Â(¿Â)Â
Martina

I don't have a ton of experience with seedlings, but I've raised some. In winter, give them as much light as you possibly can. Ideally, a greenhouse with temps in 80s and high humidity is best! But not everyone has those conditions - LOL! I kept mine under a grow lamp and fairly warm. As long as they have leaves, you should water them when the soil dries out maybe an inch or two down. Water thoroughly. If they start to drop leaves, pull back on water, as they are going dormant. Not all seedlings will go dormant the first year. You'll have to let them 'tell' you what they want. Also, watch out for spider mites, which can also defoliate the plants, unfortunately. Regular misting may help a bit with this. You also may want to withhold any fertilizing during winter, or if they are actively growing in very warm conditions, maybe use 1/4 strength - and maybe as a foliar feeding. I'm sure others with more experience will weigh in.

I'm in zone 8-Texas.
Our winters are very unpredictable here....we may have 80 degree temps one day and drop to 30 degrees overnight with freezing rain. It's usually mild and sunny here mostly until January or February, during which we usually get lots of wet, cold weather. When we do get snow, the ground is usually too wet from rain/sleet for it to stick or accumulate.

I've only been growing Plumeria for a couple of years,but I've been growing other tropicals for many years....

I bring my Plumies indoors for winter, along with my other tropicals( I keep them in pots all year). I don't have much indoor space, so I group them together in any empty corners I can find. Those I place in the bathroom seem to do best because of the high, warm humidity. If the area has little light, I place a grow light on the wall just above the tallest plant and lightly water every two weeks and mist them occassionally (the indoor heat dries them out quickly). I don't fertilize until I place them back outdoors in Spring after all chance of frost is over. So far, I haven't had one go totally dormant and have even had some grow during winter, although slowly. They seem to enjoy the constant room temperatures (75 -80 degrees).

I planted about ten cuttings and kept them indoors last February (our coldest month). They all rooted within four weeks! I had placed them in a corner of our living room....they had no grow light and only minimal indirect sunlight throughout the day, but they were near a heat vent. Two of them even produced blooms this summer. This could be considered a stroke of luck, but I think that the warmth and low-but constant light contributed to their growth. I also started Plumeria from seed indoors during winter and by spring they were established enough to place outdoors.....

Just be sure to place them away from outer doors to prevent exposure to sudden cold drafts, and not too close to a window (even a sunny window can get very cold at night).

I'm thinking about experimenting with leaving a Plumie outdoors inground this winter to see if it can survive with the trunk wrapped and by covering it when the temps drop low, but I'll need more information from those with more experience before I decide to try it. I have met people here who have had them survive winter outdoors though, but I think their plumies were older, more established trees.

I hope this helps!

I am in Chicago and I started some seeds last summer. In the winter, I took them in and had them sit in a south facing window. While they had leaves, I watered them about once every few days. Then I went on a 3 week vacation and when I came back, all the leaves are no more. I kept watering but only maybe once a month. In the spring, when the days got longer and warmer, the seedlings started putting out leaves again. Hope this helps.

i will probably cause more confusion: last summer, i started some seeds too and in the winter i kept them in the basement under cfl's. the temp. was around 50F. i sprayed them once in a while with neem oil and water them once every week to 10 days. i did lose some of them over the winter. a couple of them lost all their leaves but once summer came and they are now outside in full sun. the ones which lost their leaves have leaved out nicely. we have freezing weather here - the central heating system is on from nov to april.
sue

Spring is here....... !!!

And wow! all my seedlings have survived!
Some are doing better than others. 2 still look dormant but 3 others are leafing now.
I had and still have them on a heating mat and have been misting them regularly and watering them when too dry.

I was wondering what to do now?????
* water them a little? a lot??
* just mist the ones which aren't leafing?
* fertilize all?? or just the ones that show signs of growth?? or maybe not at all?

Hoping for some advice from you,
Thanx, Martina

Hi Martina,
I am glad to hear that your seedlings survived.
Continue to watering your seedlings as they was in dormancy, don't watering more, it's very early, when the leaves grow in normal size you can increase a little more watering and only then you will start fertilizing them, not now.

Check every week the top of seedlings, and if it start to be softer stop watering.
Now is the most dangerous period for seedling looses from overwatering, caution !!!
John
from Athens-Greece