Hi there,

I have about 85 plants and only about 20 or so are blooming this summer so far. My plants are young though so I am hoping as they mature they will bloom more regularly.

As for Makaha Sunn, she's very finicky. She doesn't like the cold weather and very prone to black tip so you will have to watch her closely. Personally I would not leave her outside with temps below 45, but that's just me. I actually bought mine inside the garage during the winter and she did fine but was pretty slow to wake. I potted mine in the Gritty Mix last summer and she hardly grew 1/2 inch in a year. So I'm going to re-pot her back to the normal soil and hopefully she will do better for me.

Good luck and welcome! :)

Hey Ronalvio, I'm close by you & my plants do great!

The most important thing when growing plumeria is making sure you choos a good planting mix. There are many different mixes to choos from. Gritty mixes, cactus mix, & other combinations. Keep in mind plumeria don't like to have there feet wet!

Me personally, I'm into no till, so I'm trying to find a way to adjust my mix for plumeria. The goal is to make a complete soil, then the plant can feed itself, whenever it needs it. This means I need soil. I'm playing around with a very basic mix of Fox Farm happy frog & ocean forrest (in place of my standard mix & amendments), tons of 1/8 & 3/4 in lava rock, & a small amount of moss that I actually cut fine with scissors (my hands still hurt...lol).

I get excellent drainage from the different sized rock + the pearlite & vermiculite. The neat thing is even deep down, my soil is not damp, it's just a bit moist, it holds a little moisture! This is essential to keep the microbial life alive! The mix seems to be working out VERRY well! All 5 of my cuttings are doing EXCELLENT & my rooted Scarlet Night is doing outstanding. Next I'm going to incorporate more of my massive no till soil mix into my plumeria & adjust from there!

I wouldn't recomend this mix to a beginner, simply because not many people use it. Most folks use Al's mix, or another gritty mix. They work very well, but you'll have to give the plants 100% of their food! My style you don't..... ;)

Anyways, I've been ranting....lol

Back to Bay Area. Make sure your plants get as MUCH sun as possible! Sun is probably the 2nd most important factor when growing plumeria! The more intense & the longer hours of sun, the more profusely your plants will bloom!

Next is watering. Water only when your soil is dry! Plumeria don't like wet feet, remember?

Fertalizer - remember, if you don't already know -

Nitrogen (N) aids in strong leaf and stem growth and promotes dark green leaf color. Too much nitrogen causes soft foliage and delays flowering, while not enough nitrogen causes stunted growth and leaf yellowing.

Phosphorus (P) is needed for root development and also helps the plants to set buds for flowering. Not enough phosphorus can cause stunted plant growth.

Potassium (K) improves plant hardiness in both hot and cold weather. It also helps in seed production and improves the size and quality of flowers. A plumeria fertilizer with not enough potassium will result in poor cellular structure therefore a weak plant, reduced flower quality and flower size.

I don't buy into all that high phosphorus for flowering. Jack Morgan said he's never once seen any scientific evidence to suggest phosphorus creates better looking flowers. Those high numbered phosphorus ferts will kill all the microbial life in your soil, & the chemical ferts are sooooo high in salts, they lock your soils nutrients up.

Side note - all this fertalizer information comes from Jack Morgan

I use a combination of fish emulsion for nitrogen, Indonesian bat guano (or Jamaican) for phosphorus, & kelp meal for potassium. Feed all three the bigenning of the year, cut your nitrogen in half later in summer, & quit feeding nitrogen all together before it gets cold. New growth tips & cold are a bad combo! You can SLIGHTLY bump up your phosphorus before bud set, but bring it back to normal after set! Keep potassiom steady the whole season.

I also mix in fresh aloe, fulvic acid, & potassium silicate periodically. I also water with a bit of blackstrap molasses every watering to feed the bacteria in my soil!

Side note - the aloe, fulvic acid, & potassium silicate mix is the absolute BEST thing I've ever seen for rooting! Better than any gel or powder in my opinion!

Don't forget - if you use a gritty mix, you might want to think about fertigating! You MUST provide 100% of your plants nutrients throuought it's life.

Find stuff that works for you & PLEASE keep it organic!

Make absolutely sure you bring plants inside when temps reach 45 degrees & below! Frost & cold is a mother & will kill your plants, I've seen it happen!

There are ways to try to keep them alive outside in winter: frost blankets, Christmas lights, pipe insulator, & wood chips on top of your soil all help; but your best bet is to keep them inside you winter.

You have 3 choices here
1. Keep it alive - Bring it inside your house, keep the heater up & maybe put some pipe insulator on if your house gets cold

2. - Continue growth - this involves getting grow lights & heating mats, but you can produce flowers inside, there are many documented accounts.

3. Dormancy - you can pull the plant out of the soil, wrap the roots in newspaper, & store it in your rafters till spring. This sets you waaayyyy back in your growth cycle for the following year.

Lastly, keep in mind that plumerias mature at different rates! I got 2 different plants at the same time, 1 flowered in 2 years, one in 8.

I hope this helps, good luck!

GO RAIDERS!!!
Jason