Tiny little pods are cute to be photographed too. Don't be shy, show them to us, we love anything Plumie-related!
Congrats for them!

Mima

Hey spiro.

I generally dont water unless they plant looks to be shriveling or is softer than normal.

congrats on the seed pod. I have 2 so far this year.

Mike

I do water, but sparingly. Maybe once every few weeks. As long as there is good drainage, it shouldn't be a problem.

astrl

This means you store plumies for winter in their pots? I've seen many advices to take them off the pots and store them bare roots in dark spaces indoors.

I live the dfw area,, I'm a newbie But the guy I bought them from said to bring in Nov 15 and don't water at all, and take back out april 15 to shade first then to sun gradually... anyway,, He never said to bring in bare rooted,, how would one do that"( I know take out of the pot,) But put in what instead a paper sack? Plastic?? what?? Need all the advice I can get ,, I don't want to lose 4 plumies my first winter :(

If you normally grow them in pots then simply leave them be. Just Dont water or at least at a minimum. The people who bare root them grow theirs in the ground during summer then dig them up for winter. I am doing one that way this year and plan to many more like that next year. Dont store bare root trees on a cold surface. Some will mist the roots every once in awhile but I Dont believes its required.

Mike

Mike thanks so when they are brought in bare rooted does one just put in an empty pots then?? I'm just curious as I may put mine in ground next spring,

Spiro, I water all mine during winter EXCEPT newly rooted plants. Anything with a root ball at least a year old will get a small splash of water once a month or so. Some will get a soaking if they're still leafed out--and I have a few that will keep leaves all winter--but overall I look at how much they're shriveling. Yours may just need more water during winter.

Blooms, don't bare-root store any that are younger than about 4 years old. They need a thick trunk and some woody roots to survive all winter with bare roots. I did my first last winter with just a paper sack over the roots, like this:

I've also seen a nursery near San Antonio just throw their bare root trees on some cardboard on the floor of their greenhouse, but these were older thick trees. Don't try with younger plants!

If we get a freeze this winter, I will dig up my plants and store in a cardboard box from Lazy Boy. I will remove the leaves, and store in the garage. I also saw the plumeria that were stored at the same nursery that Jen saw, they had dirt around the roots, just laying on the floor on cardboard. They were just stacked laying on top of each other. I plan on storing mine upright in the lazy boy cardboard box, keeping dirt around the roots. Just like I saw on Emmerson's website.
We usually do not even get cold weather until Feb., it may not even freeze this year, but I will be ready, just in case. I will only bare root store my larger plants, anything under 3 ft will be in pots. Barbra

I'm with Jen...

My dormant trees get just a little water every month. They are stripped of the leaves and talked Into resting... The other trees that are actively growing get watered when needed ( when dry). I have to put them to sleep. For one.. Space issues.. Secondly.. Marriage issues.. ;-). Put away and then I can also have a rest... ;-). It is a nice break I will add. Then it's time to get ready again for the new season... YES!!!

Some don't water at all during the winter months, this has been discussed before and we all have different dormancy periods with our trees.. My time period is from November to mid April . So they are resting for 6 months... Mine need water during that time period. Not much, but a
Little. Think of the natural trees that are dormant in the wild.. They still have live roots and still receive rain every once in a while. As long as they don't sit in water.. I give them a drink every so often. That is just the way I do it..

It depends on your area, it also depends on the maturity of your tree.. Newly rooted seedlings are kept growing all winter.

The young trees are closely watched as well. The older more established trees are sent off to the back room to rest. ;-). They are used to the routine and haven't missed a beat. They all get watered during dormancy, but not much... I have never lost a tree by putting them to sleep and by watering them a little. Never had black tip issues either. ( maybe I shouldn't have said that... ). To the plumeria gods.. I'm sorry... Lol

I'm sure you will hear of others that don't water at all.. Again, depends on a lot of factors...

Good luck!!!

Laura

Wow you guys give a load of information here, Thanks ever so much from this Newbie here!
I have 1- 1 gallon, 2- 2 gallon and 1- 5 gallon pot to bring in, I was told to bring in mine Nov 15 no matter the weather, and since here in the Dallas area it may still be warm in Dec off and on, and they still may produce leaves, even while inside,,, so do I leave all the leaves on even after I bring in? OR leave them be and let them drop off on their own?? I only have one window they can go in, ( the glass sliding door to patio) so do I put there or anywhere i can get them to fit,(small apt here :( ) does light matter while they are resting?
I know a lot of questions but I really want success as I'm sure you all understand ;)

HI B4M2!!

Since you only have a few containers... I would follow the lead of some of the other locals in your area.

If I were you.. I would leave them in the containers... Bring them in and place them in a sunny window. Let them drop their leaves naturally and see if they decide to go dormant. They might for a little while, but then wake up early. I would listen to others in your area since you have a short winter season. I would still give a drink every so often tho...

Just me...

Good luck!!!

Laura

What is the lowest temp that the plumeria's can be kept at? This is also going to be my first winter with plumeria so I want to be ready. I only have a couple of plants and already have a place set inside. I am just wondering when to bring them in?

Thanks

Mark

Mark - I keep an eye on night temps. When we hit 45ú I start cutting off leaves so will be ready to come in. I get nervous when we hit 40ú so like them in before that. I know some keep them out much lower ,even down to just above freezing,and will cover/and or add lights, on cold nights. It all depends on how long the winter (cold) season is. Some varieties handle cold better than others. I'm with Laura so have a long time indoors. I cut leaves as with the number I have would be a big mess if I let them drop inside. I have 2 small indoor greenhouses w/lights and fans (shelf type) that the young ones go in, to continue growing. I water 1/2 cup - 1 gal pot once a month, more if they start shriveling. It's not enough to even come out the bottom and I keep it away from the stem. I had one get black tip a singapore which are prone to it. I make it one of the first to bring in. Check with those near you and see what they do. Hope that is of some help and it's just what I do with mine.
Peg

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I may try to give that particular tree a little more water this winter. All the rest of them seem to be fine getting none.

I do have some seedlings, now, though, so I'll have to treat them a little differently.

Blooms4me2, I live in Little Elm, and the past couple of years, the plumerias seem to do fine in my garage. I start thinking about digging mine up (I just plant the pots in the ground every year) once nighttime temperatures hit 50 degrees, but it looks like from this chain of posts they can probably endure much cooler than that. I don't cut the leaves off, but it does make quite a mess in my garage when they fall. I just put the pots in one of those plastic tubs from Wal_Mart or Lowes and leave them alone all winter. At times, if the weather really dips, I may bring them in and put them in my house for a night or two. But that depends on how much the wife is willing to put up with.

jandey, one of the "spider" seedlings is growing a couple of branches. Pretty cool.

Last year, my smaller plumeria in pots, were brought inside the carport the first of December. My husband put a light and heater inside, then stapled thick plastic around the carport. We left the light on constantly, the heater was set to go off it got below 40 degrees. I never watered them, but had removed all the leaves. The end of March I brought all the potted plants outside to water. I did not loose any of my plumeria, but did loose a few desert roses. I need to mention that the humidity is thick where I am, so I believe they get moisture thru the air. The larger plumeria I left in the ground, with their leaves. These plants grew thicker during the winter months, but we never did have a freeze. Barbra

Spiroan,, thanks so much since we live in the same area, I will follow your lead. I was thinking about next spring to plant in the ground, seems to be the way to go :) you guys are awesome,, so glad I joined here !
Opps I don't have a garage, so I do have to bring in the house, when you guys say "wake up early" do you mean it starts putting off new leaves sooner then it should??" Sorry another question, ;)

Spiro, that's great! Thanks for the update! Let's hope it grows into a nice, bushy seedling instead of the usual lanky plumeria adolescent, lol.

Mark and Blooms, each of your plumeria may behave differently. I tend to let them go dormant or not as they naturally do. The ones who keep leaves longer go next to windows. When I had manageable numbers--before I got to mumble-mumblety plants ;) --I would only take them in just before a freeze and then put them right back outside for the warm winter days we have. That helped keep down the spider mite and white fly numbers.

Now with so many I spray them all just before Thanksgiving and a day or so later bring them into the house or garage permanently. Here in Central Texas we use Thanksgiving to Easter as our guidelines for winter storage, but in DFW or West Texas you'll probably get a light frost a little earlier.

As with bare-rooting, the older the plant, the better able it will be to tolerate temps around 40. Many tougher ones like Celadine will take light frosts but only if planted in the ground and given some covering.

Your plants are young so don't take any chances--their first winter is always their hardest and many people lose theirs to rot. If you're not sure about watering, then don't. Good luck!

A lot of great info on this thread. I live just north of austin and this will be my second winter with my plumies so hope all will go good. I did loose one last year to rot. I have been thinking about keeping my cuttings from this year going under a grow light. I have a 400 w MH that I can use. ..I have been doing some research on keeping them going over winter and seems like a good thing for the younger plants? But will have to keep and eye out for spider mites. Any thoughts? Thanks to everybody for all the helpful info. Dont know where some of us newbies would be without yall!

When the nights begin to get close to 60, I place mine on the covered back porch. Each day I'll trim a few leaves until all leaves are removed just before the temps fall below 50 overnight. Then I spray them with Bayer 3-n-1 several days before they come in the house for the winter. I do not water, but will mist them while they're in storage.
Lonnie

Lonnie,

Do any of those inflows bloom in that room, or do they all just dry up? That could certainly be a positive to having them in the house as opposed to a dark garage.

The inflo's typically stay and will bloom in the spring.
But, anything can happen. I had a three year old seedling with an inflo last year and accidently knocked it off while moving it indoors. What a bummer! I place plastic over the carpet in a spare bedroom & watch for spider mites!!!

Lonnie

Good Info here from the DFW members, I will follow suit ! thanks Guys !