ooops

13 years ago

Hello all,

We had high winds last weekend so I moved a smaller Inca Gold and Aztec Gold into a sheltered area.

I forgot about them this week and this didn't water them at all during the week. They're in a 4:3:2 gritty mix and I'm guessing they ran (very) dry over the course of the week. When I found them today they were all wilted and the branches were a little wrinkled and soft.

I have to say I'm somewhat surprised that a week of no water did this, especially since they weren't in direct sun and the temperatures have been more moderate this week. I'm just wondering if the branches can actually firm back up or if it is too late. Of course, I watered them heavily when I found them this morning.

Thanks,

Brian

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Comments (3)

Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
13 years ago
Hi Brian,

I am hoping they will firm back up. They were not left to long without water, but along with the high winds and stress of the hurricane winds (?) that added to the problem of moisture (transpiration loss) with your trees.

You have done the right thing by watering well, and then i would go back and rewater. Especially in the GM. You won't hurt the roots by watering again. I would just make sure that the mix has not lost the moisture. I know you are familiar with this mix, so you know that it will run fast when watering dry GM. You have to make sure it is well watered after it gets completely dry.

But i know you have done the right thing!!!

Please let us know how your trees progress after this strange weather..

Hoping that you are doing well in Florida.

We had a time with winds and flooding, other issues too. Just glad that we didnt have the problems that our friends up north had. Just left Newark last night and the hotel we were staying in had people that were displaced. They lost everything. People were still camped out in the airport too. Made my heart sick...

Keep us posted..

Take care,

Laura
jandey1
13 years ago
No one ever likes to hear "oops" around plumerias!

Brian, I think this milder weather has been deceptive because the air--here, anyway--is so much drier than they've been used to. Like Laura says, the wind has really been drying them out more than usual.

What I thought was cold air wilt on several of mine--from a cold front at about 40 degree--was actually just dry droop. I know you're not supposed to let them sit in wet cold soil, but they looked so bad I went ahead and watered a few, and even with mid-40s at night they still looked much better the next morning. I don't recommend that to those living in colder areas, but I knew we would warm up again to 70s and 80s after a few cold days.

Did yours go back to normal after a good soaking?
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irun5k
Original Author
13 years ago
Amazingly after just one day the stems have firmed up quite a bit. I would suppose that they took up a lot of water over the last 24 hours. The only time I have seen soft stems has been during rooting, when things were headed toward rot.

Jen: you are right, the (much) lower humidity has a lot to do with this I think. This is also one reason why I'm skeptical of overwintering these plants the way our friends to the north can. I've got some varieties that stay partially "awake" over the FL winter and I've just seen the effect of only a week's worth of water deprivation.

Laura: the pictures from the NY/NJ area were just horrific. Very sad to hear about the loss of life. There are so many individual sad stories to this one.. floods, fires, etc. Even tragedy at sea... the HMS Bounty was sailing back here to St Petersburg and was lost at sea, I think at least two including the captain perished. I remember touring her as a little kid.