Are they permanently in the ground or do you uproot at the end of each growing season? I would also ask about soil temperatures but it appears to me that you are in a warm/dry climate

Yes, they have been in the ground and never been uprooted. Seem like they don't do well in the ground at all. You're right it is quite hot (80+) and dry. We are in Thousand Oaks, CA. I'm thinking about potting them.

Possibly, Dave, it is 68 degree just before 6am and will be high 80 to 90 today. I need to put most of them in pots in the shade. Otherwise they will get sunburned.

Assuming you have looked at the tips for insect problems and found none. Hard to say but it looks like the first picture has some branches with yellow leaves. A lack of fertilizing could be a factor. Since you just addressed it lets see what happens. Also possible that its was too dry.

Possibly behind in growth due to May grey/June gloom combined with lack of nutrition. Now you're playing catch up. I'd top dress the organic way with worm castings, compost, balanced organic fertilizer...finish off the top with wood chips/mulch for soil cooling & water retention.

Thanks, Km2 the leaves go yellow and fall off. There are some leaves growing. The weather here is very dry but I water it every other days.

Thanks Tunatony, I will follow your advice. Really don't want to uproot them.

I'll second that, provided they are getting a lot of sun where they are now...you can always root some cuttings from them after you get them thriving...best wishes.

Update, about a week after getting fertirizers I mentioned. It shows good progressing. Thanks all for all suggestions. This pic shows before and after as of today.

Great to see. The new leaves do appear to have a richer green to them. Again its really hard to tell from the pictures but the soil does appear to be sandy or rocky which combined with the slope could result in the roots drying out faster than expected. Perhaps because your container plants are doing well they are holding more water in the containers in the the much maligned Perched Water Table. A bad thing for some in northern/wet climates but something that probably helps my container plants survive July and August with just once a day watering.

All supposition on my part but thought I would offer it.

Thanks, km2. It's even greener with newly developing leaves this morning. Unrelated to this topic, the only problem of plumeria in my pots is they have splitting at the base of trunks because of the heat and dry weather. Some are very severe that I need to cut their branches and pot them up. Now I moved them to the other side of the house where the sun doesn't bake them. Here is a few sample of my poor babies.

Boom, the plants you have in the ground I would give water to every day. I noticed the rocks next to the roots and with the hot sun heating up the rocks the roots are going to be drying out faster than usual. Good Luck and I hope this helps!

Dawson

Thanks Dawson for your observation. I never thought about that. I will water them everyday like your suggestion.

You could try raising the soil level in those containers. Sometimes the container rim can act like a parabolic mirror. Another trick is to use white marble chips or pine bark mulch as top dressing to fill up the container.

Boom the base of your potted plumerias are yellowing and splitting that is most likely sunburn. I normally fill up my pots to the top with dirt and it seems to help reduce or eliminate sunburns on the base of plumeria.

some plumeria experts believe that the extra space of unfilled pots radiates too much heat and causes the sunburn. Anyways, just to be safe, I fill mine up to the top and I sometime plant succulents on the base of the pots too, both for beauty and to help prevent sunburn of the base.

Your plumerias on the ground are doing great, in this hot weather my plumerias get a little bit more frequent waterings but am in Zone 9A.

Thanks K, Should I top the the base of potted plumerias up with mulch and pine bark to cover the splitting? I afraid that they will grow fungus or rotten. Thanks for your advice.

Gigi, I live in So Cal (CA), it is very hot and dry during the day time. I can feel they were baked in the sun (90+ degree), poor things! With the new location being shaded by our house, they get less direct sun. Thanks for your advice.

My dwarf pink Singapore is recovering well about a month of more feeding and watering. Thanks all!

I have never had a problem using pine bark to top off a container. If you want to go inorganic then white marble chips are the best inorganic. Only issue is how much weight it adds to the container. I used marble chips on some 25 gallon decorative containers and swore the whole way to the greenhouse last winter.

Great Job. Its looking really good.

km2, I wonder if white marble would reflect too much light to the plant. SoCal is very dry and hot during summer. We have a horrible heatwave, about 100+degree. I like bark as it holds moisture for the soil. Thanks for your observation.

Completely agree about using pine bark as the first choice. inexpensive, lightweight, and not prone to promote disease or insects.

Reflecting in this case is much better than absorbing. So if it's inorganic light colors are the best way to go. Darker inorganics will grab the heat and hold onto it. I am in a very hot climate too and have recorded surface temps for example on lava rock, pebble, stone mulches and gritty mix up to 149 degrees.

Thanks, however my family and I are planning to move and this baby will go with us. I will keep your advice in mine. Thanks,