Plumeria seedlings - not growing

10 years ago

Hi everyone, Greetings from Slovakia! :)
As many of you I couldn't resists the charm of Plumeria either and of course really wanted to have my own plants. I know the conditions are not the best due to the climate here but there are many who grow Plumeria in the same climate. So, decided to get my own plants and seeds.
Got 3 plants 2, 3, 4 year old. The oldest is going to bloom soon (hope it will make it) :). But I have worries with the plants that grew from seeds and wanted to ask for some advises.
A year ago I planted several seeds. The plants were growing nice but after about 4 months they stopped growing (sometime in July). They've had 2.8 - 4 in and several leaves. They're still so small.
During summer they were out, at the sun, had regular watering and fertilizing. I used 11-11-11 fertilizer for Plumeria. They are in smaller pots - about 4 in and 5.5 in. The stem is very thin but it's not soft.
All my seedlings survived the winter; some already have tiny new leaves.
Any ideas what I did wrong and what should I do to make them grow as they should?

Here are some pics from July 2013

Pics taken today; the 1st one is the same plant as the 2nd pic above

My seedlings: Maui Beauty, Abigail, Nebels Rainbow, Charlotte Ebert

Thanks.

Comments (5)

disneyhorse
10 years ago
Yours sound exactly like mine , planted this past summer. Mine went dormant because they live outside and I didn't bring them in... But mine are all poking new leaves out now. I think seedlings are tricky and require lots of patience. Mine don't get a lot of warmth so far and I've got them all each in a gallon pot... I'm curious to hear what others say because I would like more growth on them as they finish their first full year of life...
veronika33
Original Author
10 years ago
Mine were outside only during the summer months. Then I used to bring them inside every evening. During the colder months, they've been right next to the window and above a heater.
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elucas101
10 years ago
Hard to say for sure, but a few things I would check - see if they are root bound. If they are root bound, move them to a larger container.

I have some seedlings that are like this and I can't say why - the only thing that I can reason is that I planted them late in the year last year and they didn't get as much growing time as my seedlings from the year before. I also didn't put pesticide on them enough and I truly feel the thrips and spider mites / bugs may have stunted their growth.

While your leaves don't show signs of bugs, it's really worth thinking about, possibly a weak / organic pesticide applied periodically may help them.

Also, I don't know a lot about fertilizers but I don't know if 11-11-11 is the best ratio for the plants? You don't want something to induce blooms yet, you want them to grow / get the right amount of nutrients. I use a 9-3-6 ratio on mine but I'm not saying what you're using is wrong, I just don't know what that ratio you're using promotes.

These are just some thoughts on some things to check. My first group of seedlings grew like crazy, my last year's not so much...so I'm watching mine trying to figure out what I did differently as well.
rox146
10 years ago
Aloha,

In 2005 I "hatched" 25 viable seeds. Planted them according to what I read. They took off, relatively speaking, and about half have finally bloomed. The rest have not and maybe never will.

This past fall I did the same with 2 different seed pods. Only 12 from 1 of the pods were viable, I did the same thing and they are hardly growing at all. So there ya go with seedlings....a gamble....roxanne
veronika33
Original Author
9 years ago
Hello,
thanks for your advises :). Seems it's really about the seeds and our patience. All my seedlings are still the same, expect 3, which started to grow again. :)
Anyway, I still have some older plants and one of them is going to bloom soon. I'm soo excited :))...will share the pics then.