I would think Mike from New York could help or any of the Virginia people. They all have to deal with snow. Bill

Thanks for the heads up about Mike, at this point I can't seem to find any one in W.Ma. that grows them let alone sells them,I need to learn as much as I can I want to get a few more next year

Bear,

Yes, you can certainly maintain them under lights in winter. Eventually you may run out of room, but try it for now. In Fall, right around when nights dip into the low 40s, I will remove about 2/3 of the leaves. I will spray the stems, tips, and top of soil with 'Home Defense' bug spray (outdoors) and let that dry before bringing them in.

Move them to a location under lights. Reduce watering. Now, depending on what you want them to do, set your lights to either under 11 hours (to keep them barely growing) or over 14 hours to possibly get them to bloom. Eventually they may drop leaves...this is usually determined by variety. My Penang Peach will hold on to leaves and bloom all winter under lights. Other varieties will drop leaves.

Gotta go for now.

dave

Hi Bear,
I also grow plumerias under lights during the winter. I like to keep my newly rooted cuttings growing thru the winter. I have found that they seem to do better for me the following summer.

I live in western NY by lake Erie which luckily gives me a ew degrees more of warmth. I have a relatively short summer here so my window for growing plumeria outdoors is small. I usually can start bringing some out by Memorial Day and by Labor Day, I have all ready started bringing them back indoors.

This is why I like growing under lights. I only hada few plumeria last summer but some were still trying to bloom by the end of summer. I brought mine in under my 600 watt hps LIGHT where they continued to grow and bloom. I keep my lights on for at least 10 hours. Each diffrent type of grow light will determine how long you have to keep your light on. HPS lights are also designed to help promote blooming. I found that they also have helped my plumerias to grow.

In my case, my plumeria still went dormant. They didn't go dormant for months like they would have if they didn't have that light.

Also, my cuttings that I had just rooted seemed to do much better when I kept them under the lights. The root balls continued to grow and I had much larger, and healthier plants than I di the year before.

I also agree with what Dave said about the insect control. For me, I have found that pure 100$ rubbing alcohol really helps to keep the spider mites under control. Spider mites seem to be my #1 problem with growing my plumeria under lights over the winter. Also, I have been told that keeping a fan on them will help to ward of the bugs. Basically, the bugs do not like having constant air movement on them.

No matter what you decide to do with them over the winter, make darn sure that you have some sort of insecticide/pesticide on hand. I lost many MANY tropicals over last winter because I had such a heavy pest infestation.

Good luck! You are in great hands here!

Andrew

Hello,

I am new to this forum. I had purchased plumeria cuttings from the Big E last year. Tried to root them, no success, they ended up rotting. I tried again this year in the spring, success! I grew 3 cuttings successfully. I gave one away, kept two. One of them is blooming right now, I never expected to see flowers the first year! I am located in Southwick MA (Western MA). I too, am wondering what to do with them over the winter. I'd like to keep them growing. But I'd like to know if these plants actually need to go dormant. I have included a picture, I'd hope someone could tell me which variety it is? :)

Very nice! Kudos to you for growing in a difficult climate!

What is the Big E?

Your bloom is beautiful, and the one it looks closest to is Pu'u Kahea, however, yours has a fainter bud and a wider pink stripe without the star. But the petals on yours also reflex back the same as Pu'u:

Here is a full inflo in the heat of a Texas summer:

How is the scent and the foliage on yours? Pu'u has a very light scent and narrow, upright leaves. Flower size is small, about 2" unless you spread the petals out, then they're about 3".

Good luck with your other one.

Jen

Hey Guys and Gals!!

Dave and Andrew have given you some great advice..

I would follow what they say, close to what i do in southern VA, Dave, ANdrew and I follow the same kind of thinking for our trees. Some are sent to "sleep" others are kept active under lights. I used the sleep mode because i have to many to keep active.. DH would have a thing to say.. LOL>>.

Nice to see you Bear!!!

On your new cutting, you could always place it on a heat mat under the lights to give it the needed bottom heat to give it the maximum growing potential.

Good Luck.. im sure others will be talking about trees in winter..so keep reading those other threads too!

ALl the best!!

Laura

Hi Jen... Great pics... sigh. Love them all! : )

First I want to thanks every one for there help on caring for my plants over the winter, I did as you guys said and now I'll wait for spring to see how well I did,This morning I was checking all my large potted plants to make sure there are not bug or any thing else on them, I found that my Bridal Bouquet has 2 inflorescence (sp) on it, I know its a ever green and hope it will bloom for me under lights its getting about 14 hrs of light plus what ever comes in the window.
Thanks again for all the help
Bear

jandey, The big E is what we call our state fair, I haven't been to it in over 20 yrs.
Veronique, I'm in Springfield, I did keep 2 alive over last winter even with out any heat or power for over a week after last Oct storm, I put them in the basement where its cool around 60f and let them go to sleep, now I hope that the bigger ones I have started grown will do well.
Bear

Thanks, Bear. Good luck with Bridal Bouquet. Everyone who has it seems to love it for the foliage and reliable blooms. Nice to have plumeria flowers during your long winters!