Hi Lynn. As you know, (since I continually complain about my lack of large plants :), I only have 2 large plants. Both are in 3 gallon pots and sit on cement. Generally I water about every 3 days unless we get some "cooler" days then I may stretch it to 4 or 5 days. Both are planted in a MG type mix. On this same cement patio I have 2 smaller plants, potted in the 4:3:2 mix in 1 gallon pots, plunged in 3 gallon pots with surrounding mulch. I have to water them about every other day.

I liked making the gritty mixtures and do like to start my cuttings in it but I don't think I'll be putting any more larger plants or cuttings in the gritty.

Your Thumbalina and AG... were they in the same light conditions before the move?

Mona,

Yes they are all in the same location as all the others. But I always noticed they don't tend to like the direct prolonged sun too much. However, when I mentioned this to a few other experts they told me to keep them in the sun and they will adjust eventually.

I bought most of them at JJ's so they were in greenhouses under controlled environment. Most have adjusted after a few months but for some reasons these two are still struggling. But I do see new leaves coming out and they are green and seem to be ok. Both also bloomed profusely... AG is done but Thumbalina is pushing more buds now. So fingers crossed they will acclimate soon.

Maybe you should talk to James or Bill or someone in your vicinity, Lynn. Typically, acclimating a plant to full sun conditions after coming from a greenhouse is a short span of time. Not months?

Both my AG's are in full sun all day. Now, they aren't large blooming plants like yours but they are the ones in the 4:3:2 mix I mentioned in my other post about needing water every other day. My thumbelina is a small 3 tip cutting and is also in full sun.

If you fertilize every other watering, that means you are feeding every 8 days or so? I think I would talk to someone with more knowledge on the Foliage Pro. Perhaps what you are having is fertilizer burn?

It's worth checking into.

Yep they get fertilizer every 8 days is correct. Yeah I hope either James or Bill will jump in with their take on this.

But the rest of my other plants seem to do fine... just these two are my problem children. LOL.

Which 2 are they in the family portrait? :)

The second floor balcony... look for the ones w/ yellow leaves! :)

It's been averaging at least 110 here in Arizona the past few weeks and I still just water my plumies every 3-4 days. I just stick my finger in the soil about 3 inches to see if the soil is dry. At every watering I'm using kelp extract and Superthrive.

Lynn, when you have as many children as you do, they can't all be super models! :)
I did some poking around and you can use 1/4 tsp Foliage Pro per gallon once a week with no prob. You're a protekt user aren't you? I love that stuff!

AZPDude - that's hot. but it's a dry heat :)

No clue,

Another thing you might want to ask yourself, are they by a wall? We are getting 102 weather here where I live. The ones next to my block wall get some sunburn damage but survive fine, just yesterday I moved some of my newer plants into the area away fom the wall, because they were getting damage on the newer leaves. I have never had that problem before this year. The heat reflects off of the wall (or house etc.). The only thing it greatly affects are my Singapores becayse they don't often lose leaves (since they are evergreen). So those sunburned leaves stay on an are a bit of an eyesore. Last year I move the one that kept getting sunburned. I planted a Guillott's Sunset in the same place, and no leaf burn (maybe the Singapore's burn easier because the leaves are shiny???). Just a guess.

As far as watering goes, I depend ona watering meter. It is the only way to accurately tell whether they need water. Also, some dry out faster than others, so I feel more secure in checking them. I know my planter with plants in the ground (although raised up higher than ground level, so it can drain) dries out faster than my larger pots. My smaller pots dry out faster than my largers pots, etc. i just water according to the meter.

With the heat we have been having thr one thing I am doing more of is just hosing down the leaves more. We are dry where I am and I figure they appreciate what little humidity for how short a period of time they can get it!

i still have 3 plants just now developing inflos. One no id, and two of my 3 Singapore Whites. They are my favorite!! I will be blessed with nice blooms past Christmas with those!

Jennifer aka Labland

Jennifer...

well we do have walls now that we're in the apt... but we have only been here for 5 days and those two have been struggling even in the lower temps and not near a wall at the old house. I have other plants close to the wall and they all are doing well. For whatever reasons AG and Thumbalina just seem to prefer less direct sun and cooler temps. I guess I will just keep a close eyes on them. As long as they keep pushing out new green leaves I'm ok with that.

Wow you guys have much hotter temps than us! Hey but if our plumerias are happy then it's all worth it.

its my experience certain cultivars can take full sun and others will be happy with less. It just sounds to me like some typical leaf burn assuming its not insect damage...which from a distance has the same basic look as a leaf starting to yellow and burn from the sun. Up close you can definately tell the difference.

For what its worth I thoroughly water 3x a week for smalls (2-5 gallon) and 2x for bigs (18-25 gallon).

85, humidity 89% and heat index of 96 at 0530 this am.
Plumeria in pots on the back deck get watered almost daily, they, like all my plumeria, are in full sun for pretty much the entire day. Most have been switched from black pots, which dry out much faster and seem to get much hotter than the others. I will be repotting on Monday, my day off, I repot whenever they need it and it never seems to bother them, I just put them in shade for a couple of days to recover from any stress and them BAM! back in the sun. Even cuttings get 4-8 hours of sun per day.

I moved AG to the backdeck because it just wasn`t happy on the front porch with only about 5 hours of sun. It s very happy back there. I would suspect yours may not have a great root system.

Plumeria planted in the yard get watered every couple of days with everything else. Our "soil" is really just sand so it drains superfast.

Had hoped for rain this weekend but looking less and less likely.
Tally Ho!

I encountered your type of "soil" in Port Lavaca (Indianola really), and while bluebonnets, Indian blankets and Indian paintbrush did great, it was just a constant battle to keep anything else alive. One hour after watering anything, the soil was bone dry.

Back in the 110 degree days it was usually twice a day. This week we got blessed with rain every other day and highs only in the low 90's. Im sitting on the porch watching it drizzle and the temp is 75. I may have to get a jacket,LOL.

mike

Lynn - I guess we can agree that all the varied responses means only one thing... you have to learn your own plants needs, and that will come with time. You've only cultivated your green thumb for a short period. And you've managed something others haven't... seed pods! :)

You have good instincts. Follow that woman's intuition!

I can't wait for my Thumbelina to get big enough to bloom! And a question... are the leaves on your AG huge compared to other plumies? Anyone else have a comment on that subject?

Back in the 110 degree days it was usually twice a day. This week we got blessed with rain every other day and highs only in the low 90's. Im sitting on the porch watching it drizzle and the temp is 75. I may have to get a jacket,LOL.

mike

Ok I think I figured it out... the wall w/ the afternoon sun beating down on it was piping hot! So all the plants that were inches from that wall suffered some degree of leaves burnt... but Thumbalina and AG got the worse of it. Even my Tipsy has 4 crispy leaves. Yikes!

So today I moved them at least a foot away from the wall. Thumablina and AG will only get morning sun then they are in the partial shade. I must baby them a bit. Luckily I detect new leaves sprouting out so I'm hoping the burnt ones will just fall off and new ones will grow. While most of Thumbalina's leaves are burnt to a crisp her inflos are still thriving. So I hope both will survive. Wow that didn't take long for the wall to damage my plants! Sheesh.

I can't wait to go to our permanent home. December can't get here soon enough for all of us.

I think I'm going to water them every 3 days during this heat wave and then back to 4 days like I did before. They all seem to do ok with that schedule... with the exception of my Divine. She is always thirsty! LOL

Mona, that's the one reason why I don't love AG. Her leaves are HUGE bigger than the size of a human head. And she's so droppy! I need to tie her up or something. But her flowers are gorgeous and she has a sweet peachy scent.

Moonie and NC:

If you think AG's leaves are big, you should see Katie Moragne's...or, even bigger, Veracruz Rose's. Holy cow! "Gigunda" is what my mom's mom would have called them.

Glad you figured it out, Lynn. I don't think you will have to worry about the future health of the plant, though.

You know... my Katie is still not showing any signs of roots. It's been 2 or 3 weeks since I posted that Kauka Wilder finally decided to show some root and that was at the 12 week point.

Greg - I really -really- want a Veracruz but keep putting her off. VCR may be a little too big for me when I already have the 2 AG's and several other large leggy growers.

yeah, it ain`t much in the way of soil, I live in the city which was all filled in after the 1900 storm, so really I have the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in my yard. Wanted to dig the pond 5` but I hit the water table at 4`10" and had to backfill when salt water started creeping in. I can grow a cactus right next to water plants I swear, the water goes straight down.

RAIN!! We got RAIN!! Thunder! lightning! INCHES OF RAIN!!
Tally Ho!

Has been in the low 90's and high humidity and a lot of sun...so try to water daily here. If I miss even a day with my plants in buried pots, , they will droop and tell me I am neglecting them. Pick right up when I take care of them routinely.

Well, I'm the new kid here, and I'm a little concerned reading all these responses. You see, I'm only watering about once a week.

I live 4 blocks from the beach, but we have been having temps in the low to mid 80s. I keep a stick in the pot, and check it every day.

I keep remembering something I read on this forum: wait until you think it needs water, then wait another couple of days. And since my frequent flaw is overwatering, I'm trying to be extra careful.

Bottom line, it looks ok. Some blossoms have fallen off, but there are buds coming along. Leaves look good.

Hey tomato.

with temps like you have once a week will probably be just fine. Dont fret if you go too long and they get a bit limpy. They will come back just fine.

Mike

Tomato,

I was only watering once a week when our temps were in the mid 70s to low 80s. Only this past two weeks when we got temps into the low 90s have I started watering once every 4 days. Like you I tend to over water as well so it's hard to hold back. But so far so good... :)

I'm watering every other day here, temps about 100-105 lately, although this weekend we also had RAIN! ACTUAL GLORIOUS, REAL, MORE THAN 10 MINUTES, RAIN! Temps supposed to be going lower into the 90's this week...we'll see about that.

I had to pot up some of my seedlings because they would dry out so fast and then tip over.

Hi Everyone,

I also have had lots of rain here on the East Coast, but the temps can change in a blink of an eye!!

I find all of the different varieties need water at diifferent times. I check them often and i will wait until they are dry and then water.

We all have different climates and humidity can make a difference too! SO, i wouldnt worry about giving to much water if youu have a good draining mix, but it seems like they like to dry and then get watered.

I checked all of my trees today, since we had two days of rain and some of them are dry.. I was shocked, but the leaves do protect the soil and sometimes the water can just run off and never reach inside the containers.

As the temps start to change and get cooler during the fall, i will be more careful about watering.. especially if i ever mist my plants.. I dont want to encourgae orange rust..

Tomato.. You are doing fine with your watering..

As long as your plants are healthy looking and growing well,, i wouldnt worry.

Take care everyone!!!

Laura

Tomato, a lot of my plumeria are in pots on the backdeck, full sun all day long, wind and high humidity dry out any soil/soilless mix you use so I have to water more frequently. I even have cactus that are watered a couple of times a week because they grow in pots on a flat black roof and dry out almost the day you water them. All the pots are mulched, even the cactus.

We all adjust watering to our conditions. Most of us can tell just by looking if the plants need water. You get to know your plants.
Tally HO!

I think we need to take each other's watering schedules with a grain of salt. What really matters is what each individual plant needs. This varies by geographic location, humidity, cloud cover (clear vs. hazy), nighttime lows, natural rainfall, plant siting, size and vigor of plant, size of root system, etc., etc.

For example in my plumie patch, a recently re-potted plant may only need watering once week. Any more and I might do more damage. On the other hand a few rootbound, mature and well-established plumerias with huge heads of leaves may need watering twice a day in super hot weather. My plants plunged in the ground whose roots have grown into my garden soil can get some moisture from the soil and may get by with less watering by me. Plants sitting on my hot deck next to a brick wall will need a lot more water.

So, it all depends....

I tend to over water as well and am glad I'm using a gritty mix. After watering I let them sit for a bit and then tip the pots to one side and let the excess water drain away (if they're sitting flat the perched water level tends to stay a long time).
I should be using my moisture meter though and only watering when it reads dry!
Also I absolutely agree that it depends on the individual plants. My Scentsational never droops but my Celadine does and they're both growing in relatively large pots with the same gritty mix.

-Robert

And to add to what Dave said... not only are our watering requirements different, but we all water differently. Some people are light waterers, other are heavy waterers.

I don't completely flush my pots every time I water but many people do. So, I may completely saturate the soil and I may not. Or if I'm watering a plant and one nearby is almost dry, but not quite dry, I may still water it. The next person might pass it by until the next day.

There are just so many variations.

Everyone's made excellent points, stuff that newcomers really may not be aware of with these plants.

I would only add that you can't water according to just leaf droop. Even a well-watered plumie can droop during the heat of the day if the air is hot enough, only to perk right back up when the sun goes down.

I still find a bamboo chopstick plunged into the pot is the easiest way to see how dry your soil it. Trunk wrinkles are also a good indication about how dehydrated a plant is.

Drooping won`t get you watered at my house, I know that trick. The brugs will make you think they are dying every day they look so horrible, by evening they are totally different plants. All perky and happy.

I`m a drencher, water every time until water comes out the bottom of the pot.
Tally HO!