How come you dont want it to go dormant? Naturally they want to. Plus overwintering indoors is a snap. Cut the leaves off, put in a cool to warm room and walk away until spring.

on watering,if it has leaves then water it some what normally, maybe not as much during the winter but if it is actively growing it does need to be watered.

Mike

I guess I don't want it to go dormant because look how pretty it is (see link)!!!

Seriously though, I guess I don't want to see a stick next spring. It seems so depressing.

Here is a link that might be useful: My leafy plumeria

Hey Mike, how have you been?

I think that i will let mine go dormant for the first time... it's a bit scary to me. I'm afraid they will go to sleep and not wake up.

Do you give any light at all? I am putting mine in a room with a window and didn't know if I should leave the blinds closed or open.

Also, with no leaves, do you still get any mite problems?

Hey allan. Doing well. Its a bit chilly this morning. fall is on its way. This will be my first year overwintering them in a house. I haven't built a greenhouse at my new place yet. From what I know Laura and others just bring them in. mites like leaves so without leaves you shouldn't have problems. Maybe a few on the tips but that is easy to control with some insecticidal soap.

I hear your collection grew by a few!

Mike

It has done some growing, but i made a mistake with my first 3. I put them in decorative pots that kind of round in at the bottom. Now that they have gotten taller and heavier, if the wind blows right they will fall over every time.

When is the best time to repot? I think I'll go the way of the majority and just use black nursery pots.

That's stinks. Hope they aren't too messed up. most will say the best time is spring. Which it probably is. my thought process is the best time is when the plant needs it. I re pot stuff all year long.

If you ever come to Tulsa I got tons of nursery pots. I could give you some. all from a gallon to 20 gallon. I have sorta been hoarding them. LoL

Mike

Let me know when southwood gets a shipment next season and I will. I've got to have Thai Jade and maybe one of JJ's dwarf varieties.

Hi Guys!!!

Spring is the best time to repot..although, I do it all summer long!! I wouldn't take any chances during the cool period ( fall).

Mike is right, I do take most of the trees leaves off before I bring them inside. This is for storage reasons as well as mite problems. Plus, I can't and don't have enought light to try and keep them going. It is true, they all go into a dormant period anyway. Even trees in Cali, Florida and Hawaii go dormant for a time.., natural for Plumies!!

I cut off stems about I inch from the base and then let that piece fall off naturally. This takes about two weeks for them to drop... Then I spray them with 3 and 1 ( Bayer) and bring inside. I also let them dry out before I bring them in. I don't want the roots to be wet.

They are put into a room with the blinds closed and the heat vent closed off too! The room stays somewhat cool, but not to cold since it has other rooms that are heated right beside it. They take their time falling asleep and I do here a lot of chatter going on in the room, especially those " Moragne's ". Lol!! Edi, Mary, Sally, Bill , Jeannie, Katie, Kimi and a few others they want to be in different spots. Lol. They want their favorite spots and they have their own order of seniority!!! Lol!!

Then you have the ones with Inflos.. They make the most noise, since they think they have to be in a special spot... Or the ones with pods... Lol. They think they need their own room...

They don't like it when I " say NO". ;-)

Some of mine will stay with leaves in the greenhouse and they will drop their leaves naturally.. Some will stay close to my T-5 lights upstairs.. They all have a place to go.

Good luck, it is a sad time cutting leaves, but if you choose to let them be natural and let nature take its course... I think it's great!! Just don't be surprised if they keep dropping, it does happen. My sister in law has hers in a back room and some years they look nice and green. So? It just depends on where it is located, the variety and how it feels...

Oh.. I haven't had any issues with spider mites when the leaves are cut and they are in a cool room for the winter. The only time I have issues is when they are under grow lights. The spider mites love Plumies.. And Adeniums too!!! All of the other plants don't have a problem.. Hmmmm?

Hope this helps..

Laura

Double post

Mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Sat, Sep 21, 13 at 16:47

I decided to cut off over half of my leaves. I feel so sad. It looks so pathetic. When I was in SoCal, my plumies would still grow leaves. They'd drop a few, then slowly grow them. Maybe I just had a happy place for them (they seemed to thrive at my last apt, full sun almost all day long - south facing). They have never lost all their leaves or even most of them.

However, since I don't want to deal with mites and I need my small T5 light for my seedlings also, I decided I needed to do what was needed. I admit, I'm sad. I also didn't want to deal with spider mites and have them attack my seedlings. Where do they come from if you're indoors?

Hopefully it won't go fully dormant and lose all the leaves. It's growing a handful right now. And I want it to look pretty come spring (even with it's few leaves left). It will be on a heat mat, under a T5 light, next to a south facing window, and in a warm (65+) house. I don't think it's going to go fully dormant, but we shall see.

Thanks everyone. Needless to say, this move has been an adjustment in all ways. I had to get rid of all my trees :( so, I'm holding onto this one for dear life. hehehe.

This post was edited by kelela92 on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 19:44

Kelela91, Welcome to Oregon! Hopefully, your plumeria will adapt to our Oregon climate. This will be my first year trying to winter over a plumeria, which I tenderly carried home with me in a 2 inch pot from Volcano, Hawaii. It has leafed into a beautiful specimen, and I plan to bring it indoors once the temp hits 42 degrees. Not looking forward to war with mites.

Hi K

I had mentioned that some don't cut leaves... I don't want you to cut because some of us do. We do this to help store our trees and help them start the dormancy process . If you want to try and keep one or several trees growing, then try ! ;-). We are saying that they will shed leaves as they naturally want to rest . Please don't cut because some of us have to and or want to . My plumeria count is wayyyyy up there! Lol. So I have to do this for several reasons. Try and keep it going if it pleases you .. It will tell you when it's ready to rest . Don't forget to limit the water in the winter. They don't like wet feet !! If it loses all of its leaves , then I would set it off to the side and let it rest. Some don't water. Some do. You will have a longer dormancy period, so like me .. I give them a taste of water once a month when they are dormant. If they are still active. Then I give them a little more. Use the wet dry cycle and check before you water if they are still actively growing. Some use a cheap meter. Some use a wooden skewer to check for moisture levels.

Hope this helps. Don't be sad ... They will make you happy again in the spring when you see the emergence of newly forming claws ( leaves).

Relax. It's all what the tree wants. We can't stop Mother Nature !

Take care ,

Laura

kelela92 - The first year I just brought them in, in their pots and let them do their own thing. If they kept leaves they got water. When they lost leaves I cut back on water. Some didn't loose many, some lost some and some lost all. Most dropped the old leaves as they were ready to go outside again. I didn't have more than a dozen then and it worked out fine. Now I cut leaves as I have many more and need to save space and cut down on the mess of dropping leaves. They still are kept in pots. Watering, or lack there of, is probably the most important thing in winter. I have never kept mine on heat though.
Peg

I would just set up your grow light and let the plant do whatever its going to do. It may loose all or some of its leaves. if it keeps leaves then lightly water (maybe 1 time per month or less) and no fertilizers until maybe April or May in your climate.

mimi7:
Thanks for the welcome. I think we both need to acclimate. I didn't expect it to get this cold this fast. Brrr. I am going to have to do some research on the mites, never seen them so I won't even know what they look like. I brought in a lovely spider with the tree though. Yuck. I hate spiders.

loveplants2, pcput, kms2:
too late. I cut off most of the leaves. Honestly I knew I was going to have to trim some of it. They were already housing spiders on the leaves. Yuck. I thought I got them all, but guess not. I also didn't want to deal with mites.

I kept the healthiest leaves and cut the rest (see attached photo). Maybe next year I'll decide again what to do, however, I'll also have a lot of seedlings. I may have to expand my indoor area.

I appreciate all the replies....and to know that not everyone cuts off all the leaves. I've never had to bring my plumie indoors, so I didn't, and still don't, even know about mites. LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1206384}}

Well this is interesting. Got some inflow's growing and the little leaves that were there is growing too.

Glad I brought everything inside when I did. Temps are already dropping to the low 40's. Brrr.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1206385}}

Kelela, Thanks for sharing your pictures. You have a very healthy looking specimen. Now I know how to trim my plant. Haven't brought it inside as yet, as I'm hoping for a few more warm days. It's the nights I'm worried about...

Thanks mimi7.

All the cut stems fell off in the past couple of days. I saw spider mites already on the leaves I've left, so I wiped them down with a 3-in-1 spray and turned on my overhead fan (not sure if that's enough wind).

I was surprised when I saw the inflows starting to grow to the point of being noticeable. Not sure if it'll do anything, but I thought it was interesting.

Loved seeing your inflows. How old is your plant? Mine is less than a year old, and I've read that it could take up to 4 years to bloom. Meanwhile, I'm hoping for next summer...

I'm not sure how old it is. I bought it in 2010 or 2011 (from Costco) and it already had flowers. It's bloomed every year since. When I bought it, it was 2 feet tall.

I take it you raised your since it was a seedling?

It was a 2 inch pot that I brought back from Big Island, Hawaii, last December. I also bought a plumeria stalk that they sell to tourists, which I killed. I hope my little guy makes it - He's about 18 inches tall, and I just moved him next to the house, as it's predicted to be as low as 38 tonight.

Oh how fun. Strangely enough, because I go to Hawaii a lot, I don't have any from there. All the plumies I had (before I moved) were given to me by my family/friends or purchased in CA.

Definitely on my next visit, I'm going to have to bring something home.

38, brrr. How come you're not bringing it in? Shouldn't it come inside by now?

This will be definitely be the weekend. I need to prune and treat it, and then it will join the humans in the house.

As I was checking in on my seedlings, imagine my shock to have seen an inflo on my adult plant. I'm assuming I'm using the term correctly. See photo below.

I brought my plant in late September. It has been in the mid-60's in my house (dropped to 59 today, brrr). But it's on a heat mat and gets 12 hours of T5 light.

I'm pretty sure it'll open up, because a few days ago, it was half the size. It's growing and I'm shocked. I thought for sure it would go dormant or at least not do anything. I'm happily surprised. Especially since it's 38 degrees outside right now. Brrr. Glad my plants are happily warm.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1206386}}