Spring Updates - The Plumeria
Winter in Indianapolis this year was wet and cold. Compared to the winters in Erie I've experience, Indiana is relatively mild for winter.
That being said, JJ the plumeria did not like winter. Obviously, being a tropical flowering plant, its not hard to understand why she was so unhappy with circumstances. Growing plumeria indoor was a bit of an experiment.
Bryan likes a cold house but I forced him to keep the temps up for the plants (and for me!). I found her a nice, sunny spot away from a draft and I built her a dollar store humidity tray.
How to build a dollar store humidity tray: Place plastic saucer or drip pan that's slightly larger than your planter's base, and then just add in some dollar store "river stones" to the bottom. Fill the saucer up to the top of the stones. When the water starts evaporating, slowly start adding back in water. This allows the plant to get humidity without having to invest in any expensive humidifiers.
JJ was doing okay for the first month or so, but come January, she got a very bad case of spider mites. The common remedy for a minor outbreak is just some good old Dawn dish soap but these mites were awfully pernicious.
When the dish soap didn't work, and JJ started dropping leaves like mad, I had to start investigating stronger, more lethal bug killers. The answer was Neem oil but that turns out to be a particularly hard item to find in the middle of winter. I had to special order it but by the time it arrived and I could start treatment, all of JJ's once beautiful, lush foliage was either dead or marred beyond repair.
And the mites came back again and again, treatment after treatment until JJ was only 2 leafs and even her inflo had withered. Worse, the Penang Peach had also contract the spider mites. Fearing the worst, I did the only thing I could imagine to save JJ - I stripped away the remaining leaves.
It was ugly. JJ looked dead, no inflo, no buds. March rolled around and nothing stirred. April and still no sight of life from JJ. It wasn't until almost May that I saw the first signs of life coming from JJ. Tiny, tiny little leaf buds. Thankfully, the winter broke and I could move JJ outside. Long hours in the sun and plenty of heat managed to bring her back around. She's no where near as healthy as she was when we brought her back from California, but I'm just happy to have her sprouting again. With all of the issues this winter, I doubt we'll be seeing flowers this summer, but I have high hopes for next year. I'm even more helpful when I checked JJ's pot and saw little roots already poking out the bottom, which means despite the struggle she's still strong and eagerly growing.
The Penang Peach that I bought from an grower on Ebay in October, which is a terrible time to plant a plumeria. Thankfully, the 6" cutting already had a few roots on it, so I planted it and waited. "Peachkins" as I've dubbed this cheery little plumie was just delighted all winter. She grew several leaves (some of which were almost bigger than her!). She caught a bug from JJ but she kicked those mites in one treatment. Right now she's outside flourishing. I like to think Peachkins and JJ's are chummy companions. I'm excited to see what will happened next.
And do you all remember "the little seed that could"? Well he did! Lil Nebbie is growing like a weed. His leaves are a deep and glossy green and he's grown about 4 inches. He's only 1 year old but if he keeps growing like this, he'll be branching out in no time.
That being said, JJ the plumeria did not like winter. Obviously, being a tropical flowering plant, its not hard to understand why she was so unhappy with circumstances. Growing plumeria indoor was a bit of an experiment.
Bryan likes a cold house but I forced him to keep the temps up for the plants (and for me!). I found her a nice, sunny spot away from a draft and I built her a dollar store humidity tray.
How to build a dollar store humidity tray: Place plastic saucer or drip pan that's slightly larger than your planter's base, and then just add in some dollar store "river stones" to the bottom. Fill the saucer up to the top of the stones. When the water starts evaporating, slowly start adding back in water. This allows the plant to get humidity without having to invest in any expensive humidifiers.
JJ was doing okay for the first month or so, but come January, she got a very bad case of spider mites. The common remedy for a minor outbreak is just some good old Dawn dish soap but these mites were awfully pernicious.
When the dish soap didn't work, and JJ started dropping leaves like mad, I had to start investigating stronger, more lethal bug killers. The answer was Neem oil but that turns out to be a particularly hard item to find in the middle of winter. I had to special order it but by the time it arrived and I could start treatment, all of JJ's once beautiful, lush foliage was either dead or marred beyond repair.
JJ in September after the 1st spider mite attack. Still blooming but her leaves are dwindled and thinning
And the mites came back again and again, treatment after treatment until JJ was only 2 leafs and even her inflo had withered. Worse, the Penang Peach had also contract the spider mites. Fearing the worst, I did the only thing I could imagine to save JJ - I stripped away the remaining leaves.
It was ugly. JJ looked dead, no inflo, no buds. March rolled around and nothing stirred. April and still no sight of life from JJ. It wasn't until almost May that I saw the first signs of life coming from JJ. Tiny, tiny little leaf buds. Thankfully, the winter broke and I could move JJ outside. Long hours in the sun and plenty of heat managed to bring her back around. She's no where near as healthy as she was when we brought her back from California, but I'm just happy to have her sprouting again. With all of the issues this winter, I doubt we'll be seeing flowers this summer, but I have high hopes for next year. I'm even more helpful when I checked JJ's pot and saw little roots already poking out the bottom, which means despite the struggle she's still strong and eagerly growing.
JJ recovering outside in the June heat
The Penang Peach that I bought from an grower on Ebay in October, which is a terrible time to plant a plumeria. Thankfully, the 6" cutting already had a few roots on it, so I planted it and waited. "Peachkins" as I've dubbed this cheery little plumie was just delighted all winter. She grew several leaves (some of which were almost bigger than her!). She caught a bug from JJ but she kicked those mites in one treatment. Right now she's outside flourishing. I like to think Peachkins and JJ's are chummy companions. I'm excited to see what will happened next.
The Penang Peach "Peachkins" with leaves so big you can't see the trunk
And do you all remember "the little seed that could"? Well he did! Lil Nebbie is growing like a weed. His leaves are a deep and glossy green and he's grown about 4 inches. He's only 1 year old but if he keeps growing like this, he'll be branching out in no time.
Lil Nebbie in February
Lil Nebbie in June
As Bryan and I plan summer vacations to San Diego and our co-workers prepare for their honeymoon in Hawaii, my collection of plumerias is certain to expand!
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