Plumeria Care and Expert Plumeria potting and repotting

Facts About Potting Plumeria

I have read much about re-potting container plumeria on many plumeria sites, and it is truly a potpourri. First how you treat a plant can depend on locale/climate. The expression "what works for you" is a common saying that may justify what many do and not on sound and proven horticulture practices.

We grow many trees from cutting each year and we fertilizer every plant after repotting. In addition, we fertilize all trees we move into larger containers and plant in the ground. Our losses are next to nothing from fertilizing on all three. Over the years we have found that production growing has a whole different mind set than someone that may collect plants (i.e. a hobbyist). We have been willing to take risks that others may find scary. So with that in mind we have gone to the limit in the past to see just how much fertilizer a plumeria can handle in all our growing phases. My career in this business has a strong landscape background and I had learned when planting turf it is essential to feed sod or seeded turf at planting time. Also, every plant put in the ground must be fed at planting time to survive and return to its intended vigor.

Many after reading articles say “the bigger the pot the bigger the tree”. I have always agreed that is a very true statement. However, transplanting a rooted cutting or a small one gallon into a large fifteen gallon container brings many risks to plumeria. One of the primary risks is: the container will remain wet for a longer period of time the soil has a great possibility of becoming anabolic, introducing harmful bacteria into the plumeria promoting root, stem or tip rot. Another issue is the large container with a small plant will not only use a small amount of water and it cannot process fertilizer in the amount for large container sizes. This is considering liquid and solid granular types of fertilizer. That is not only wasteful it could kill the plant from salt buildup or fertilizer burn. The bottom line is over potted, wet containers are deadly to plumeria. Many think that over size potting will make the plant grow faster. That also is not true in the case of plumeria. I have participated in studies as far back as the late 1950’s that proved that losses of plant material were always greater with “over potting” and a plants growth and vigor never matched a plant that was reasonably upsized. One exception was some types of eucalyptus trees. We have found that reasonable up sizing is beneficial for the plant as it will grow faster and stronger. Over thirty seven years of growing plumeria has made that a fact for us.

Some compare plumeria to bonsai repotting. This is not a proper comparison and comparing repotting a bonsai would not be appropriate in this discussion. I say this as I was mentored by John Naka the foremost bonsai expert of his time. I studied with him for quite a while and learned that bonsai growing style has little relation to growing plants intended for other usage.

We always use B1 product with potassium, added hormones and Yucca Extract (steroid supponens) when repotting. Then depending on when in the season we repot will dictate the added fertilizer (NPK).

I believe plumeria collectors/growers need to study more on the usage of fertilizers. I add this because misinformation and high middle number marketing in the past and present are full of errors about matching NPK to various issues of building roots, flowering, growth and overall health of the plant. Phosphate (P) is an important part of the NPK for newly transplanted plumeria as it is has a role in root development of most plants. But is not the silver bullet for flowers. Also the type of fertilizer used plays a large part in success with Phosphate. Liquid Fertilizers are far more efficient because they completely cover the root zone. Phosphate ions move very slowly in the soil and the plant may have difficulty in assimilating solid pelletized products.

Note this short article about Phosphate:

"Though this is for the farmer or for turf grass you will get the point! “Phosphate Facts • The first 10 pounds of Phosphate needs to be seed placed!

• Phosphorus will move only 1/10th of an inch in the soil per season!

• Crop roots only come into contact with approximately 2% of the soil area!

• Soil tests represent only 1-2% of the total soil Phosphorus!

• Seed-placed Phosphorus is 40 times more efficient than broadcast Phosphorus!

• Seed-placed Phosphorus is 4 times more efficient than 2" x 2" placement!"

I believe many are hesitant, worry over issues because of lack of study and accurate knowledge of horticulture that relates to the growth of plumeria as well as other plants. I would encourage everyone to research horticultural studies rather than depending on word of mouth from people that think they know how to resolve these many issues. I am seeing more and more people advising out of guessing rather than advice based on appropriate research and/or results of their own experiences.

When is it time to repot your plumeria?

This is simple to determine by checking the plants root system. Look to see if roots are growing out of the drain holes, if they it is time. Another way is gently remove the plant from the container and look to see if the roots have completely filled the soil area. If they have now it is time. If the roots have filled the area and are beginning to grow horizontally and wraparound the inside of the pot, take a very sharp knife and cut up or down the sides and across the bottom of the root ball. This will allow new roots to grow from the cuts and prevent unwanted "root spiraling".

We always use Liquinox Start a good B1 product containing Phosphate, added hormones and Yucca Extract (steroid supponens) when repotting. Depending on when in the season we repot will dictate the added fertilizer (NPK). Plumeria collectors/growers need to study more on the usage of fertilizers. I add this because misinformation and high middle number marketing in the past and present are full of errors about matching NPK to various issues of building roots, flowering, growth and the overall health of the plant. Phosphate (P) is the most important part of the NPK for newly transplanted plumeria as it is has the major role in root development of most plants. But it is not the silver bullet for flowers. Also the type of fertilizer used plays a large part in success with Phosphate. We like to use liquid fertilizers because they are far more efficient in completely covering the root zone. Phosphate ions move very slowly in the soil and the plant may have difficulty in assimilating solid pelletized products. Our choice for liquid fertilizer is Liquinox 4-10-10 Liquid Fertilizer.