It took me awhile to understand the ease of uprooting my plumeria in a pot then replanting in the spring. But they do splendidly and come right back. **What is the smallest size tree you can uproot safely??** I have some small 1 year old seedlings about 18" tall I am wondering about. Less pots in the greenhouse the better for more space!!

Lucky you in FL don't have to heavily protect your trees. So I have been listening to others in our area where we sometimes get freezing temps.

I got a tip from a plumeria farmer who uproots her trees then plunges them all into one big pot of perlite. She says the foot print is smaller for winter storage as you can put almost 40 trees into one large pot, and the perlite actually makes small roots grow giving them a big head start in the spring. I will be doing this with my trees. I don't have 40 trees so this will be easy!

Also suggested *cutting* the leaves off early, leaving 1/2" stem. Then letting it callous and fall off naturally to help prevent stem rot while dormant. And then uprooting. Now's the time. Weather is starting to cool off (finally). I am just protecting them from heavy rains we've been getting. I don't want to winter over some soggy pots!

Cheryl; I too am going to try the above technique for the _first time this year...

Have already moved all of mine under a covered porch protected from rain... temps are getting down to upper 40's low 50's every night.

They're slowly dropping leaves. Think I'll go out & start trimming off remaining leaves.

for the tips.

With young seedlings I would be careful uprooting them. But larger trees can safely be stored barerooted.

Thanks @Dutchlady1. Minimum size 3 ft tree ok?

That sounds fine.

Since this will be my Ist year to go BARE, I've a few newbie questions

After trimming leaves... letting pots dry out.. uprooting... removing all soil.. Should I spray the entire stalk/root ball with Safer's Soap _before placing in perlite? I've had no incidents of buggy plumerias this year :)

How deep do they need to be in Perlite? buried or only deep enough to cover root ball?

Decided to keep _One in pot since it's only 14" tall and has had only 1 growing season with me (my Black Purple).

Just have the perlite cover the rootball. I can't answer your question about the Safer's soap..... others I am sure will know.