I just harvested my first seeds from MM's Soft Pink. I don't know who the pollen donor was. I had probably a dozen varieties in bloom while the Soft Pink was blooming.

first seeds are exciting! I can't wait to see/find out what they grow up to be!

I will ship your seeds out on Tuesday, James.

I have been told it takes 7 to 10 years for the first inflow. Is that true Ken? I have seedlings over 5 years old and although they look robust still no inflos. I just signed up here and I love the subject matter of this forum. I am looking forward to sourcing some products from you Ken. Your website is my next stop.

@SeedsRUsEtsy

I have read numerous estimates for first-time blooming for seedlings, and the average estimate is around 5 yr. I can only tell you of my limited experience in growing plumeria from seeds, since that experience is only a span of 3 1/2 yr.

The first seedling I had bloom was my Kathryn's Fuchsia Fantasy. She had inflo. at 14 mo., was in bloom at 15 mo., and grew seed-pods at 17 mo. Plumeria experts have all said that this is an exceptional plant. At 20 mo., I had my second seedling bloom, my DD's Delight. These were single plants from two different seed-pod parents.

As I said, my seedlings are only 3.5 yr. old and there are only six of them. Two of them are those two mentioned above and the other four all have Slaughter Pink as their seed-pod parent. Two of those four now have inflo., so they'll soon be in bloom. That's their first blooming. These four are all labeled "January, 2014", which is when they were germinated. When each of these four bloom (and the blooms should all be different), I will name them.

Beginning last summer, I have taken a lot of cuttings from those seedlings, and in doing so, I have greatly reduced the chances for blooming. I rooted around 24 seedling cuttings last summer/fall/winter, and one of those rooted seedling cuttings bloomed in April, 2017. I have sold 8 of those rooted cuttings this spring, so I have no way of knowing whether any of them have bloomed.

I have two varieties of seeds, one from my MM's Soft Pink and one from my MM's Compact Pinwheel. They are both priced at $5.00 per dozen seeds. I began to germinate 10 seeds from the Soft Pink, 5 days ago, and I have already gotten 7 that have germinated. It is best to have fresh seeds. I will have more seeds from a Celadine and perhaps one other variety in a week or two.


MM's Soft Pink

MM's Compact Pinwheel

Wow your Plumeria flowered rather quickly. I have germinated dozens and all are in the 3-7 year range. I hope I can get some inflows this summer. MY Mardi Gras babies are about 3 foot tall with thick trunks but still no inflos.

Some varieties simply bloom early, some bloom more frequently, and some have that unique combination. It is all genetics. I try to only grow those that bloom well. I simply can't imagine growing plumeria that don't bloom or that take 7 or more years to bloom. I have only around 20 varieties, but in the early spring, I had over 100 potted plants. With so many, I can be picky.

Got my seeds today, Ken!

James, I bagged up 10 seeds of the MM's Soft Pink, and in 5 days, 7 of them germinated. Nothing like super-fresh seeds. I'm hoping to see some of that "magic" that I saw with the K's F. F. and DD's Delight. I know that is a lot to hope for, but those two spoiled me for life.

We can hope! I've never grown seedlings before this year, so maybe I'll have beginners luck. I have had really good luck with cuttings blooming, and with the seed pods from my princess pink (NOID), so maybe my plumeria luck will continue

I moved a half dozen of those Princess Pink seedlings out onto the patio, stationed under a wicker bench. They replaced some Adenium seedlings that are now in 1 gal. pots and in full sun until about 2 PM, when the sun comes through two panels of the solarium glass. Those Plumeria seedlings will get a smidgen of sun, but always filtered by the wicker. Mainly they'll just get fresh air, bright light, and rain. They are growing some and so far are looking good.

Very new to plumerias. I'll be getting some seeds &, if they sprout it will be approaching Sept./Oct. How do I handle the seedlings during the winter? Keep watering, or treat them as an established plant & don't water.

You will have germinate them, or at least you should. In my experience, the fresher the seeds the better germination rate. You'll then have to supply warmth, light, and moisture to keep them growing. If I knew where you lived, I might be of more help @tejasladybug.

How about going to your "Profile" and filling in your location, including city, state, and USDA zone? That way, every time you post, we'll know where you are. Often, knowing one's location helps us answer their questions, or if you are answering questions, the same thing in reverse.

Do all Plumeria produce seed pods? One of mine did last year. I kept them once they dried. Contemplating planting them

@ChikkaDean, Welcome to NGA

As far as I know, all plumeria produce them. Sometimes it takes many years for one to do so though. I think some are hard to pollinate, and you might not see seed-pods on those unless you are lucky or manually pollinate them. I'm no expert and only have about 30 varieties.

I have grown plumeria for 25 years and I never had one produce a seed-pod for the first 18 of those years. I was growing all mine in pots though and in zone 8 in Mississippi. Now that I'm in Florida and growing some in the ground, perhaps they'll be more prone to seed-pod growth. Oddly enough, and this shows you how important and amazing plant genetics is, only a single variety produced seed-pods last summer, and several of these plants did. That was my MM's Soft Pink. So far this summer, again, only a single variety has seed-pods, six pods on two plants, my Hausten White. One of those is potted and one is in the ground, and they are about 100' apart.

Soft Pink


Hausten White

Thanks for info...so interesting. I think I'll plant the seeds for fun!

Oh, I meant to tell you that in my experience, the fresher the seeds the better. With fresh seeds, I get close to 100% germination. With only a month age on them, that germination rate went down to 50%.