@tarev or anybody can help answer this question. location -stockton,ca

When should you start moving your plants indoors? can i store them in the garage? My pulmerias and Crown of Thorns. The weather is getting cold in the early morning 55' but warms up to 78's during the day. thanks in advance. anything else i need to do when they go dormant.

I don't grow Crown of Thorns, but my plumeria has already been subjected to 48F on a couple of occasions. They are as healthy as can be. My plumeria will begin to go inside when the temps get down to the mid or even lower 40's. They are going to go completely dormant regardless, so what's the big deal if they get some cool temperatures? I just think the coolness better prepares them for dormancy.

Last year I waited til the very last minute on everything til Frost threatened. But there was warming forecast after that and I am a good half zone warmer than 5 B. The western edge of my city is Zone 6A. So I tossed frost blankets over the very tender stuff and did not move things in til 10 days later. My outdoor thermometer showed we only got to lower 40s.

With Plumeria and Crown of Thorns alike, it's not the temperature alone that matters as much as whether that colder temperature is combined with rain. Cold and wet is the death of them. If you are at 45 and dry you're ok, if you're at 45 and rainy I would think about protecting them.

I can only tell you what works for me, David. I simply don't worry about my plumeria until low 40's show up on the long-range forecast, rain or no rain.

Hi cherryblossoms, I start moving them if our overnight temps starts going below 55F. Even though we still reach 70's daytime, it is the overnight temp that is dangerous. Especially if they are newly rooted ones still very young, move them indoors. I move mine into one of our empty south facing rooms. So it becomes like my greenhouse of sorts. Then I reduce watering my Plumerias to make them go into dormant mode. The irony of our location, we get the rains in winter..but it is cold rain, the tropical loving succulents will not like it and may kill them altogether.

I would also move the Crown of Thorns indoors. They are Euphorbias, and they like to be kept warm. When I first got them, I thought they can handle the cold, big mistake, some died, some made it. So best to bring them indoors again by a south facing window.

What is the temperature in your garage during winter? It might be too cold for your plumeria. Best to keep them indoors. I notice my outdoor temps is just the same in the garage..freezing cold too during winter.

Hey cherryblossoms..is your area getting some rains right now? We are getting some, finally after a long, long time. I think our very first nice one in over 5 months! Hope you have your cutting with no roots yet in a protected spot, keep it dry, our temps are cooler too.

The other Plumies you have with nice leaves already, will enjoy some of this nice liquid gold

I would love to keep them indoors as well but my husband is not very fond of any plants being indoor especially when I have about over 15 containers 😱😔. I just moved all my Pulmerias and COT (crowns of thorns) into the garage this evening. My last watering was this past weekend- Sunday. That should be okay right? It's not going to rot my rooting or plants by placing them in the garage- the soil is damp. My husband was saying- it was going to be all moldy because I decided to put them in the garage.

What I can do is repot and put my expensive COT in actual planter and bring it inside the house so husband wouldn't make such a big fuss. Would that be okay?

Yes, it was light rain this evening and the cold is setting in as well. Thank you Tarev! Those Pulmerias were my first time rooting during the summer. Can I repot it and place them in a 1 big container to bring inside? Sorry, I have so many questions.

I just want them to survive this winter 😳😳😳😳 any thoughts Hetty, Tarev, Ken or David??

Some would force the plumies to go to sleep, by cutting off the leaves half way and pull them out of the pot, clean off the soil, lay them in newspapers in a box, so you can store them safely and dry in a warm area. Maybe you can do that too.

Is your garage heated? If it is, then it should be okay to store them there..but if it is not, it maybe dicey. Our garage here is not heated, and it feels freezing cold too when temps are cold outside. You may want to store and make sure it is dry on newspapers in a box in any of your warmer rooms inside your house.

Your COT can still stay potted in a container indoors, just keep it warm and dry. It will slow down growth and rest, as it drops the leaves.

My hubby was also at loggerheads with me when I bring some of my plants indoors. I have to pull in most of my orchids, my Adeniums and the smaller Plumeria, and some other warm loving succulents. He finally understood and appreciated it when some of the orchids bloomed while indoors during winter..saved by the orchid bloom

My most recent pictures of my babies. The husband doesn't understands that I adore these plants. Gardening helps me release some of the stress I deal with at work.

These were the blooms in the summer from my COT.
I have grown attached to them
You guys must think I'm some crazy lady 😂😂

I over wintered a Crown of Thorns last winter in basement under lights. I cut back its water by about half. Which was not much to begin with. It stayed green but went to slow mo fer sure. Did not drop many leaves at all. I did the same with my Plumeria, Brugmansia, Tropical milkweed, Myrh and frankincense. And lots of others.

Thanks @Tarev- thinking of ways to slowly bring my plants in without the hubby making a fuss LOL. I can put the small COT small containers into a big box and bring them in. Thank you for that idea I'll figure out something by this weekend.


How about putting all my pulmeria cuttings in a fewer pots and then bring them inside. Would me repotting the cuttings disturb the rooting system that had already established? Can that can lead to decay?

You have beautiful plants and we are all crazy ladies (and men!) for loving our plants so much. Why else would we be here?

I looked at your plumeria rooted cuttings closely, they are still in a very early stage of growing so the roots may not be totally established. It also looks like one is trying really hard to give you a bloom, nice looking inflo forming there, you will have a nice bloom in a few weeks.

If it were mine, I will let the soil dry out a little bit more (which could mean keeping them outside this week-end to get more sun). Then keep them on a dry side....going forward (moist is fine.), giving it as much sun while temps are not yet in the 40s. (I sometimes bring my plants in at night and haul them out daytime.)

Also, are you planting the stems really deep into the soil? Just curious. I like to plant mine 2 inches below the soil line. If top heavy, I stake them right away to help support it.

Will do Gigi- i will surely move them out Friday for some sunlight to dry them out and bring back into the garage by Sunday. I'm just glad I didn't listen to the husband and took my chances leaving them outside because it was pouring raining like crazy earlier this morning and still pouring now at 6 am.

I had purchased these COT throughout spring -summer time from a friend/vendor. I will try must luck with rooting these baby cuttings later next spring especially the little Pink flowering COT- growing like crazy. This obsession & collection started by 1 plant given to me by a co-worker

Yes, I will stake them for support.

@hetty

All my dozens of plumeria have to come inside to overwinter. Mid to late October is usually when that process begins. I have tried all kinds of ways to overwinter them, and have posted lots of times about what I do.

If you have to bring yours into the garage and the soil is still moist, I would sit a box fan several feet away and run it 24 hrs. a day so that the air movement will speed up those leaves' transpiration and thus draw moisture from the soil. If you have a way to keep the temperature at or above 60F, if these is adequate light, and if there is some air movement, you can continue to grow your plants, though they will go semi-dormant. You'll just keep the potting media slightly moist and occasionally mist the leaves. The alternative is to simply allow those plants to go dormant and keep the soil dry as a bone. All the leaves will be lost, other than the tiny, terminal ones. You may still get that one with an inflo to bloom. I have had my dormant plants bloom without water and without leaves. The blooms will be kind of puny though.

Other than for new seedlings, I have never really attempted to actively grow any of my plumeria over the fall/winter months. This year, with a new solarium available, I plan on doing this with a handful of my plants. I am picking the ones that are in bloom (I love the flowers and the frangrances). I will be able to post my results next spring.

This is the set-up I had last year in my garage, a 6x8' "temporary" greenhouse. It will be increased by 2' (at least) this year. The "greenhouse has a 2x4" base, 2x4" framing, and a solar blanket material covering. It has super-insulation value and required very little heat, even when the outside temperature dipping into the mid-teens.

The above is what I have experienced and is only based on my growing conditions and trial-and-error growing. Others will have different ideas, different experiences, and different results.

cherryb1ossoms said:
I have grown attached to them
You guys must think I'm some crazy lady 😂😂

Of course!! In a wonderful way. I have found that plant lovers are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Always willing to share knowledge and passion.

And yes, I become quite attached to all my plants - some more so. Particularly tropicals and those way out of zone. Example: the attachment I have for my Plumeria - even her named Little Darling.

drdawg said:
This is the set-up I had last year in my garage, a 6x8' "temporary" greenhouse.

Ken - Do you provide any light in there?

Hi cherryblossoms! That was one grand rainfall overnight huh? I was also surprised to see it at 2 am Temps were not bad really it stayed at 61F, so all the plants can bear that rain and it really felt like warm rain. I see both our areas will just get spot showers the rest of the day, after that I see no rain again, just a chance on Sunday.

You can still bring them out today and all the way to next Thursday still. I would let those plants enjoy the brief touch of good humidity right now. Very seldom we reach this 93% humidity versus the usual 30% humidity and lower. And Plumies love high humidity. But keep your leafless Plumie in a protected area in case it still does rain.

Do not be alarmed if your Plumie leaves starts turning yellow later, that is just the plant showing it is starting to nap. That will make pulling them indoors easier, the plant is already showing you it is ready to go to sleep for the incoming cold season. Either you wait for them to do that or go ahead and cut the leaves. Either way the plants will sleep. Dry days are coming about again, so it will naturally dry the soil. The overnight temps though cool is still bearable, nothing showing below 55F there, so the cool temps will prompt the plant it is time to sleep. So expect those nice green leaves to drop soon. It will be just sticks afterwards, so either keep them in their dry soil or pull them from the soil and store in a warm area.

@David, notice the window on the right side. 2/3 of the window allows light (west direction) directly into the "greenhouse". When I extend the greenhouse, the window will be fully within the structure. Also, the garage door is only about 6' from the greenhouse, so when it is open (and it is most of the day), it allows lots of light in. The garage door faces south, so its bright light.