Hello everybody,

I live in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where Plumerias grow almost everywhere. I didn't noticed them before but I found a plant (see attached pic) and now I see them everywhere. The plant I've found was in a plastic container with very hard, cement like red soil. So, we took it home and literally chiseled off the "soil" and planted it in a new pot. The plant got a shock immediately from all the good stuff it received.


After a couple of days it lost almost all it's leaves but were still relatively green.



I watered the plant once after I repotted it.

What would you recommend I should do?
Thank you

kbuntu!

The repotting probably resulted in most of the feeder roots being damaged or lost. I would recommend that you clip off the remaining leaves (and in the future if you attempt this again I would clip most of the leaves before starting the 'operation'). I predict that if enough roots were left the plant will rally.
You still have about a month or so before it would go dormant so I think it has enough time to recover.
Keep us posted!!
Oh - and pictures of the beautiful plumeria trees in your area would be great!

Thank you Dutchlady1. We were really careful and yes a lot of roots were left.
The rest of the large leaves I clipped off but some of the tiny ones seem to be fine this morning.
I will certainly keep you updated.

I'm fairly new to Plumerias. You've mentioned they will go dormant in the colder months. Will this affect us here as well since it actually never really gets cold (75F / 24C in January)?

Thanks again!

Kubuntu.
As always, great advice from Hetty!

The only thing I would add is to treat it "as if newly rooted cuttings". Which means water once thoroughly and don't water again until after four baby leaves get big. If the feeder roots were slightly damaged, it may not have the ability to absorb excess water..yet until new feeder roots get established.

You can mist the stem to prevent dehydration.

Hello kbuntu, I think your plant will just slow down a bit in growth but not go totally deciduous as it does here. I have seen Plumerias in my homeland where our temps are in similar range as yours. Plumies there do shed some leaves but for the most part not go totally leafless as it does here.

I will follow though Hetty's advise to trim down the leaves and Gigi's advise to water sparingly till new leaves form again.

GigiPlumeria said: Kubuntu.
As always, great advice from Hetty!

The only thing I would add is to treat it "as if newly rooted cuttings". Which means water once thoroughly and don't water again until after four baby leaves get big. If the feeder roots were slightly damaged, it may not have the ability to absorb excess water..yet until new feeder roots get established.

You can mist the stem to prevent dehydration.

tarev said:Hello kbuntu, I think your plant will just slow down a bit in growth but not go totally deciduous as it does here. I have seen Plumerias in my homeland where our temps are in similar range as yours. Plumies there do shed some leaves but for the most part not go totally leafless as it does here.

I will follow though Hetty's advise to trim down the leaves and Gigi's advise to water sparingly till new leaves form again.

Thank you tarev & GigiPlumeria. Yes, I did cut the rest of the leaves. Will definitely give an update in a month or so. uhhhh so excited!!!

Thank you.

It's the night temperatures and the number of daylight hours that dictate dormancy; I would expect you to have some dormancy but I have never been to your area so I am not sure. Why don't you keep us informed?

Dutchlady1 said:It's the night temperatures and the number of daylight hours that dictate dormancy; I would expect you to have some dormancy but I have never been to your area so I am not sure. Why don't you keep us informed?

Just to give you an idea.
Temperatures in January (coldest month) go down at night to around 62-65F (16-18C). Day time temperatures range from 75-80F (24-27C) with an average of 11 hours of day light. Rain season starts mid-June and last to mid/end of October with virtually no precipitation the rest of the year. If I would compare it to Hawaii, I feel Puerto Vallarta is a little bit hotter and a lot more humid especially during the rainy season. It's just beautiful.

Will certainly keep track of everything and post updates. Thank you!!

Oh yes..just like our Phil temps! Very consistent 11 to 12 hours of light day after day, and Jan to Feb our cooler periods from the cold influence of Siberia. Hardly any discernible dormancy for any tropicals.

Good luck kbuntu! Keep us posted how it goes! If it does decide to finally drop the remaining leaves, don't panic or tend to overwater, as long as the entire stem is holding quite firm and nothing mushy on any part, it should come back nicely. It will form leaf claws, and wait till at least one leaf is fully formed and open, before resuming watering.

Just drove by a couple of plumeria trees and snapped some shots. They seem to be the same species. I did also see some yellow/white and pure white. So, far I haven't seen any other species except those three. :(

Perhaps somebody finds this info useful. After a bit of reading it seems we just have three species here.
- Plumeria rubia
- Plumeria alba
- Plumeria obtusa

The first one would be Plumeria rubra.
It would be interesting to see pictures of the other trees.

Dutchlady1 said:The first one would be Plumeria rubra.
It would be interesting to see pictures of the other trees.

The Plumeria rubra is virtually everywhere here. Large trees on the sides of the road or in yards.
I will take some pics of the other when I get a chance.

Can cuttings be sent to other countries? Would love to order some different varieties.

Some nurseries will be able to ship to you. It's best to approach the individual ones and ask. There will likely be a supplemental fee to clear customs etc.

Dutchlady1 said:Some nurseries will be able to ship to you. It's best to approach the individual ones and ask. There will likely be a supplemental fee to clear customs etc.

Thank you! I found somebody. Bree Ann from Plumeria Hut is shipping a bunch down here.

Here is another pic I just snapped close to downtown Vallarta.

Another I took this evening. Amazing fresh smell.