Plumeria Plant Care

 

The scientific name of Plumeria plant is Plumeria spp. And the plant is a genus of eleven species of small trees or shrubs that is native to the tropical Americas. The Plumeria plant is also known under the common name frangipani, and the plants are valued for their delicate fragrant flower clusters—you may recognize the plant from Hawaiian leis. The plant five-petaled flowers are actually waxy and highly fragrant.

The Plumeria plants have widely spaced, thick, succulent branches covered with a thin grey or tan bark. The Plumeria plants alternate leaves grow in clusters near the branch tips; these leaves are large, long, and leathery or fleshy. Some of the Plumeria plant species are deciduous while others are evergreen.

Depending on the Plumeria plant species, the plant leaves may be glossy or dull green, round or with pointed tips, and smooth or corrugated. The Plumeria plant growth habit also varies; some of the plant species are upright and compact while some other species of the plants are open and sprawling. 

Although the Plumeria plant is a slow grower, the plant may grow up to thirty feet tall in the landscape. When the plant are grown in containers, the plant stays much smaller and allows you to move them indoors for the winter if you live outside its USDA hardiness zone range.

Plumeria Plant Info

The common name: The common name is Plumeria, frangipani.

The botanical name: The botanical name is Plumeria spp.

The family: The Plumeria plants belong to Apocynaceae family.

The plant type: Tree

The mature size: The mature size is about ten to thirty feet tall, twenty to twenty-five feet wide.

The sun exposure: The Plumeria plants prefer full, partial sun.

The soil type: The Plumeria plant does well in loamy, sandy, well-drained soil.

The soil pH: Acidic, neutral.

The Blooming time: The Blooming time is summer, fall.

The flower color: The flower colors are yellow, white, orange, pink, red.

USDA hardiness zones: Ten to eleven.

The native area: The Plumeria plant is native to North America, South America, and Caribbean. 

Plumeria Varieties

The Plumeria plants come in a wide range of varieties and flower colors. The following is a selection of some of the popular varieties:

-         The Plumeria rubra variety: The Plumeria rubra variety is highly popular for its intensely fragrant flowers. The Plumeria rubra variety is native to dry, hot regions of Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela. This particular variety comes in many colors: yellow, white, cream, orange, pale and hot pink, and red. The Plumeria rubra loses its leaves with the onset of cold weather. The Plumeria rubra grows fifteen feet tall and wide.   

-         The Plumeria alba variety: The Plumeria alba variety is the white Plumeria that has flowers with a soft yellow center that fades to pure white near the tips of the flower. This variety is also known as a white plumeria, West Indian Jasmine, or nosegay. The Plumeria alba variety is native to Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles. The Plumeria alba grows fifteen to twenty-five feet tall and often forms an umbrella shape.

-         The Plumeria obtuse variety: The Plumeria obtuse is commonly known as Singapore plumeria or Singapore pink. The Plumeria obtuse actually bears flowers in shades of pink and white. Its flower petals are rounder than those of the Plumeria rubra. The Plumeria obtuse varieties don’t grow quite as tall as other plumeria, topping out at ten to fifteen feet in height.

-         The Plumeria pudica variety: The Plumeria pudica is sometimes referred to as Bridal Bouquet, and is a heavily blooming, profusely branched tree with a mature size of about fifteen feet in height. The Plumeria pudica is native to Columbia, Panama, and Venezuela. The Plumeria pudica flowers are white or cream-colored with a yellow center. Actually in warmer locations the tree is an evergreen.

 

How to grow Plumeria

The following are the main care requirements for growing a Plumeria plant:

- You need to select a good location with full sun and well-drained soil.

- Then dig a wide, saucer-shaped whole that is at least 3 times as large as the nursery pot or root ball of the Plumeria plant.

- After you have backfill the planting hole, you need to tamp down the soil and then water deeply.

- Since the Plumeria plant has a shallow root system, it helps to place a couple of large rocks over the plant root zone to prevent the plant roots from getting dislodged by wind.

- You need to water the newly planted Plumeria plant regularly.

- Once the plant is established, just give the plant about one inch of water per week, in the absence of rain more is needed. Water the potted Plumeria plants more frequently.

- Protect the Plumeria plant from temperatures below fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

- Fertilize the potted Plumeria plant once a month during the plant active growing season.

Light requirement

Plumeria is actually a tropical flower that grows in full sun and partial shades but prosper in abundant sunshine for at least 6 hours per day.

Soil requirement

Loamy, rich soil is perfect for growing Plumeria plant but the plant adapts to a wide range of soil types as long as it drains well. Make sure you avoid locations with soggy soil as it can cause root rot. Make sure the soil pH is between 6.5 and 7.0.

Water requirement

Actually, the rule of thumb of about one inch of water per week also applies to the established Plumeria plant. However, the watering needs to be increased if the Plumeria plant is expose to direct sunlight.

If the Plumeria plant is in a location with full sun for most of the day, the Plumeria plant will needs more watering than in a partially shaded location so you might have to water in the absence of rain. Make sure you water deeply and then let the soil dry out before watering again.

Don’t water the outdoor Plumeria plant in the landscape during its winter dormancy. The Indoor Plumeria plants that are dormant only need infrequent watering, as little as every 2 weeks. Water the plant just enough.

Temperature and humidity requirement

The Plumeria plant is a tropical plant that actually thrives in hot, tropical climates with high humidity. The Plumeria plants do not actually tolerate frost.

Fertilizer requirement

The established Plumeria plants in the landscape do just fine without regular fertilization, unless if the soil is actually poor. You can give the plant a bloom-boosting high-phosphorus fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season. Make sure you avoid fertilizers that are high in nitrogen, as this will produce more foliage than flowers.

The potted Plumeria plants should be fertilized with the same high-phosphorus fertilizer about once a month during the plants active growing season to make up for the nutrient loss from frequent watering.

Pruning Plumeria plant

There is little need for pruning the Plumeria plant, unless you are unhappy with the plant shape and you want to train the Plumeria plant as a tree with a single central trunk or a shorter, denser shrub. You can prune the Plumeria plant in late winter or early spring, before the plant new growth starts. Remove all the plant lower branches near the trunk or you can cut all the plant branches back to around half of their length.

Actually, the Plumeria plant typically only branches out after an injury (i.e. pruning) or after flowering. Just be conservative when pruning the Plumeria plant, as the tips of the plant branches produce the tree’s flowers, and cutting too much of them will reduce the bloom in the following year.

How to propagate Plumeria

The Plumeria plant is fairly easy to propagate from stem cuttings. The best time is in the spring.

In the spring you can find a spot with mature, gray bark and take a twelve to eighteen inch tip cutting using clean, sharp pruners or secateurs. Cut at a forty-five degree angle.

Just strip the plant leaves from the cutting, leaving only those at the top. 

Allow the plant cutting to dry at room temperature and let it be away from the direct sunlight for about one week, or until the cut end is fully calloused over.

You need to moisten the cut end and then dip it into rooting hormone powder. Try and shake off the excess powder.

Just fill a six inch pot with a very good-quality, and a well-draining potting mix, or a mix of potting soil and cactus soil or pumice. Then insert the cutting three to four inches deep into the soil.

Make sure you place the container in a warm bright location away from direct sunlight.

Water the Plumeria plant deeply and then allow the excess water to drain away. Just wait until the soil feels dry several inches down before you water the Plumeria plant again. Too much watering can cause rot. 

After the cutting has rooted, you can easily place the container in a sunny spot and then keep it moist but not soggy. You have to wait for the cutting to grow into a vigorous new plant before transplanting them into the landscape. This will take around six to eight weeks.

A Plumeria plant that is actually propagated from stem cuttings takes 1 to 3 years to bloom.

Growing Plumeria plant from seed

Though it is possible to grow Plumeria from seed, yet it is not recommended. The Plumeria plant seeds are not widely available, and if you get your hands on the seeds, the seeds might not be viable. In addition, you will have to wait for about 5 years or more until the Plumeria plant reaches the flowering stage only to realize that the Plumeria seeds did not produce a plant that is true to the parent, which is normally the case.

Potting and Repotting Plumeria Plant

The Plumeria plant has a shallow root system, which actually makes the plant an ideal plant for potting. You can use a large, wide container, which will prevent the plant tree from becoming top-heavy and toppling over in windy conditions. Make sure the container has large drainage holes. Fill the container with well-draining potting mix.

Because the Plumeria plant is a slow grower, repotting the plant to a larger container is only needed every few years when the Plumeria plant has visibly outgrown its container. The Plumeria plant benefits from the addition of a fresh growing medium every year. You can use a trowel and carefully remove the top few inches of the soil and then replace it with nutrient-rich compost and fresh potting mix. 

Pest control in Plumeria

The Plumeria plants are attacked by a lot of pests. The most common pest that attack Plumeria plants are:

- Thrips

- Snails

- Whiteflies

- Slugs

- Scale

- Mealybugs

- Spider mites

Apart from the pests mentioned above, there is one most commonly found insect that affects the Plumeria plant which is the caterpillar of the Tetrio sphinx moth. The Plumeria plants just so happens to be its primary host plant.

Identifying the Plumeria plant pest problems

You can examine the Plumeria plant leaves on the top and the bottom, and then look for any pest problems. The spider mite insects are a sucking insect that are smaller than a pin head but they can be identified by webs between the leaf ribs. To check for whiteflies you can easily shake the Plumeria plant stems and the leaves. If there are any small insects that fly out, you likely have a whitefly infestation. Now examine the plant leaves and the plant stems for white, fluffy, sticky clumps, especially where the plant stems is attach to the Plumeria plants and along the edges of the leaf ribs. With a magnifying glass you can actually see that these are mealybugs. If you actually found any brown, raised bumps along the plant stems and leaf ribs, you are dealing with scale. The thrips insects usually reside inside the buds of the plants. The thrips insects are difficult to see until you pick off a bud and set it on a plate. In a little while, you will see a small, black bug that look like a rye seed crawling out of the plant flower bud. In some areas of the plant, the slugs and snails are actually the plant pests. Some portions of the Plumeria plant stem will have been chewed away and slime trails may be visible near the Plumeria plants. The damage from caterpillar insects will come in the form of chewed leaves and defoliation of the Plumeria plant.

Plumeria plant insect pest treatment

One of the easiest ways to control pest in Plumeria is to spray the plants with a strong jet of water. Spraying the plant with a strong jet of water will help to create a moist environment to discourage the spider mites which prefer dry, dusty conditions. The spray will also dislodge whiteflies and it will kill them by drowning them or breaking off their mouth parts, so they die. If the spraying of jet of water fails, you can spray the Plumeria plants with insecticidal soap to suffocate the insects. Water does not actually impact mealybugs and scale. The mealybugs and scale create a waxy protective shell preventing pesticides from penetrating them. For these common Plumeria plant pests you can easily treat them with cotton swabs dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Furthermore, Diatomaceous earth is a very good choice for treating Plumeria plant pest problems such as snails and slugs. You can spread it on the ground around the Plumeria plant. You can handpick the caterpillar pests and then tossed them into a bucket of soapy water.

After try all the above methods and it did not eliminate your Plumeria plant pests, you can check your local garden center for systemic insecticides.