New to growing plumeria and would love some help. Little background, I live in Eastern North Carolina, currently lots of sun and temperatures between mid 70s and low 90s, humidity is almost nonexistent which is shocking.

I recently wanted to grow these beautiful flowers, did my research, found a "reputable" seller, wanted to get cuttings, preferably for a thai breed, but none of the sellers had cuttings for anything. All the websites looked like they hadn't been updated in more than a year because they were sold out on all cuttings and low on everything else, like seeds. Bit the bullet, bought some seeds. Fast forward a month, none of them grew. The seller told me I had potentially over watered them and they died because they hadn't had any complaints from anyone else that it might have been the seeds. Fast forward again, I have replacement seeds, and my husband bought me some cuttings from a hawaiian seller on amazon.

The seeds have been planted in miracle grow potting mix and a little vermiculite mixed in. The cups have good drainage holes cut in. They were watered, fully drained, and planted, and sitting outside in full sun for roughly 9 hours every day. I mist them with a spray bottle a little throughout the day because they seem to get bone dry by noon. I'm currently terrified I might over water them but also don't want to let them be so dry they don't grow either.

The cuttings were nice. They are 1 inch in diameter, roughly 12 inches long, and were mostly firm, only one was a touch soft and I do mean a touch. They are in 6 quart pots with good drainage, filled with 1 part miracle grow potting mix, 2 parts perlite, and a little vermiculite. The pots were well watered and thoroughly drained. The cutting were given some root growth hormone and planted in the soil about 4 inches down. They sit outside in full sun for roughly 9 hours every day. I'm a little concerned they are also close to bone dry and don't know if I should water them because everything says to wait a month before giving more water.

Both the seeds and the cuttings have been planted for almost a week. Anything I'm doing wrong/right, please let me know. Any tips and advice would be wonderful and I do mean ANY. How often should I water them? How much should I water them? How do I know when I need to water them? When do I start the fertilizer, which one do I use, and how often do I use it? I really want to help them grow. I'm here to learn and grow and help my plants grow. Please help. Photos below are from the first day they all were potted.

@Nuswodahs (name?) "shadowsun" so far what you said on these new batch seems to be correct.

The majority of my plumerias are from seeds. So you will have plumerias that no one has. But they could take years to bloom.

I have always kept my seeds moist but not soaking wet. If the top dirt is dry, the bottom might still be wet. I grow my seeds in part shade where it gets the morning sun but not the full sun. The most important is the pots have a good drain and not soaking wet. If you touch the dirt and they are dry, you can spray lightly with water. Some seeds are just too old and not viable.

For the cuttings, I leave mine in full sun, on a pavement. Bottom heat is important to speed up the rooting. If you soak the dirt really good when you planted the cuttings (assuming you let the cutting callous before planting) most everyone say wait until 4 sets of leaves are out before you resume watering. Plumerias could grow leaves or buds even when it is not planted on the dirt. But I am like you, I worry that the dirt is too dry. So just to make me feel better when I notice the dirt is too dry to my touch, I normally spray just a tiny bit on the stem and slightly the top dirt but definitely making sure it is not soaking wet. I do this in the morning before the sun hits the cuttings. Cuttings do not have roots and overwatering could result to rotting. Plumeria cuttings don't like wet feet.

I try not to fertilize my seedlings until they are 12 inches tall. For fertilizer I use osmocote and others use dynamite. But if you used miracle gro you don't have to worry about adding fertilizer since it already has some. Just add the slow release on the second or third month when the leaves are out and you start watering. I do give them super bloom every 2 weeks for 2 to 3 months to force them to bloom. But even without fertilizer 6 to 8 hours of full sun will help it bloom. Up potting too when it has full leaves help make it grow faster too. Once leaves are out, I normally put them in bigger pots with good drainage so they can get bigger fast.

Happy growing and keep us posted.

Here are some Dwarf Pink Singapore plumeria cuttings I am rooting now from my own plant. I cheated and left a few leaves but they don't have roots. I have to mist it lightly to get my succulents to root. But I make sure it is not soaking wet and they are in full sun. Clay non glazed pots are better though but since these are dwarf they could stay in this pot for a couple years.


Here are my plumerias grown from seeds.
A seedling of Sariah's Curly, very fragrant (jasmine)


This one is very sweet fragrance but lost the parent tag


Plumerias grown from cuttings (bought from BradBudsandBlooms)

Confetti/Barbados showgirl:



I lost the tag so not sure what the name is


Thai Mango Brush/Blush:


Jungle Jack's Picadilly (bought at Lowe's)

For the seeds, I'm currently worried less about blooms than just growth. It'll get to the blooms, and I'll be super excited to see them, but just seeing them growing and thriving will make me happy. I'm very excited for all of these plants, but most of all I just want to make sure I do it right and get them growing.

Thank you so much for the helpful details. Something like this is more of what I need than the vague articles I keep finding on the internet that mostly experienced people can understand. This is very helpful. You have some beautiful plants.

I know how you feel. Yes, growing plumerias from seedlings are more rewarding for me. It is also a trial and error. Try growing adeniums (desert roses) too. They are beautiful even without blooms. They could bloom within 6 to 2 years. Although I purchased most of mine for instant gratification.

I love plumerias for their blooms and I could make real leis from the plumeria blooms.

Keep posting with your progress. I planted some plumeria seeds 2 weeks ago and nothing are out yet. But those were seeds from last year that I kept in the fridge so might not be viable.

nuswodahs said:

@nuswodahs, I just realized the front left plumeria cutting has buds getting ready to bloom. So you will have blooms but it might be small than the normal or will not last long since the plumeria is not yet established, but you will see it bloom.

Some would advice taking it off but I don't. My first cutting was given to me with buds and it is a mother plant of many cuttings already.

I'm going to leave the little buds, mainly because they came like that. I'm going to assume the seller thought they were fine if they left them. I have seen a little growth and changes, hopefully all good. Here are the new updated pictures. It's officially been a week.

Looking great so far! The "inflo" (or bud) looks like it will make it. I still go around check my plumerias everyday for buds. The hardest part for me is when I find one, it feels like it takes forever before they open. So I would take pictures every week, so I can compare the progress. And take some more pictures (everyday) when it blooms!

My seedlings (third week) may have a few that might come out this week, so just be patient and some of mine will make it some may not.

I might take pictures every week just to see how much it may have grown. It's so hard to see growth when you see it everyday. I'll patiently wait for them to bloom but I like that it looks like it became a little taller. No progress on the seeds yet but it's only been a week.
Hopefully quite a few make it for you. It's always exciting to see when it starts growing.
I think next year I might get a seed tray and a large batch of mystery plumeria seeds just to see what I get.

Yes and you can post the photos here too. Once the leaves are out, they grow really fast.

Yes growing plumerias from seeds are fun. You know you have plumerias that no one has and when you give it as a gift, they know they have a special one.

Interesting question, should I be concerned about birds and my seeds? This morning there was a dozen black birds trying to investigate my plants. I scared them all off but they seem to be slowly coming back.

Uh oh! If they start digging their beaks into your seedlings and cuttings yes, that is a concern. I've never seen birds bother mine and we have the huge sand cranes.

So my husband is friends with a local farmer who will be selling rooted plumeria in a few weeks. He said that if they appear to be as super dry as I think they are I should consider watering them. He said to water until the water ran through.
He's convinced me to water them, so I gave them each 16oz being sure to only water the edge of the pots so the water doesn't touch the cuttings. They were so dry that none of the water ran out and I've already seen new growth and bigger growth in some of the foliage that was already there and that's just for today.
The humidity will be climbing in the next week so hopefully it will help and they'll start to take root better.

That sounds like a good advice and for as long as the cuttings are not soaking wet, you should be fine. I have put some succulents on mine, which are not rooted so I had to moist the top to make sure that the succulent cuttings will not dry out too much. We are very hot here also.

I have a single seed from my first batch that survived and is currently a little seedling but it isn't growing. It's green, has two little leaves but hasn't grown for weeks. It gets everything the cuttings are getting. Any clue why it isn't growing?

It looks green not rotted nor sign of damping off so it might just be taking it's sweet little time.

My seedlings are suspended too... but it is in communal pot. I'm just going to watch that I do not overwater.

Okay. Good to know. Everyone else who does seeds seems to get their seeds sprouting and continuing to grow right off the bat. It's definitely not dead, so that's a great sign.
After giving my cuttings that water the other day 3 out of 4 have taken off. Still waiting on that last one but they seem happy and the humidity is finally here with the heat. Everything seems to be looking up.

That's great on your cuttings too. Once they get started they get tall fast. They are trees and so the natural tendency is to become trees.

How exciting. I have two new seedlings that sprouted today. I guess the heat mixed with the high humidity the past day or two really helped. 😄

Does anyone know if a partially see through cloth hung from a rope will provide enough shade from the sun but still let enough sun through?
I live in an apartment and everyone has a small outdoor "patio" which is where my plants are now. It faces south but provides little shade in the direct heat of the day. I have an idea for a shading table for my plants. I'm thinking roughly 3 feet tall at least 3 feet wide and 3 feet long with a see through cloth on top. Do you think it would work? Better ideas for design? Any ideas are welcomed.