Plumeria Issue

[sherwindu]

I started a Plumeria as an indoor plant from a stick purchased in Florida. Here in the midwest, it quickly developed leaves last year. After about a year, the plant dropped all it's leaves. I had this experience earlier with another Plumeria which came back with leaves, but later eventually died for some unknown reason. The current plant still looks alive but the lower 3 feet of this 4 feet plant looks very inactive with a hardened outer surface. Should I wait and see if it leafs out anyway, or is it better to cut off this bottom portion and replant the top section as a cutting as I did with the original stick?

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Assuming it is just dormant from the winter, if you want it smaller, better to cut the top down. It will then grow 3 stalks from that point, eventually sending up it's bloom stalk from the center of those 3.(you CAN root the stalks you cut off) I'm sure others here will have a better explanation - but that's what mine do.

Carl

[MFLyons]

I have never tried growing one indoors, but I have some in both the front and back yard here in central Florida. They go leafless for part of the year . Ours are just starting to leaf out now. It is possible that longer days (more light) or higher temperatures trigger leaf production. If yours is still firm, I wouldn't worry about it. I would think you are more likely to cause problems by over watering rather than under watering. Harry P. Leu gardens in Orlando has theirs in their "arid garden" with the cactus and succulents.

[RR]

Plumerias typically lose their leaves anually, so I don't think that's why the earlier one died. They do, however, require quite a long growing season, so up here in our shorter summer climes -- I'm in Wis. -- it can be tricky to get them to bloom.

Suzy O, Wis., Zone 5