This wonderful plant, known to florists under the botanical name plumeria, is also known under the name frangipani, in honor of the Marquis Muzio Frangipani, an Italian who lived in Paris and is fond of perfumery. It was he who first used the aroma of plumeria in creating perfumes, and then body creams.
The name frangipani is common in the homeland of plumeria in Thailand, Laos and Bali, where the flower is a national symbol. And who has ever been on a tourist trip to these countries, or Hawaii, saw necklaces, garlands and beads from these flowers. They also decorate rooms and tables during holidays and celebrations, because cut flowers retain freshness and aroma for a long time. By the way, the smell of plumeria is very different, often resembles the aroma of citrus fruits, jasmine or gardenia.
Most species of plumeria are trees or shrubs that branch well, with a spreading crown and a powerful root system. A certain unpretentiousness and extraordinary beauty of plumeria flowers made it desirable and available for cultivation in many parts of the world. It is popular in the USA, Europe and in Russia.
In collectors and sellers of planting material (seeds and rooted cuttings), plumeria are classified mainly by color: varieties with red flowers, with white, yellow, pink, orange, as well as variegated flowering (viral forms with speckled petals). Some varieties are of ordinary sizes (in nature they reach 3-4 m, in apartments - to the ceiling), but there are also semi-dwarf (about 1.5 m high) and even dwarf (Plumeria obtusa Plumeria blunted variety Dwarf Singapore Pink or Plumeria rubra Plumeria red variety Aphrodite).
Plumeria alba white is native to the Caribbean islands, a semi-deciduous tree growing 6-8 m tall, with well-branching stems. The leaves resemble oleander (a plant of the same family) - simple, alternate, oblong, glabrous, leathery, 20-30 cm long and 4-5 cm wide, wavy along the edge, dark green, gray-green on the back. On the surface of the leaf there are noticeably many lateral veins almost at right angles to the central one. The flowers are very fragrant, having five lozenges, waxy, dense, white, with a yellow middle, arranged spirally.
Plumeria red Plumeria rubra is a semi-deciduous tree reaching 4-6 m, with thick succulent shoots. The bark is thin, easily damaged. Leaves about 25 cm or more, elongated-oblong in shape, pointed at the end, on fragile short petioles, grouped at the ends of shoots 15-17 pieces. The leaves are leathery with well-defined veins. The flowers are fragrant, waxy, with wide petals, collected in corymbose inflorescences of 15-20 pieces. Corolla of a five-petalled flower, about 5 cm in diameter. Pruning at the end of flowering is required.
Plumeria obtusa is an evergreen tree native to South America, reaching 6 m in height. The leaves are obovate, shiny dark green, whole, about 17-20 cm long, with pronounced venation. The flowers are waxy, with five petals, a corolla tube, somewhat longer than in other species. The petals are white, with a yellow center, about 8-10 cm in diameter, with a citrus aroma. The fruit in all types of plumeria is a pod, ripens for 9-10 months.
Multiplication of plumeria
Plumeria is spread by seeds, this allows you to deliver the plant to any part of the world, but varietal signs, while the plant is not always preserved.
Plumeria seeds have lionfish, which facilitates their distribution in nature with the help of wind. Lionfish do not remove, but plant seeds with them. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for 2-3 hours in warm water (a bowl can be placed on a battery). Then, it is desirable to treat the seeds in a fungicide solution, or dunk them for a few seconds in hydrogen peroxide. This is necessary to reduce the risk of rotting seeds.
The land for planting must be previously steamed in the oven or microwave. It is better to plant seeds in peat or leaf earth - this is a loose, breathing substrate, and it is easier to germinate young roots in it. We pour the earth into a wide area, and stick the seeds, with lionfish up, deepening them into the soil, leaving the lionfish sticking out above the surface of the earth.
We periodically moisturize the substrate, it should not dry out, but it should not be too raw either. Cover the area with glass, leaving a gap for ventilation, about 1-1.5 cm. Germination takes about a week or a little more. if the seeds are not ventilated and watered too hard, they can rot.
There is another way, unfortunately, I do not know the author, but he is known to many - germination of seeds in a napkin. It is even easier than in the substrate: we lay out a paper napkin, lay out seeds in rows on one half, with lionfish up. Cover with the second half of the napkin, and put the dry napkin in a plastic bag (lionfish up). Then we moisten the napkin right in the bag from the spray bottle. Close the bag and hang it anywhere. You do not need to close the bag too tightly and breed germs, leave a gap or punch holes, if the napkin dries, you can moisten it again.
Seeds also germinate after about 7-9 days. This method allows you to spy on the seeds (especially impatient growers have itchy hands, unfold a bag and look at the seeds). When the seeds germinate in a bag, they are first planted in small pots with nutrient soil (it is best to take small peat cups). If the seeds germinated in a wide area, then they are planted in separate pots, when a couple of real leaves develop on them (you do not need to transplant them from peat machines, they are planted in large pots together with cups without injuring the roots).
The container with seeds should stand in a warm place, in the sun. When seeds begin to grow stalks and leaves, the question often arises of what to do with the peel or "hat" from the seed, it sometimes does not want to get off and sits as glued. The sapling needs help and remove the skin, otherwise the growth of leaves will slow down. In order not to damage the escape, the skin must be moistened (you can hang a raw loaf on the skin for half an hour), it will grind and it can be picked up with a toothpick.
The germination rate of plumeria seeds is 90-100% if the seeds were healthy. The only thing that can threaten the seeds is decay. But this is already your fault - make sure that the earth does not go sour, ventilate, do not waterlift. Plants bloom only after 4-5 years. To speed up this pleasant moment, plumeria is vaccinated.
Propagation of plumeria by apical cuttings
To do this, the cut shoot (about 30 cm) must be dipped in a growth stimulant, for example, root powder (or crush a heteroauxin tablet). By the way, plumeria cuttings secrete milky juice when cut (it is poisonous) and therefore, before planting, they are dried for several hours.
The leaves need to be broken off, otherwise they require a lot of moisture and wilt. A stalk powdered with a stimulant must be planted in loose ground (for example, peat in half with vermiculite), about 8-10 cm deep, and watered. During watering, water should drain into the tray, it is immediately drained. Water only when the ground is completely dry (immerse your finger directly in the ground), otherwise the handle will rot. If you are not sure that the ground has dried up, it is better to wait another day or two.
Especially often decay occurs if the ground in the pot is damp and cold. And because the temperature in the pot can be lower than the ambient air, make a discount on this and insulate the pot.
Plumeria grown from cuttings bloom after 1-2 years and retain all maternal varietal properties.
Well, your plumeria sprouted, strengthened, released several pairs of leaves, but their first summer will end and they will begin to throw off the leaves. There is a period of rest with the end of long daylight hours, and the plumeria will stand naked. If the apartment is very hot and the windows are not the brightest, then you will have to illuminate the plumeria with lamps in winter. If the windows are southern and light most of the day, then it is not necessary to illuminate.
Plumeria transplant
In the spring, plumeria must be transplanted into fresh nutritious land. It is better to use a plastic pot, in a clay pot the roots grow to the walls and are injured during transplantation. The dimensions of the pot can be taken with a margin to have enough space for the roots and high drainage to the bottom. Do not spare the expanded clay for drainage, the more drainage the better.
Plumeria grows very quickly, and grows rather big (in a few years with good care 1.5-1.8 m), so the soil should be nutritious. By the way, on young plumeria seedlings you can sometimes see transverse or longitudinal strips - stretch marks, this early formation of bark, is characteristic of some species and varieties (not all are formed), and not mechanical damage.
Soil mixture: 2 parts of turf, 1 part of leaf earth or peat, 1 part of sand, 1 part of pine bark or vermiculite. The pH of the soil for plumeria is predominantly slightly acidic from 6.1 to 6.5, but this depends more on the species, for example, Plumeria obtusa grows at neutral pH from 6.6 to 7.5. You can buy a universal soil, but add sand, vermiculite, fine expanded clay or pine bark to it for friability, you can also add granules of biohumus "giant."
Plumeria Care - in the Encyclopedia of Houseplants section
Lighting and watering
Plumeria is photophilous in the literal sense of the word. She loves direct sun, which ideally should be at least 6 hours a day for plants to bloom well. If good sunlight is not enough, the plumeria will grow, but will not bloom. If the plant is sorely lacking in light, it sheds leaves, loses decorativeness, the bush is elongated sticks with small foliage on the tops.
The main problem of plumeria in apartments is precisely the lack of light, tall trees grow, under the ceiling, and leaves are only on the tops of shoots, but if you look at plumeria in nature, outdoors, you will see that they are very well lined (top photo).
Plumeria, due to their size and rapid growth rates, consume a lot of water. In summer, they are watered abundantly, on hot days every day, sometimes twice a day. But plumeria suffer from waterlogging, it is better to underfill them than to pour them.
To insure against overflow, high drainage is poured onto the bottom of the pot, and the soil is very loose so that it breathes and does not stick together. There are no special requirements for water hardness, you can water with ordinary tap warm water.
Dormant period in plumeria
Plumeria is considered a semi-deciduous plant, during the dormant period in winter, with a decrease in illumination, it partially or almost completely loses its leaves. By the way, flowers are formed only on young branches, so the plant can be cut only with the end of flowering.
In autumn and winter, it is important to achieve a certain harmony of temperature and illumination. If it is possible to lower the temperature to about 12-14 ° C with a decrease in daylight hours, then watering is stopped, moisturizing only occasionally (once every 1.5-2 months) and leave the plant until spring, wait for the appearance of new buds. In this case, the plumeria can be cut off, leaving only the sticks of the trunks.
If you do not have the opportunity to ensure a cool wintering, and the plumeria remains warm, then it is important to adjust the "lighting." If the temperature is very high - about 26-27 ° C, then the plant continues to grow, and with a lack of light, the leaves will be pale, small and rare. To prevent this from happening, you can turn on the daylight lamps for about 8 hours. But if the temperature is in the range of 18-22 ° C, then additional lighting is not needed, but watering is reduced.
Also watering during the rest period depends on whether the leaves remain on the plumeria, and if so, how much. If in the fall you understand that the light is not enough and the leaves fall, it is better to cut them all.
If there are only sticks left, you can not water until spring, if there are few leaves, they rarely water - once a month and very little.
Fertilizers for plumeria
It is advisable to feed plumeria during the growing season from April to August, every two weeks. But if a transplant was made, then after 2 months. In spring, with the growth of leaves, fertilizers balanced in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are applied - NPK in approximately equal shares.
In May-June, they begin to feed with fertilizer, with a high dose of phosphorus, if you want the plumeria to bloom, and if it's time for your plumeria to bloom in maturity. If the plumeria is still young (they bloom from the seeds after a few years), then you should not try to contribute a lot of phosphorus, but continue to apply fertilizers with the same NPK fractions. These are, for example: "Indoor plant fertiliser" with NPK 7:7:7, or "Pokon" orchid fertiliser with NPK 5:5:5, "Rainbow" fertiliser with NPK 10:10:10.
Fertilizers, where large doses of nitrogen are not suitable, because they cause the formation of larger leaves, plants go into growth, which is already not small.
You can advise, for example, Schultz fertilizers, in particular "Schultz Bloom Plus" with NPK 10:54:10, or "Super Bloom++" with NPK 10:60:10 - for the flowering period and to stimulate flowering. And the fertilizer "Schultz Plant Food" with NPK 10:15:10 is suitable for plumeria that have not reached the flowering age, or in early spring during the period of active leaf growth.
But if you do not know which fertilizer is better to take, use ordinary fertilizers for ornamental flowering plants, although there the proportion of potassium is usually higher than phosphorus, and phosphorus is more than nitrogen. Fertilizers "Merry Flower Girl" (NPK 3:5:7), "Ideal" (NPK 5:10:10) are suitable
By Devi
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