Plumeria Potpourri The Plumeria Society of America October 8th Meeting Speakers: George Hadjigeorge, Karen Miller Abrams, and Loretta Osteen Title: Preparing Your Plumerias for Winter Tuesday, October 8, 2019, 7:00 p.m. Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion, 1500 Hermann Drive, Houston, Texas ... anyone with an interest in plumeria is invited to attend ... October 2019 President’s Corner p 2 Winterizing Plumerias—Tips from p 3 Three Pros Why Are Some Cuttings Better than p 4 Others?—Carl Herzog The Plumeria Part 9: Plumeria rubra— p 5 Donald R. Hodel West Once More—Emerson Willis p 10 Bag Rooting—John Tarvin p 11 President’s Corner by Ray Allison ([email protected]) With summer having ended, it’s been another glorious plumeria blooming season—so much beauty with our beloved plumeria this season. Our speakers for the October 8th general meeting will be our own George Hadjigeorge, Karen Miller Abrams, and Loretta Osteen. They will speak on the topic of Preparing Your Plumeria for Winter since that time of year is near again. We plan to video this presentation and make it available on social media. This is been quite a year for the PSA—many of you who were at the very well-attended PSA June Show and Sale may also know that we set a record for a June sale and we had a very good July sale. Two good sales this year—thanks to all who participated. By popular request, we will continue producing and emailing a low-resolution electronic version of our newsletter to our membership. If we don’t have a good email address for you, please let us know. We will continue to publish and mail the print newsletter. After our speakers’ presentation at the October 8th meeting, we will have a luau to celebrate our 40th anniversary of The Plumeria Society of America. Also, we will be announcing the slate of officers that will take the PSA into 2020 and 2021. Voting will be done by mail in December by all PSA members—if you have not renewed your PSA membership, please do so in order to vote. We are in hopes that all will attend our last meeting of this year! JL Golden Pagoda JL Doric JL Don Ho The Plumeria Society of America If you’re on Facebook, join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ PlumeriaSocietyAmerica Social Media Guidelines and Information (see the PSA Facebook Group Files section for full document) Our page now has 3,460+ members from all over the • Because the PSA is a non-profit organization, selling, world—a great place to ask a question or show off trading, or offering for trade of any items is not your blooms. allowed. • Advertising, soliciting, self-promoting are not allowed (personal or for the business of others). • Comments are to be kind and respectful. • Posted photographs need to be labeled on the photo or in comments, even if a NOID. • Ask permission before posting, copying, reusing, or sharing someone else’s photo. • When adding friends to the group, please let them know so they can answer the required screening questions (to prevent spam). 2 | www.theplumeriasociety.org | October 2019 Winterizing Plumerias—Tips from Three Pros George Hadjigeorge which is an algaecide, fungicide, and bactericide (2 tablespoons per gallon of water). Black tip (can happen at any time during the year): • Stem rotting also happens to cuttings in humidity • Black tip is not caused by fungus (studies at boxes. Let leaf stubs fall off on the plants before universities show this). putting cuttings to be callused in humidity boxes. • Grafting vulnerable varieties on other rootstocks Spraying cuttings with CONSAN-20 to disinfect does not help (experiments done in 2013). them is recommended. • Spraying tips with fungicides, alcohol, or • Inspect stored plants often. hydrogen peroxide does not prevent black tip. Do whatever it • Black tip will not infect branches with rot and takes to stop the rot from spreading. • Remove small rotted spots with a sharp knife does not kill a plant. (sterilized with alcohol). Coat cuts with • Nobody has any idea how to prevent black tip. Do sulfur+fungicide powder. Spray branch again with nothing (only a few varieties are affected). The CONSAN-20. black tip will separate from the tip and fall off. • Cut off rotting branches immediately and coat Stem rot: with sulfur+fungicide. • Rotting leaf stems and little leaves at the branch Bark rot: tips are the source of most stem rotting infections • Bark rotting is the most serious rot of all (most early in the winter storage season. branches are lost). Spray all branches with • Very rarely is there stem rotting from leaf node CONSAN-20 before moving plants to storage to infections when plumerias are in the sun in prevent it. Spot spray CONSAN-20 on suspicious greenhouses. spots in storage. • Cool conditions in garages and absence of sunlight lead to rotting leaf stems and inflos. For more informatipn, go to the • Stem rotting is preventable by letting leaf stems PSA’s Facebook page fall off outside before moving the plants into and locate PreventingStemRot.pdf in the storage and by spraying them with CONSAN-20 “Files” section Karen Miller Abrams In North Texas, we see winter in my area—ice large trash cans with wheels. or snow and temperatures in the teens, twenties, The largest, bare rooted and thirties on a regular basis. I bare root my plants plants are placed on the (removing all the soil) and store them in perlite. Each bottom with perlite, and spring I am greeted by a bounty of fresh, white roots. smaller plants are placed in Years ago, I stored in soil in pots, and always layers above—all in perlite. I there were losses. I cannot remember loosing any store the trash cans in a plants in the years since bare rooting and storing in greenhouse, and the perlite is slightly moist all winter. perlite. In the last two years, I’ve added worm castings The photo to the right shows the plants in a big, as I layer with perlite. The worm castings really give plastic tub. A variation which I now use is to store in a boost for blooms. October 2019 | www.theplumeriasociety.org | 3 Paula Furtwangler I have tried George Hadjigeorge’s method for winter storage of my plumeria and had zero casualties—a first for me! George’s advice is to wrap the bare rooted plants in heavy plastic prior to storing. In previous years, I stacked the bare rooted plants in cardboard boxes, and the roots were open to the air. By enclosing them in heavy plastic with minimal soil attached to the roots, the roots kept growing in the dormant season. In the Spring, I was rewarded with nice, new white roots ready to grow. I have never seen such a difference in the lack of desiccation. The plastic allowed them some air, but not all the moisture escaped, therefore, I think the entire trunk was able to retain more moisture. This method saves room, too. The only downside is you must repot in the Spring. Why Are Some Cuttings Better by Carl Herzog, Southern California than Others? This question has been asked of me many overabundance of nitrates will use up the reserves times, so I decided to find out why. of sugars in the shoots, reducing the energy needed The answer is: “The Mother Plant.” The health to produce new root shoots. This makes cuttings of the mother plant depends on the nutrients stored taken from new growth of overly vegetative plants in it. A cutting must have a sufficient supply of weaker and more susceptible to rot when you are root-building nutrients to get it started. Since a trying to root them. cutting takes time to develop roots, it must rely on The ideal fertilizer for the mother plant is one stored water and carbohydrates in its stem and that is high in calcium. A calcium-rich plant will build small leaves to develop vigorous new roots. I leave thicker cell walls and a healthier vascular system. two or three small leaves, no longer than 2 inches, Strong cell walls will help the cutting improve its on each cutting. I have found this helps the cutting resistance to stress and disease. A fertilizer with get started. humic acid and kelp extracts in a 5:2 ratio plus the The nutritional requirements for a mother plant addition of fulvic acid will help the mother plant are considerably different than trees that are grown produce strong cuttings. for flowers. The mother plant requires a balanced Let’s face it, we will never know what is in the fertilizer to slow down excessive vegetative growth mother plant when we get a cutting. A cutting should and increase the carbon to nitrogen ratio that will be be a tip from last year’s growth with a well-healed, stored in the cuttings. Too much nitrogen will cause hardwood base. Rooting conditions such as heat, the new tips to grow too quickly and produce soft time of the year, and rooting medium also play into tissue with poor carbohydrate reserves. Also, an this scenario. 4 | www.theplumeriasociety.org | October 2019 The Plumeria by Donald R. Hodel Emeritus Landscape Horticulture Advisor Part 9: Plumeria rubra University of California, Cooperative Extension Plumeria or Frangipani 700. W Main St., Alhambra, CA 91801 [email protected] This ninth installment of the series presents and Habit: small to medium tree, deciduous, to discusses Plumeria rubra, the most commonly 25 feet tall and wide (larger in tropical regions), vase- cultivated species of the genus and known simply as shaped, upright, densely branched, old trees with a plumeria or frangipani.