This article was co-authored by Monique Capanelli. Monique Capanelli is a Plant Specialist and the Owner and Designer for Articulture Designs, an innovative design firm and boutique in Austin, Texas. With over 15 years of experience, Monique specializes in interior botanical design, living walls, event decor, and sustainable landscape design. She attended the University of Texas at Austin. Monique is a Certified Permaculture Designer. She provides plant and botanical design experiences, from small gifts to entire transformations, to shoppers as well as commercial clients including Whole Foods Market and The Four Seasons.
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The hardest part of planting plumeria seeds will be finding the seeds. While plumeria is not difficult to start from seeds the seed grown plants will not look like the parent plant when they mature, so commercial growers prefer to use cuttings. You won’t find plumeria seeds in most seed catalogs. However seeds can be collected from growing plants and a search online will probably locate a source of seed. When you have the seeds here’s how to plant plumeria seeds.
Steps
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1Split pods open if they have not split and remove the winged seeds.[1]
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2Prepare a planting mix.
- Use 2 parts commercial potting soil without fertilizer to 1 part perlite and blend well.
- Moisten the mix until it holds together but doesn’t drip water.
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3Fill individual pots or flats with the prepared potting mix.
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4Make a hole in the potting mix with your finger.
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5Insert each seed in a hole with the papery ”wing” pointing up.[2]
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6Firm the soil around the seeds, leaving a small amount of the “wing” showing.[3]
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7Place the planted pots or flats in a warm, above 60ºF (15.5ºC), sunny place.[4]
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8Keep the potting soil moist but not too wet until the seeds emerge, which should be in about 21 days.[5]
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9Transplant plumeria seedlings to individual pots after 2 sets of leaves have developed.[6]
Expert Q&A
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QuestionDo you have any tips on how to maintain Plumeria?
Monique CapanelliMonique Capanelli is a Plant Specialist and the Owner and Designer for Articulture Designs, an innovative design firm and boutique in Austin, Texas. With over 15 years of experience, Monique specializes in interior botanical design, living walls, event decor, and sustainable landscape design. She attended the University of Texas at Austin. Monique is a Certified Permaculture Designer. She provides plant and botanical design experiences, from small gifts to entire transformations, to shoppers as well as commercial clients including Whole Foods Market and The Four Seasons.
Plant SpecialistIt's important to remember Plumeria are not frost-hardy. They are a tropical plant. If you get below 35 degrees, you have to plant Plumeria in a pot. You can either move that pot in and overwinter it inside or bare root your plumerias. Bare root means you literally pull the whole plant out of the soil, and then you have those roots bare. You can store this in your garage. It will go dormant and lose all of its foliage and look like a big dead stick. Then once the last bit of frost is gone in the spring, you bring it out, and plant it in new soil. You can mix some worm castings in that, add a little fertilizer, and then water it. You will start seeing new growth within that first week or two. -
QuestionI recently brought a Plumeria branch with pods back from Florida. One pod is green and the other one is a darker color. Should I plant the stem with the pods on it?
Community AnswerYes, the seed pods are not developed. Plant the cutting and hopefully the pods will continue to develop. It takes about 8 months. They will turn dark and eventually split open. -
QuestionWhat causes plumeria leaves to have a whitish color and fall off?
Community AnswerUsually, this is caused by fungus. Remove any affected leaves and discard them in a trash bag -- do not throw them on the ground. Cinnamon applied with a brush will help prevent this.
Things You’ll Need
- It takes about 3 years for plumeria to bloom from seedlings.
- While the plumeria you start from seed may not look like its parents you could get some very pretty plants from seedlings.
- Pink and multicolored plumeria will have a wider range of diversity in what the seedlings will look like.
Warnings
- Perlite⧼thumbs_response⧽
- Pots or flats⧼thumbs_response⧽
- Get fresh plumeria seed. After 3 months plumeria seed begins to lose its ability to⧼thumbs_response⧽
- Commercial potting soil⧼thumbs_response⧽
- Water⧼thumbs_response⧽
References
- ↑ https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/OF-24.pdf
- ↑ http://www.plumeria101.com/seeds101.html
- ↑ http://www.plumeria101.com/seeds101.html
- ↑ https://www.gardenanalyst.com/ornamental/flowers/growing-plumeria/
- ↑ https://www.gardenanalyst.com/ornamental/flowers/growing-plumeria/
- ↑ https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/OF-24.pdf
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