Growing your plumeria

Growing plumeria from seed is simple. The seed has a small wing on the end which reminds me of a maple seed. Plant the seed in moist potting soil with a small plastic bag on top to retain moisture. Plant the seed upright with the wing out of the soil. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks to germinate. The most important part about growing seeds is viability. The seed starts to decrease viability after about 2 months. Get seeds from a reliable source. I buy seeds from EBAY with checking the rating of the seller. If you want instant satisfaction, buy a cutting. The cutting can cost from $4.95 to the sky is the limit. It all depends on how popular the item is on EBAY. I bought a variegated plumeria cutting. I can’t reveal how much I paid. You would think I was crazy to pay that amount. I planted the cutting in a pot and put it outside. First, a squirrel dug it up and left it for dead on the ground. It must have been there for days. I replanted it with a little blood meal spread around the pot. Blood meal will keep away most animals, if not all of them. I have had great success with this. Blood meal is high in nitrogen. Please use sparingly likes other fertilizers. Guess what happened next to my cutting? The end died on the cutting. It looked completely dead. The cutting was still firm so it should grow. It did grow with multiple branches. It is growing slowly like most variegated plants. The leaves with absence of the green produce less food hence slower growth. I will post a picture of the variegated plumeria tomorrow. Happy Wednesday…