Plumeria Blooming Question

[Golden10]

Hello everyone.

I purchased two small plumeria cuttings this summer and am completely new to plumerias. So far I have been very pleased with the growth. A month or so ago I noticed a bud forming on one of the plants and has since grown into the picture shown; however  it seems to have stalled for a couple weeks at the stage in the picture. I noticed what appear to be carpenter ants crawling on the plant and bud area. I am just curious if maybe the ants could be affecting the bloom progress? Or if this is normal and it will just take longer. 

 

thank you 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Golden10 said:

Hello everyone.

I purchased two small plumeria cuttings this summer and am completely new to plumerias. So far I have been very pleased with the growth. A month or so ago I noticed a bud forming on one of the plants and has since grown into the picture shown; however  it seems to have stalled for a couple weeks at the stage in the picture. I noticed what appear to be carpenter ants crawling on the plant and bud area. I am just curious if maybe the ants could be affecting the bloom progress? Or if this is normal and it will just take longer. 

 

thank you 

Ants don't do anything negative to the flowers, except maybe investigate any sap released from the leaves / inflo itself.. Probably wouldn't consume it since it is mildly toxic.

If there was enough energy stored in the inflo producing branch before it was cut, that inflo could continue on to produce flowers, though maybe not many.  Most growers recommend removing any initial inflo produced on rooting cuttings ( Plants that weren't already well rooted before producing the inflo. ) 

Stressful for a plant working on rooting and flower at the same time.

If your plant(s) were rooted before you bought them, you should be good to go flower- wise, though the size of the flowers produced this time around may be smaller than how large they ultimately are once the plant is a few years older.

After it flowers, if not already rooted,  it might take a year or two for it to start flowering again consistently..  After getting it's feet down, the plant has to build energy for flowering again.  Some varieties do this in a shorter amount of time compared to others. 


Additionally,

* Like Hibiscus ( ..And stuff like Bananas / Gingers, etc )  these plants are K ( Potassium ) and Magnesium hogs.

* NEVER feed with a high Phosphorus fertilizer. Very bad for these plants in the long term.  Mine ( majority in containers ) only get a dose of it in early April, right as they wake up.  If your plants are in the ground, there's probably enough naturally occurring Phos. that you won't need to add any more. 

* ...and keep the Nitrogen on the low side ...if actually you want flowers and not just tons of green growth ... and just a few ..or no flowers.

Invest in a good fertilizer instead of the cheapest / laziest option you can get your hands on ( Cheap / Lazy = stuff like Miracle grow ..or any of the other, chemical garbage ) and you'll have happy plants that will reward you with years of good growth and tons of flowers.