Care for Shipping and Heat Stress of Plumerias

Care for Shipping and Heat Stress of Plumerias:

Due to the intense heat here in summertime Florida (and the time your plant has been in a hot box on its way to you), plant orders received between June and September may arrive stressed and slightly soft or wrinkled. Therefore, if your plants show such symptoms, we ask you to please do the following upon receipt*:

Fill a bucket with cool water and add a few drops of Super Thrive (Home Depot has it) to the water.
Place your plant(s) roots fully into the water.
Leave for a day—no longer than 2 days until plant begins to plump back up. It might remain just a little wrinkled or soft the first week, but normally, once the roots begin to establish, this corrects itself. Also, PLEASE…DO NOT FIRMLY SQUEEZE THE STEM OF YOUR PLANT IF IT LOOKS A LITTLE SOFT AS THIS CAN HARM THE TISSUES OF THE STEM. ALSO, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM POKING IT WITH A PIN OR OTHER OBJECT TO SEE SAP as this can introduce pathogens into the plant’s tissues. If the plant is dying, leaves will cease to grow and drop, stem will discolor and it will be obvious there is a problem. In the unlikely event of this happening, please contact us to let us know within the first 30 days.
Pot the plumeria plant using the directions on our Tips and Care page on the website: https://www.bradsbudsandblooms.com/tips-and-care/plumeria-care/

After a week or so, you can give it a light feeding with a water soluble fertilizer of your choice. Hold off doing it again until you see new leaves coming out. After this, follow your normal routine, but no more often than every 3 weeks. If you use a granular one, go light the first time with this and do not repeat for at least 5 weeks.

*Please note: if your plants do not show signs of heat stress, you do not need to soak the roots before planting*

Please remember to NOT put your plant in full, all day sun at first. Gradually introduce it/them to full sun over a period of a week or so. If you live in a very hot place (Arizona comes immediately to mind as a good example), please protect your plumerias from the 2^nd part of the day (12 pm-5 pm) when the sun is the hottest to avoid sunburn damage of leaves and stems. A little shade during this time of the day is recommended.

If there is any further stress while your plant grows we recommend using Super Thrive in your watering routines. Again, always allow plant to dry out before watering again. Too much water on newly potted plants can lead to other issues.