How To: Germinating Plumeria/Adenium Seeds
This will serve as a short but complete guide as to how to plant plumeria seeds. As simple as it seems, it is the preferred way we germinate Plumeria Seeds at Plumeria Paradise. This method of germinating plumeria / adenium seeds has worked well for me and for my customers. I suggest that beginners plant one seed at a time until you are comfortable germinating plumeria/adenium seeds.
Soak seed overnight (8-24 hours for plumeria, 2-4 hours for adenium) between two layers of wet paper towels. Do not let the paper towels dry out.
Fill a small pot with a well draining cactus mix. Soak the soil and allow it to drain completely. For plumeria seeds, insert heavy end of seed no deeper than ¼ inch into the soil, leaving the feathered end exposed. Adenium seeds are inserted horizontally no deeper than ¼ inch into soil and covered lightly. Place pot in direct morning sunlight or under a grow light, keeping away from frosts or freezing temps. The amount of watering needed during germination will depend on a variety of conditions. I don't allow the soil to completely dry out, but you must be careful not to keep the soil soggy or standing in water. During germination, I spray mist seeds 2-3 times a day with Spray n Gro. This provides humidity and the fertilizer gives an extra boost.
Germination will occur between 3 and 21 days. Once seed sprouts leaves and sheds the seed shell, transfer to larger growing pot. Continue to keep moist and do not let dry in between waterings but DO NOT OVER WATER! Once seed has germinated and is transplanted, I stop spraying fertilizer, and actually fertilize every 2 weeks with a high phosphate fertilizer, such as Schultz Plus 10-54-10.
How To: Germinating Ti Seeds Place ti seeds between two layers of wet paper towels and soak until they split and start to germinate. With this method of germination, ti will normally sprout within a week or two, so you need to keep the paper towels wet until the seeds split. Fill a small pot with a well draining cactus mix. Soak the soil and allow it to drain completely. Make a hole ¼ inch in the soil, drop the seed in and cover lightly with soil. Place pot in good morning sunlight (about 6 hours a day) or under a grow light, keeping away from frosts or freezing temps. In most areas, full sun and particularly during the hot part of the day, will fry ti seedlings. If you are able to grow seedlings under a shade cloth that would be ideal, but simply placing your pots where they have some protection from hot afternoon sun will also work. Ti's watering needs are opposite plumeria and adenium. Where they do best on the dry side, ti is more forgiving and prefers to be a bit more wet. Watering is going to depend on season, temps, etc. Don't allow ti to completely dry out. Like many foliage plants, ti is grown for its beautiful variety of leaf colorations. Too much fertilizing can dull your ti plants, so don't use the same fertilizer you would for plumeria/adenium. Osmocote time release granular fertilizer is a good choice for ti.
A Note About Plumeria Fertilizers: There is much debate amongst home users as to which fertilizers give the best results. The suggestions given above are simply the ones which have worked well for us. Please keep in mind that all plants have individual feeding needs and a 'one size fits all' fertilizing plan generally will result in poor results. We at the nursery use these products and they work well for us. Rootone (Rooting Hormone Powder), Dip n Grow (Rooting Hormone Liquid), Spray n Grow Products (Spray n Grow and Coco-Wet), SuperThrive (Multi Nutrient),GrowMore® 5-50-17 Hawaiian Bud & Bloom (General Blooming Fertilizer), Epsom Salt (during signs of yellow plumeria leaves) and Honey (it is a great natural antibacterial that is used in the rooting process).
source: plumeriaparadise.com
