Save the inflos!!

Inflo is short for inflorescence, or the plumeria’s flower stalk. (See photo right.)

Besides producing flowers, the inflo also serves to split the growing branch. When the inflo emerges from the branch tip, then new branches will develop around it – usually 2-3, sometimes 4. And sometimes none. In that case the inflo will just move down the side of the branch that refused to split. No one really knows why this common anomaly happens.

But here’s what perplexes me…some people cut all the inflos off their plants before the winter. I just don’t get it. Maybe they’re rose people and think that works for plumerias, too? Not sure.

At least half of the inflos on my plants when they go dormant will regenerate blooms the next year! If you cut them off, you’re losing potential blooms.

Yes, some inflos do rot over winter. Just periodically scan your plants and cut those off. [Note: I’ve never cut them off, because – in my experience – 99.9% rot and fall off with no damage to the branch. The photo below shows the .1% situation when the rot actually traveled from the info to the branch.]

So, let those inflos live! And you’ll reap more blooms next year…