Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Plumeria cutting, 0 by Clare_CA

Clare_CA wrote:
Allison, the bigger the tree, the bigger the root system. The older the tree, the bigger the root system. If your tree was started from a cutting -- I think you said you planted the cutting there? -- Then it would take time to develop a nice root system as the tree grows. Most of my rooted cuttings can stay in a one-gallon container for three months as they root, and then they get potted to a five-gallon container for about a year. If they bloom, then they branch, and then some get a 10-gallon container after one year in the five-gallon. The third year, a fifteen-gallon may be warranted. By the fifth year, the tree is going to need a 25-gallon container, or it will need to be root-pruned to do well. As the tree gets older and bigger, its root system continues to grow. Jim Little's plumeria book shows huge trees with huge root systems being dug up from his grove and moved. The root systems are massive, and the trees sell for around $1000 each. They have to use special equipment to dig up and transport these trees. Hopefully, when your gardeners moved your trees, they got as much of the root ball as they could, but even if they didn't, your trees would grow new roots to replace the ones that were cut. Here is a tree in Australia. The picture belongs to Chris of Frangipani Heaven. This tree is probably 30 years old or more.

Dawn, that is a good site that you referenced, but many growers don't agree with their recommendation to use pea gravel. That site recommends planting the bottom two inches of the cutting and using pea gravel for an inch on top of that for stabilizing. I recommend using a stake instead of the pea gravel if you cutting is so tall that it will topple over if you don't. Just stick a bamboo stake right against the cutting and use green plastic stretchy tape to hold it upright. The stake can be removed once the plumie has rooted in 90 days.