Hello!
Much to my delight, yesterday I received a Plumeria rubra cutting. It made a long trip from Texas to Chile and looks quite dry. In fact, what I think is the top (knobbed end - please correct me if I'm mistaken) has kind of papery 'bark'.
As you know, we are right in the middle of summer in this part of the world, so I think I should plant my cutting right away. My question is: which percentage of the cutting should be buried in the sandy mix?
Another question. Living in an apartment, I only have two chances: place the plant where it will get either morning sun or afternoon sun (max. temps are currently 90ºF or more). Which is best?
Any advise you can give will be highly appreciated. I have no experiene whatsoever with Plumerias.
Tia,
Ursula
Plumeria advise required
Hello Dear,
In the first place I wish you a happy and healthy new year.
For your plant, you cab for the best plent at 1/3 of his lenght in the earth. Put it on a shadow place so that it does not dry to much. Here we do it as follows. We put the cuttings in the substrat and put it with pot and all in a clear and well translucide plastic bag. The substrat must be wet, but not to wet, attention for rottings if to wet. Then you close the bag and you hang it up in a warm (day 25/30°C night about 15°C) and clear place. You will see that after 30/40 days roots will start to grow. Think on giving fertilizer as soon as roots are wel formed, this plants needs a lot of ferti. it are real trees who can grow upto 8/9 meter high.
Much pleasure in the plant hobby,
Best greetings from Belgium,
Albert
Hello, Albert!
Happy New Year for you and your charming wife as well!
Thank you so much for the valious information you provided.
I have one more question: since we are right in the middle of summer in this part of the world, and our temperatures range from a minimum of 14ºC to a maximum of 32ºC (a few days with 35 & 36ºC!), do you still consider it necessary to put the plant in a plastic bag? I'm a little afraid this would increase the risk of fungus.
Greetings from sunny Chile,
Ursula
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Dear Ursula ,
Happy are you to have such a climate!!! Here in Belgium for the moment 20.57h temp. 3°C, day temp about 10°C today.
Conc. the Plumeria : yes dear you have to put it in the plastic bag, on this way you create a high presure climate in the bag and this stimulates the forming of roots. You can on top of it also putting the cutting in a little roting hormone to be sure!!
Keep it all, during daytime, in the shadow to avoid sunburn or that the temp should be to high in the bag and that your cutting should be stoved and ready to eat with a little salt and pepper.
Be carefull with the plant!! She contains , (as you are Chilian you understand better spanish!! I will let you have the comments in Spanish) febrifuga, antifungica, purgante, emenagoga, abortiva. The latex is toxic. El compostura fitoquimica : lupeol, acido plumierico. Aceite esencial : geraniol, farnesol y citronelol.
Good luck and a lot of pleasure with plants.
Albert
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Thank you very much, Alberto!
I will handle it very carefully.
Cactus candelabra and I (Atacama Desert/Andes Mountains, approx. 2800 m.a.s.l.)
Ursula, please see this site for the best advice possible: http://www.plumeria101.com/ and particularly: http://www.plumeria101.com/cuttings101.html Plumerias love heat, and the heat will help the rooting process. Bottom heat and a rooting compound is helpful also. I would avoid using a plastic bag for many reasons but mostly to avoid black tip fungus and rot. Many people use the method that Plumeria 101 illustrates, and then they put their plumeria cuttings on hot concrete or a heating pad. Part sun, either morning sun or afternoon sun, is fine. I even root my cuttings in full sun in the summer.
This link gives links to great articles: http://www.plumeria101.com/general.html
Thank you so much, Clare. Will check the link tomorrow - I'm very tired tonight.
Greetings and sunshine from Chile,
Ursula
I remember having read somewhere that the Euphorbia [having milky substance in its stem] cutting must be starved for a few days without water and then planted. Should the same be done for plumerias?
Dinu, yes, the cutting, when made, should be allowed to heal over in a cool dry place for a few days before it is rooted. Then, the cutting should be kept very dry until it produces roots and leaves. The growing leaves are usually a sign that the cutting has rooted. I know people who root their cuttings in pure dry sand, and they have very few problems with rot. I also know people who root their plumerias in water, but that is more tricky, and the plumerias are more susceptible to rot when rooting that way.