I've been lurking around here for a while, and ordered my first plumeria cuttings today. I am SOO excited about trying these and want to do the right thing. I understand the cut end has to heal for a while, and then needs rootone and very well draining soil, and then the cutting needs to be warm. These will be going into the greenhouse, but night time temperatures sometimes get down around 50 so I will need a heating mat. Just how warm should these cuttings be kept?
Thanks,
Sharon
DH is gonna shoot me!
warm roots, but how warm
Hi Sharon
I'm not a Pro/Expert just a lover of Plumeiras :)) We've had a few plants for about 9-10 years and rooted many cuttings.
But here in Florida we just stick the cutting into the ground ground water it roots and puff before we know it we have blooming plants :))
I have rooted a few in pots for Nurses/friends. I use the same good draining soil I use for Av's, Begonias, Bromelaids ..everything lol and for years everyone has been happy. Last time I filled I think it was a six inch pot to begin with my soil stuck the cutting in put it on the porch in sun and it grew.
I feel you will need a heating mat and as much non-buring light
as you can give it. We have never used rooting hormone .
One day my Aunt came over with a 3 ft or so cutting and said oh it will look good here stuck it into the ground the end of of carport. it had a fresh cut. There it rooted quickly and bloomed
non-stop for months and months. Neighbors thought it was fake.
It gew into a nice big tree and many cuttings have been shared from it. Two years ago we moved down the street and took a cutting and it's a nice big tree now and has cutting off it for sharing too. This cutting my Aunt brought over was from a cutting I gave her 9-10 years ago !
My neighbor never waits for her's to heal . She took a three foot three tip cutting of our red one the other day and took it home and stuck it in the ground !
Have fun !
Violet gives good information; however, it is my experience that this is easily done with LARGE cuttings which somehow seem to root more easily. Small er cuttings may require a little more fussing over.
When I lived in England I would root plumeria on a heat mat for a terrarium (bought cheaply off Ebay). It worked great.
Hi Sharon! I'm so glad that you came out of lurking status! LOL! Welcome, welcome to the Plumie Forum.
Congrats on ordering your first plumie cuttings today! Please check out the Sticky FAQ thread when you get a chance, but you said all the right things. This is a tough season to root cuttings in, but with a heat pad and a greenhouse, I think you will have no trouble. Nighttime temps above 50 will be fine as long as your containers are sitting on a heat mat 24/7. Even heat is the key to successful rooting, and the ideal soil temperature for rooting is 80 degrees or higher. Use a soil thermometer (or a meat one) to check the soil temp, if you wish, from time to time. Letting the cut heal over and callous for a few days to a week before planting is a good idea to help discourage rot. Dipping the cut ends in rooting hormone will also speed up the formation of roots.
I agree with Hetty that large cuttings root faster and better than small ones, but the typical size for a cutting is 8-12 inches, and that size does need a little different treatment.
Heat mat is ordered, so by the time the cuttings arrive and the heat mat arrives, the cuts should have healed over. This is going to be so much fun!
Sharon
Good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks :-)