I rec'd my first cutting two days ago. It looks like a top cutting. The bottom is where the cut was taken and the top is more oval and looks like there were stems there at one time. It is a pink one. I have followed directions for rooting as follows: I took a plastic water bottle and cut the top off. made drainage holes all the way around the bottom. Mixed perlite and cactus mix together (mostly perlite). The cutting is prolly 12" and I planted about 5" deep. I watered it well until the water came through the bottom, then watered a little more to make sure the soil was good and wet. Then I let it drain in the sink for a while. I then put it in a west facing window covered by a shear. It gets really warm in this window and its where I have my AV's. I read to put it in a warm, direct sun spot. This is as good as I've got. Any other reccommendations? I sure hope this works. From what I've been reading, they can take a while to root. Is this right (especially this time of year)? My goal is to have this on my deck. I have been told that they love intense sun & heat. My deck gets really hot in the summer with every little shade. Until we can remedy that, I'm trying to find things that will do good out there. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!
Dawn
Plumeria cutting
Thanks dutchlady! Am I correct in thinking they'll do good on my deck where it gets sooo hot?
Dawn
Dawn, five inches is way too deep to plant your cutting. Roots come from the very bottom (see picture) so only the bottom two inches should be planted. A plastic bottle isn't the best container in my opinion. A one-gallon black plastic nursery container seems to drain the best and will hold in heat as well. For rooting this time of year, a heat mat should be used with some supplemental lighting. The rooting process takes 90 days. Check out the Sticky Thread for more info. on starting cuttings when you get a chance. I think you will find all the information there that you need.
Edited to add: Yes, they will do very well on your hot deck, provided you water daily. They need lots of water when the heat is intense. You'll also want to acclimate your plumeria slowly so as not to give the cutting sunburn.
This message was edited Dec 20, 2006 10:08 AM
Clare do Plumeiras ever get lots of roots ?
I had good size plants trans-planted from home we sold next door . I caught glimpse of the gradners doing the work for us carry theym over .
To me they did not seem like they had many roots. My husband thinks they just pulled the plants up , also with our Hibuscus that lost all their foliage and now its coming back . They were full of foliage and blooms before this.
Thanks, Allison
Man! I thought I was doing something. Here is where I got my info from. The cutting is so tall, if I don't plant it deep it will surely fall over. I gotta rethink this i guess.
http://www.plumeria101.com/cuttings101.html
edited to say: Thanks for the pic. They are ever so helpful!
This message was edited Dec 20, 2006 2:11 PM
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.
Dawn, here is a picture showing the stakes and ties. This is also a way to straighten a crooked plumie branch.
Allison, here is a picture of some of my plumies in five-gallon, ten-gallon, and fifteen-gallon containers. Most are rootbound after a year in their respective sizes.
My cutting has done nothing! It still looks like it did when I got it. I did take it out of the dirt some so it is not potted so deep. I do not have a way of keeping it warm all the time though. It is in a west facing window where it does get warm during the day. Because I can't keep it warm all the time, this slows it down right? It will root right? Something else I didn't do either is put rooting hormone on it before I planted it. Should I have? Should I do it now? Needs some help here in Chesapeake!
Thanks,
Dawn
Dawn, I'm a neophyte too, having started a dwarf cutting in September. It rooted by Thanksgiving. I bought it a heat mat, put it in a southern window, and also put an Ott-Lite on a timer to give it 16 hrs a day of high-intensity light. I was careful not to overwater it but I did keep the medium moist. This is what plumies need to root.
If the cutting is firm and not mushy, it may root yet, but it will still need bottom heat, lots of high-intensity light (west windows won't deliver it yet) and moist medium; too much water will lead to rot. Plumies are succulents that's why you have to be careful about the watering amount.
Thanks bbj, I'll do some readjusting when I get home.
Dawn
Dawn - you just wait till our weather warms up for them...it makes it so much easier!!! You're getting help from the ones that know the most!! Good luck!!
Beverly - look at you!! Have you posted pics of your babies recently? I've not been over "here" for months...cold weather and all...LOL
So all's not lost then on my li'l plummie right? I just need to be more patient!
Hi Chantell! Good to see you, girl!
Dawn, if you can't do all the things that Beverly suggested, then wait for spring as Chantell said. You just want to keep your cutting from rotting or from becoming desiccated from now until when you can put it outside on hot cement. As Chantell said, it will take off and root once it gets the heat that it needs outdoors in the spring.
Hi Clare, what should I do with it now to store until then?
I would just leave it where it is and water when the soil looks dry. If you can put it outside on hot cement in full sun during the day and bring it in at night, that will help to speed the rooting process along.
Thanks a lot!
Good to be back, Clare!!! It's that "time" for things to wake up...my poor babies have been in the corner of the living room all winter...you know they're wanting to go outside soon!!! LOL