My Little Plumeria Propagation Set Up

From the wonderful advice provided by Clare and others, I think I just may be successful in rooting my first ever Plumeria cuttings.

Knowing that they like it Hot, Hot, Hot in order to root and then go on to thrive, I came up with this little propagation area for them. It is just outside of my back door, with a GFI electrical outlet right there above the concrete slab. It is a southern facing slab of concrete, but in my neck of the woods it is still quite cool at night right now. And we are having a lot of cool rain also.

But my cuttings and seedlings are toasty warm in their propagation area. To increase the temperature of the concrete I put down some black plastic to help absorb what little solar heat we getting right now. And to keep them from getting water logged, I made a tent of clear plastic over them, this also helps create a greenhouse effect.

I was trying to heat the soil in the pots with just a regular old seedling heat mat. But it was just not getting the temperatures up to where they needed to be, so I added a heating pad (the kind used for back sprains) to the set up. Now I have the soil at the end of the cuttings warmed to a nice 85 degrees. They must be liking it, the seedlings are starting to put out new leaves.

Here in this first picture it shows what the area looks like with the clear plastic over the seedlings and cuttings. The next picture will show the heating pad and seedling heat mat underneath the clear plastic.

The two cuttings with the inflo's are Slaugther Pink, the others are Celadine.

Here is what it looks like under the plastic. Notice the new leaf growth on the seedlings in the front. You can see the Temperature Control Probe in the back, center pot.

Also, I received a few Rose Red seeds along with the cuttings. I planted them last week, and they already have put down their tap roots. They are in the house under lights though.

This message was edited May 5, 2007 4:14 AM

Who said it's to cold in West Virgina to grow Plumeria,Way to go !
Don

What a great-looking set up, David! You look like you've been rooting cuttings fro years! Great job! You've got a nice progressing infloresence too. What is that thing in the seedling's pot on the far right? It is kind of fuzzy so I can't make it out. It almost looks like a rotting center-cut plumeria cutting. I can barely make out a crack at the base which looks like cold damage.

i think its a short cutting

Thanks Don and Clare for the great comments. Clare that unidentified thing in the picture is a hardwood stick, that I am using as a prop to keep the plastic from hitting the growing tips of the seedlings.

And yeah, I have been rooting cuttings for years, just not plumerias though. I have been growing brugmansia for about 15 years and hybridizing them for about 6 or 7 years now. So I have rooted my fair share of cuttings.

I actually have two cutting with inflo's, they are both Slaughter Pink. So I should get to see blooms on my plumeria's this year. I think read in a post that you said that SP is not fragrant, but on some of the websites that I have been looking at they said it is fragrant.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to growing these beauties.

Hi David, good thinking on the stick to keep the plastic from touching.

I actually meant that it looks like you've been rooting plumeria cuttings for years. I've been rooting brug cuttings for many years too, and believe me, plumerias are much more difficult to root and take quite a bit longer. I don't even have to think about rooting brug cuttings. I just throw them in a jar of water any time of year and pot them up when they root.

I think SP is only slightly/mildly fragrant from what I have heard. Congrats again on your nice set up!

Its colder in Philadelphia and we grow em by the hundreds here! ;)

Malestrom,

Even though I am several hundred miles south of you, I would have to say that I am colder than you. You live in zone 7a, I live in zone 6a, in a high mountain valley. The area of West Virginia that I live in rarely hits the 90 degree mark. That is because of our elevation. There is a city in an adjacent county that gives out free lemonade the day after the official temperature hits 90 degrees or higher. And this does not happen but every few years or so. Our normal summer time highs are in the low to upper 80's, but there are many areas nearby that will get into the 90's with no problem. And we do have the humidity that is nornal for this part of the country.

I say that I will have success growing the plumerias, but it will just be a little bit of a challenge getting them to root. And since that I don't have a greenhouse, I will have to come up with some type of set up next spring for when I bring them out of the house. I don't want to shock them by bringing them out of their wintering area that will constantly be in the 70's, of having to right off the bat deal with night time temps in the 40's and 50's. Plumerias aren't like my brugs that like the cool night time temps.

Thanks all.

Great information from all of you, and thank you.

It seems that I've had more success in growing Plumeria from seed than from cuttings. Is this normal? Of course, I have to wait much longer to see the lovely flowers.