Nice graft, Dete! Did you use that root stock I sent you?
Dana, I'm not sure if we have our terms mixed up or not. Let me see if I can help.
If someone, say in Thailand, sows some seed, and they produce a magnificent-flowered cultivar, which is deserving of a name, say 'Siam Lavender,' then, yes, that 'Siam Lavender' is technically still a seedling, but since it has flowered many times and has its own name, then it is no longer called a seedling. Once it has flowered a few times, it is usually grafted and sold and should flower freely from that point on.
If someone sows some seeds, and that seedling has never flowered because it is too young, then it won't flower any sooner by grafting it. Seedlings that haven't flowered usually are not sold or grafted.
When a plumeria is grafted, it leaves a scar which fades in time, but if you don't see a scar, then yours probably isn't grafted. If you bought a grafted cultivar from Thailand, then it should flower right away as they wouldn't graft seedlings which haven't bloomed yet.
The scion (top part) will always be the cultivar growing and blooming and will not take on any traits of the root stock.
Sometimes a growing seedling that has gotten very tall is down grafted -- meaning the top is grafted to its bottom with the center removed. This makes a seedling shorter, but it won't make it flower any sooner.
Lastly, as Dete said, cultivars are often grafted to seedling root stock because of the strong root system.
don't be jealous...
Dana, I was typing as you and Michael were posting. In Thailand, the most efficient form of propagation is bud grafting -- taking one bud off a cutting and grafting it to a root stock. Since there are many buds on one cutting, you can make many plants this way. After a seedling has flowered and becomes a cultivar, then the buds are removed to make new plants. I hope this answers your questions.
Dr. Plumeriastein~
Thanks for your answer just trying to figure this out Your answer is for me or you not if you are in the business of selling these plants. It would be more productive to a business to do it this way. On a verigated speices I was told as the plant grows older it will lighten up as the new leaves come out if anything it has more green to it. If it was a peice from mother plant it should already be the color that the mother is. I'm new to all this and just trying to figure this out. It says the sun lightens it up also Mine gets plenty of sun no burning going on here it is happy and healthy has grown 1 and half inches in month and a half. Every week putting out more leaves
Hi Dana! Actually, it is the businesses in Thailand that do the bud grafting and the most grafting for sale and export to the United States and other places. I have not tried bud grafting myself yet. It requires some precision. Luc of Florida Colors Nursery is a business, and he does graft cultivar cuttings onto root stock for the reasons that Michael mentioned and also because it take much less time for a graft to take and the cultivar to have roots then it takes to root a cutting so grafts are a more efficient way to propagate for businesses as well.
Variegated plants vary in color with each leaf. Some will have more white on them, and some will be more green. You may even get a sold green leaf from time to time. This is normal with many variegated plants. The variegation is almost never consistent. I keep my variegated ones in filtered sun for the nicest looking leaves.
My 2 year old seedlings are all over 5 foot tall.
A few have apparently dwarfed.
The growth rate you mention is slow.
Actually none of these are a year old started them late in the fall here. They stayed in the green house for proably 3 months. The last 2 months everything here has really started growing. I take pictures and after a few months passing you can really see the difference. I figure I have 3 more months of growing before its time to put them up.
clare - i am rooting the root stock and i'm letting the ones that came with roots get established. the most likely will not get used until next year at this point. thanks again!
Good thinking, Dete! Yes, that is probably best;-)