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chuy415

Are they too small to root....??

13 years ago

So my large Costco 15 gal plumeria tree tipped over from these strong winds we've been having these last several days living about 1 1/2 miles from the Pacific Ocean... These 2 short tips full of leaves broke off 2 days ago.... Any advice on what to do?

Chuy

Comments (9)

  • 13 years ago

    Remove the leaves so they don't sap energy from the tips. Leave about an inch of the petiole. They will fall off in a few days.
    I think that Laura has successfully rooted tips that small.

    If it were me, I think I would leave them in some damp mulch for a couple of weeks before I attempted to rooted them. But then, I've never rooted any that small. :)

    Well, after thinking about it, I want to modify the above.
    I received a Mele Matson cutting that was totally funked over and so I ended up taking off two small tips (although larger than yours) and after several weeks of trying to root them, I ended up sticking them down in the pot with the mother plant. I'm not sure if it's just stored energy or not, but both tips are putting out leaves. Others have had success with that method.

    This post was edited by moonie_57 on Fri, Aug 23, 13 at 17:12

  • 13 years ago

    I would just cut off all of the leaves and put them in a pot, water once then not until you get leaves. What do you have to lose. Or sometimes when this happens I do cut off the leaves and put back in the pot that it was in with the bigger plant. It does seem to do better for me if it is late in the season and they don't get water as much. Barb

  • 13 years ago

    cut off leaves and wait 7-10 days before putting into soil- need to callus over or they rot easily.

  • 13 years ago

    I did as Bill... I think he holds the record for the smallest " nub.." Lol

    He taught me to let callus and I have done the same ever since...I still follow what he has taught me and I have always had great success because of his knowledge and guidance ..

    Like Bill.. Cut the leaves and follow what he says!!!

    My smallest is probably 4-5 inches, but I think Bill had a 2-3 incher!!! Lol!!

    Still can't believe it.. But he showed us pics.. They did great!!!

    Take care,

    Laura

    Good luck, Chuy!!! I'm sorry for the breaks..

  • 13 years ago

    Thank you everyone! Took the leaves off and will wait a week or so ;)

    Chuy

  • 13 years ago

    Moonie, I don't know why but I have seen green tip cuttings that are 4-5 inches root readily next to the mother plant. It's weird but it seems to work with many. I bought a Hawaiian Rose this spring and there was a tiny, very healthy 5 inch tip growing in the pot with the mother. I asked if it was rooted and he said indeed it was and it is. It is growing and has lots of leaves. I'm just leaving it there with Mom until it gets 12" or so.

  • 13 years ago

    I bought 3 cuttings at a swap meet and they said to cut an inch or two at the bottom and let the cutting callus so that's what I did... I couldn't take throwing the 1 inch cuts that I made so I also tried planting them... so technically they are considered mid stem cuttings because they don't have a tip haha... I put sealant on the top to prevent rot... its been weeks and so far no rot... hopefully it would root cause that would be a big achievement for me haha

  • 13 years ago

    So I was talking about plumeria to a guy I know at work and he told me he had a tree in his yard that was doing terrible. He said that after he moved in, the entire yard seemed dry so he turned the sprinklers from watering 4 minutes at a time a few times a week, to 10 minutes 5 days a week. His plumeria looked terrible he said. I told him that I had learned that too much water was bad for Plumeria, so that was probably what the problem was.

    I told him to bring me a branch and I would see if I could root it. He brought in 3 rotted branches, with no life left in them... except for this part I cut off. {{!gwi}}

    So, I am going to also try rooting this small cutting. As someone said earlier, what have I got to lose to try it?

    ~Bob

    This post was edited by BobTheWizard on Wed, Aug 28, 13 at 12:18

  • 13 years ago

    Good luck Bob- looks like it may work out as its a bit larger than mine :). Keep us posted.

    Chuy

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