Rescuing a Plumeria
 

Hi

I have a plumeria plant I have been trying to grow for years now from
a small piece purchased in Hawaii. I live in Arizona. The small piece
grew very slowly year by year and would sprout a few leaves but not
much more. The past month or so it's begun to get soft at the base,
and it seems about ready to fall over. The top is still green and
firm, but without leaves. I feel that it will die soon if I don't
rescue it. I would like to cut the top off and try to replant it but I
am not sure how to do it. I was thinking the right way would be to
propogate it somehow using a plastic sheet around the stem with some
wet soil inside? Or peat? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks...Steve in Arizona

Rescuing a Plumeria
 

In article ,
Steve wrote:

I have a plumeria plant I have been trying to grow for years now from
a small piece purchased in Hawaii. I live in Arizona. The small piece
grew very slowly year by year and would sprout a few leaves but not
much more. The past month or so it's begun to get soft at the base,
and it seems about ready to fall over. The top is still green and
firm, but without leaves. I feel that it will die soon if I don't
rescue it. I would like to cut the top off and try to replant it but I
am not sure how to do it. I was thinking the right way would be to
propogate it somehow using a plastic sheet around the stem with some
wet soil inside? Or peat? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Well, in the UK, frangipani can be grown only in a conservatory and,
partly because of its normal size, rarely is. Try posting to
rec.gardens.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Rescuing a Plumeria
 

On 25 May 2003 17:29:01 -0700, (Steve) wrote:

Hi

I have a plumeria plant I have been trying to grow for years now from
a small piece purchased in Hawaii. I live in Arizona. The small piece
grew very slowly year by year and would sprout a few leaves but not
much more. The past month or so it's begun to get soft at the base,
and it seems about ready to fall over. The top is still green and
firm, but without leaves. I feel that it will die soon if I don't
rescue it. I would like to cut the top off and try to replant it but I
am not sure how to do it. I was thinking the right way would be to
propogate it somehow using a plastic sheet around the stem with some
wet soil inside? Or peat? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks...Steve in Arizona

Plumeria have rather fleshy, succulent stems, which look as if they
might rot rather easily if over-watered. Is that your problem? I treat
mine like a succulent: water very sparingly, if at all, in the winter.
Alternatively, I lost a couple of small ones when we had an unexpected
frost that penetrated an unheated greenhouse (about -4C, say 25F for
an hour or two). Stems went soft over a period of several weeks. Don't
know how cold it gets in Arizona though.

I'd forget the idea of wrapping it in polythene: that's for
air-layering and I doubt it would work for plumeria. You could try
treating it like a succulent cutting. Cut through the stem with a
clean sharp knife well above the soft bit, and check that there's no
sign of rot (brown discolouration) in the stem where you've cut it. If
there is, cut through again a bit higher up until you get a clean
surface. Leave the cut surface open to the air for a couple of days
until it dries over (plumeria bleed milky white sap when cut, but it
skins and dries fairly quickly), and then pot it up in a 1:2 mix of
peat and grit or gritty sand, which should be damp but not wet. Put it
in a well-lit place, out of direct sunshine and cross your fingers. It
might root in a few weeks, but no guarantees.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net