I am a full zone warmer than you, so that'll make a difference, Gigi. Weird or unusual climates happen everywhere, so we here in Vero are certainly not immune to cold temperatures. Mother Nature can be cruel. All I can do is play the odds and keep fingers crossed.

I'm looking to make two plants out of my big one. Any suggestions on where to cut, or just leave it alone? I'm looking at cutting it right here.


When should I consider cutting it?

If it were me, I would probably cut here and here and make 3. Then, you could have a short trunk, since it looks like a tall grower. But, that's me. I like shorter plants to see and smell the blooms.

Seems like an idea. Any thoughts on when a good time is to take a cutting?

Beautiful looking plumeria! Best time for me is around February. Then I let all the cuttings callous. Come spring when it is starting to warm up with no more danger of frost, and my plumeria is starting to wake up, that is when I start planting them.

Please note that new cuttings will not bloom for another year or 2.

I agree with Jason. That's what I would do too.

Gigi, cuttings can and do bloom within months that they are cut. Heck, I have them bloom while still being rooted. In fact, a San Germaine is blooming right now, and she's not got a single root. Here she is. Because you are in NC, Victoria, and I assume you don't have a greenhouse, I would wait to make your cut(s) in March. You probably can't leave your plumeria outside until April, right?

Hi Ken, nice looking bloom! You must have it down to the science.

You are right, my very first plumeria was a single mature branch cutting that bloomed before it rooted but the blooms were shortlived.

Maybe it is just me but I have never had luck making a 3-tip cutting of a prior blooming cycle or a middle cutting or a bottom part cutting bloom on the first year. They seem to take their time rooting and usually waits a year or 2, when the new branches are mature enough to bloom.

Mid-stem cuttings are tricky to root. They are using energy to grow tips before they root and then with whatever energy is left, they will try to root. I don't think in all my years doing this, and having many 100's of mid-stem cuttings, I've ever had one boom the first year. In fact, I would guess that I have less than 50% success rate rooting mid-stems. The majority simply rot. It just takes so much time to successfully root mid-stem cuttings. I keep trying though, Gigi.

All depends on the weather I guess. Currently all the plants I do have are still not dormant. We keep getting days of little light so they start to drop leaves but then we'll have a few days of warmth and nothing but good light and they'll start making and opening new leaves. Even the cold days have enough light that the pots they are in will be nicely warm to the touch. So I guess it will depend. I do have a heating pad but not sure how much that will help with rooting cuttings.
This is from last Thursday:

Great job Victoria!

I have done lots of mid stem cuttings as well, and have one tree that will bloom from a middle cutting the first year. It's the only one that I have that has done this. It's also the one that I know will bloom like clockwork every year.
This is her

Very pretty. Such a soft yellow.

That soft, pastel yellow is different for sure. What's the variety?

It was gifted to me from a lady in Galveston, TX. I was at her house doing some work and when I showed up she was hard pruning. I expressed my enthusiasm, and she gave me a bag of cuttings. I was told it was a seedling of hers. I also know that the mother tree was lost during hurricane Harvey.

Very similar to a Thornton's lemon drop, but not. Very intoxicating lemon scent, gray velvet branches, and almost always grows symmetrical. Loves to split to 4 tips after flowering. This plant holds a special place with me. Usually the first to bloom and last to stop. However this year, she's went to sleep early.

Jason, I am not certain what the protocol is, but IF this was her unnamed seedling, you probably can put a name to your plant(s).

I tried it @drdawg on my seedling grown plumerias and adeniums. NGA will not allow the naming if they are not commercially available.

I'm not sure what that even means, Gigi. Do you mean to tell me that NGA doesn't allow something that the PSA allows? I would like for someone to explain that philosophy to me.

Oh yes, I mean I'd you register them to PSA, they would allow to add it in the database. But if it is just private collection unregistered, no.

I named mine but I can't add them
To the NGA database with my own unique name. To register it with PSA is quite expensive.

Excuse my language, Gigi, but that is asinine. Even the huge growers seldom (if ever) register their named seedlings any longer. Contact Florida Colors and Brad's Buds & Bloom and ask Tex and Brad when was the last time they registered a plant. The answer will be: "A decade ago".