I just noticed some chalky white substance on the tips of my cutting and grown plumeria. I think this might be the exudate from the stem. Does anybody disagree? Do I have anything to worry about?

Also, it seems as though my cutting is taking forever to grow leaves. I transplanted it on April 11th. That's almost 2.5 months. I have some claws and at least one small leaf. Does it normally take this long? When should I start fertilizing?

Hi rdwestfield, to the site!

Can you upload a photo showing the stem tip with the white substance? It certainly sounds like the normal sap but I'm sure someone can tell for sure if we can see a photo.

Depending on your location, it may take awhile for your newly planted cutting to produce flowers but what you describe as a claw sounds like the beginning of an inflorescence. A neighbor gave us a very large (approximately 7 foot cutting) from one of their Plumeria trees when they were pruning them last year. I'm in Florida so we planted them in the ground right away and both had inflorescence growth before the leaves came out.

I hope you will be able to upload a photo or two so that we can see for sure what might be going on with your plant.

@rdwestfield and I agree with Lin sounds like a normal sap, which is a positive sign that your plumeria is still thriving. I also agree that photo would help.

You can update your city and State so others who live in your area can get you better guidance based on your growing conditions. Like Lin I live in Florida where we can put the cuttings directly on the ground and they thrive.

When rooting a plumeria cutting I normally just water it once and won't water again until full set of leaves (4 or more) are out. Otherwise it will rot since you are watering and the cutting may not have rooted yet. Bottom heat is important when rooting plumerias in pots so put the pot on a hot paver or concrete.