"a grafted plant will be at least a year ahead of a rooted cutting in development".
because the rootstock has an already developed root system vs. a cutting which has to make its own roots.

I understand that statement.

The reason I grafted those cuttings was because I found them and they were black and mushy so I decided to try my first grafting project! Didn't want to lose that plant!

Maybe I'm dense or something but I'm still not understanding the benefit of all that work in grafting a Plumeria if it's just to be a 'year ahead' of a simple rooting.

When I bought a 'grafted' gardenia I was told it was grafted because the variety of the root stock was hardy and disease resistant, and it was grafted to a scion (the top part, right?) variety that had bigger, more fragrant flowers.....so I understand that, it makes sense to me. Grafting is done to make the whole plant hardier and give it great flowers...

Back to the Plumeria...is it done simply to multiply the plants? If the root stock isn't growing the way you want it to...why would you graft something else to it...and why wouldn't it 'stunt' the growth of what you graft to it? Does the scion fundamentaly change the root stock so it will grow better?

Sorry, I'm still confused!

The main reason to graft Plumeria cuttings are:

Grafted cuttings can have a fully functional root system within 10-14 days. Rooting a cutting can take 4-8 weeks for new roots to form.

A grafted plant allows us to take a cutting and place it onto an established root system.

The growth of a grafted plant will be at minimum of one-year ahead of a rooted cutting plant.

You can leave Inflorescence on grafted cuttings. An Inflorescence left on newly rooting cuttings will slow down the development of the roots.

A grafted cutting will bloom sooner and produce more blooms than a newly rooted cutting.

A grafted bloom will be a normal flower. Newly rooted cuttings will often produce an inferior flower, called a root bloom.

Rare and hard to find Plumeria are more likely to be difficult to root from a cutting.

A single Plumeria tree can have multiple varieties grafted onto it forming a multi variety tree.

Very Interesting Mark. THANK YOU for clarifying for me!

Well, about 3 weeks into my grafting project and I think we have a small sign of life!!!




It's clawing out a little bit..

Not wanting to rain on your parade, but that could be stored energy in the cutting. Patience, grasshopper

I was going to comment, but I knew Hetty would know best. For my grafting efforts, it is more common than not to see growth of those terminal leaves long before there is any graft union. I have even had flowering during graft-union failure.

Like rooting, you need to be patient.

I'm closing this thread. If we want to chat about grafting and our results let's start a new thread; this is a sticky thread with general information. Thanks!