@Dutchlady1 and anyone else who successfully prunes and roots Plumies!

Hi Y'all, I need some advice. I have only one little Plumeria tree that I want to take cuttings from to root for my sister and two of my friends ... but I'm not real sure where to cut. Rather than lopping the tops off the branches I thought I'd ask for suggestions as to where the best place would be to make the cut(s). I'm wondering if I should:

1. Cut just below that "Y" branching area to the right and root that for one single (larger) plant.

2. Cut those three branches to the far right and root each individual piece to make the three plants.

3. Cut three separate pieces from three different areas of the tree?

Also, about eight years ago I rooted Plumeria cuttings that I received in trade but they were just the sticks with no leaves so, should the leaves be removed or does it matter? Thanks so much for any suggestions!

I think your no. 1 option is best, but since you want to make three new plants maybe 2 is better. I would cut the entire branch, leaving about a 6" piece on the tree which will eventually branch out. You can root all pieces, even the tipless one.
I would remove (clip, not tear) all leaves after you cut the branch; leaving them on can really dehydrate the cutting, and they will fall off eventually anyway.

Good luck!

Hetty, thanks so much for your quick response; I truly appreciate your help!

This is the way I would take the cuttings. You'll have four cuttings, three of those being tips (branches) and the fourth being leafless but will have three tip stubs.

That's a beautifully shaped tree, @Lin. What color is it? Nice of you to share with your sisters!

Wow 8 years Lin, without pruning it is amazing. My first plumeria was in 2010 but I trimmed it almost every other year, mine looks like it has less branches than yours.

with Hetty and Ken's visual presentation of where to cut. Important thing is once you have the cuttings...let it callous for a few days before you plant the cuttings in a mixture of perlite and soil. Water thoroughly once and don't water them again until new leaves are sprouting. (Although in our area being so hot. I've been leaving my newly planted cuttings on my partly shade walk way and let nature take care of it. They are in terracotta pots so even if they get rained on they drain fast and the sun dries the soil fast.)

Cheryl, thank you .... LOL, I didn't think the shape was so great myself so I was pleased that my sister and a friend wanted me to root cuttings for them. :)

Gigi: My Plumeria tree came from a cutting that I received in a trade, it was container grown until 2013 when I decided to see how it would do in-ground. It isn't a very large plant, only stands @ 5 feet and I'm going to dig it up before we move next year to transport it to our new house. Yeah, I've rooted many cuttings given to me in trades over the years so I always let the ends callous over awhile before I pot them up. I mix orchid bark mix (wood chips, perlite, charcoal) into my potting mix for all of my plants ... I haven't planted anything in straight potting soil in years.

I would dig up that plumeria's too if it's mine😍. That is a nice trade then Lin, I have not participated in any trades or has sold anything on my plummies at all. I like the idea but I don't like the hassle of having to go to box things up and mail it to the post pof give on weekends. It seems like any rooted cuttings I have gets easily adopted by my co workers.

I like the idea of adding wood chips or charcoal but I have not tried that yet. The only thing I do different is adding a whole raw egg. No idea if it's working or not but my rooted cuttings seem to be happy.

Raw egg? Kinda neat ... Protein for Plumeria! That's a new one to me! Do you have any issues with it attracting bugs or other critters ... or soil issues with rotting eggs? Knowing my crazy dog, he'd smell the egg and dig up the cuttings!

I'm so bad; my Plumie hasn't bloomed yet this year ... until recently it's been very dry here and I haven't fed the poor thing either. The flowers are so pretty, even as they fade with age. These bloom photos are from

9/11/2013 ............................................ 6/24/2014 ......................................... 7/5/2014

Nope I never had a problem with it, I could not smell the rotten egg at all but this spring when I reportes my rooted cuttings I could see the egg-shaped hole with some broken pieces of egg shells.

Lin, that is very beautiful. It is still early in the season so am hoping you still get some blooms