I think I will go fetch a small artist's brush (I will steal one from my wife's studio while she is at the Arts Council meeting) and see if I can pollinate it with self. How neat would that be?

i have not read any posts from @Mark619 lately but he was successful doing it that way and he got a seedpod.

drdawg said:I think I will go fetch a small artist's brush (I will steal one from my wife's studio while she is at the Arts Council meeting) and see if I can pollinate it with self. How neat would that be?

Not sure about Plumeria (cause I AM such a newby), but Brugmansia growers do that all the time.

I did it. I don't have much faith that I did anything towards getting seed pod formation, but we'll see.

Be sure to keep good notes.

The notes are in my head............for a little while.

Hey Ken When I first got the cutting in, I gave it a bit of water per your instructions. It is in a mix of perlite (mostly) and soil and I have misted the top every few days lightly. At surface level it is shriveling (vertically) a bit on one side. Should I be alarmed?

The Celadine dropped all its leaves but is looking fine.

David, keep in mind the plumeria are either dormant or going dormant. Because of this and the fact that there are no roots to hydrate the cutting, it will lose volume. Every cutting does this, at least in my experience. It is simply amplified when combined with dormancy. Over the years, taking well over 100 cuttings, I estimate that a cutting will lose 30% of its thickness while rooting but during their dormant period, they may lose up to 50%. I know this is a bit disconcerting, but that's just their nature.

I often will only leave those tiny, terminal leaves on when shipping rooted plumeria. Sometimes, I will leave a few smaller ones on as well, knowing that those small leaves will probably drop. The tiny ones, those at the terminus, should remain and will grow when the roots begin to re-grow.

Since I have never had an unrooted cutting before, I have zero experience with them.

All of us were in your shoes at one time, David. That's the best way to learn. Doing it the first time will be challenging, but after a few cuttings have rooted (perhaps a dozen ) it will become second nature. You'll then say to yourself: "What's the big deal?"

drdawg said:All of us were in your shoes at one time, David. That's the best way to learn. Doing it the first time will be challenging, but after a few cuttings have rooted (perhaps a dozen ) it will become second nature. You'll then say to yourself: "What's the big deal?"

Heh. I wish. After raising plants since the early 1970s, I still learn something(s) every day. But I do know what you mean.

WRT starting seeds, I have started tens of thousands over the years and some of the things I do are now basically mechanical and instinct with little thought given. Even here though, every year I start seeds of probably at least several things I have never grown and must learn about their requirements. Like growing Plumeria from seed.

Ken, I'll be visiting Ms. Mendy tomorrow and she's giving me some cuttings! I'd love to bring her a little something. I'll just make up a little gift bag for her with some adenium seeds and a few other things!

You'll enjoy your visit. She has some nice landscaping and plenty of tropical plants.

Ken, yes she does! I just loved her camellias! She always welcomes me like a long-time friend! ♥

The Mayfield's are great friends. We have been close friends for over 40 years. How many plumeria cuttings did you get? The only thing I wish is that she had all hers labeled. Heck, I wish she had some of hers labeled.

She gave me three nice rooted plants. One had bloomed this past year! So, they are dormant for now. Can't wait to plant them when Spring is here! Heck, what am I talking about... weather in the 70's with rain for the next week. 78 forecasted for Christmas day! Some of the azaleas are blooming here and last week I saw a Japanese magnolia in full bloom! Poor plants...they are so confused!

We have had below freezing mornings for the last three days, but for the next 14 days, we are not supposed to get below 36F. Wednesday through Saturday are predicted to have highs in the mid-70's with some rain in the forecast. Perhaps this period of warmish weather will allow all my garlic to jump-start before winter weather moves back in. I have large piles of oak leaves waiting to be spread over all the garlic, but that day is at least another two weeks away. With this mild weather filtering in, I might just mulch a bunch of those leaves with my mulching mower/bagger and top off my compost pile with that.

My Plumeria that I brought in to my living room - the subject of this thread - did drop like 3 leaves, but it has 2 new leaves coming on. One is ~ 3 " long and the other perhaps 1 1/2 ". So I guess it is not going dormant.

Regarding the screwed up weather - El Nino. So far matching the worst ever - '97/'98, This one could turn out to be the worst ever.

Even though your plant did not drop all its (large) leaves and is growing new leaves, the growth will more than likely be much slower than what you would see in the spring/summer. So your plant is actually dormant or perhaps a better term would be semi-dormant. All mine in the solarium appear to have dropped about all the leaves they are going to but I can surely tell that the new leaf-growth is very much slowed. That's just my observation, @DavidLMO, and others (particularly those in sub-tropical regions) will likely see different results.

I kind of like the El Nino affect, particularly if it means a milder winter for me.

drdawg said:Even though your plant did not drop all its (large) leaves and is growing new leaves, the growth will more than likely be much slower than what you would see in the spring/summer. So your plant is actually dormant or perhaps a better term would be semi-dormant. All mine in the solarium appear to have dropped about all the leaves they are going to but I can surely tell that the new leaf-growth is very much slowed.

Right!! My observation as well And yes, I agree people all over the place in all kinds of different environments and locations are gonna have vastly different things happening.

It would be great if someone other than me in St. Joseph MO had experience growing Plumeria. Even here, I am Zone 5 B and an area on the West side of town is 6 A.

Only the good Lord knows what my microclimate is where I have Cannas in the ground since 2010.