I read a few places that some have soaked the cut end of a cutting for about a day or two all the way to a week to hydrate it before trying to root it.
Has anyone else heard of this?
I have a cutting that is starting to shrivel up in the middle of the branches.




Pic of the shriveled branch. BTW: this is a 4 tip cutting I really don't want to loose.


Here is one of the few videos I have researched that describes why they soak there cuttings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I have not done any soaking but when I had severely dehydrated ones, I would wrap it in most paper towel but keeping the bottom part dry.

I think it might just be that one branch that is failing, the others look better.
Keep an eye on it - if it's rot you don't want it to spread.

I do have to say the branches are hard. They are not soft what so ever..
@Gigiplumeria do you mean moist paper towels?

Thanks Hetty, will keep and eye on it. So soaking it for a day or two is not a good idea?

I don't think it's the solution for that one; if all the branches were shriveling I would think it was dehydrated but if it's just one it may be failing.
Take a needle and give it a gentle prick in the middle; see if it bleeds white sap.

All the branches are starting to shrivel. I just took a pic of the one that I could get the best picture.
I'll go looking for a needle. If it bleeds white sap, what does that mean?

If it bleeds white sap it's not rotting; if it bleeds clear or dark juice it's toast.

I have tried once to use some water gel beads in one of my really short plumies, it revived the cutting, but I think my timing was off, it was heading into late Fall, I should have pulled it out and stuck it in dry media as soon as it plumped up. I ended up losing that cutting.

I would heed Hetty's advice. And it is still relatively cool right now in our areas, it maybe more injury to do the water soaking method. Maybe if it were summer already. But not this winter time.

I watched the video link you provided Lucky, and looking at the video, I have seen his videos too, and he is a SoCal grower, so his ambient temperatures are warmer and he posted the video in August, the height of summer. So got to consider too the seasons we are in.

That does make sense Tarev.
It bleeds white sap
very very little though. Not enough to run down the stem but enough to create a small tiny scab. It was white though so there is still hope.
BTW: saw the tag at the very bottom and it's one of your seedlings Ken.

Let's not lose it then, Lucky. You got the very first ones I have ever offered. I am just counting the days before I can begin to move the plumeria outside, even those in the OPP. They need to feel the heat to really take off. I might keep K's Fuchsia Fantasy in the OPP though. She's loaded with seedpods and has two nice inflo stalks growing. She seems to like the pampering the OPP affords her.

Lucky, yes they will need bottom heat, but put them in part shade first when you start to bring them out later in late Mar to early April. Our daytime heat here is just so intense and dry.

Hope your Plumie cutting recovers.

Awesome advice. I think in two weeks I'm going to give a few an early start in trying to root them. I'm two of two rooting 2 cuttings in the Studio right now. I've built a small generic heat mat and heat source to give the pots lot of heat.

Well, the Hydrating method has worked. All 4 branches were starting to shrivel bad about 3 weeks ago. So, I thought I had nothing to loose. I placed some water in a vase and let the cutting just rest in it. Every two days I would dump out the water and add fresh water. I did this for 1 week. I then removed it from the vase, immediately dipped the bottom in rooting powder and planted it in a black nursery pot. I built a custom generic heating station out of aluminum foil, black trays (the type you get from a fast food restaurant when you dine in) and a high wattage light bulb. The light bulb heats those black trays up really hot. Almost to hot to touch. Anyways 2 1/2 weeks later all the tips are glistening and shinny with nice newly formed purple leaf tips. Once branch has a few leaves opening up with a green tint to it now.
I thought I'd just share this info as this was an experiment for me to try.

Great results, Lucky. We have all learned something from your experiment.

Happy to see good results there Lucky!