Nil is correct, method 1 is standard for planting into the ground, and method 2 works for pots. However, what should be added to that is that when you root prune, your goal is obviously to reduce the space the roots take up, so eliminating the least useful roots is what you want to do. The larger the root, the less useful it is, being that large roots are more of an anchor, which is great in the ground, but not necessary in a pot. The small feeder roots are what you want, as they do all the work of taking in water and nutrients. I have a rather large ficus 'alii' that I got free from a plant shop, because it was "dead". I literally grabbed it out of the rolling dump cart on its way outside. It was so root bound that the plastic pot was severely bulged, and it probably couldn't take up water, as there was hardly any soil. Long story short, it is now a beautiful tree, thriving in barkless gritty mix. What I did was grab a pruning saw, and cut out ALL roots larger than about 3/4", clipped any dead branches off, clean the old soil off the roots, fill in the gritty mix, and wait. After a few months it sprang to life, and has only improved from there. As for upkeep, I repot it every couple of years, as needed. I basically scoop away the loose gritty mix, pull the tree from the pot, and most of the mix will easily shake away from the roots. I remove about 1/4 to 1/3 of the roots, targeting the largest ones. I usually prune out some foliage to maintain a good form too. Better for you to choose which leaves go, rather than let the plant choose. I know I said long story short, so I guess I got a bit carried away. Anywho, the gist of it is to cut out the large anchor roots each time you repot. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the benefits of a job well done. Joe

Your 70-75 degrees (around 20-25 Celsius) seem to be OK, keep them warm, not damp and if you can provide a bit of air circulation (even a small fan). Do not water too much and try to keep soil on the dry side. If your Hoyas are of the succulent type (fleshy leaves), then I bet they will survive a couple of months with very little water, provided it doesn't get too hot. How are the temps during the day? Does it get warm? Does sunlight hit the cuttings? Perhps you can water them (a bit) in the morning and make sure that it eveporates until it gets cooler? HTH

Hi Craftymama, I had a bunch of cuttings (no id's) I was going to toss anyway so I figured I'd give it a try. I put them in round gold fish bowels and glass vases on the patio so they were leaning up against the wall. Nothing fancy just hose water and a squirt when it gets low again. Most of them have roots between 3 and 4 inches long and each one seems to have between 1 and 3 or 4 roots. After they got about 1/2 inch long I stopped taking them out to look at them. They're leafing out and I may just leave 'em there all summer to see what happens. After spending so much time worrying about overwatering and rot with my first few cuttings, this is just unbelieveable. I'm going to try the rooting method above too. I think the real key is the heat...outside in Florida it's like 96 in the daytime and probably 70's at night!

I've never tried this technique but then I am kinda new to Plumeria. What is the source of this technique? I guess it is basically a question of where the roots grow from. If they grow from the cut surface, then it would make sense that a larger cut surface would yield more root. So, instead of one cut surface, you now have four or more. It doesn't say much about rooting success or the speed of rooting though. Just my thoughts. Nixon