Bill, what you said makes sense to me. With the winds and impending dormancy I would think the odds would not be in favor of a successful graft on the outside plants, especially this time of year. It's good to know that someone with experience has tried it. Now I can quit considering it. Thanks for your input. Rr, I imagine it would depend on a lot of different factors as to how much it would wiggle. It would depend on what is used to secure the graft, the size of it, how stable it is, and how hard the wind blows. After that last set of Santa Ana winds out here, I'm not real confident that even a strong graft would take under those conditions. I had to haul the plants in the house and close to the patio with a tarp for protection because it was so hard, it ripped my neighbors trees apart and snapped the transformer the power pole in our backyard. Karyn, I wish I knew myself. I have a stenophyllus tip grafted on to a seedling in the nursery right now. It was grafted about three weeks ago. I was going to take a peek on the cut in a week or two and see how it's doing. I was told that it should be just fine as long as I keep it still inside on the mat. Karen R.

Hi Peg, I received your email regarding this GW post. Sorry to her your plumeria is having some trouble! In terms of details on what I did, I took regular household H2O2 purchased at walgreens and poured it over the affected areas of the plant stalk. I let it sit for a minute or two and then took a green scrub pad from the kitchen (those thin green scotch pads) and scrubbed the affected area. I had to scrub reasonably hard, but you do have to be careful to avoid tearing the skin of the plumeria stalk (this probably depends to some extent on how old your plant is and how weathered)... Some of the spots came off right away... others were more stubborn. For those I used a 2nd round (and 3rd for a few spots) of peroxide and focused on those areas. Before putting the plant back I tried the stalk with a towl to make sure I removed any extra moisture and then put it by the window. Whole process took 15-20 minutes at most. Not at expert on plumeria fungus so this may not have been the absolute perfect approach, but does seem to have worked. It has been 2 full months and I have not seen any re-growth of the fungus (or whatever it was). My plant is still dormant but I see no signs that it is having any adverse affects as a result of the above treatment. Looks happy and healthy to me :) Good luck and hope this information helps! Let me know how it turns out for you! Rebecca

Interesting dialogue, especially about the various dealers. My screen name has "upland" in it, but it refers to the city where I live, I have never visited Upland Nurseries. Anyway, about rooting cuttings. I am far from an expert, just a casual hobbyist. So, anything I say is worth what you pay for it, and not a penny more. One thing that needs to be stressed is that the cutting should be well calloused before planting. I never tried the water method? But, my ritual is to break out cuttings in about March and plant in Miracle Grow potting soil. For me it is a percentage game, some varieties survive better than others but I probably average over 80% success. My cuttings are pruned in early winter after leaves fall, and I do it with an eye towards appearance and general conformation of the parent donor tree. I try to use cuttings that have bloomed the previous summer and have three, (or more) growing tips. This pretty much means that I won't see an inflow until the next year, but occasionally, I get lucky. The advice about withholding water is good, but I look for growth in the tips, and the fact that I can't always keep from a little water, once in a while. As I said above, I'm a little more casual; I have never used sterilized cutting instruments. And, still, I am moderately successful. I have never waited four years for an inflow, not sure I would be that patient. I just don't see where rooting cuttings is a huge effort? Of course, mine do not represent a monetary investment so if a couple don't survive, <shrug> Not a big deal. Good luck in your efforts. El Bee in Upland

Thanks, everyone. She was happy to report a normal stool today! So that's good news. He'll be with me overnight so I'll be able to see for myself how he seems. I guess the cottage cheese didn't harm him! KSWL, she didn't send any of his regular food because she didn't want him to eat anything but rice and chicken (human food). I was able to do that and it seems it agreed with him. I suspect she'll do a vet check Monday when she's off work and have another stool sample to check for blood. It truly was a tiny amount, so I don't feel it's neglectful. She was available to me to get the vet info if necessary, or to have someone else take him if he seemed it was an emergency. Since he was so completely normal, once the diarrhea stopped, happy and eating, drinking, playing, I think it was ok to wait. Esp when I saw that vet's article about mouth cuts from grass. That was what I was mostly wondering about from other dog owners here. I'll keep a close eye on him. I so appreciate everyone's advice and concern.