Play and pool sand are too fine and have a bad habit of compacting. I use sharp or builders sand. It's much grittier (is that a word? lol) than other types of sand. I don't usually add it to my plumeria soil but do use it in many other containers and when I ammend the garden soil. We have nasty, solid, red clay. The absolute worst stuff in the world for plants.
Karyn

Karyn is right. Sand compacts and hold the roots. I once rooted in sand but I had to plunge the pot into water to remove the sand from the roots. Once I found punice and perlite that was the main two. Both work well and create the fast draining characteristics needed for plumies. Bill

I got my fix today and will finish planting my cuttings tomorrow. Bill and Karyn, thanks for your comments about sand. I may acquire some builders sand for my annual pots so I donÂt have to use my rare and precious pumice for that purpose.

I am a pumice supplier based out of Nicaragua in central America. Please let me know what quantity your are seeking and where you are located and I can forward you a quote.

I placed an order several weeks back from a nursery on line and today I gave them a call for it is not here.. Well my fault my email changed and then with not working and being out in the yard playing recovering from surgery I hardly ever use or answered the phone :-( but anyway they wanted to let me know that it would cost almost 50 dollars to ship me the pumice I ordered, I ordered ten small bags.. well I told them I really like that they did not just ship... So no pumice this way... So today my cutting that I repotted about 3 weeks ago because I wet them to much and I would have lost allot of them if I did not repot... Well anyway... they are not sturdy in the pots because now I am afraid to water them LOL so today I put what I had here on top of the dirt to hold the plumeria in place and make the pot stay also.. I used crushed marble.. I will not put these outside for it is not warm again here so just for now...
Does anybody else know what I should or could use? Thanks and sorry I can't explain what I mean very well.. I am brain dead...
Susan

Hi Susan - this is what I do and it has worked really well for me...other growers may differ on this. I do this to the very large ones as well (15 gal. pots). Later the styrofoam can be remove and the cutting is up right.

Kasie

Here is a link that might be useful:

Susan it's a good thing that they didn't ship it! That's the problem with having to get supplies by mail order, S&H can be a killer. Don't you have any Merrifield, Johnson's or other large nursery chains near you? I'd check around and see if anybody will order it in for you. One of the nurseries here orders pumice for me but I couldn't get anyone to special order ST.

At Bill's suggestion I also started using styrofoam to secure my cuttings after I ended up with burned stems from the pea gravel. I don't use the pumice for stability but for drainage.
Karyn

Thanks for the url and I am now going to try that... I dont have any of those stores around here but this coming weekend my husband and I will head to Greensboro,NC they have more things there. We have Lowes and a few nursery's I may go to the one that I buy my Hoya's from and ask them... I have to say more then likely it will be no.. or they will jack the price up and will not be worth it... We will see... I know not to put these out in the bright sun with marble close to the plumie... Can you buy the styrofoam in stores? I am sorry but I am not much of a shopper... I am off to Wal-Mart to see what they have.. YUCK.... I hate shopping... Well not all shopping like ebay for plumerias is alright..>LOLOLOL
Susan

Susan- many electrical equipment (tv, toasters, computers, etc) come packed in styrofoam. Sometimes the big stores that sell this have trash cans full of it. I just let my neighbors know that I was looking for some and I got boxes of it. I do know that crafts stores sell it, but some creative thinking can often find you tons.Bill

Yes you can buy styrofoam at Home Depo for one. In Arizona check at new home sites. They put it on a house before the stucco. I have a styrofoam knife that makes it easy to cut.
Philip, check with a pool store. I think they carry pumice for pool filters.
I use the red bag of Super Soil and add pearlite and decomposed granite. I put larger granit in the bottoms of the pots too. Here we have rock stores and I get what ever I want for $1.- a bucket. (You have to bring your own buckets)
Mickey