How small is to small to root cuttings?

12 years ago

Hello Everyone,

I received a nice gift from a good friend and when i opened my package, i had a few stems that had a hard time while traveling!!! These little guys are very small and i know that the "rule of thumb" is about 6 inches..

So... i decided to do an experiment to see which will root and see "How Small Is To Small When Rooting.."

All five of these broken pieces are from other cuttings that i will make another post to show how i started them for rooting in my Gritty Mix.

These cuttings range from two inches to about seven inches..

Here they are.. I know they look funny and some are even cute. I couldn't resist to pot them up in Gritty Mix and see what will happpen.

Soaked the cutting for a few hours...

{{gwi:1161912}}

Made my Gritty Mix and had it ready...

Had my pots ready and put some netting over the hole so i won't have any mix exiting the drainage hole..

Dipped the stems in Roottone...

Another look at the smallest damaged stem... It is a little one!! : )

{{gwi:1161917}}

Potting up into the Gritty Mix..

Final look at the Fab Five..

{{gwi:1161920}}

They are all now on the heating mat in my greenhouse..

We shall see what happens in about 6 weeks or so...

I know that the odds are against me trying to root these little guys, but i couldn't get rid of them!

Wish me luck!!! : )

Take care,

Laura

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Comments (25)

pcput
12 years ago
Hi Laura, They look good and as long as they are green there is a chance. I have had a very small 3 tip start to root and then lost it (my fault). The longest part was only 4". So I would say you have a good chance this time of year. Good luck and keep us posted. Peg
juicygirl
12 years ago
Looks good! I had a tiny one about 1 inch or less. It grew in a leaf but somehow I forgot to water it. I think you should be fine
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ProudMamaSD
12 years ago
Laura- love this!

Wish I could have you over for a glass of wine, I just know we'd have fun.

The itty bitty ones are so cute, almost like little cacti. I'm praying for them.

First question, seems I've always got one, isn't the cardinal rule to use black pots? I don't think I've seen them in smaller than the 1 gal size, so I am guessing that is the reason. Regardless, the look much better in your pots.
houstontexas123
12 years ago
they should all be able to root.

reminded me of a little cacti too.
jandey1
12 years ago
Laura, what a great pictorial! Love the tiny nubs--they look healthy enough to root. We all definitely want to see how they progress!

I had to cut down a nice fat Gladys O'Neal that rotted while trying to root indoors under lights--geez, I really need to learn to wait until the nights are warmer and just root outside in the fresh air--to about 4" long. I didn't soak, just callused and dipped in rooting powder before putting into dry mix with a damp bottom inch of mix. Fingers crossed.
mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
12 years ago
Laura

My first thought was, "you cant root pickles" LOL

Mike
sflgplume
12 years ago
Hee hee they DO look like pickles! Good one, Mike :)

Laura, these photos are so fun to look at! Thanks for sharing, and good luck with the little ones! Keep us posted. (I'm trying to root an 8" Divine cutting right now...I thought IT was small LOL)

Such a fun time of year--will have bloom pics here VERY soon :) Enjoy your trees, everyone!

Greg
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Guys an Gals!!!

Peg,

Thank you so much!! You are the best!! : )

Juicygirl...sorry to hear of your loss.. Im going to try hard to see if they root!!! Fingers crossed!! TKS!! : )

HT They do look like cactus!!! My first thought were "peanuts"!!!

They are soo small...i had to see if they will root!! Ill post results this summer! Tks for your support!!

Wendy,

I would love to come over and have a glass or two of wine and discuss Plumeria. Then we could go shopping. You are in San Diego right? : ) Lucky you!! We would have fun..No doubt!!! Thanks for all your kind words!!!

Jen...They do look like "nubs.." LOL..Even thought of fingers that were lost..lol I hope you have succes on yours!!! They cann be so finicky.. everyone has their own personality and one can be more difficult to root than others. So i wish you great success as well!

Thank you for the kind words.. You are always a good support! Thank you! I did read your email tonight when i was traveling home and i laughed out loud about the annswer i wanted to send you about the hands. You are so funny! But, thank you for the nice comment. We will chat!! Still laughing. You're so nice!!! : )

Hey Mike!!

Pickles!!! LMAO!!! They do look like pickles.. Maybe i should can them for hubby? LMAO!!!! Oh no...laughing really hard here!!!! " Honey, guess what i have for you..?" "DILL" LOL...

Hey Greg,

You should have no problem with a 8 inch Divine!! Sounds perfect!!! better than a two incher eh? : )

It is a fun time of the year.. i cant wait to finally get all of my trees out and in the sun again. This season i think i brought them in 5 times. That seems about right. What a pain.. but of course it is worth it!!!

How are the Little Iggys doing? Swimming? LOL are they leaving the Hula Girl alone? LOL.. They better be!!!

Chat soon!

Take care,

Laura
tdogdad
12 years ago
I think the post office needs to be slapped around the block. That is some major damage. Luckily the plants are large and healthy so you should have some successes.
jandey1
12 years ago
Mike, too funny! Now pickles is all I can see!
mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
12 years ago
how cool would that be, a plumeria with green flowers that smell like dill pickle.

Sorry to go off track on your thread Laura.

Im in awe of your collection and love to see your photos.

Mike
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
Original Author
12 years ago
Hey Mike,

No worries.. You know that i don't mind people talking about different things on my threads!!! I want to have Fun discussing these things tht we love.. so have at it!!! " )

Bill,

I agree with you about the Postal Service. What were they thinking? They must have played football with some of the packages.... Luckly all of the larger cutting are doing great and i believe these little guys will make it too!

I had a box sent from a friend only to receive it 7 days later and then returned to the sender.. Trees (cuttings) were all moldy and ready to go into the trash..I was heartbroken. Still am...

I will post my success on these little nubs and the other cuttings for all to see. After i go a "Slap some of the postmen around.." LOL... I Think they really need it!!!

I will also tell them who sent me!!! : )

Take care all...

Laura
greyghost61
12 years ago
My dogs broke one of my plumeria last year by knocking it over winter before last. I did not discover it until it looked completely dead except for a green tip maybe 2 inches long. My GF just stuck it in the dirt of a pot with a little bit of potting soil and now I have a plumeria tree with a trunk about 3 inches tall with 3 full sized leaves (it stayed in a sunny window all winter) and is growing to beat all now that it is outside and the weather has been warm.
jandey1
12 years ago
Oh, dear--dogs and kids! Nice to hear you had such success with a 2" tip. I've heard it can be done with 3" tips but never smaller.

Here is a poor 4" tip that rotted down from 9":

And last year a very generous person sent me some cuttings, the smallest of which were about 6-7". They rooted and one has more than doubled in size already:

They're pretty adorable as tiny trees.
nativec
12 years ago
This is brilliant! I love it and have always wondered, how small, is too small... I look forward to following your updates :)
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
Original Author
12 years ago
We shall see... i keep looking at all of the cuttings in the greenhouse... they are nice and warm with bottom heat.. i hope the little ones will root!

I'm crossing my fingers... : )

will post updates soon...

Thanks everyone!!

Laura
tdogdad
11 years ago
Laura- In a really dry environment this is my record small to answer your question:

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Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
Original Author
11 years ago
WOW Bill...

That is small... My little ones are looking like they might take!!! I will post here on the cutting that were "NUBS" LOL... those little guys look haappy!!!

Thanks for posting these little ones!!!

I will keep you all updated on the "pickles" LOL... and the "NUBS"...

Laura
Andrew Scott
11 years ago
Bill that's awesome! IT makes me want to try this myself! I have never rooted anything smaller than maybe 7 or 8 inches.

Laura,
I will be recieving a few cuttings hopefully tomorrow. You know I will be watching the UPS guy! Just hoping they arrive safely, and in 1 piece but if not, thanks to you, Bill, and Jen. I feel more confident that I could root smaller cuttings.

Next time your free, give me call.

Andrew
honeybunny2 Fox
11 years ago
This spring when I was putting out my plumeria in the yard, I broke off a tip of one new plumeria plant I just received. It was just a few inches long. I stuck it in the pot with the mother plant that is in K's special mix. I did not use rooting hormone or anything, it has 2 sets of new leaves.. It gets watered every other day, by the sprinkler system. My cuttings that I have only in gritty mix and are not getting any water, seem to be rooting slower. Next year I will do the cuttings half and half to see which one does best for me. The gritty mix, or K's special mix. Barbra
jandey1
11 years ago
Barbra, I think since they don't have roots yet the mix is probably less influential than the vigor of the cutting itself. What variety was your broken tip?

Did you get my messages about another get-together? We were thinking later this month in S. Austin.
honeybunny2 Fox
11 years ago
Jen, I have been out of commission for the past 3 weeks, I spend most of the day sleeping. I did not get your email. When is the meeting? I have vertigo right now, and cannot drive. I am almost certain the plumeria growing from the tip is Kaneoha Sunburst. Its very small. My plumeria are doing great. I am so happy with the cuttings I got from John in Corpus. He was selling 5 ft trees for $40, and 5 gallon plants for $25, I just went with the $10 cuttings. That way I could buy more. He was getting ready for the Corpus Plumeria society plant sale, and his yard was completely full of plants. Barbra
Andrew Scott
11 years ago
Wish I lived closer to ya Bill so I could see your little piece of paradise! Good luck with all your cuttings. Yesterday I did get three...Iris Sunset, JL Thai Red, and Moragne 23. They were freshly cut so I was told to wait another week before potting them up.

Last week potted up 3 Lani cuttings. 2 with 3 tips and 1 with 2 tips. Cannot wait to see those blooms!

Andrew
jandey1
11 years ago
Barbra, I'm so sorry to hear you're not feeling well! I figured you were down at the coast or traveling. We'll meet up the 27th at 10am. Would love to see you if you feel up for it!

Glad to hear your plumies are happy. They should really take off after those fantastic rains we just had. Wow, what kind of trees did John have that were 5ft? No, no, don't tell me. I shouldn't even ask, lol!
honeybunny2 Fox
11 years ago
Jen, he only had white and yellow left, he just sold the hot pink tree. He had Daisy Wilcox, ruby two and the other names I do not remember, since I was looking for hot pink and reds. I was not interested in white or yellow. He has at least 50 large plumeria trees in his yard. Its like a plumeria forest. He was getting ready for the plumeria society plant sale when I was there, he had an area with nothing but 1 and 2 gallon plumeira plants that he had removed from his greenhouse. I think the sale was in April. I went because we traded cuttings. He wanted Magnum Opus and Siam Ruby, and I got Embers, and was suppost to get California Sally, but he could not find his main plant, he could just find the small plants, so i settled for Thorntons Madi Gras( is it diffrent than Madi Gras? I also bought 3 other cuttings, but I can't remember what I bought. I did buy one plant a Thorntons Lemon drop. The plant was $25, and the cuttings were $10. Both men are in their late 70's, and truly love plumeria. I could listen to them for hours. I hope one weekend you can come down with me, and we will drive to Corpus so you can meet them. They take care of the plumeria trees at the Corpus Christi Botantical Gardens. I wish I would start to feel better, I spend most of my day sleeping. Barbra

How small is to small to root cuttings?

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