Hey Freak, I hear what you are saying. I do cut other plant's cuttings at 45 degrees. However, plumerias are different from other plants. Do you ever wonder why plumerias do not naturally grow roots from the side of the bark? Just about every plant on the planet does that. The reason is because plumerias have no way to attach the new roots to the wood. Plumeria roots grow from callus material that eventually turns into wood and encapsulates the old wood. I said encapsulates because it never attaches to the old wood, you can peel the old wood from the new wood like an onion leaf, just like in the picture below. So, in order to form roots you must stimulate the plant to form the cambium callus. The plant cannot form roots without this cambium callus. Also, the plant will not just form this cambium callus out of the blue. Angle cuts only develop roots at the tip because all the rooting energy goes to the lowest point. Square cuts always fill the whole cambium perimeter with roots, period. That is because the whole cut is the lowest point. This is a 3-year old tree. See, it did not develop roots to fill the perimeter of the cambium line. Once the cambium callus turns into wood it would no develop anymore roots. By the way, by understanding what makes these plants tick I am able to defeat this natural tendency of plumerias and I can make them grow roots at will from the side of the bark. Lots of roots and roots that uptake nutrients like in the picture below. I can quadruple the number of roots on a plumeria (more vigorous plants and better stability). I will show these results in a future PSA article. If you really have any evidence that an angle-cut plumeria develops roots to fill the whole cut please post them. And do not just show me a slight angle that is almost square. Show me a 45 or 30 degree cut develop roots throughout the whole cut. I challenged a lot of people over time to do that. Nobody has posted a single picture. Everybody arm waves and argues theories. If you have one, show me. George

Hi, everyone, I'm new here and I'm just loving reading all the information on plumeria. I have adopted 22 of them this summer! I have won several of hawaiisandy's plumeria, and I have to say that the cuttings are awesome! They've all been very healthy, and usually don't take long to root and start growing. Sandy is the only vendor for plumeria on ebay that I'll pay high prices for the cuttings. Some of their new introductions, (just cuttings, mind you), go for over $200.00! I won't go that high, but I sure will wait a year or 2 to try to get a few of them. I'm from Ohio, by the way, and boy is my husband crowing about when it's time to bring all the plumies in! lol Rene'

Hi eskimogardener, If you go to Yahoo.com register or join, then you can type in Aloha Plumeria Group and it will take you right there. mimi will tell you in Hawaii they do not use root hormone because it is not needed. She told me that I could use it but she didn't think it was important even for me but she did say that BOTTOM HEAT and tropical temps would be what was the most important aspect to get them to root. I didn't listen to her, both on the rooting method she suggested and the rooting hormone. I tried t he baggy method and I failed. I think if I had put them in a baggy and then put them outside when the temps here got warmer, I may have had roots form. I just decided not to risk it. Once I had them root with the raw egg method, and NO ROOT HORMONE, I decided just to stick with what worked best for me. What surprised me the most was how fast the cuttings started to root. the first one was my celadine which made me extremely happy. The celadine had grown an inflo while I was trying to root it. It only took about three weeks once I put it into a pot with the egg to get it to grow roots. I do realize that when it comes to rooting, many enviromental factors can affect the time it takes for the roots to grow. Mimi had told me that my two pudica cuttings would root first and they actually rooted last. Good luck with the egg method. I really think you will be surprised with the results. you can use an egg in just about anything you plant up too. I have a friend in Vancouver who put eggs in the bottom of the pots she planted tomatoes in. Good luck with the rooting and please keep us posted. I really want to know how well it worked out for you. I just got a new cutting about two weeks ago from a women that I met on the Aloha group so I will keep everyone posted as to how long it takes to root. Andrew

Adele, I'll try to make this quick. Soil: fast draining, well aerated, quick drying. For rooting, 50% perlite or vermiculite and 50% coir (can eventually be replaced with cactus soil - not sure.) For planting, same qualities as above. Search this forum for "gritty mix". Water once when you plant the cuttings and do not water again till you see plenty of roots in your clear plastic bottles. Rooting hormones are not necessary - per se. Can be good, but many people found no difference. Personally, I use Clonex gel every once in a while. Especially on tough to root varieties. You definitely won't have to wait one year to see a leaf. You better not. Ha! Cuttings of decent quality should root in 6-8 weeks, some take longer, but you definitely should see growth. Flowers is a different story. Being in zone 5a myself; I can say that you eventually have to wait longer than two seasons to see blooms, but two seasons is a good time frame - do not expect too much and maybe they will surprise you. As for the rocks in the pots, many people use larger pebbles to weigh down their pots, so they won't get blown over. Additionally, the rocks collect heat over the day and release it over night, which is nice but these rocks can get pretty hot too and burn the base of your cuttings. I'd be careful. My plumeria go outside when night time lows are above 45F, usually around late April/May. They are out till the end of Sept./sometimes well into October. I watch for the same night time lows there. They should get as much sun as possible. Hope this clears some of your questions. Happy rooting and growing!