I decided to post an update because I finally have some good news. When I cut off the bad part of the branch in October I was dismayed to find it indeed looked like rot and it was down much farther in the caudex than I could imagine. I cut down as far as I had to, which left very little above the graft. I didn't have a choice though, and I'm glad I went ahead and did it. It was so sad, big shiny leaves, gorgeous flower and beautiful buds discarded everywhere. After cutting I ended up with 2 6" cuttings, a tip and a mid section. Now, 2 months later, I HAVE A ROOTED CUTTING! I am so happy to say I have growth on my mid section cutting. The tip cutting dried out and shriveled to nothing a while ago, but this thick crazy section has a couple growths poking out of the main branch and leaves starting on 3 of the little branches! I finally was able to root a cutting, an important one at that. The parent Adenium also has new growth, and I think is may be above the graft point, barely. I have the cutting in a stupid little plastic pot in a gritty mix. I guess I will start watering when dry by the skewer method regularly now. I'm so happy, thanks again everybody for the support. Growth on the cutting: Whole ugly cutting: Original Adenium with new growth: -H Edited to add this took 1 month, not 2 like I said in my post above. I'm trying to make this year go uneven faster I guess. This post was edited by ginger9899 on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 21:28

How big is the branch that cut off? If its over 6 inches it shouldnt be a problem to root as a cutting. A new branch probably will not grow where the old one broke unless it didnt break right against the main stem (in other words there is still some of the broken branch still attached to the plant). Dont worry though. The branch that is not broken will continue to grow normally and eventually (usually when it flowers), it will re-branch. Good luck! -Alex

Since you rooted it in water rather than in wet potting mix it will need some additional time in a container before going into the ground for best results. The adventitious roots that develop when rooted in water are a different type from the feeder roots needed to survive in the garden soil - which is why rooting cuttings is normally done in potting mix. I would suggest transplanting it into a container filled with a light potting mix or seed starting mix and kept moist for about a week to 10 days before putting it in its final home. This will allow feeder roots to develop. It will droop for a couple of days but then begin to recover and firm up. Keep it in the shade, not in the direct sun. You didn't say how big the cutting was but for future reference a smaller cutting, approx. 6" tall with all the leaves removed except for the top cluster will normally root itself well in damp mix in approx. 2 weeks and can then be planted. Many of us routinely use cuttings to expand our number of plants and you'll find many discussions here about how to' root cuttings' aka 'clones'. Dave

Ed, thanks for the vote of confidence. My knowledge of raising tomatoes is limited because in the past I used to have 24+ plants so losing one was not an issue. However, at my new house I am down to 12 plants due to space constraints so every plant counts. The fact that this plant is very young (I started it indoors from seed in mid-April) had me a little concerned. How does losing a branch affect the health of a plant? How does a plant recover? Is there anything that I should do to prevent the possiblity of disease? Should anything be applied to the wounded stem?