Hello and welcome.

First to answer you main question. Yes may be able to but it has rotted again. It may be very hard since it is only 6 inches long now and you will most likely cut close to half that. Personally I would try to save it but not expect it to work. Winter time is the hardest time to root them also.

when you first tried how often were you watering. We suggest that you water the first time you plant it then not again until you see roots or have leaves. Most of us use clear containers to root in so we can see the roots and not have to guess.

mike

Thank you so much, Mike!!

So perhaps I just didn't cut it high enough? See the attached photo: how far up should I cut it this time? It all feels pretty firm...no squishiness even at the end.

I can stop and get some fungicide to dip it in right after cutting if you think that will help. Any recommendations? I couldn't find Rootone anywhere close to me...

Guess I have a brown thumb :(
Lorraine

And to answer your second question, I was watering it once a week. I had read up a lot on how to care for it, but neglected to look into rooting until I noticed the rot. I think most of the research I had originally read must have been for replotting rooted plants. :( Doh!

Typically we suggest you cut until you get to a firm area that has white sap and looks healthy. Looks to me like you may need to go an inch or 2. When you do that let it dry somewhere fairly humid for a couple weeks until the end calluses. Once it does you will plant it in a good soil that drains well, water one time, and put in a warm spot. Some use heat mats to put some extra warmth on the bottom.
George is the king of callusing cutting but I havent seen him post in awhile. it gets a little slow around here in winter.

also there are many many other ways to root cuttings and all work great. Baggie method where you put in a ziplock bag of soil, egg method where you put a raw egg under the soil, gang rooting where you put a bunch in one pot. What I suggest is very basic and works dang near everytime for me. I rooted almost 40 cutting last spring in clear water bottles and miracle grow soil and only lost 2.

I think Bill(tdogdad) roots 100s every year and dang near has 100% success with his method. Maybe he can chime in.
Others have equally as good success with theirs also.

We all do it different but the most important things are, Let the end callus, water one time until you see roots or leaves, and keep them warm.

good luck and maybe this spring we can talk you into a few more!

Mike

Thank you so much, Mike!! It seems so "easy" to get them started, but this is the second plumie I've tried... Of course, I've also been known to kill lucky bamboo, so I'm pretty good at killing plants. :(

I think I'll take him home with me and pick up a fungicide for the new cut. Hopefully, this will do the trick. With it so dry inside up here, do you recommend a humidifier for adding humidity?

If I lose him, I could easily be talked into a few more! Trying to turn this brown thumb green! ;)

I'll keep you posted!
-L-

Hi L! For the humidity the best thing is a plastic container with mulch (hardwood mulch, will be slightly wet in the bag naturally, don't add any water) in the bottom and the cut end buried in the mulch and the container kept warm enough to create some humidity. Sometimes just your warm heated house is good, warm windowsill, heat mat, etc. Some people leave the cutting elevated above the mulch too. You can put the lid on for better humidity.

OR you could probably put wet paper towels in the bottom as long as the cutting sat ABOVE the towels.

You MUST have a good callus or else nothing you do will matter. Then, follow Mike's steps and you will have an excellent chance of success.

There are very few rules to rooting plumeria, but those rules are key. We know you can do it, keep trying!!! I guarantee you the first one you root will be pure joy!

Lorraine,
Based on your pic the cutting looks like its new growth, not mature wood. Green wood/new growth usually is soft and will desiccate/shrivel easily. I was told only to take cuttings from mature wood to avoid this issue. I would go ahead and try to callous what you have left but just wanted to give you a heads up as to what is probably causing the puckering/shriveling at the end. Good Luck!!!

Thanks for the humidity advice and heads up!

I still have hope for the little guy: restarting the callousing process and hopeful that he'll survive. So far, there doesn't seem to be quite as much shriveling on the end. Perhaps because I dipped him in fungicide/root hormone this time? I'll be sure to take pics and keep everyone posted.

Lorraine

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I'll also chime in for using mulch (slightly damp straight out of the bag). I just put the cutting and mulch together in a plastic storage container with a lid. I buried the entire cutting in the mulch, although I think just the end would be fine, too. It made a huge difference in the quality of my callouses - no shriveling or separation at all! Let it callous for awhile, too (I waited a couple of weeks). If you search the forums here, there are some good pictures of what a proper callous should look like.

Easy on the water when planting, too - no roots means the cutting is just sitting in wet planting medium. I actually wet the planting medium around the edge of the pot, and leave only dry stuff touching the cutting. Some people root in just perlite, though, so I don't even know how much the initial moisture really helps. Bottom heat is more important. Don't water (again) until you see leaves about 6" long or so. Aaaaand, it might take awhile ... plumerias are an exercise in patience! (I'm sure there's some sort of zen lesson in there somewhere!)

I killed it... :( The stem rot came back, but this time there wasn't enough left to try again. Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. I might try again with a cutting that's already calloused sometime.