Yup, looks like you may have an inflo comming. And as terible as it is, it really is in your plumies best interest to cut off the inflo and force it to root. I had one from the So Cal cutting sale last year that pushed an inflo and tried to produce flowers. I didn't have the heart to cut it, and was excited to see the flowers. In the end it was never able to fully open any flowers and it was obvious that the cutting was suffering. Within a week of cutting off the inflo the plumie satrted to plump up and do wonderful.

I have a bunch of cuttings from this years cutting sale that are going to push out inflos. I'm just waiting for the inflo to get big enough for me to easily cut it off. It's really not worth risking the health of your cutting for some early flowers.

What vareity did you get from Jim? I've been eyeing lots of his cuttings on Ebay.

~Jen

yep, thats an inflo, my cuttings have that coming out too.

Hi Jen

Thanks for the confirmation and the advice! We will see how things progress with this cutting.

This is Gloria Schmidt. Have you bought any cuttings from him recently? He has a lot of named varieties as well as his exclusive ones. I wonder how his prices for the common named varieties compared to the same ones you see at the PSA sales. Of course you can't go wrong with Jim's cuttings. I haven't been to a PSA sale yet but I'm planning to attend the one in Houston this June.

KT

Hi houstontexas123,

Thanks for letting me know. You're on the same boat as I am! What are you going to do with the new inflos? Will you be cutting them off?

Hello Everyone!!!

I really like Jim Little's cuttings too! OK..SCPS cuttings are also the best!! LOL... I really wish that i could have been out there for the sale as well as the upcoming sale ... SIGH!

Jen, You pickied up some good cuttings!!! I know you are a happy camper!!! : )

Ok..Back on Topic.. When i have inflos pushing when i am rooting cuttings, I wait to see if i also have leaves forming with the inflo. If i do have both..then i don't cut. If the energy is focused only on the inflo as it grows and i don't have leaves, then i cut the inflo.

What a hard thing to do ... : (

It will be interesting to see what other do when they have inflos on their cuttings...

Take care,

Laura

Hi Laura

That's exactly my plan! I wanted to see if new leaves will form. It's a sad thing if the inflo has to be removed but we all want what's best for our plumies!! Thank you for your insight!

Hi KT, I like to let a couple of the flowers open so i can see what color it is and then cut it off. Best of both worlds I think. Peg

Where do you cut it, right at the base? Do you leave some of it? I have a few cuttings with 2" inflos, I've been ignoring them as I didn't want to cut them off.

Thanks and great topic KT,
wendy

Hi everyone,
Yes, I like your approach, too, Laura. Last April I bought a 2 tip Kauka Wilder cutting at the San Diego cutting sale. It wouldn't root quickly enough in a clear water bottle, so I stuck it directly into the ground. It pushed an inflo on each tip and leaves at the same time! All flowers opened and that little plant bloomed beautifully for 2 1/2 months! I guess, sometimes it's worth experimenting - I got lucky that time.
Iso

Another thing to note--I don't know if others will agree with me, but the times that I have left inflos on cuttings, I've found that the flowers are rather underwhelming and likely not representative of what they will look like in future summers after the cutting has roots.

For example, last summer I rooted a Samantha Jade cutting from MPG. It looks like a stunning flower in their photo. The cutting popped an inflo, I didn't have the heart to cut it, and this is what I got:

In my opinion: meh...
As soon as I saw this flower, I cut it before the other blooms opened. I'm sure that the next time it blooms, it'll be a beautiful flower.

Same with one of Matt's Teresa Wilder cuttings last year:

That same inflo held on all winter(!), and just this weekend bloomed again:

So, judge for yourself. I say: cut 'em off.

Greg

k2fl, i bought a 3 tipped cutting about 2 years ago, its supposedly called "papaya nectar" from a FL ebayer. got it rooted and growing the 1st summer. then last winter it got rot on one of the tips, i had to cut that branch all the way down to where it branched from the trunk. it grew a little during last summers drought. this spring i noticed the branching area where that 1st tip was cut off had gotten a little soft and discolored.

so now i'm left with 2 cuttings and a 6" stump. the stump is showing a new tip coming out the side. i really want to see 1 bloom, so probably let one of them open up a single bloom, and cut both inflos.

Greg,

Thank you for sharing your experience! From what I've seen so far, it's really not worth the trouble letting the inflo flower. I bet you're glad you let yours fully rooted so they can give you all these pretty flowers now.

Wendy,

Sorry if we have forgotten to address your question. If you decide to cut your inflo off. Don't cut too close to the base. What's left will fall off naturally leaving an inflo scar (like one you see between the tips of a multi-tip cutting).

Hello everyone

Just a little update on my Gloria Schmidt cutting. The inflo has gotten bigger with 2 leaves developed. What even more special is I think I get to keep the inflo! As of 6 weeks since I started the rooting process. I can see some roots appearing from the surface of the bottle.

There are signs of rooting activity near the bottom of the bottle

Here's a close up

Some of my cuttings have roots developed as well:

Here's Gardenia as of 9 weeks:

Here's a really fat mystery cutting I received from MPG on 04/18/2012

Here she is with a new inflo and new roots at 4.5 weeks into rooting

Hey guys and gals,
So on the topic of rooting cuttings, I like to leave the inflo..and for one reason. If by chance that cutting doesn't make it, I figure, "Well at least I got some pleasure out of that cutting before it met it's un timely demise!

On the other hand, I TOTALLY agree that it really isn't good for the cutting, as it does take energy away from the cutting, and the flowers are always small and not as well colored.

In some cases, I have seen where the scent is either very faint or non existent.

K2fl,
Your cuttings are surely on there way to becoming awesome trees! Congrats on those roots, and please repost pics of the inflos when those buds open!

Andrew