I planted one cutting with an egg underneath on July 26th. The cutting was not given any water at the time of planting...just the moisture that came from the bag of soil and whatever moisture the egg would provide. It is left outside 24/7 in an East facing position and gets full sun until about 2 p.m.

The second cutting was planted on July 27 with no egg and also no water and the time of planting, but the end was briefly dipped into hot water and also rootone. This cutting was given full sun all day (I would move it around to get the most sun). It also gets brought into my hot garage before the temps drop and is set on a heat mat with a compact flourescent overhead until about midnight.

Cutting one had shown absolutely no activity until I watered it last night and today the tip looked more "alive".

Cutting two had almost immediately shown tip activity and had been watered with a cup of water twice. It already has a leaf that is 1 1/2 inches long though still unopened..along with the start of additional leaves.

The point is, I believe HEAT and light are your best friends for the fastest rooting. I also believe that there should be at least some moisture in the medium to at least start them off since they both seemed to react when the medium had been moistened.

I will keep you updated on their progress..

Tony

I always make sure the cut end is calloused well.
No Root-Tone on mine.
I use generic potting soil mix from Wal-Mart green & white bag mix with half perlite.
Next I fill the bottom of the pots with real cypress mulch just up past the holes or coconut fiber if I can get it out of my trees.
I fill the pots all the way to the top with my mix and place the stick in the middle and as upright as possible.
Next I firmly push the soil and cutting down till the cutting holds it's own and fill the rest of the way more of my mix till it's about an inch from the top.
Taller cuttings I use bamboo stakes and twist ties.
Next I fill to the top with pea-gravel.
Then I water them in soaking them real good!
And that's it! All of mine get 6+ hours of direct sunlight.

Keep us posted about the egg, I've heard about it but don't understand it's benefit?
What is your planting Zone? Are you in Florida?

Mahalo, Stuart

I'm in California! We don't get the warm nights that you do and are also VERY dry...low humidity :(

I still don't quite comprehend the egg theory but I thought I would give it a try. Apparently, it's a probiotic thing along with moisture and nutrients that are released for the pores in the egg shell. We shall see.

Why the mulch or coco fiber in the bottom?? It's interesting because last year I experimented in rooting in pure mulch and they rooted very fast but did very little above the soil.

Tony

I put mulch in the bottom of anything I plant, it helps keep dirt off my pool deck!
I also find it to help hold the dirt in the pot because of the large holes in the planter.
Good question!

Stuart

You should probably indicate in your profile where you live so people can get a sense of your climate and temperatures.

Success with cuttings is very dependent upon temperature and humidity. Some say 'just stick them in pots and put them on your hot driveway in full sun'. In some hot summer climates that's sure death! That can create sunburn on the cutting, dessication, along with cooked roots. Too cool and they just sit there and could rot if medium is too wet.

I believe ideal rooting temperature for plants is somewhere between constant 80 and 90 degrees with high humidity, barely moist to dry soil...also good ventilation. Night time cooldowns can slow things down. Soil temps around 85 are ideal for rooting and growth. Anything much above 95 degrees in full sun can really harm them, and overheat the pots they're in. In sun, soil can easily exceed 120 degrees. Yikes! In hot summers, move plants to part shade or insulate them somehow.

I too don't really understand the egg thing. Seems like it could be a smelly mess.

Also, the health, maturity, and freshness of the cutting, where it came from, and what conditions it was growing in are important factors. Also whether it was adequately callused over before rooting.

Keep us posted!

After two weeks the cattings callus real well.

Even green cuttings callus very well and can be rooted easily with 100% success rate.

Here is a callus cutting (two weeks in mulch) and its cut-away view.


As you can see there is absolutely no damage underneath the callus. Also note how the soft white core is protected from rotting by a thick growing callus. In addition, note the callus that is growing at the cambium line. This where new roots develop. Here is a cut-away view of a 2-year old plumeria that shows this.

So the rooting process is well underway and a callused cutting will root a lot quicker than a cutting dried in air. If left in mulch more than four weeks the cuttings develop roots. It is not reccommended to do this because the roots are very fragile.

It is best to plant callused cuttings, after two weeks in mulch, in a well draining medium of 50/50 perlite and potting soil. Water well and put in semi-shade (no need for full sun). They will root quickly and you will never loose a cutting to rotting.

You can find more details in an article I wrote in the March 2012 issue of Plumeria Potpourri of the PSA.
tc,
George

Now I must go find more cuttings and mulch which I am assuming I can buy at any Gardening center correct?

Thank you!!

I forgot to mention. When you take the cuttings dip them in rooting hormone immediately, without wiping the end off. This forms a crust and it proects the cutting. Also, let te cuttings dry in air overnight before burrying the end in mulch. Good luck!

tc,
George

Some of my friends have tried the egg method.. They swear by it.. But i will say, that i did try with two cuttings from the same tree. One with the egg and the other without. Same growth in each.. Yes.. it did smell. Yuck!! I dont use the egg method. But some do use it.. I guess it is good to try and see for yourself. I have a friend that had their eggs break apart in the winter uder lights..he said it smelled awful..LOL I think he uses the egg only in the summer now..

Im very interested to try the mulch method. Sounds like it would be helpful to the cuttings.. Cant wait!! : )

Thanks George!!

Laura

1. Cut the cutting straight across. Flat ends root most effectively for long-term vigor of plant.

2. Immediately dip cut end into rooting hormone and leave it caked on.

3. Let cutting air dry overnight.

4. Place cutting in dry finely-shredded mulch, either pine or hardwood, for at least two weeks. Leave in shade?

5. Pot up after two weeks using standard rooting medium and methods.

6. Place in semi-shade and leave alone for at least six weeks.

Have I missed anything? Because I find with experts that they often leave out little details without thinking about it ;)

i've had 100% rooting for both egg method and just sticking it into a pot of potting mix. there's a good write up of how the egg method works, will have to search for it. but paraphrasing, basically it stimulates root grow from the gasses released from the egg as the contents break down/decompose.

Good luck,
George

Thank you for writing that out. I'm 0 for 4 so far and might be 0 for 5 soon... so I can use all the help I can get.

George, how should I handle it if the cuttings are store bought and I have no idea when they were cut? Do I soak them first then dip in RootTone then follow the other steps?

Thanks!!

The only way to assure that no cuttings will rot when planted, is to callus the cuttings in mulch beforehand. I have rooted hundreds of cuttings with this method and I have yet to loose one to rotting. You see, with the mulch you can control the moisture level of the mulch by mixing wet and dry mulch to create ideal conditions to callus the cuttings without rotting. It really works well. Try it. You will be surpprised!
tc
George

I'm moving soon so by the time we're settled it will Sept. Is that too late to try to root a new cutting? Should I wait until the spring? Thanks!

This is great information on rooting! Thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait to try it on my next patch of plumeria cuttings.

Yes, cuttings can rot in mulch if they are very wet. It rarely happens though. Since you catch it quick before it spreads you can clean out the rotting part with a sharp knife, until you find healthy tissue. Dip it in rooting hormone, let it dry overnight and do it again.
Post a picture of the cuttings and the one you think it might be rotting. By adding water to the mulch you might have gotten it too wet. The mulch needs to be on the dry side. Since this is your first batch of cuttings in this batch of mulch, I would leave it alone. Even though the mulch is on the dry side, it still keeps the cuttings ends at 100% humidity. Generally, you need to add some more fresh mulch if you do multiple sets of cuttings in the same mulch.
Post some pictures and I will tell you if they look right.
tc,
George

You need get some hardwood or pine mulch. See my pictures of what it looks like. It packs well and holds moisture.

Your cuttings are fine. Do not re-cut them. Just put them in mulch and they will callus a lot better.
tc,
George
tc

tc,
George

I'll have to label the next ones, egg, no egg and see what happens.

Tally HO!

BTW, I've tried both with and without egg, and haven't seen any differences in rooting speed.
Lonnie

I keep mine under a smoke Lexan patio cover. They get bright light but it is like shade underneath. If you have an outside location that is protected from the weather (do not want the cuttings to get wet) is the best place.

Beachplant, nothing to loose??? That is waste of some really good eggs! You are like an alchemist trying to convert lead to gold, neglecting the laws of nature. :)lol

tc,
George

Tally HO!

I'm on my way utilizing your method. Most of these cuttings have already been sitting for a week before placing in the mulch. I'll check them next week and post updates.
Lonnie

Lonnie,
you have to dry the cuttings for at least overnight before you place them in mulch. Drying them for a few days is OK. Drying them in air seals their cut surface, where they will not rot in mulch (which contains moisture) Drying them longer does not help; on the contrary, it might hurt them because the cuttings sustain damage drying in air and they get delay in callusing in mulch.

tc,
George

I started using the raw egg method a few years back. I learned about it from Mimi Palmer who used to be the moderator for her old Aloha Plumeria forum.

I never had been able to root cuttings until I started using raw eggs. With the exception of Nebel's Rainbow, Hilo Beauty and a few others, I had cuttings that rooted in 2-4 weeks. I use plastic water bottles. I got that idea from Bill and I figured not only would it save me money, but it also gave me a great way of recycling the bottles.

After removing the top, I filled the empty bottle with 2in or so with a mix of potting soil and perlite. I mix about 60% perlite to %40 percent potting soil. I then add the egg and then the cutting which I too dip into rooting hormone.

Then I fill the rest of the bottle with my mix and place them under my HPS light, or if it's summer and warm enough, they go outdoors in full summer sun. I live in zone 6 so I think the fact that our sun is not so intense makes it where my cuttings wont sunburn, all though with our record breaking hot summer this year, I did have cuttings, and even established trees that were sun burnt.

After about a year(sometimes 6-8 months depending on how fast and how many roots form), I repot my cuttings into 1 gal containers.

My first observation after seeing just how fast the cuttings produced roots, was how fast the egg was used up! In most cases, after a year, there was nothing left, except for maybe a small piece of the egg shell. In over 30 of my cuttings, I actually only found the space where the egg was!

What really shocked me was the girth of those roots! Most of them looked like wires! In comparison to the cuttings that I didn't root with the raw eggs, those roots were much, MUCH thinner.

I also have to agree with Iso. Even though inflos are formed on 1 year old wood, I am a firm believer that the egg is some what responsible for larger inflos and flower buds. I saw it this year on my 'Thai Super Round' and most of all on my 'DSP'. My DSP produced 2x's the inflos it had last year, and yes the year before I had placed 2 raw eggs into the pot with it. This year I repotted it, and I used 3 raw eggs.

My DSP is 3 years old now, and is about 2ft tall, and over 2.5ft long and 1ft wide! This tree looks like it's on steroids!!! I am sure that this growth is nothing in comparison to what people in in warmer climates see. Especially people who live in areas where they can be grown in the ground.

With my raw egg experience, I am 100% convinced that(at least in my case) they do help the tree, especially with root development, especially on trees that all ready have nice root systems.

I am not sure if it is possible to see it now because Mimi's site is closed, but she had tons of research info on the the egg rooting method. She had tons of pics of her cuttings rooting with raw eggs. In fact, she had pics showing how the roots were actually growing towards the raw egg, and even pics of the roots wrapped around the raw egg, which I have seen both cases with my cuttings.

Andrew

Thanks for the advice. I'll leave them in the mulch til after my trip.

George, we have a rooster, you may have a box of chicks if I send you eggs in this weather. Never made it to Emersons, instead I want to see Larry. Came home with a truck full of plumeria but no cuttings. Sorry. However! I did get a big box of 10 cuttings in the mail from Aloha plumeria yesterday. If I can get into photobucket I will download pics.
Tally Ho!

86 degrees with 86% humidity at 0520 this am.

We have a few dozen eggs in the fridge and the guy I bought all my other plumeria from swears by eggs so I figured what the heck. Really I just didn`t want to make quiche tonight lol!

Tally HO!

I am going to go pick up a few large cutting today. There was a posting on here about a large tree that fell over. They were all cut a couple days ago, but I would like to do the method you explained above in the mulch. Do you think it would be okay to cut just a little bit off and stick it in the mulch? Or just let them dry a couple more days, some root hormone, and pot them??

I live in San Diego, but 20 miles inland where it's very hot and no marine layer.

Thanks,
Angela

1. Psycho White
2. Slaughter Pink
3. Noid cutting from Hetty Ford. A new plumie friend I made this year. I bought twice from her and have been very satisified with what I recieved!

I initially also had a J.J. Tiger and another(forgot the name) also in the water but they began to rot.

IT has been about 2 or 3 weeks and so far, very pleased with the results. I think the other 2 didn't fry enough after being cut.

Water rooting is a great option for me this time of year. I dont always have good results from trying to root in soil during the fall unless they are under the HPS light.

Andrew

Andrew, Hetty has a ton of knowledge and I have several from her too. Always statisfied with anything from Hetty.
Lonnie

I'm waiting for my second 12 to show up. I was looking closer at the first batch today in pots and I noticed that there is actually one with 5 tips and another with 6! Not a bad deal at all for around $6 apiece.

So far all of the ones from Aloha and the first batch from Derrick are doing great, no real difference, about the same number have claws, the same number leaves are already growing. Our humidity was lower for a couple of days, nights only in upper 70`s/low 80s and mid-80`s days. Back to hot and humid now though.
Tally HO!

Ok two out of my 3 cuttings have formed the callus ring after two weeks. Now my question is do I dip them in the Rootone AGAIN before potting them or not?

Thank you!

Tony