get those leaves off as soon as possible, as they draw liquid from the branches. Cut your stem cleanly and seal after it stops oozing latex with spackle or my fav DAP ceder Alex tub and tile sealant. It should start growing new branches either this fall or next spring. Sorry, I have had cat fights end up in my plants with similar results and I do not own a cat. I would clean cut the bottom of the branches and let it air dry. I start those sized branches in 1.5L water bottles and then place five into a five gallon nursery pot or several with bottles filled with rocks to make up the five. Bill.

Oh, no! I'm so sorry to see that gorgeous tree get broken! I would've sworn the air blue if I woke up to that.

The close-up of the stump is very cool, though, with the different layers of the trunk visible. Hope you can regenerate that and the broken branches for the spring. Good luck!

Could you not graft one of the branches back onto the main trunk, and the root the other one? Just a thought.

John

If it were in my yard, I would have sworn my neighbor kids ball had fallen on it! They broke our storm door already!

Bummer though. It was such a full plant.

What a shame. I can't imagine a cat being strong enough to cause that kind of damage.

That is a shame. Based on the results I got this year from cuttings my neighbor gave me, you at least will have some real nice new trees next Spring!

Bill, thanks for the reminder on pruning the leaves, got that done yesterday, just branches and leaf stubs left waiting to dry off now.

So your recommendation would be to (1) cut the remaining trunk clean to remove jagged edges, cover the wound when dry with some sort of spackle or pruning seal, see if it starts growing this fall or next Spring; (2) cut the jagged edges off the bottom of the broken off branches, I assume at an angle; (3) once calloused in a week to 10 days, put both branches in 1.5 liter bottles (I assume with drainage cut in bottom) with 100 percent pumice, puttung both in a five gallon pot with rocks for stability? Leave out in the so cal autumn and winter and see what happens?

I guess alternatives would be to put in the garage once it cools down, or just leave them dry until Spring.

Thanks for the helpful advice.

Mike

You have it. I use my regular soil mix instead of 100% pumice and use bottom heat at this time of year. You can also wait until spring. I use bottles of rock if I do not have 5 cuttings to start ie if I have three cuttings I use soil mix in the bottles with holes in bottom and two bottles of rock. After watering once, I would probably arrange the bottles so the 5 gallon is balanced. see pic. and notice the DAP on the cut branch

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You have it. I use my regular soil mix instead of 100% pumice and use bottom heat at this time of year. You can also wait until spring. I use bottles of rock if I do not have 5 cuttings to start ie if I have three cuttings I use soil mix in the bottles with holes in bottom and two bottles of rock. After watering once, I would probably arrange the bottles so the 5 gallon is balanced. see pic. and notice the DAP on the cut branch

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Well, got the Lemon drop cleaned up. Amazing how heavy the two large branches are, perhaps after they've calloused a bit I'll make a couple more smaller cuttings.

Cleaned up trunk:

vs yesterday:

Branches:

Your Thornton Lemon Drop looks like you have done everything right!!! Those cuttings will make beautiful new trees. The remaining original tree will produce new branches for you, hopefully sooner than later!!!

I do feel for you...I can imagine how shocked you were to find you beautiful tree broken. Only Plumie people can feel the low stomach pain you must have felt...Now, you will have more Lemon Drops to love!!!

Thanks for the pictures...you have done a great job cleaning up everything..good luck with the rooting process!!

Please keep us posted with your progress!!!

Laura in VB

Well, back in Sept 2010 when I had two chunks of what was once a beautiful Thornton Lemon Drop, I thought I had lost the plant. I put the two large pieces in the garage over winter, and by spring they were both very wrinkled and dried out. April of 2011 both were in pots waiting to root and it wasn't until the end of summer in september that the branches plumped up and started throwing off leaves, and one branch even had a few flowers. Well, right now, both are leafing out, and blooming. So a happy ending after all :-)

Oh, the stump didn't make it, rotted in the winter rains, but two Thornton's lemon drop and two cuttings rooting now are more than enough for me.

Wow!! I can't believe that happened and I am in awe of how you handled it and how things turned out for you!!

What you have now is GORGEOUS! Please let me know if you ever want to sell a plant. I have been looking all over for a local person to sell but no suck luck. Thank you!!

mjhuntingtonbeach, happy end to an awful story. They are both looking great. Good job ! Peg

Oh my, that is the saddest thing to see! I am so sorry but they are great cuttings all cleaned up and ready to go.

Out of curiosity, why might you wait until spring to root them?

This happened 2 yrs ago in September. Showing you how good they grew.

Mj, thank you for taking the time to post the update! I remember your original post well and am delighted to see you ended up with two gorgeous specimens! A nice silver lining.

There would be at least a few eager takers if you ever decided to part with one of your trees, lol!

The question from Moonie 57, why I waited until spring to root the cuttings - winters here are cool and rainy, I probably would have lost the cuttings to rot, so I waited until warmer weather in the spring.

And thanks Jandey, things did end up for the best. And that idea of an eager taker for one of the two is not a bad idea. Plumeria and other plants are like orphans, I keep adopting them and they keep growing bigger and bigger and I start running out of room lol.

Hi MJ,

Thank you for posting a follow up on the ETLD. She sure is a beauty and your new trees are just gorgeous. I really like the shape of both trees. You did a fine job rooting these and showing us that "it" can be done. I really thought that the huge stem would make it and have lots of new branches.. Im so sorry you lost it.

Are you going to keep these in containers? Did you ever find out what really happened to this tree? As i read this post again, i didn't really see the date and my heart sank again as i saw this break... The same awful feeling as i had before.

Like Jen mentioned.. It is a very happy ending..

I am so happy for you that you have two wonderful healthy looking trees. ETLD is a stunning tree.

Jen... makes me think of your beauty!!! : )

My ETLD has three inflos and is about three feet tall and has maybe four branches... This one is a keeper!!

Congratulation MJ!!!

Take Care,

Laura

Thank you for your kind comments Laura, I appreciate it. And as to what to do with the two trees, not sure I have the right spot to plant in the ground. I should do what Bill does, put a planter in the front yard and plant a few trees there. ETLD seems to love the beach area I live in, leafs out before any others, blooms up a storm, and holds its leaves the longest. And it has a nice compact growth habit, I love it. But until then, I guess pots is what they will be in. Right now the smaller one is in a 5 gallon, the larger is in a 7 gallon. By the end of the summer, I expect both trees to have about 15 new branches and be about a foot taller and broader. So we will see :)

And I never did figure out what caused it to split in two like it did, I am convinced it must have been a cat jumping down off the wall, onto the plant. But who knows.

Mike

Thought I'd post a follow up to show you all where they are today as of a few weeks ago, in August 2013. One of the two is in a 7 gallon and getting bigger weekly. I put the other in the ground along an east facing wall. Both have grown immensely this year, spread out and low as if they want to form a hedge.

Another view of the 7 gallon.

And here is the one in the ground.

So what is it about me and breaking branches??? :(

This was one other branch from the two large branches that came off in 2010, took me over a year to root, came into its own in 2013 in a 5 gallon.

wow just seeing this for the first time and was sick to my stomach to see such a nice plant split like that! Awesome to see that it turned out nice for you. Such nice and healthy plants!

Ah-mazing! I think that sums it up! Nope one more...gorgeous!

Great happy ending :)