How to Grow Plumeria

Grafting Plumeria

Plumeria is a tropical plant that produces a delicately scented bloom. Often called frangipani, the plant is common in areas such as Hawaii where warm temperatures and humidity yield many varieties and colors of the flowers. Plumeria are often grafted to produce new plants. The benefits to grafting include a established root system and a plant that produces mature blooms sooner while staying true to the parent.  

Plumeria are easy to root and roots will form in as little as 6 to 8 weeks, but new roots are very soft and will break at the slightest movement. Cuttings must have enough time to develop a good root system prior to winter dormancy. Many rooted cuttings do not make it past the first winter.  

If you are going to grow Plumeria from cuttings then it would be best to start in the spring with as large a cutting as possibly. Stay away of known hard rooting varieties and pencil size cuttings.  

Grafting allows us to take a cutting and place it onto a strong robust rootstock with a fully developed root system that will give your plant the start it needs.  

Why Graft Plumeria?

The main reason to graft Plumeria cuttings are:  

• Grafted cuttings can have a fully functional root system within 10-14 days. Rooting a cutting can take 4-8 weeks for new roots to form.
• A grafted plant allows us to take a cutting and place it onto an established root system.
• The growth of a grafted plant will be at minimum of one-year ahead of a rooted cutting plant.
• You can leave Inflorescence on grafted cuttings. An Inflorescence left on newly rooting cuttings will slow down the development of the roots.
• A grafted cutting will bloom sooner and produce more blooms than a newly rooted cutting.
• A grafted bloom will be a normal flower. Newly rooted cuttings will often produce an inferior flower, called a root bloom.
• Rare and hard to find Plumeria are more likely to be difficult to root from a cutting.
• A single Plumeria tree can have multiple varieties grafted onto it forming a multi variety tree.
• Grafted Plumeria have a higher survival rate, resulting in many of our customers sending us failed rooting attempts in an effort to save their rare and valuable Plumeria. Our smart customers send it to us right away, before it has a chance to get stressed out.