Propagating Plumeria

Back in the first part of May you might remember I planted a plumeria cutting to see if I can turn it into a new plant  ~ I mentioned that I was giving it a try in week 18 Around the Campfire, here's the picture from back then, and yes they are exactly what it looks like - 2 planted sticks:)

Backstory - Dave came home a few days before we were getting ready to make our spring migration back to Michigan with this big ol' stick,  said a friend of his gave it to him and I "needed to plant it and it'll become a tree". Um, ok - what kind of tree? And how am I going to do this with our leaving? Am I taking the stick to Michigan? He thought it's plumeria, after doing a little research it is indeed plumeria and I set about learning what the heck to do with it. Turns out it is pretty easy - I made three cuttings from the one large cutting, let it dry for a few days, dipped the end in rooting powder and planted it in a fast draining mixture of soil and perlite - and guys, guess what? It's working! Well, at least one of the cuttings is...

You can see the new growth on the front cutting, the back one hasn't rooted yet and I'm thinking it's not going to,  but I set it outside to get more sunlight and warmth and we'll see.

Now that it's producing leaves I repotted it into a larger pot to give it room to grow. I mixed the same 1/3 lightweight potting soil with 2/3 perlite to plant it in, plumeria doesn't like to sit in water so the soil needs to drain quickly - adding that much perlite will keep the soil airy and loose and help promote drainage. It needs to dry out in between waterings - I put it outside but we have been getting an insane amount of rain this spring and I might have to bring it inside. Here in Michigan the plumeria will be an inside plant, but I'm putting it outside while the days are sunny and warm.

On a side note - the insane amount of rain has made my garden seriously flourish! I cannot believe how big everything is already - I planted 6 different tomato plants, bush and pole green beans, bush and pole sugar peas, and climbing sweet peas.

Lucy is so cute when I bring her in some fresh-picked peas, she literally grabs them from me she is so excited to eat them.