How to Grow Frangipani from a Cutting
Frangipani trees are true stars of the summer months, lending a tropical look and heavenly fragrance to Australian gardens. They love tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate coastal conditions, and with a little extra attention to microclimate, it’s even possible to grow them in cooler and inland regions.
Why Propagate Frangipanis?
A big plus for Frangipani fans is that they’re easy to grow from cuttings, which means you can create a second plant from an established specimen. This is best done in late spring or early summer.
Steps to Grow Frangipani from a Cutting
Here’s what you need to do:
- Begin by making sure your parent tree is healthy and disease-free. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and choose a firm, healthy stem to propagate. Ideally, the base of your cutting should be mature wood, so give young stems a miss.
- Using sharp secateurs, take a cutting of around 15-50cm, then remove the flowers and most of the leaves.
- Leave the cutting in a dry, well-ventilated position until the base of the stem has dried out. This can take up to four weeks, depending on the climate.
- When this base is dry, plant the cutting into a pot of coarse sand, then water about once a week until it takes root. New leaves are good indicators of root growth.
- The new plant can then be transplanted into your desired growing position – either directly into the ground in some sandy soil with good drainage, or in a pot of well-drained potting mix. For longer cuttings, a support stake may be useful.
Caring for Your Frangipani
Be aware that Frangipanis dislike overwatering, making them drought tolerant and great for waterwise gardening. Water when the soil feels dry to the touch (about once a week in summer), and skip it altogether over winter.
Don’t have a mature tree to take a cutting from? Looking for a particular flower colour? Garden Express has a fantastic range of Frangipani varieties ready to grace your garden with a touch of the tropics.
Very helpful article I am looking for soft apricots colour frangipani is that available
How long does a frangipani take to root from a cutting im seeing no signs yet dry cutting been in ground for about 3 months now
Frangipani can take a good 6 months to grow roots after planting. Some of them will even grow a full set of leaves and flower but they have no roots so they are notoriously slow.
If the plant is not deteriorating- ie: tip of the stem is not withering off or the base going mushy then I would be just a bit more patient. It should grow in it’s own time.
I had to trim my frangipani in mid July, I let it dry out then put in a pot with sand & loose soil. They are now starting to flower, but no leaves as yet. Can I plant in the garden now ??
I would gently knock the plant out of the pot to see if there are roots forming yet. If the roots have formed then planting it out will be fine. However, I feel the plant most likely has not yet formed roots as there are no leaves forming so you should remove the flowers to force the plant to put its energy into roots and leaves rather than flowers. By letting the flowers continue to form there is a good chance the cutting will exhaust itself and not have the energy to continue on and begin to grow correctly.
Have a cutting that has now been in the ground two years. Was in a pot till new leaves showed, Have had new growth but no flowers yet. How long does it take to flower
Thanks for your question, and I am sorry it has taken some time for a reply; the Christmas break has meant the people required to answer your question were not available till now. Generally speaking the time from making the cutting to flowering will depend on the size of the cutting and also your climate. If the plant is in full sun and it was a fairly decent size I would expect flowers in from about the second or third year from planting so you will most likely see flowers this Summer. Fertilising the plant with a fertiliser for flowering plants can assist with this as the higher Phosphorus should assist with flower formation.
II took my cutting last year and planted it in propagating sand. It has plenty of heathy new leaves. Do I leave it in the propagating mix or put it in potting mix. How do I move it? Will the sand fall off? Or in case it sticks to the roots, do I put the whole lot into potting mix? I am worried to disturb the roots
Gently knock the plant from the pot by turning it upside down with your hand supporting the stem and material in the pot. Once the pot has been removed you should be able to see if there are roots or not- from the sounds of it I would say there are, so gently replant it into a larger pot and fill with a good quality potting mix and give it a gentle water. Leaving the sand in situ is not a bad thing, nor is it a problem if the sand falls away but this is less likely to happen if the plant has recently been watered. Most plants can cope with a little bit of root disturbance at replanting time without detriment, but the more roots it has at this time the better it will replant for you without stress.
I have a very large plant that I have had many years. I plant it in spring and put in pot in garage in winter. This year some of the limbs are rotten on the ends. I cut the tips down past the bad area. Will these limbs recover or should I cut them back to the end of that limb. I live in N.C. It has done really well til this year. Would hate to lose it. Probably over watered this past winter but not any more than in past years.
Generally speaking Frangipani do not need any watering in Winter if they are in a cooler climate so hopefully the rot has not gone through the whole system of the plant.
I think the plant should send out new growth shoots but it may take some time and some proper tropical type of warmth for it to fully recover and start growing again.
When cutting down a frangepani can I replant the large branches instead of making small cuttings? Cheers
We had a storm and my Frangipani snapped in half can some one tell me what to do i need to know do i cut it straight across or on a angle .
Thank you for your question,
The best way of dealing with any ragged edge is to cut it neatly (it really does not matter if it is on an angle or straight across), and wait for the piece to dry off and begin to callous. Once this has happened plant it as you would any Frangipani cutting, and if it is quite a big peice make sure it is supported until the plant has developed roots. This can take quite a while- up to 6 months or more in some climates so ensure you do not remove the support too early.
I have just cut a 2 meter cutting. Can this 2 meter cutting be planted in the ground (After it dries out)? Its stem is quite thick say 10cm diameter is that too large?
Thanks for your question Rob,
So long as you support the rather large cutting when it is planted there should be no problem with planting this once the open face has sealed properly. The benefit from taking such a large cutting is the new plant will most likely be flowering size, but the downside is that it will need suppoert for quite a while until the root system is well enough established to support itself.
July this year I cut the 3 branches off my 90 cm. 3 branched frangipanis. I put the cuttings to dry which they now have. Will the original plants regrow? The 3 branches on each plant were about 50cm high after cutting, they’re drying well but show no sign of growing new branches. Have I killed the originals? Thanks in advance, I have black thumbs and was really proud of them..