Question
Good morning, Tom....I have a winter home in Sinaloa Mexico.
A couple years ago, a friend came over and planted a branch of a plumeria tree. about 6' high that had broken off his tree. He planted it in direct sunlight, and with no shields or sun protection. No root chemicals, or special dirt.
To my amazement, the darn thing survived and has now almost doubled in size...
My question: considering what Carlos did with the plumeria, just what would be the largest piece of a plant or tree you could plant? If you got some monster piece to grow, would there be an advantage?...for instance: you took a large cutting of a grape plant that is 10 years old; would the cutting that takes root think he is young or old? Will the production of grapes be affected?
Thanks for your help; it is appreciated.
jim Peterson

Answer
Hi Jim,
Thanx for your question.  I've grown plumeria before from piece of the tree perhaps 8-10 inches long but never tried a branch.  It's true that plumeria are propagated in the green house via 6-8 inch wood cuttings.  I never used any rooting hormone and they rooted relatively quickly.  Not all trees, shrubs, plants can be propagated this way.  I've seen grape whips started in a glass of water at a friends house but half of the cuttings sprouted and half didn't.  Grapes are relatively easy to propagate by wood cuttings about 8-10 inches long and stuck in to the ground over winter.  The big boys and girls in the nursery business use rooting hormones to increase success.  Most of these wood cuttings do not do well if they are larger than 8 inches long.  It's too much living material to keep alive without a root system, plus you should remove the leaves to that the cutting doesn't lose all it's energy and water through evaporation.  Leaves also nourish the plant so there is another form of nourishment gone.  So, you can see that small cuttings are more likely to root successfully which is why you don't see 10 foot sections of oak or maple tree felled by lightning, take root.  Also, the older the wood the more difficult it is to get it to root.  As far as the grape goes, Regarding the grape, if you took a very old piece of wood, it's probably not going to take root because it is already old and depending upon how big it is but I would not waste my time.  I would look for 2nd year, woody growth and use that for cuttings.  The cuttings will then produce blooms and fruit their second year.  Fruiting success depends upon climate, heat, sun and how effectively the farmer prunes.  Good pruning can lead to lots of high quality fruit.  Bad pruning (too severe) could mean absolutely no fruit at all! I hope this answers your question.  If I missed something please post again.
thx,
Tom