I just pruned my hog plum and rooted a few cuttings. I had 6 total, 3 I trimmed most of the leaves off of and left a couple of half leaves on it. 3 I left quite a bit of leaves on. To my surprise, the cuttings with not much leaf all died quickly. The cuttings with lots of leaves took off quickly. I just stuck them in a pot with regular soil that had been outside for some time after a quick rooting hormone treatment.
I had expected the heavily leafed cuttings to dry out and die, but it was just the opposite.
Was this your experience?
I leave my cuttings with all the leaves intact. I simply push them into the soil. They root after a month or so. I use 4-6ft long cuttings with a minimum of 2 inches of thickness. Never failed me. This is for the red hog plum. The yellow variety is another story since they are shy when it comes to rooting and require more care.
I personally don’t like them ripe. Instead I eat them unripe or slightly ripe with a bit of salt. It’s not my favorite but most of my friends love it so I grow it.