We have had a cool summer but a dry summer. I'm trying to determine if my plumeria has black tip fungus. If it does, am I at the point I need to cut off the ends and if so, by how much? Will repotting help?
Here is the plumeria:
Black tip fungus?
Two tips look like this:
One tip still has some leaves trying to make it. I really don't want to lose this plant. Thanks for any help/advice!
Jackie
No, it's not Black Tip. Black Tip looks different. You have what lots of people in California have -- a delayed reaction to the record cold temps we had. I have many still that look like that. Sometimes, the tip closes and new branches will sprout, and then the new branches will have the black dried up leaves like that. I also have some deformed tips. I see some good leaves that are trying to come out of yours so just give it full sun and wait. It will recover.
I forgot to add: pull off the black leaves when you see them.
Thanks, Clare. I was about to go out and get some kind of anti-fungal spray for it. Weird weather. I gave up on growing tomatoes. They took forever to make fruit and then forever to ripen (and what did ripen was very grainy) so I threw them out. I'm enjoying the mild summer but these 70-80 temp days are doing strange things to my plants.
I had earlier gone ahead and removed the black, curled leaves and noticed new leaves are trying to make their way through. The one tip with some green leaves had all green up until about two weeks ago and then they started turning black. It's in pretty much full sun now so it remains to be seen how it will fair. I have several others that look good, one finally with flowers. Would repotting right now, especially the one that is blooming, be ok?
My palms would like to see some hot weather, too :-/
Thanks again for your help.
Jackie
Sure, Jackie. I know how frustrating it is. I have written off seeing flowers on those that are doing the same thing. It surely is weird weather this year. Repotting is fine, and an anti-fungal spray probably isn't a bad idea, but I don't think this is a fungus, but the weakened tips could be susceptible to all sorts of things so not a bad idea.
Oh, that's a good point (the weakened tips). Maybe I'll go ahead and spray it. I just picked up a big pot for my biggest plumeria that is putting out some really nice flowers. Actually, it was my first and is my favorite. Maybe I'll use the big pot for the next size down and go ahead and put this one in the ground. Wonderful fragance and yes, the flowers are really this brilliant. :-) Think it would be ok to put it in the ground with lots of unopened buds?
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 4:50 PM
Oh, sure. It is fine to plant it where you are. That is an awesome 'Kauka Wilder.' My KW is blooming now too -- actually, I have several, and they are all in bloom! It is one of my favorites too and should be in every plumeria collection.
:-) I agree.
It has mostly buds right now. Mine are really late this year. I'm not sure if the others will bloom as they haven't even produced buds yet, just leaves. We will see.
That was an evening shot. I think it's easier to capture the color then. I have a shot of a praying mantis on one of the flowers. Actually, that's what got me to get my camera and take photos.
Thanks again for your help. I've just spent the last couple of hours outside watering the front yard. Maybe that's why my plumeria are blooming late... no rain this year. I water but it's just not the same.
Yes, there are a lot of late inflo's for other people who experienced cold winter temps. I was just talking about that with someone in West Covina. I have a temporary greenhouse set up where I put all plumerias with late inflo's when December comes. My seedlings tend to want to bloom in winter too. They bloom beautifully in the temporary greenhouse in the winter, which has no supplemental heat or light.
You captured the red flower beautifully. Reds are hard to photograph. Praying mantises are great in the garden. I wish I had more of them. I hardly ever see one.
You could be right about the lack of rain affecting the plumies as well. We are having one of the driest years on record. I am getting tired of watering and would appreciate some rain.
I'm afraid we are going to have to wait a few months for rain :-(
Here's my praying mantis....
ooops! Sorry! I didn't realize it was in original size. Here it is again but reduced so you can see the entire photo....
Well, nevermind. It seems it was automatically reduced. I don't know how to delete a post.
Jackie
Very cool, Jackie. You don't have to worry about deleting it. It was worth posting twice! Do you ever sell plumerias to chain stores or nurseries or out of your home? I'm just wondering because I've heard plumeria collectors refer to Jackie's plumerias before and was wondering if you are that Jackie.
No, not the same. I have maybe a half dozen plants and the only new plants I made from an existing plant was when it fell over and broke into three pieces :-/ Two "stumps" survived.
Bet her yard smells heavenly :-)
I have 2 plants that have done this on 1 branch each.
The other branches leafed out fine.
I attributed mine to spraying with messenger before the leaves were started.
I am about 99% sure it wasnt the cold here and messenger was the only other factor I could point to.
Thoughts?
Thanks, Jackie! My mistake. The Jackie that I was thinking of just died of cancer. She was a great lady and a great plumeria lover with hundreds of plumerias.
Michael, I've never used Messenger. I just know that many people have this phenomenon. There is a thread at MPG that I can't find now that has many people chiming in to say that they are experiencing the same thing. I don't know if it is from drought or delayed cold damage, but another thing that is happening for the first time is inflo's that form fully before the buds turn black and fall off. This is totally new to me.
What's messenger?
So far this year, we have had very few days over 90 degrees. It's been mostly 70's and 80's with low 60's and upper 50's (until the last couple of weeks) at night. The media seems to only want to talk about heat waves that occur but we are experiencing the opposite. Finally, they have mentioned the unusual cool trend. It's 11:30 a.m. here now and it's 71 degrees in my backyard (I'm on a slope and our backyard faces WSW).
My palms don't know what to do.
Clare, is "inflo" the new leaves that begin or buds?
I sure hope my others that made leaves will make flowers :-(
At least my KW is looking good so far.
Oh, what's MPG?
Inflo is short for infloresence, the stalk that holds the flower buds and flowers.
I don't think this problem is from lack of heat. Plumerias thrive in Hawaii, and it isn't as hot as most people think it is there as pointed out by my friend Terry who lived there for many years.
Messenger is an optional supplement that many people give their brugmansias and plumerias. It is expensive so I don't use it.
This message was edited Mar 6, 2008 5:01 PM
Sorry about that. I abbreviated it because Michael would know what I meant.
This message was edited Mar 6, 2008 5:02 PM
I forgot to mention that we suffered the record-breaking cold this winter, too. Fortunately, my palms made out ok. I wasn't sure what to do about my potted plumerias. Our grass has been rather sad this year. We do have an inground watering system, though.
Lots of palm folks lost lots of palms, some were rare and very expensive.
We were lucky. But I don't think we are going to get a lot of growth out of them this year. They want the hot weather and it's just not happening here.
So they are having this same problem with their plumerias in Hawaii?
No, I was just pointing out that plumerias don't need temps over 90 to do well, and that is why I don't think this black dried up new leaf problem or dried up inflo problem is due to lack of heat.
I just went outside to check on my plumerias and noticed that where I knocked off the black tips, new growth is already started. About 1/4 inch so far! Thanks for the advice, Clare.
Unfortunately, the new leaves that were doing ok four days ago when I took the pictures seem they may be going south now, too.
Looks like a caterpillar has found my KW. Something munched off almost an entire large leaf :-/
You are welcome, Jackie. Sometime, the new leaves turn black and are still moist, and I try to remove those right away. Some of my tips are coming back too, and some are not. It might be a long haul getting those to be normal again.
I bet it is not a caterpillar but a grasshopper. I've got those too.
I have lots of birds coming to my yard. I noticed some of the flower buds were knocked off the top and a down feather hanging in the plumeria. Hopefully, a bird got it :-) They are my best insecticides.
The grasshoppers that I keep finding on my plumies are huge! They are so big that it scares me and pains me to kill them, but they just do a huge amount of damage to the plumies so they have to go.
I have westies that like to hunt bugs, too. They work as a team. Maybe I'll leave them outside for a while and see if they will get a grasshopper. They are always hunting lizzards but haven't been able to catch any so far.
I don't know what to make of this. I can't seem to get a leaf out of this plumeria that will get past a half inch now before it turns black and crusty. Two of the limbs are still trying to produce leaves but they are failing at a ever decreasing size. The other limb is not even trying any longer. A few days ago, I took these pictures trying to get a blow-up of the tips. This one is interesting in that it appears to show some kind of insect (white with what looks like legs) and something else with wings. I don't know what it is or if it's the cause of the problem. I could not see these with my eyes. Only after I took this photo then looked at it on my computer.
Here's another. One leaf (on the right) has already turned black and curled up. Another (on the left) is turning dark. The one good one is now turning dark. You can see what appears to be some kind of web. I really hope to save this plant.
I will try to get updated close-ups. Unfortunately, getting a well-defined close-up at this magnification is difficult and really just a lucky shot because I can't tell how well it's focused when looking through the viewfinder until I actually bring it up on my computer.
Jackie, this is the same thing that we talked about earlier. It is happening in my collection as well and is probably due to the record cold we had this past winter. It is delayed cold damage. I have left my tips alone, and most of them have closed off and branched below the damaged tip. Sometimes, the new branches that are formed will refuse to put out leaves also because they are still on damaged tissue. The leaves turn black and dry up just like yours. With these, I just cut off the tip a few inches down the stem and let new branches come in on healthy tissue. It isn't the insects, but you can spray with Neem or Insecticidal soap. Your tip doesn't look nearly as bad as some of mine. I would not cut that tip in the picture. It will come back. You just have to ignore it for a while and make sure it is in full sun. Your auto focus on your camera should be able to help you with close-up shots. Those are fine though. As I said, the same thing is happening to many plumeria collectors here in Southern California who had their plumerias outside during the record cold temps.
Jackie, thanks for this thread. I had the same problem with one of my Plumies, so I read Clare's posts and I feel much better now. Thanks to Clare too! ;-)
Sure, Teresa. It is no mystery to me why this is happening. Just as an example, the weatherman predicted freezing temps for the night one night last winter. I strung rope through the holes of a blue tarp and made a tent of sorts over my 50 seedlings for protection. I had thrown sheets and blankets and tarps over the other plumerias too. That night, it reached 32 for a few hours. In the morning, I came outside to take the sheets and blankets and tarps off the plumies. When I got to the seedlings, one single plant had been left out in the open unprotected by the tarp. I watched it carefully for the tips to turn to mush, but they didn't. I put it in the greenhouse, and leaves started to form, and there even was an inflo starting. I thought I had escaped damage! Well, it just took a while for the damage to show up. The leaves started turning black and drying up; the inflo dried up, the tip became yellowish and bubbled over; new branches started below the now-closed-up and black tips, but the new tips became deformed with black leaves, etc. I left it alone for about 4-5 months to try to come back, but I just cut off two of the three tips this evening. This is no mystery to me what is happening here and to Jackie's. This is cold damage. We are lucky really. Many lost whole trees that were quite old so you won't hear me complaining.
Hi Teresa, I'm glad this thread is helping someone else. Clare is a huge help as well as comfort to us panicking plumie parents :-)
Thank you Clare. I really appreciate your advice on this. The pictures I included were taken a few days ago. Here is one taken today of the worst tip (I do use auto focus but my camera does not always focus on the centerpoint and even when it does, a slight movement by me can set it out of focus just as I snap the picture). This tip has stopped producing leaf buds at all and the other two are decreasing in production.
And this is what is happening to my only plumeria that has actually bloomed (my Kauka Wilder :-( ) It's beginning to spread across the buds on it. I don't think I'm going to get any more blooms from this plant.
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining. I can live without the usual blooms. I just want to do everything possible to make sure I don't lose these plants. I have used an anti-fungal as well as garden-safe pesticide on the three tips as well as my KW.