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S. Fl. Plumeria losing new leaves

14 years ago

I am new to the forum. I live in South Fl. and have 3 Plumeria of different varieties planted in the ground. My biggest one(7ft)tall,white flower,yellow center and a fragrance to die for,is having a problem.New leaves are sprouting nicely but it is dropping perfectly shaped,healthy looking leaves at about 10 or more a day. I planted this Plumeria almost 5 yrs ago and never had a problem.Some tips have black leaves but I have always seen those in the past.The only thing I did differently this year was fertilize with 15-15-15 instead of 8-8-8. I used that on all 3 and only this one is losing leaves so I don't think it was the fertilizer.I hope someone can help. Thank You

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Comments (8)

pharoah
13 years ago
Jerry,
More info is needed. When you say that it's dropping 10 leaves a day, are these newly formed leaves?? That would be an awful lot of leaf growth! If they are leaves that remained on the tree from 2009, then it's perfectly normal. They have to get rid of the old leaves when transitioning into the 2010 growing season.

By black leaves, do you mean full size leaves that are black, or tiny claw-like leaves that are under an inch???

Tony
jerry1220
Original Author
13 years ago
These were new leaves from 2"-7" long,very green and very healthy.All of last years leaves have fallen off.
As for the black tips, some were tiny claws and others were maybe 1"-2" long leaves. The good news is that the leaves have stopped falling off as of maybe 3 days ago but for 3-4 days it lost 10+ a day. It was very cold here this winter,30's at night for several days,would that cause this?
Weed and feed? I have not had a problem in the past with lawn fertilizer. Should I have not used 15-15-15 fertilizer on it?
Thanks for your reply.....Jerry
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pharoah
13 years ago
Jerry,
It very well could have been that the cold did a number on your Plumeria's roots and it couldn't support the new growth.

A balanced fertilizer is fine as I know many who use a 20-20-20. The only thing I would stay away from is the herbicide in "Weed and Feed". I've read that some people consider Plumies a weed! It probably didn't do any damage, but just to be safe you should use an appropriate fertilizer WITHOUT a weed killer.

At any rate, it sounds like it is doing fine now!

Keep us posted,
Tony
jerry1220
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for your input.
I also noticed yesterday that there are a couple of small sections of root showing. I suppose it would not hurt to cover them with some soil.Thanks again....Jerry
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
13 years ago
Hey Jerry,

I'm glad to hear that your Plumies are doing better!!!
Sounds like they just suffered alittle set back just for a week or two!!! I agree that using "Weed and Feed" will only cause some problems...check the threads for the month of late march and or the month of April. I believe that we were all talking about fertilizers (when and what type) for the different seasons.

Hope this helps!!!

Laura in VB
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
13 years ago
Jerry,

I just checked that thread that you might find interesting...start at the main Plumeria page and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Press page 2 and find the title thread "Kick off Begins" you may like to hear what others give to their Plumerias and when!!!

Hope this helps!!

Laura in VB
jerry1220
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you so much I will check it out....Jerry
tropicalzone7
13 years ago
That cold really damaged a lot of plants so I agree that your plumeria might have been a little shocked as well. As long as the problem has stopped now, It should be fine.
And definitely check out that thread Laura was talking about. I plan on getting some of those things for my plumerias which for some reason are starting a little late this year :(

Good luck!
-Alex

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