I don't know if it will allow me to post something again, but will give it a try. Here's what I found out about gnats. GNAT: common name for any one of a number of small, fragile-looking two-winged flies of the suborder Nematocera, order Diptera, which includes the families Tipulidae ( crane flies ), Bibionidae (hairflies), Ceratopogonidae (biting midges ), Chironomidae (true midges), Cecidomyidae (gall midges), Simuliidae ( black flies ), Culicidae ( mosquitoes ), and others. They often assemble together in large mating swarms. In England mosquitoes are called gnats; in the United States it is chiefly the smaller forms of Diptera, especially irritating because of their great numbers and their vicious biting habits, that are referred to as gnats. All gnats have long, hairlike antennae, which are particularly well-developed in the males. Gnat larvae are free-living, most feeding on plants. Larval plant feeders, e.g., the Hessian fly larvae, cause root, stem, and leaf galls to be formed by the host plant. Some species of fungus gnats (families Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae) are very common pests of mushrooms and roots of potted plants in homes and greenhouses. One group of dipterans (family Chloropidae) of the suborder Cyclorrhapha are commonly called eye gnats, or eye flies . Gnats are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Diptera. One particularly charming article said that they can fly in your eyes or ears, up your nose, or in your mouth. How well I know. Thanks for reminding me!! I also found what may be a useful page for assorted sprays (pyrethrin, permethrin, etc) and dusts for control over assorted lengths of time. Some are safe for use in veggie gardens, and all are safe for people and pets as soon as they have dried. Some come with a hose-end attachment as well. Hope it might help. pat Here is a link that might be useful: Gnat control

Go buy a common garden fungicide (ie.Schultz). 1. cut mushy back to all green, let it dry an hour. spray with the fungicide. I then cover it with common household spackle to seal and make it look better. It will seal itself, but the spackle cuts down on cracking, new fungus, and looks clean. 2. This probably will not affect the plant, but I cannot see where the leaves are coming from. I would do the same as in #1 and leave the leaves if you can trim around. 3. Leave it. No mushy no problem, yet. Spray the tip and watch it. Some tips are slower to get started after frosts. 4. Spray the black and watch it. As long as it stays hard, the new growth will channel the energy and the hard black knob will just look black. You can trim it off with an exacto knife but I just let them go. I live in So,Cal and with light winter frost, then sping fog then rain, I have a battle with black tip every spring. Once it heats up, the problem is gone. But if you do not treat mushy stems they can kill the entire plant. Your plant look generally healthy, so spray the black tips after rain or if it gets wet. Also, on #1 make cuts at an angle so water does not sit on the cut. I cannot see how deep that hole is but this is the one to watch, the others should be ok. For future reference, a blanket or a sheet is not a good cover. These become wet and then freeze onto the plant, If you hunt around in farm supply shops you should be able to find some commercial frost cloth which is not expensive and you can fashion a cover for your plant. Frost cloth does not transmit cold so you can go into the high twenties for a short time and the plant stays protected. You can also put poles in the ground that come out in the spring, you put a cover over the plant because the settling of the damp frost is the most harmful to the plumeria.

Hi Plumienewbiesd, .. Never never cheating to buy a plant with inflos.. Its glorious!!! I have bought two I just bought with inflo's, have no idea what they are, I want flowers!! ha When I came on this forum last year, I bought a couple plants with inflos, think playful and pacific pearl, Per Tony he advised me to buy them, bought them.... When they bloomed I was so excited, I had a flower! I instantly showed it just like you, kept looking at it.. so neat. ..I had jut a few blooms last year, was so hot. So this year am waiting for blooms to come too. So CONGRATS!!! Its such a pretty flower, where did you get it? Yes hope someone can identify it. What is your name? Tony, my plant from mainly seconds has red buds coming, hope like yours, newbals rainbow. Karen B.

hawaiianninja- That is not the correct information for use on a rooted, grafted plant which was in the first sentence of Marcy's post. And if you google "problems with miracle gro" you will find a quarter of a million reasons why these products are very bad for long term growing especially plumerias which need healthy soil (for decades) and soils that do not retain moisture (like MG soil). Finally, it is better to say "I have had excellent success in zone_____ doing the following...." rather than works everytime, because from my experience, having tried this and many other tricks, nothing actually works everytime,( unless you live in the tropics or have a greenhouse which increases your odds). If it were that easy, this forum would not exist.