Fear not I think. My DR's are doing the same thing. Must be the cool nights (50's). I need to cut back on watering them too as they don't dry out as fast. Here is a photo of my seedpod growing. That is a first for me so I hope it matures enough to produce some good seeds.
{{gwi:1204373}}From Garden 2009

Nice seed pods! Don't think the cool nights have effected mine as of yet, only gets "down" into the high 70s or 80s here. Got a couple months yet until we hit those 50s. Thanks for your thoughts tho!
Lauri

Hi Lauri, nice to see you here again, sorry you have probs though.

Are the DR's in a type of media that drains very quickly? The water should run straight through as soon as they're watered and they hate to stand in it for any length of time.
I realise you said they have done well this year, but something is now obviously going wrong as you rightly point out.
Are the trunks/branches soft or rigid? Overwatering is my thought as with your temps, they can hardly be going dormant just yet. Mine have not yet started to defoliate and we are way colder than you, goes down to 50F at night in the g/h where they are kept. Outside it struggled to reach 55F during the day yesterday but all are fine at the moment...I even have buds on one! Will post a new thread to show you for fear of hijacking your question.
Regards, Gill.

Hi Laurie...What has the weather done differently lately?

If the weather is the same, then I too suspect overwatering. I was having the same problem with mine year after year until I planted it in a fast draining loose soil-less mix.

Root rot, and roots that rebel from being wet to long can happen suddenly..

Is there a way you can repot it into something that dries quicker? Is there a way to place it in full sun and let it dry out completely?

Hope it works out for you...As dpolson said, fear not. They are strong plants...:-)

FWIW, my quick method of drying out an overly wet soil is to un-pot it carefully and stand it on and wrap it in some sheets of newspaper for a while which will absorb any excess quicker than waiting for the sun to do it...as we don't get that much sun here it would take forever!!

That's not to say I wouldn't go ahead and repot it completely though if there is a problem with the soil thats causing it to retain too much water in the first place. Mine grow in 30% perlite, 30% grit and 30% very coarse/gritty cactus mix with some chicken poo pellets added.

Let us know what you find?
Gill.

bump......just hoping Lauri and her 'fat plants' are OK out there? You there Lauri?
Gill.

I wonder if it's just responding to shorter day lengths by dropping leaves. Mine is doing the same thing and we really hadn't had cold nights yet.

Other than the the issue I suggested...

Is it possible that this is a natural process for them to get taller? By nature, do they drop bottom older leaves to prepare for longer stem growth...Just a thought..:-)

I know plumeria have to do so to get taller...

Okee dokee, I'm back a bit. Frantically getting ready for state boards in just over a week. I think you all are correct in saying too wet. They were out on the deck of the back porch and it had been raining a lot. Most of my plummies out there have developed rust, I cut off the leaves. So I moved my DR's under the overhang of the porch so they don't get the rain but still get sun. They are looking better. The weather has been hot here, up until yesterday, someone turned off the heat out there and this morning it is 55! However, I'm sure that is not here to stay quite yet. I want to do that un-pot thing and wrap them in paper towels, but not until after state boards, but they are looking much better now. I believe I potted them in cactus soil mixed with some perlite, but it's been awhile. On the thought of them doing the dropping as they get taller, I have one that I have had for many years and it is quite tall and I don't remember it doing that. It concerned me because it was so sudden.
Ok, need to get to studying. This past three years of hard work is finally coming to a close.
Thanks all, Lauri