If inside, what about airflow? I leave my lights on 24/7, but just 60 watt. Not sure what FP and Pro-tekt is used for. I only use Neem sparingly. I'm very new to growing Plumeria also, so may not be of much help. I did read that the higher the middle number in plant food the better. I have 10-50-10, but was told not to use it on new stems to begin with. Hope any of this helps.

Thanks for your input Kathy. FP is Foliage Pro. I use this to follow the lead of many of the plumeria gurus here like Laura. I use 1/2 strength Excalibur from Florida Colors, and 1/2 strength FP which is 9-3-6 as she recommends, and get had tons of blooms. Also have two huge fans going constantly in a 15x15 room. My lights are T5HO which also were what a few other 24 hour year round indoor growers have advised me. I've heard so much about the propensity of indoor plants to get spider mites that I've been active with the neem, maybe too active. Things were working out quite well until last spring. Hoping to hear from K and others :-) This darn thing is so discouraging.

Hope I'm not going off the deep end again but a year or so ago, my plumeria looked healthy and spectacular. Now almost everyone has some form of the above and dropped half, often most, of their leaves. Leaves form, become mottled, turn brown or yellow and drop. Some just turn brown and drop. I've looked at soooo many pictures over the months trying to figure out what this is and finally saw some pictures of exactly what the leaves on most of my plants look like- and those are leaves with a virus. Maybe a cutting that I brought in? The thing that would negate that is that not so sure viruses spread by vector. Thought it was by contaminated cutting tools. Maybe having in an indoor environment is different?

4am and soooooo depressed over my plants.

Thanks so much for your help Phalanx viridis.

Taking a breath. But keep flipping to the pics of viruses in plumeria leaves, heh-heh. You're right- this environment is unusual and maybe my expectations are too high. I take the plants outside to flush every 4-5 months. And also use rainwater for all waterings. Even the newest of cuttings 3-4 months in soil, are doing the same thing with their new leaves. But I'm going with that idea for now :-) Religious with the neem every 3 weeks, and that may be overdoing as you say,

The good news is I got a Duke bloom today that is beautiful. No color break even though this photo looks like it might.

Very cool duke bloom! Your leaf color variances don’t look viral at first blush, they look like classic nutrient hypo/hyper symptomology.

I tried taking this from all angles and could not get the color right. The bloom color is actually constant, but my lights do a number on the light and shading.

Hi Nancy!!

I also agree with Phalanx and what he mentions is spot on!!

"First of all, take a deep breath and remember you’re pushing a plant to do natural things in an unnatural habitat; so the challenge is baked in. But I know you’re up for it or you would have given up by now. ". He is right about you are trying to grow trees that are engineered to grow outside. Most of us grow our trees outside as much as possible and that is what our trees truly need to give us the best results possible. I realize you like to grow inside and use artificial lights all year long, but I'm afraid that you will find times of problems that might arise like this! Your trees are telling you that something isn't right and I also would back off on the Neem Oil. I would use as needed and let your leaves try to breath without being spritzed every three weeks.

I know you are watching your babies constantly and taking care of them as well! Let them take a break from fertilizing every so often by flushing the soil with water to help eliminate any salt build.

Take it one step at a time to see what will cause them to rebound and start pushing new growth .

Natural sunlight is the best and only artificial is second to Mother Nature!!

I hope and pray that you will see a change with your leaf drop and that someone who is more experienced with growing under artificial lights will chime in for you! My trees ( seedlings and some small one years old trees will grow under artificial liggts for the winter. They always come though fine and are ready to make the switch to natural light for the spring; summer and then into the fall. They thrive in their natural environment and sometimes your trees might need to have a rest from artificial to natural for your summer...

Just some thoughts for you, sweetie!!

I seriously doubt that your have the awful virus that is mentioned by Dr Kukiat! You can google that info and check it out. The signs will effect the leaves and show sign in a green leaf.. not by your leaves falling off the tree. The other signs are the huge color breaks that the flowers show blooming during the blooming cycle. Most of us have color breaks at times during a high heat wave and it's just that... a color break, not the Virus !!

Have a great day!!

Laura

Thanks Laura- as usual your sunny personality comes shining through your posts. Always a joy to read.

"Natural sunlight is the best and only artificial is second to Mother Nature!"

So agree but I would not have plumeria if they had to go outside in summer. Again my environment is so wicked that only choice is year round indoor. Even in summer the wind blows almost consistently 30-60mph. Then there's the rain and overcast and if not that it's fog! A sunny day at 10am can blow over a plumeria by noon.

Had a friend some years ago who grew plumeria in Alaska also right on the ocean. Her conditions were similar but worse. She grew indoors under lights and did very well for a few years. Then gave up after disease and disinterest set in.

When it became concerning that this leaf drop thing was taking hold, and not artificial dormancy, I thought of her (she's no longer living.) And that maybe it just doesn't work out to keep tropicals in a light chamber long term. I think even Arctictropical had his outside for at least part of the year. Remaining optimistic that at least some of mine should stick around though. It would be wonderful if all of this is overdoing of neem. Also maybe I need to let these plants go dormant rather than keep them awake next year- if there are leaves left next year that is.

Thanks to you both Laura and Phalanx. Appreciate your support and kindness. You've given me some optimism. At any rate the citrus are doing fine! ;-)

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Sorry for the late reply. I think there is some good advice already here. It is possible there is a relationship to frequent neem oil use. That is not to say neem is bad as it is my primary weapon against most fungus and insect issues. For reference I spray about 6 times during a typical 9 month season (including one when they come out of greenhouse and one when they come out of the greenhouse). for control of Thrip, rust, spider mites, and leaf hoppers. I have noted the lowest leaves will frequently yellow and fall off shortly after neem oil application. It could be burn, or the leaf became inefficient for the plant after neem application.

I'm also wondering about too many salts in the soil. Maybe do a soil flush to leach out the containers as part of your pre hibernation routine. Since you are inside in a warm artificial environment timing would be based on observation of each plant. Look for a growth slow down and perform the flush or series of flushes shortly after that point.

Unlikely to be the cause but thought i would ask.... Is your rainwater at or near ambient air temps inside your growing area?