that is terrible. I hope they are recoverable.

Mike

No Mike they are hopelessly gone. When I squeezed the JJ Thai Surprise it crumbled like dried leaves! So nothing there.

Golden Pagoda is not looking good either. I squeeze the area that looks rotten and the tip snapped right off! But some part is still white. I wonder if I should cut it off further and then put something on the tip and see if it will recover?

Hi No-Clue,
So sorry to read about your loss. I know how you feel. Do you think the damage was due to our freezing weather we had last month? The tips on many of my plants turned black and got soft. I had to cut those off, now they look like center cuttings. It's gonna take a while before they form leaves again. I also had some younger plants where they rotted and some turned soft and hollow inside the stem. My damage was a direct result of the cold. I try to check my plants daily and if any of the tips are very soft, I cut them off,
I wish you well with your other plants and hope you have no further damage.
-Rick

Oh Rick, I totally forgot about the freeze. What I don't get though is that almost all of my plants seem ok so why only these four? They were all under the same frost blanket.

Not only that but I don't really see any black tips. The damage is about 2-3 inches down from the top, looks more like stem rotting to me. Weirder still, these are rooted plants and I have not watered them since November.

I'm going to perform surgery and see how far the damage is. I very upset right now... and no one understands why I would cry over plumerias when I still have so many!!

I understand why you would cry over them, no matter how many you have. :( I'm so sorry.

Ok, so I tried to cut off the rot... Tai Surprise is gone. Rotted all the way down to the root! And so is Golden Pagoda. I did not see any sap coming from either plant.

JJ Christina and one other that I didn't label dripped a lot of sap so maybe they will recover. I found a fifth (a gift from a friend) and that one didn't drip any sap either so I highly doubt that will survive.

But I got around squeezing all of them and the rest look fine. So hopefully most will survive. Not sure what photobucket did but I can't seem to post any pics. Once I figured that out I will update.

As much as I love the Golden Pagoda, JJ's Taj Mahal looks very similar to me! And my sister's TM had sooo many buds last year!! Unfortunately most dropped before blooming. So we will have to figure out why. But I'm thinking of getting one this spring if I can't find another Golden Pagoda. I feel better now that I got a plan.

It seems like a lot of have the same problem with Taj Mahol. I know that mine had 2 inflos on it this year, and both inflos dropped all there buds before they had a chance to open. I have chatted with several people that have said that T.M. is just plain ol picky when it comes to what it wants to open it's buds. Even a friend of mine that is a grower told me that she has had problems with there T.M. dropping flower buds. I kept mine under my 600 watt HPS light and the only inflo I have left FINALLY graced me with 1 open flower. The only thing was that it opened after spending 5 days without that light on while I was in the hospital. The flower opened and it was white but it still had a nice fragrance. My only hope is that the remaining buds will hold on and bloom and maybe...just maybe I will get to see the flower with it's proper color! I do love the shape and fragrance of the flower but I have to admit, knowing now what I know, I may not have bought Taj Mahol. I have very limited space to grow store my trees over winter, and I would much rather give the space to trees that are not so finicky, and that will reliably bloom for me.

Andrew

Oh wow Andrew... so you experienced this as well? I just remember my sister's TM soo many inflos from the two branches. But she said only about 10% bloomed and the rest just dropped. We thought she did something to them!

If she's that finicky then she's not a good match for me. Like you I have very small space... so I might not even try to replace Golden Pagoda afterall. I'll have to see once my yard is done and decide which will go where. I have a feeling I'm going to have to get rid of half of on my list.

I have read that Taj Majal has bud drop. Also, aren't some plumerias more cold sensitive than others? Which is why some certain names do better in certain areas of the globe? I have 25 that have started to bloom from the seeds I started in 2005...for the last 2-3 years now and more each year...each 1 is a different bloom and color and smell. BUT, they certainly seem more cold tolerant and look like base ball bats some of them...maybe grew up with these conditions for my area and so are not as sensitive. They are actually starting to push a little..way ahead of my others I have brought in from other places. So sorry for your loss...I had Golden Pagoda on my wish list...roxanne

Good point Roxanne. Yours are probably acclimated to your climate.

This is my first winter with mine so I have no idea what to expect. I was surprised that JJ Christina had problem since she's my biggest and oldest plant yet. So I guess size doesn't always mean anything since some of my tiny plants that are barely 12 inches and newly rooted this summer are fine. Anyway, If I come out of this winter with most of them alive then I will be happy. It has been raining on and off all day and now very windy so I covered them up with the frost blanket for some protection. Glad they are all tucked under the covered patio.

I'm just emotional, I mean who cries over their plants for pete's sake!

Some varieties are more cold sensitive than others. There is a list on the Facebook Plumeria Addicts group that lists several that are cold tolerant. Generally, the Thai varieties like JJ grows are more cold sensitive unfortunately. Have to watch them very carefully when the temps dip.

Sorry about your losses. It's always sad to lose a plant.

Hi Lynn,

I am so sorry to hear of your losses..

I have had a few of my trees have stem rot on a few. I did cut back to good wood and sealed. You all did have a terrible freeze and im sure it did have an effect on certain varieties like DelWH mentioned. They are all different and can tolerate temps in different ways.

My stomach turns to hear of your Golden Pagoda. Uggg...

I would cry too! So don't feel bad to be upset. We all feel your pain.

My Taj Mahal also drops buds early, so it is happening here in VB as well. I love my TM, but it is a very sensitive tree. I would still have one and i will tolerate the bud drop for the beauty of this baby!!!

Please keep us updated on your trees and i hope you do not lose anymore. We all know how much you love your Plumeria!!

Oh.. remember the one that i bought from Germain? Well.. I think it is going to make it!! Thank you again. ;-)

Im keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you!!

Take care,

Laura

Thank you everyone... I feel better now. I have a new obsession! Hawaiian Fire! Holy cow she's one beauty. I need to figure out how to get my hands on that one but only if she's rooted of course.

Luckily when we moved DH left Viola G, JL Ken Ames and JL Metallica in the garage with the other three cuttings. He said he couldn't tell which ones were cuttings so to be safe he left them in there. Good thing too, since they are all fine. Leaves are gone but the stem are nice and firm. Phew!

No-Clue- I can see why you're new obsession is Hawaiian Fire! It is GORGEOUS!

Lynn,

Taj Mahal is closer to JL Dane, not that similar to GP. My Taj Mahal inflo dropped a lot of buds when I first bought her from John and brought her to the patch, I think maybe it takes a bit to acclimate. The following season on TM has bloomed profusely with very few buds dropping. TM is a definite must have in everyones collection.

Very sorry to hear about you loss. I`ve had a couple of plumeria do that over the years, never have figured out why.
I think I will take TM off my want list reading all the problems everyone has with it.
This weather is miserable, it`s 43 here this morning, way too cold or this time of year, we put in tomatoes this weekend.
Tally Ho!

Lynn, I just discovered that my Mardi Gras cutting from last year is a goner, too. It was treated just like the other newly-rooted cuttings but it's now rotted in the center, even though the base and tip are firm. Like Tally says, who knows why.

Maybe some of these more interesting varieties aren't great for those of us who have to deal with the occasional freeze. Winter is the only time I ever lose any plumeria.

Jandey, my Mardi Gras made it through the winter but I had heavy losses. I uprooted mine from the warm ground in South Florida, in October, and moved them to central FL. I think had it not been for the late season move many would have been fine.

Since this post seems to be the place...It looks like I lost a Hula Girl Red cutting, Psycho cutting from Laura, and two of the same NOID pinks I took from a tree (with permission) at our vacation spot on Kauai.

Most had roots but got too wet as every time the irrigation system ran and the greenhouse vents were open it was able to spray onto those four + a few other mature ones which were OK. Generally speaking our mild winters means the greenhouse vents are open 90% of the time the plants are in there. I picked up on it late in January and closed that specific vent but the damage was done.

Every year my plumeria aviator style check list gets longer and better. its going to rival an ISO standard soon.