Jen,

I would try before you trim down to the main stem..

These are beautiful trees and i am so sorry they have taken a setp back, hopefully they will turn around and they will continue to give you the joy that they constantly do for you and well in rememberance of your "father.."

They are still beautiful in my eyes... : )

Keep us posted..

Laura

Why not try it, what do you have to lose? If it doesn't work then you could always just take the cuttings and trim back down to the trunk. If you're going to do it now is the time.

I've never done air layering myself, but I'd love to try it once my plumeria are bigger. There's lots of good information about air layering, especially for other non-plumeria plants, but the same meathods and applications apply.

~Jen

Singapore Obtusa are (very?) hard to root from what I have read. Your growing tips all look good from the picture. If it were me I would leave the mature, established plant in place but do some cosmetic pruning to clean things up a bit. You could try air layering the ones you plan on pruning. (I am guessing you can't graft an Obtusa to Rubra root stock?)

I've not seen a Singapore re-grow leaves from anywhere other than a growth tip, and over time it would have shed those leaves anyway (mine actually loses all of its leaves each winter.) So I think you are in better shape than you think? :)

That is why I was thinking of trying air layering. Try it on one limb first to see if it works.

Any suugestions from anyone on air layering? Jennifer

Some folks have tried it here before (albeit not on a Singapore Obtusa)

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/plumeria/msg0721420029535.html?12
...and a couple others. I haven't really found enough info to say one way or another but I'm thinking about trying it myself. In your case I would def. say "go for it"... basic idea is to remove some of the skin and then wrap it, usually with some sphagnum moss and saran wrap on the outside. I'm sure there are other tricks of the trade that hopefully others can share...

Irun5k

Where do you live? Must be cold in the winter. For those first 5 years, I hardly had a leaf die off. These last two years have been different. This last winter I lost quite a few off of the plants as well, although to date, the one shown in the picture and one other are the only 2 to truly "come back". The other one that damaged last (2010) winter developed claws and an inflo the started to develop lowers right before our cold hit! That particular tree I cut off the end of every branch last month, hoping to get it back into growing leaves properly. Time will tell I guess.

I just miss the beautifully full trees that I used to have, just like they are in Hawaii!

Hmm, that is interesting. I am in St. Petersburg, FL, some say our location near Tampa Bay is a zone 9, some say 10. Mine is potted right now, maybe if/when I put it in ground it will fare better?

The two years I've had it, it has acted completely different each year. The first year it didn't bloom but added several inches of growth. Last year all the tips bloomed basically all year and the new branches barely grew and inch or two.

You are right, when they are fully grown out they are pretty spectacular- I love the dark green shiny leaves.

Jennifer, that is a shame about your beautiful Singapore! It almost looks like it's lacking some nutrient with the leaves being misshapen and smaller than before. You could try adding a layer of compost to the soil at the base. Sure couldn't hurt.

I have never, ever seen a bloom on my potted Singapores, the older of which I got as a gift in 2005. It's potted now with a well-rooted cutting off it from probably 2007. Darn things black-tip every spring no matter how careful I am about temps.

Jen,

I have been incrediblylucky then to always have blossoms each year. They really are my favorite.

As to thr leaves being misshaped, I just thought that it was due to the damage the year before. I noticed this last winter that I lost a lot of the leaves too, which normally didn't (at least before now) happen. I am hoping it is simply a response from the damage. To this date, I still do not know what had actually caused the sudden browning and limp leaves. I am guessing that it was due to a cold/freezing spell that I missed, yet I did not have any black tip as a result!

In fact, my one potted Singapore, which was against the very same wall, but not protected by the house, was just fine, while the other 3 had the damage you see above. Unortunately, the potted one below is the one severely damaged by the wind this year. This photo was taken the same day as the one above, all this tree shows is some sunburn on the leaves.

I am contemplating moving them under my patio that has a cover, maybe at the corner, where it still gets sun. I guess it couldn't hurt! That or keeping it against the house, under the eves... But then I wouldn't be able to see it when I look out my window!

BY THE WAY, what kind of compost would you use? I would like to add compost to my large planter that has 8 plumeria in it, but was wondering what I should use. Jennifer

I use this amazing stuff made by a local company that's either turkey litter compost or dairy cow compost. It's twice the price of regular wood-product compost, but it's much finer and goes a lot further.

I see almost immediate improvements after applying and watering in. You can use it on lawn or flower beds, and I would almost treat that raised planter like a flower bed since it's so big.