I have asked the expert at our Green Thumb Nursery...they love Neem oil for a lot of things. Just do the best you can to avoid the blooms. roxanne

Thanks Roxanne! I was waiting for your answer. Would it be better if I just wipe the under-leaf instead of spraying? I could do that too.

I am afraid that she lost so many leaves before I got really concerned. I honestly thought it is kind of normal for it to get a few yellow leaves now and then. But a few days ago I noticed 2 leaves getting yellow at one time on the tip with the inflo and another one on another tip (it's a 3-tip plumeria), so that's when I started doing online research about this. Is it in danger of dying with so many lost leaves?

Another question would be: what type of neem oil is best? The essential oil from the drugstore mixed with water, or the one from Home Depot/Lowe's, that has other extra ingredients besides neem oil?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bayer-Advanced-24-oz-Ready-to-Use-Natria-Neem-Oil-706250B/203703877#.Ub5dcvkqilo

Here is a link that might be useful: HD Neem Oil

Yes, that one should work fine. Spraying is much easier than wiping.

Thanks so much! I will get her ready for a little shower. :)

Hi Sago,

Just remember to keep her out of the sun when spraying with Neem Oil. I like to spray on a cloudy day, or move to indirect light when I apply..

Good Luck!!,

Laura

Thanks Laura. :) Yes, I will keep her in a shady area. Do I also need to wipe the oil off?

Thanks Laura. :) Yes, I will keep her in a shady area. Do I also need to wipe the oil off?

Mima

No, let it dry by itself.

Thanks Del.

Mima

Unfortunately, I think the mites are destroying my plumie... :(

Is it normal for plumerias blooms to stay only 2 days and then fall? My bloom stayed only 2 days after it opened, and last night it fell. I sprayed the under-leaves yesterday (after wiping them with wet paper towel) and today my husband told me he still saw little critters crawling. Sprayed it again this morning. What else could I use to get rid of them before they kill my plumie? How could I not think of such a thing before they already became too many? The only thing is they didn't make their usual nets, the leaves were clean, only the little dots were there but I can't see such tiny things. And she sits on a patio, plenty of air, wind, sun (depending on the spot) or filtered sun now that I moved her after spraying with neem oil.

Should I also wipe under the leaves with rubbing alcohol? Or instead of spraying maybe wiping with concentrated neem oil?

I really don't want to lose this plumeria, it's my gift from my hubby and beloved kids for my... 45th bday.

Here is the bloom found last night on one of the cycads pots (plumie was higher than that cycad).

I use the same product you reference. Just keep at it and it will get them under control. I spray water to clear off the top and bottom of leaves and tips and the flowers. Then use neem all over the leaves and branches. and sometimes up into the flowers if its a bad infestation.

I don't get too many cloudy days in the summer and some of mine are in ground or too big to casually move so I will spray in the late afternoon or evening and hope for the best.

Thanks kms!

Other than the leaves getting yellow and falling, which were a lot the last few days, no sign of bad infestation such as big spider webs and lots of critters. I hope it will get better!

After getting a hose shower to my plumie earlier everything seemed just fine. A few minutes ago hubby went out to check on her and... he said there are new mites again! And that he saw a few crawling from the soil up on the stem! Could it be an infestation there since we got it from the nursery and they got more aggressive now that the weather is warmer and so dry?
I quarantined her in a corner of the patio, not under direct sunlight because of the neem oil spraying. I hope the wind won't transport the mites to the other plumerias. Should I spray them with neem oil just to be on the safe side? Two of them are cuttings barely potted last week.

Also, does anybody know if spider mites are going to go to my cycads too? :(

My sick plumie has only 9 leaves left on 3 tips... Is this bad? The claws I noticed are not growing for now.

Should I repot her in a new pot with my mix, get rid of this soil that was from the nursery? Is it too risky now, that she's sick anyway and losing leaves?

Thank you again. :)

Mima

Keep on giving it a good 1,2 punch of hosing off the leaves and then treating with neem. You could preemptively treat your other plants. its been explained to me that spraying the leaves with water several times per day will interrupt the mites egg laying cycle.

Will spray the others with very diluted neem oil then. Water several times and once a day diluted neem oil. I hope we'll save the Aztec Gold!

Thank you kms! :)

Hmmm... spider mites are usually a problem when the plants are kept indoors. Usually once exposed to the outside elements they usually vanish UNLESS... it was up against a wall or your house. For some reason, spider mites thrive there. The one time that I had them outdoors all I did was take a spray bottle with ordinary water and knock them off with a jet of water. I think it took about 2 weeks before they finally decided they couldn't thrive and left.

Good luck,
Tony

Tony, this plumie was on a patio in a sunny spot and not even close to the house wall. What concerns me is that we have lots of other plants on the alleys and they are so close to the patio, and I don't know what those plants carry.

I started spraying the underside of Divine's leaves with plain water. She's so small, and the leaves all upright that I'm afraid the water dripping off the leaves will keep the soil too moist.

The other rooted cuttings barely potted will not get the water treatment for now. None of the other plumerias is close to the infested one.

Update: this morning there were only a few little dots per my son's report. :D I still can't see them. Arghhh, so frustrating!