No pic.

Any chance you could post the pic? If its brown it could be sunburn or could be intial rotting. You could try the pin prick method to see if you get white sap.

Thanks for responding. Wonder what happend to my picture, I saw it in the preview. Trying to post again. In the meantime I'll try the pin prick. Thanks

could be severe sunburn.

might be best to cut and root. the trunk will probably survive and put out new branches.

Ya, I wondered if it could be sunburn too, but we are fairly near the coast, so I wan't sure. So, any suggestions on how to prevent it?

kms2, I tried to prick the affected parts and they are too hard. Only the green parts on the branch produce sap, the brown parts don't.

Guess I should hurry up and root a cutting.
Thanks to all.

To prevent sunburn, you can wrap aluminum foil around the stalk.

I have noticed if you attach a picture, then preview your post, and then make changes and preview again the picture will have been removed. Thats probably what happened.

I would guess some sort of sunburn or physical damage on the bark would cause that. You could just leave it or use pruning sealant, or better would be a tan silcone caulk. I think Tdogdad says to use a "Dap" brand product as a filler and sealer.

I agree, it looks like sunburn. I would also make sure the trunk isn't touching the side of the pot since sometimes they get REALLY hot even if they're plastic, and make sure nothing is reflecting off of it. Del suggested foil or many use a toilet paper or paper towel tube taped shut around the trunk, it works wonders!

Hi Aniketa,
That is a sunburn. The reason it sunburned is because the trunk is less than 4" from the wall of the clay pot and the reflection radiation from the wall to the trunk is very strong. What happens when the sun shines on both, radiation from the pot wall hits the same spot on the trunk that the sun in shinning on. The direct radiation from the sun on the trunk is additive with the reflective radiation from the clay pot to the trunk. As a result, the section where the two radiations are additive overheats and gets sunburned. This is why the trunk got sunburn from the soil line to the top of the clay pot.

To prevent this, wrap the trunk with aluminum foil to just above the lip of the pot, or paint the trunk white, or pot the plumeria higher up in the pot so there is little lip showing and place the trunk in the center of the pot.

Aniketa, I am the research director of the Plumeria Society of America. I am writing an article, about sunburning of plumerias and how to avoid it, to appear in the January issue of Plumeria Potpouri. I would like to use your picture as an example of how plumerias can sunburn. Can you please send me the picture in my E-mail address : ghadjigeorge@comcast.net . I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
George

George, if you need photos, I'm pretty sure most of us have had enough sunburned trunks to be able to come with pics for you. Do you just want pics of severe burn?

Now that I think of it, the burn does always seem to happen right at pot-top level rather than farther up.

Hi Jen,
How have you been? I do need pictures and if you have some I will appreciate if you E-mail me.

This particular one that Aniketa has is unique in that the burn is 6" long. Normally they are only a few inches long because radiation from a nearby surface (normally from the soil) does not travel that long (less than 4") because of the low temperatures involved. Aniketa's plumeria has a long burn because it was planted way too deep in the pot and the trunk was off center close to the pot wall. These created the conditions to get such a long sunburn (the radiation came from the side from the pot wall and not from the soil). I wish she would respond to my post.

tc, Jen

What is also interesting in her picture Jen is the second pot behind it. It's wall is about 6-8" away and it did not burn the trunk. That is because radiation falls off fast by the square of the distance. So, at 6" away the radiation that reaches the trunk is 1/36th of the radiation that reaches the trunk one inch away. The round surface also reflects most of the radiation away from the trunk. This picture has a lot of the principles about radiation I am trying to show in the article.

tc,
George

George, in the worst case, you can always copy and paste that pic from here to your hard drive. Of course, it really belongs to Aniketa, but if she gave you permission to do that, she wouldn't have to actually email it to you.

I have to apologize to everyone for being away so long. Thanks to all for the input. I did take a cutting and it has rooted successfully, I am happy to say. I'll repot it in the center as suggested...I also wondered if it would be ok to fill more soil to cover that, but I am afraid it might rot the stem. What do you all think?
George, of course you can use my picture, but I do have to mention that the burn happend before the configuration you see in the picture. This pot was all by itself but sorrounded by concrete. I'll also send you the picture...hope it is not too late.
Second question, in general is it ok to add soil on top when the soil in the pot sinks a lot or should I add soil in the bottom and replant it? Thanks and sorry again.

Aniketa, I add soil to the tops of my pots all the time. Doesn't bother the plumies at all.

Thanks, jandey. That is good to know, now I can try them.