Hi,
I am new to plumeria growing (my only plant is about 2 1/2 years old), live in Alaska, and have a number of trees that I grow indoors year round. One is the plumeria that up until it started to send out its first inflow a couple of months ago, has been in pretty good shape. My experience with other plants, particularly Japanese Maples and Birds of Paradise, has taught me that indoor gardening requires some special considerations. The problem with the plumeria is that the leaves are covered with spots on the surface (but not underneath), spots that seem to be part of the structure of the leaf, and not a covering...plus, the leaves are not the green they used to be...plus, they are curling up and falling off...plus, I would love to know if the inflow looks to be somewhat normal or not...and, finally, there are these white spots on the branches and trunk that don't appear to be insects, but almost appear as drops on the surface. I'm attaching photos, hope they are clear, hope someone can make whatever suggestions might be helpful, and I thank you in advance. Almost forgot...the plant is indoors, has a fluorescent lamp setup that is on (currently on Alaska hours...in the winter, I set it for Hawaiian hours), and the indoor temp varies from 60-75 degrees throughout the year.
Thanks again,
m

It could be so many things. Mine will sometimes lose leaves and curl up if I over fertilize. I have a plant that grows lots of inflows but drops half of them. Your plant looks healthy otherwise. Has this plant bloomed before? Is it close to other plants?
The inflow looks normal but it is dropping buds. I hate that.
Over water? Under water?
It's hard to say. I'd give it a good hose down to try to knock any bugs off it and leave it alone. Easier said then done. Good luck.😎

Thank you for your message. I like the idea that it looks healthy. I worry about over/under fertilization, so I tend to be a bit conservative with it. But, that's part of the stress of working with plants that are really outdoor plants, but don't ever get there. I think it's harder to calculate the effects of how much to water and to fertilize. I tend to let it get toward the dry side before watering again, but not sure that is the best way to do it.

It has been in between a macadamia tree and a bird of paradise for a couple of years (can you tell I went to Hawaii?), and they all seem to get along. I moved it to a more exposed southern window, so it now sits between two Japanese maples that are quite a bit smaller than the plumeria.

So, this is the first time it has flowered. I'm considering myself lucky to have it happening so soon, and am finding out from watching a few time-lapse videos that the dropping of buds is pretty common. But, what I can't figure out is what the white spots are. They don't look like bugs to me, but seem almost fluid-like.

Thanks again.

Sounds like you have watering/fertilizing under control. Your right, error on the side of caution. Less water and fertilizer is better then more. Some plants drop buds more then others but generally you should not lose a lot of buds off a healthy plant. If weather permits get it outside to breathe. It looks like an indoor plant. Sometimes they don't cooperate. All my plants have white spots of some kind on them, unless the plant is stressed which yours doesn't appear to be I wouldn't be over concerned with the white spots. You will get flowers this year. I love macadamia nuts.😎 :

It looks like spider mite damage. Very hard to see them with the naked eye. But it's like what they do. Pierce little holes in the leaves and drink the sap. Looks like your Japanese maple also has them. Just my opinion.

I appreciate the thought that it might be spider mites. My main concern with that is that the underside of the leaves (plumeria and maple) is clean of anything. My maples seem to go through a loss of leaves in the mid summer, may send out a second sprouting and then go through the same dropping process into the winter. It is rare that they will show the typical fall colors. Even one that I grew from seed and planted outside (made it through three of our winters before giving up this year) never showed fall colors, just brown leaves and drop.

Nevertheless, none of my indoor plants show any sign of an insect infestation, even when trying to spot them with a magnifying glass or even a macro lens on my camera. The bottom sides of the leaves just show up pretty normal.

Team is right, it is some kind of bug. Some you just can't put your finger on. Don't concentrate on top of leave or bottom of leave. Concentrate how plant is doing overall. All plants have bugs, indoor or out. My plants are all outdoors and are covered with webs and I don't bother them unless they look bad which they rarely do. Indoor plants are a challenge. I think I said in my first post, take it outside and lightly hose it down, don't hose inflo but hose down leaves. It should show improvement and knock off any bugs. 😎

Well, I shall give the hose down a try. It will be interesting, if only from the perspective of how to do that without hitting the inflow. All the leaves on the plant are surrounding the inflow, so this should be fun. Not like I don't have time to figure it out, though. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes. Although, it is amusing to think that with un-visible bugs, I'm not sure how I'll know anything worked. We shall see.

Howdy,

Well, now that a year has passed, my aforementioned plumeria produced no viable flowers last year. But, nevertheless, has come through beautifully this past couple of months. I'm attaching a couple of photos...one of the tree itself, and one of the flowers. They are much more varied and stunningly colored than I had thought. Nonetheless, in case anyone was wondering, this is tree that is about 3 1/2 years old, grown entirely indoors, southern exposed window with appropriate lighting. Sooooo,, they do grow and produce flowers...even here in beautiful Alaska.

Thanks for all the advice last year...very helpful, indeed.

@m_1ob amazing that you were able to make a seedling bloom in 3 1/2 years

The bloom pattern or color break is unusual too.

Gigi...
Actually, it was not from seed, but rather one of those packaged cuttings I bought while in Hawaii for a triathlon. I enjoy growing plants that are perhaps odd for Alaska, and seeing how they do indoors. This particular color pattern seems unusual to me as well. My plan is to see how this branch multiplies, what might happen to the other two branches, and perhaps cut it back to one stalk. Then, I can grow perhaps four or five others, see how their flower patterns show up, and give them away to friends.

Or, turn my house into a plumeria jungle.

I believe that your plant has a virus. There are a couple varieties that actually look like that with color breaks, but seeing the one bloom that looks normal leads me to believe that yours is not one of them. That would explain why the leaves sometimes just get really funky, and look like bugs are damaging them. If you have more than one plumeria, I would keep them separate as to not transfer from one plant to the other. Is is spread like bloodborn pathogens, using a blade to cut different plants without sterilization. Heat splashes don't tend to overtake entire blooms like your photo. You can do some research if your own, but I'm pretty firm in my belief. Google FMV, or frangipani mosaic virus and do some comparison. I have discovered that one of my plants this year has it, and I will be getting rid of it, as I have many valuable varieties I can't afford to have it spread to.

This is what your bloom should look like


This is my virus plant





Sorry for bombarding you with info like this, but that virus is something collectors should take seriously. Good luck!

Hi Jason,
Thanks so much. I will do some research. This is the only plumeria that I have, and as I mentioned, it has never been out doors. I appreciate your input...guess I just have to continue the original heading I had last year...Not sure what is happening to my indoor plumeria...
yuck!
Michael