Plumeria fungus

[DoryGray]

My plumeria & puakenikeni have this fungus that is covering the branches & making them very sick. I cut all the sick looking branches off the puakenikeni & hope it can fight it off, but does anyone know what else to do? Could I just scrub the branches clean, I really hate chemical sprays. That is what Garden Exchange wanted to sell me when I showed it to them. Thanks for any help.

[peteadams]

At our elevation of about 1000 feet, plumeria gets a red rust fungus. It's pretty much inevitable up here and we've sold almost all of our named collection (one to go, Candy Stripe, if anyone is interested). I don't know that washing will have much effect for very long. If you are diligent and repeat every week or two, especially during rainy periods, relatively mild horticultural sulfur, about a tablespoon to a gallon, can be used to control rusts. Especially spray on the underside of the leaves. If the plants are dense and overgrown, some pruning to open then up to the air is helpful. Sulfur will also control the mite that causes the leaf galling on many hibiscus varieties. Don't know about the puakenikeni. Our trees don't show any diseases at all.

[missydog1]

I was told (several years ago), that puakenikeni does not like to be pruned aggressively. Plumeria can take it.

Are you talking about sooty mold by any chance? Gardenias and puakenikeni tend to get that, as do lemon trees. It comes from ants farming aphids (I think), and I've often seen it accompanied by scale.

I used to be the type of gardener who worked hard on my plants, but now I don't. (Whether that is good or bad, I can't say.) If a plant is not being grown in the optimum spot -- elevation, dry/wet, drainage, temperature, sun/shade, soil conditions -- then it will get sick, and pests and diseases will plague it. When that happens, I let it go and I focus on the plants that are thriving. And that is how I garden without spraying and chemicals. When you have unhappy plants, and you don't want to spray chemicals, prepare to spend an awful lot of time babying them. I at least have never found a magic organic bullet for plant woes.

My first effort with fungus would probably be to move the plant into a better site. To control sooty mold, you have to control the ants. Fungus ... that is something that thrives with excess moisture.

[Bullwinkle]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/2010...pesticides

good background on fungus arming ants