Sick Frangipani

[donna]

I have seen an earlier topic about a sick frangipani tree and am hoping that one of you guys or girls will be able to tell me if my tree has the same problem. going by an earlier topic they could be aphids, but as the tree is quite large, i dont want to treat the whole thing with something that may harm it in the end.

Can someone please take a look at these pics and let me know what you think? as you can see, it is heavily infected!

[sbk]

aphids, or white mealy bugs, get your hands on the Neem stuff.

I leave mine be, it has never seemed to damage the tree but it can be unsightly.

[Pink Mist]

are there ants on the tree ? aphids are visible and cant see any, definately an insect problem.

[baabaabobo]

I have the same problem and the leaves curl up and die . I was told by a local that it is seasonal and that after the rains it gets better. Recently we had some heavy rain and I must say the new leaves do look a lot better.

[BambinA]

It looks like เพลี้ยแป้ง (Plear Paeng) Mealybugs.

In Thai , many people use สารสกัดสะเดา Neem Tree's seed extact

(I just noticed my post look similar to SBK)

[Sir Burr]

I have had the same problem. It's a fungus.

Just let the leaves drop and the new leaves will be OK.

[eek]

sorry to bump an old thread but have a relevant question and seemed neater to just tag my question on.

I bought a frangipani plant a few weeks back and it is now beginning to flower. Ive noticed a small army of ants all over the flower heads...so, my question is, if anyone knows please, what can i do to safely rid the plant of the ants? I would also like to know why the ants seem to be attracted to the head (sweet smell?) and what possible harm they could do.

In the past on other flowering plants i used diluted washing-up liquid to rid the plant of aphids, but im not sure if that could cause harm to the frangipani or be any use in dissuading the ants away from it.

Any advice/tips would be great. tnx.

[sbk]

what color are the ants eek? I can't say I have ever noticed ants on my frangipani but then I don't look too closely either

I don't imagine they would damage the tree, so unless they are really bothering you, I suggest leave them be.

[eek]

Just little black everyday kind of ants (um sorry im not sure what to call them ). Im happy to know they cannot harm the plant, which has been my main concern, so ty v much sbk. I guess they are just scouting about/enjoying a different view.

As the plant is on my small balcony if the ants start to bite me a lot, which they seem to love to do usually , I can just spray them off my 5th floor with water. Geronimo! No harm done.

[petesim]

Sorry to bum an old thread...

my frangi is getting soft stem today... whats happening here?

[meandwi]

Even more terrible than the dreaded mealy bug is a disease called "Frangipani rust" look up the fungus, Coleosporium plumeriae to see more about this. It is all over south florida and Australia and I hope it doesn't spread all over Thailand!. I can see it in the above photos. It's the orange/ rust colored spots.

I pull and burn the most infected leaves and use a copper based fungacide to treat it.

Soft branches is a sign of too much water. This happens in the rainy season. Cut it off and seal it with wax to prevent it from spreading. It will heal after the rains.

Happy gardening,

meandwi