Well, I don't have enough experience with plumeria, to know the situation with yours, whether it's serious, or can be corrected, or whether it's something that needs to be addrressed, immediately, or whether you're worrying unnecessarily. If it was me, and I had a plumeria I was desperate to save (like a one -of -a -kind rare or unusual cultivar,or a plumeria that I was sentimental about) I'd check with someone skilled at grafting plumeria, and explain the situation to them, including mentioning the possible infestation. Then Id. ask them to graft one or more pieces of my plumeria onto healthy root -stock, and to return it to me, after the graft "took "
But in all honesty, I probably wouldn't request this for an Aztec Gold plumeria....

Yeah, you're right. Got your point.

Infestation doesn't look that bad, I guess that's why I didn't catch it earlier, until too many leaves started to get yellow. I mean, there are no spider webs or colonies of lots of mites, only a few dots on the back of the leaves, which I cannot see anyway, my hubby told me this morning he could still see a few. Sprayed it again today. I think maybe I should also wipe it? So hard when you're not savvy and don't know what to do... I mean me, not you.

I'll try taking some pictures of the underside of the leaves. Kind of hard...

Not to worry, Mima, I'm far from savvy, when it comes to plumeria. I wouldn't have thought to use neem, for example. I would've worried about "gumming up " the plumeria 's few remaining leaves, (it's "lungs ", in a way.) I'd have wiped the leaves regularly with a dilute soap solution, and rinsed them off each time, afterwards. That's what I like about forum communities...we learn from each other, constantly.

Cyra, the oil is very diluted. You can find it as a natural insect controller that works great on spider mites, among other ugly creatures.

I also read that some people wipe the leaves with rubbing alcohol. It seems kind of harsh to me but if needed, I'll try that too.

She just lost another 2 leaves, completely yellow. No new leaves coming out. I can see the claws but they are tiny and they are not growing at all.

Thank you for mentioning that about the Neem, I didn't know it was super diluted.
I'm curious. Mima, what is your potting soil made of? Does it dry out right away, within a day or so of watering? Also, are there any roots coming out of the drainage holes? What size pot is it in?
Your plant is beginning to mystify me!
I hope your plant perks up and resumes growth after your bloom is finished!

Oh, I so hope to get it better!

Hard to say what the mix is, but after removing the mulch I can see it has perlite and some soil. Also, it drains pretty good, like the other pots I have, that have also well-drainage soil for cycads and other couple of plumerias.

Now, after the shower given earlier, she seems a bit better, but still, she lost another 2 leaves right before showering her. How would she survive without leaves? Still has some, but I'm so afraid!!

Plumerias are very hardy and can survive even without leaves. I agree with Cyra try not to worry about it too much. I think you are doing the right things already, just give it a little time to recover. I would still continue what your doing and mist lightly the tiny claws since these may be new branches.

Yes most of my blooms last 2 days only but that is not a bad thing. New blooms come back from the old blooms.

I haven't used neem oil but great info.

Thanks Gigi, I had no idea blooms last for such a short time.

After the shower given earlier she seemed better but now, hubby just went out to check on her and he said he saw a few critters crawling back to the leaves on the stem, from the soil! Maybe it was already infested from the nursery and they got too many now that's warmer and very dry? Should I better just repot her in a new pot with a mix made by me? But that would drop the buds right? If this would be the only solution, I'd rather save the entire plumeria than only a few buds...

Thanks for the encouragement Gigi! It's great to have fellow Plumerians to talk to, get advice from, and just know I'm not alone!

I'm not sure if there is a need to repot but I will leave it up to you. Unless of course you have a different kind of critters.

We'll try and hunt a few down tomorrow. I can't see them very well so I need hubby's help definitely.

I couldn't begin to guess, at what they are, but mulch is a great haven for critters of all sorts...

Here is a documentary I made on how forgiving and hardy a plumeria tree is. This is about my trimark that I almost killed and this is before I discovered ATP.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/g...

Very impressive, Gigi, and reassuring, too. Your Trimark is amazing, the way it changes!

Yes it is. I have to take a photo when it starts blooming again this year. Right now it is just full of leaves.

I'm so mad now because I've read about mulching on other forums and blogs, and I didn't remove the mulch from the nursery from the beginning. They were saying that it helps in hot weather to keep the soil moist. And here we have triple digits during summer.

I hope I will get the mites under control thanks to all your help!

Mulch is a mixed blessing. It adds moisture and nutrients. It also harbors slugs, snails, sow bugs, earwigs, and other undesirable scavengers. And it keeps the soil too wet for plumeria and some other plants, like some cacti and succulents.

So I shouldn't mulch my plumies then?

I can't say whether you should, or not,-only that I wouldn't recommend it. Yes mulch breaks down and adds nutrients and moisture, but (speaking for myself), I already feed my plumies and water them if necessary, so I see no need for mulch which can provide food and shelter for pests.

and for some of us, mulch means mosquitoes. It's a no-no for me, when we have our torrential rainy season the mossies love to breed in small drops in the mulch.

No risk of too much rain here.
I have my cycads mulched to keep water from evaporating too fast in the high summer heat we have. No mosquitos and cycads' pots are actually the cleanest of all.