I google my problem (see attached photo), it is suggested it's fungus infection. Is that right?
How to effectively resolve the problem?
Many thanks in advance.

csystudio. Do me a favor and click on your profile and then update it to at least show your location. Thanks.

Let's ask Hetty what the heck that is. I don't think it is any soft of fungus. It looks more insect to me, but I'm only guessing. I have never seen this. @dutchlady1, we need your help here.

Oh, you need to post this on the "plumeria" forum. Hetty will be sure to see it there.

to All Things Plants. Not sure where you are but it looks like a rust fungus, presumably Coleosporium plumeriae:

http://www.padil.gov.au/maf-bo...

Some suggestions for treatment from Florida are here, scroll down to frangipani/plumeria rust:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp17...

Perhaps someone in a climate where plumeria grows has experience of dealing with this disease but typically with rusts you need to try and keep the foliage dry as much as possible, and aim for good air circulation. I don't know if fungicides are an option for you or what might be available where you are.

Yes, plumeria growing outdoors in humid climates can get this rusty looking fungus every year in the late summer into fall. It doesn't kill the plant but it sure can make them look terrible and lose a lot of leaves earlier than they normally would.

Unless you go for a vigorous anti-fungal spray program early in the year, there's really not much to do about it except housekeeping - immediately remove any leaves you see it on to prevent the new spores from flying around and infecting more leaves. Pick up any leaves that fall off the plant too, if they have it. Put them in a bag and trash them, don't compost them.

Spraying the leaf surfaces with a mild baking soda solution can slow down the spread, though. About 1/2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in a quart of water and sprayed on all leaf surfaces changes the pH on the leaf surface and deters the fungus. But you have to keep putting it on because (of course) it's highly soluble and washes off in rain or with watering.

Btw be sure to water your plumeria and all your plants early in the morning, not at night to help prevent fungus infection and spread. If the foliage sits with water on it overnight, it's inviting fungus to form. Watering early allows the plant to dry off by nighttime, provided it doesn't rain of course.

sooby said: to All Things Plants. Not sure where you are but it looks like a rust fungus, presumably Coleosporium plumeriae:

http://www.padil.gov.au/maf-bo...

Some suggestions for treatment from Florida are here, scroll down to frangipani/plumeria rust:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp17...

Perhaps someone in a climate where plumeria grows has experience of dealing with this disease but typically with rusts you need to try and keep the foliage dry as much as possible, and aim for good air circulation. I don't know if fungicides are an option for you or what might be available where you are.

Thanks for the infor... it does look like Frangipani Rust. I'll try to cut off the infected leaves and to see if fungicide spray help.

I hate when my one and only Plumeria tree gets that ugly Rust: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc...

@dyzzypyxxy, thanks for that tip regarding spraying with baking soda/water mixture ... I'm going to try it!

dyzzypyxxy said:Yes, plumeria growing outdoors in humid climates can get this rusty looking fungus every year in the late summer into fall. It doesn't kill the plant but it sure can make them look terrible and lose a lot of leaves earlier than they normally would.

Unless you go for a vigorous anti-fungal spray program early in the year, there's really not much to do about it except housekeeping - immediately remove any leaves you see it on to prevent the new spores from flying around and infecting more leaves. Pick up any leaves that fall off the plant too, if they have it. Put them in a bag and trash them, don't compost them.

Spraying the leaf surfaces with a mild baking soda solution can slow down the spread, though. About 1/2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in a quart of water and sprayed on all leaf surfaces changes the pH on the leaf surface and deters the fungus. But you have to keep putting it on because (of course) it's highly soluble and washes off in rain or with watering.

Btw be sure to water your plumeria and all your plants early in the morning, not at night to help prevent fungus infection and spread. If the foliage sits with water on it overnight, it's inviting fungus to form. Watering early allows the plant to dry off by nighttime, provided it doesn't rain of course.

Thanks for the information! Oh no I normally water my plants at night :O Got to change my routine then...
BTW, regarding watering plumeria... some websites say you need to worry about plumeria only when it gets watering everyday. Plumeria grow well without watering when planted on the ground. What do you think?

csystudio!!

That is indeed rust. The wet season here in Florida usually sees it proliferating. I spend half an hour in the morning picking off unsightly leaves while I stroll among my plumeria and admire their blooms. In other words: I don't sweat the rust. It doesn't harm the plants, and there is a theory that says it helps plumeria defoliate before the storm season...
But there are various remedies available if it bothers you. You have been given good advice already.

Yes, most of mine are in the ground here, and I sure don't have to water them in the summer, when our weather is probably very similar to yours in Malaysia. But here in Florida we are classified as a "semi-tropical" climate which really means that half the year we are tropical and the other half we are temperate.

In spring and fall we can go weeks with little or no rain, so I do need to water them then. We have very sandy soil that retains little water so that is another factor making it necessary to water. How is your soil there? If you have lots of organic material in the soil, it will retain moisture well, and also you most likely have high humidity year 'round which helps keep things moist too.

Hi there! I was happy to see that someone had come up with a solution for this problem. The first article I read said that every plant with the fungus would have to be destroyed. I have a yard full of plumeria trees in Bradenton, FL and all of my trees have this fungus to one extent of another at this point. Another thing is that most of my plumeria are clones from other trees in my yard. I haven't diversified yet, but I would like to get more colors, and I think that would give my plants a better chance at survival if a disease or something rolled through. I am glad to see that my problem can be solved relatively easily.

Hi, Jaila, and welcome to NGA.

I'm in Vero Beach and have lots of plumeria, some 250 potted and several dozen in the ground. I've grown and propagated plumeria for 25+ years. Did you mean to say that some sort of "expert" actually said to destroy plants with rust on their leaves? If so, that's simply ridiculous. First off, rust is a fungal disease and doesn't kill plants. It's ugly and causes the leaves to yellow and drop. Over a 2 wk. period, I've removed probably a 55 gal. bag of leaves (and trashed them). Now I have plants with few leaves and with smaller leaves. I then spray the underside of what leaves remain with a fungicide. I'm using Daconil. Hopefully, that spray will contact what fungal spores remain and kill them. This technique seems to work for me, but as I said, I have many times more plants than the average grower.