Hi Hilary! For question number one I would bet my bottom dollar that was due to the spider mites. That is what they do to leaves and claws, really anything they can suck the life out of. If left unchecked the mites will gnaw it until you have a smooth almost sealed over appearance. Get some neem oil, insecticidal soap or something with spinosad in it & just keep on them. Growing indoors, spider mites are one of those pests that are a constant nuisance. When you get leaves be sure to spray the bottom and tops of leaves, they are so small it is easy for them to hide.

For question 2: Was it forgotten during the winter months by chance? Because they like to go dormant during the winter and that would be the best time for it to have been forgotten! Can you post a picture? I would say check it to see if it's mushy or dark brown or black anywhere anywhere, if not give it a good drink of water & watch it for a few days. Aslong as it's not mushy / rotting or dried up beyond saving it should be able to come back just fine.

Please be sure and keep us updated, we would really love to hear about your progress!

Thank you so much for the feedback! Here's a picture of my little Plumeria stick...The blue pointer is showing where the claw fell off today. I will see if I can get a picture of my mom-in-law's soon. I am pretty sure it was forgotten in November, so maybe it's going to make it! She hasn't mentioned it being mushy... if anything, it's probably as dry as dry can be. I'll get back to you on that!

Dont worry about the "claw" falling off. It happens and isnt indicative of loosing the plant. The tip looks good and will be just fine provided the spider mites are brought under control.

Looks good to me ... Some of the older claws do turn and fall off. This is normal, so don't worry. Like k and E mentioned, get the spider mites under control and it looks just fine to me!

Congratulations,,,

2. We need a pic to see what the other plumeria looks like. That will really help .

Good luck..

Laura

Your tips.claws look fine. Sometimes if you have infestation of mites your claws may dry up and fall off. Usually if your in a colder climate, even if you have your plants indoors (unless you have them under a grow light and heat), if you have dramatically fluctuating temps and sunlight your claws may drop as they need more consistency.

Also when you do have inflos and buds if your temps and light fluctuate you will also notice that your buds will discolor and drop, in So Calif we have June gloom where you may not have much sun light for weeks...so when this happens up to 40+ percent of my inflos end up dropping/aborting. Usually my plumie blossoms do not look good till mid July on.
Good Luck

Looking good! People grow plumeria everywhere, I used to swap plants with a guy in BC Canada who grew plumeria.

Spider mites are the bane of my existence,they love our heat and humidity and thrive here. Keep spraying the insecticidal soap and eventually you will win.

Hopefully your mils plant is just dormant, if it was inside and forgotten in November it actually got the treatment it needed lol!
I love Montana but it is just too cold for me to live there, last year we visited in June, Yellowstone lake was frozen solid and Montana was colder. BRRR!
Tally HO!

Thank you all for the great feedback! I am using insecticidal soap on my little gal, so hopefully the mites will leave her alone. I will keep on it! Here is what the other plumie looked like when we cut off the worst of the branch ends... It feels firmest down by the base of the plant, but no white sap was oozing when I used a pin to pierce near the base. :-S We think she may be a goner...

That doesn't look good at all. Try cutting back some more
until you get white pith with no brown. If you can.

That's what we thought too. The weird thing is, the whole plant oozes clear liquid, even though it hasn't been watered in months. I'm wondering if it got frostbitten or even thoroughly frozen down in the room they stored it in.

I agree, keep going back further. Be sure to use rubbing alcohol to clean your snips just to keep the cuts as sterile as possible for when you do find clean wood.

Extended temps under about 40 degrees will do that for sure.Sitting in soil that is too wet and / or cold are the main reasons plumies will rot. I hope you reach healthy tissue there, good luck.

Usually Frost damamged plumies oozes a dark liquid, looks like black tea or coffe and can be viscous. If your fluid is clear Id just do like everyone suggested and cut back to fresh pristine white flesh.
Good luck

Oh freak, I forgot about that black ooze, that is the worst thing in the world to see isn't it? After that dreadful freeze after Ike the plumeria first oozed and then kind of collapsed, it was horrible, all these huge old plumeria just kind of melting.

Tally HO!