Is this Black Tip?

11 years ago

I have brought home a plumeria cutting from Sri Lanka six month ago. It has already been broken of the trunk and calloused where I took it, so I have been able to put it in soil right after returning home.

A couple of weeks ago it has started to form new leaves. Unfortunately they did not continue to grow and felt off the other day. That moment I did not notice any black tip whatsoever but the following week the tips got some sort of black crust. It has not been mushy and till today the tips are quite firm.

On the pictures you can the remains of the black crust and you can see that something has done severe damage to the tips. It looks like something has eaten away parts of the tip. Neither the black spots nor the brownish parts are soft or mushy. It looks like it has been drying up. (The pictures are taken from the 3 branches of the cutting)

Fortunately the cutting has build new shoots that you can see on the pictures as well. It even has started to form new leaves, growing bigger than the first ones. Today I noticed that some parts of the fresh green has turned into black again and thus I would like to ask if you think that this is black tip?

Might it be something else? I would like to avoid cutting of the tips as this is the first time that cuttings I have taken on my vacation has survived the winter. Cuttings from the previous years always started to rot from the cut, no matter what I tried.

Has anyone any idea? Any help is appreciated.

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Comments (4)

Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
11 years ago
Looks like something caused it to callous over and it looks like it is naturally healing itself .. It could have been caused by black tip, but its taking care of itself.. I wouldn't touch it and I would let it grow as is..

If you don't like the look of it later, then you can decide then.

I also see the nodes below swelling too! It's wanting to grow...

Good luck!!

Laura
David Richter
11 years ago
The look of the branch, suggests this is an obtusa variety, Florian. Unfortunately, they just love to black tip in the early spring in less than ideal environments/conditions.

The branches in the last images are already showing new growth emerging from the leaf nodes, hence there is nothing to do there, other than to watch and enjoy the new tips growing.

The first images show black tip actively "growing/spreading" - not sure how one would clarify this state. :-/ You can leave it alone and eventually watch it heal over just like the other tips or you can cut back the tip to prevent it from spreading down the branch which some people have reported in the past and/or if you don't like the look of the black crusts.

Personally, I got rid of my Singapore as it just doesn't perform very well for me and I grew tired of watching it do this year after year on every single tip - even after potting it into straight pine bark mulch. Good luck!
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the_first_kms2
11 years ago
I was thinking it's a Singapore Obtusa too. It looks like it's recovering nicely so I would also not do anything regarding this event.
labland
11 years ago
I agree it looks like Singapore Obtusa, one of my favorites! My biggest one seems to bloom year after year. Unfortunately I do end up losing leaves when we get freezing temps. But the scent on the blossoms more than make up for it. This last November, while we were down in Mexico, I had some leaf damage, from what I can only guess was a grasshopper. Argh!!

Jennifer