Please Help my Plumeria stay ALIVE

[nymoon76]

I have three plumeria plants in pots. I live in the Tampa Bay area, Florida. I went out of town for three weeks and we had a lot of rain. When I returned, 2 of the pots had standing water in them. I drained the water, but the plants have been on a progressive downslide ever since. The branches are soft and gnarled now and the leaves are totally wilted. I am attaching some pics of my dilemma for you to see what is happening. I have just repotted them 2 days ago, thinking that they needed a larger container. It has been 2-3 weeks since I returned home and the plants look worse than ever.

[bullthistle]

I would leave them in the sun in the morning but in shade in the afternoon. Frying them isn't going to help after they drowned.

[Diane]

If they're suposed to be straight I would put a stick in the pot and tie them to it. Less stress that way, plus they may remain bent over otherwise.
I don't know what they look like healthy but the leaves are still green so that's a plus.

[Kisal]

What did the roots look like when you took them out of their previous pots? Was there evidence of root rot, either by the odor of the soil (sourish), or the color of the roots?

IMO, it's usually not a good idea to repot a plant that is under stress, unless the stress is because it is root bound. If there is anything else going wrong -- such as in your case, too much water -- then it would be better to allow the plant to recuperate from any damage before you repot it. If the problem is something like root rot, then putting the plant in a larger pot means it will take longer for the larger volume of soil to dry between waterings. That usually just makes the problem worse.

I'm curious about why there was "standing water" in the pots. Do you not have them in pots with drainage holes? I think that would be the first change I would make. Plumerias need excellent drainage.