Hi,
I live in Brsbane and also had this problem.I too found that the mancozeb did nothing. I would be intersted in other gardeners' responses. The only thing I can say is to make sure that you collect all fallen leaves and put them in a plastic bag in the rubbish.

Hello 'verandah' ,
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but about 12 years ago the problem arrived from Florida and it is a tough nut to crack. No matter how good your own housekeeping is, the rust is airborne and it can travel quite a distance on the wind. I think it is the same rust you get on cannas. If you have cannas the rust will live on those over winter ready to invade again once the summer rains arrive. I have tried a number of different sprays without success.
At all times you must dispose of all leaves (not in mulch)and be sure to cut your cannas to the ground in winter. I applied a fresh layer of sugar cane mulch over some areas of my cannas this year and those cannas did not get the rust so the rust may also live in/on the soil during winter. I was told to spray soil after you have cut down foliage with a solution of bleach but I was going to try that this winter. If anyone out there has a proven remedy to this it would be fantastic because it does ruin the look of an otherwise beautiful tree. Don

Rust is an awful problem. I have always been very careful of the trees I get cuttings from but I slipped when I bought a Dwarf Darwin Pink from Big W and didn't notice it till a few days after I took it home.
I make sure that I pull all the leaves off and bag and burn them.
There is a site called Plumeria 101 and they have some information on this.
Sorry haven't learnt how to link yet.
Marion

Hello Marion, I checked out the Plumeria 101 site and they list a product called PLANTVAX 75WP as a sure cure for this problem. Well I have paid the $85 for 500g of this stuff and it did nothing when sprayed according to the directions. I was thinking of doubling the dose next time to see if the result is any different. I will keep the site posted if it works. Don

Hmm. Thanks for the commiserations and advice. All my neighbouring gardens have big old frangipanis, so it's going to be a toughie. I'll try some heavy mulching. Thanks Don. I can't find out with a quick web search much about the life cycle of this rust, so don't know whether it lives in soil too, or has other alternate hosts that it NEEDS for its survival eg cannas. I'll soldier on and try everything.

Hi I dont have any rust here YET but when I live in Townsville all my shrubs got it, I just pulled the leaves of and binned them, it seems to come late in the season up there.

Here in Brissie I have lots of Canna's growing about 10 ft away and no problems as yet but just to be on the safe side I will pull them out. My shrubs are only 2-4 years old and at the most 6ft high.

I dont know if this will help but have a read of the link below.

MM.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rust in Frangipani

Thanks MM, there's another good link below too. Nothing that says definitively that it lives in soil though.

Here is a link that might be useful: B Backyard Rust Info

You are right there, but another interesting site Thanks for that.

MM

Spraying with copper oxychloride will help in the prevention ,needs to be done regularly in the summer.

I think it is just a case of living with the rust. The plant still puts on new growth and flowers well. So long as I collect the fallen leaves, I think that is all I can do

I just noticed that all my four frangipani plants have the frangipani rust :((( its in early stages as i noticed only small areas of the leaves affected.
Checked on google for solutions and it said that MANCOZEB fungicide should help..i will try it out..i really hope i find something as i got these from bunnings and they are the dwarf breed with gorgeous coloured flowers...
HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY TO YOU ALL!!

this product is quite recent and works i have used it and sold it to many people - http://frangipanirust.com.au/tag/frangipani-rust-rid/

I have used the rust rid mentioned above.. Worked really well..I had about 3 of my seedlings have brown spots on the leaves but not rust... Non of my mature plants had any rust on them at all this year and I have over 40. Last year was shocking with most of them having rust... Recommend RUST RID.

TimmyTucker and flowachyld...

The product you are talking about seems to have disappeared off the market and the website is suspended!

TimmyTucker, do you have any of said product I could buy from you?

Or are you able to tell me the name of the chemical so I can see if I can get some in Hong Kong? From memory it starts with T. (There's an amazing little store here that sells garden chemicals in their "raw" form, but not much the the way of decent nurseries).

I hope you both frequent this site- I have one very very sad Frangipani :(

As far as I am aware there is no cure. Mine looked so ugly every autumn I eventually dug it out and planted Plumera podica. The trade off for not being affected by the rust is the flower has no perfume, however it is in flower (warm temperate clime.) all year. It is still as beautiful as the rust prone frangipanies though. It's natural colour is white though I think now some breeders have produced other shades. Check it out on 'Google'.

Plumeria pudica, just so anyone who is looking can find it. :)

Yes, thank you 'love_the_yard': 'Plumer'i'a! Perhaps I need to an optometrist!

Hi, I just recently moved to the northern suburbs of Brisbane and have two well established frangipanis with a serious rust problem.
I did some research and found what appears to be the only supplier of Rust Rid around at a small garden centre in Buderim Sunshine Coast QLD...the manager told me his supplies were fast running out and he'd only about 50 small bottles left so I bought 2 to keep me going.
I think the garden centre was called Manawee if anyone needs some.
I am told it is soon going to be no longer available,
Cheers John.

Hi Verandah, Greathawks and brissi555......I just happened to check the Australian Forum for tropical plants, is anyone still cultivate Plumerias/Frangipani ? I was actually in Brisbane for a month, visiting one of my sister and her families, she lives in the area of Chermside!

Did any of you buy Plumerias at one of your local nurseries or from a website ?

I'll be curious to know because I have 10 of them, here in the San Francisco peninsula. Well...good to know you....maybe you can check the GardenWeb Forums/Plumeria !!

Hopefully I will find you in the near future,

Annamaria