Croton growth question??

Bullwinkle

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17/11/10
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Will a well watered croton grow faster in full sun instead of filtered light??I am only concerned about growth rates not color quality.I know that most crotons will have their best color in filtered light.
 
Michael - this is a very general question. Different varieties behave differently. Also the timing of the season. Full sun this time of year is much gentler than in the summer. The length of sun exposer time is also less (shorter days) now.

Generally I would say no, filtered light is needed for optimal growth. I have had to move some crotons because they got hit with the harsh summer sun. The leaves often burned and set back their growth rate potential.

Just my opinion, some others here may have different theories.

Ron. :)
 
Mine defoliate in too much sun. Just curious, why are you not concerned with appearances?

I am concerned about appearance, but I have a few cuttings that simply refuse to move and I was going to put some out into full sun and see what happened.I figured that i could always move them back if they started to grow.
 
Try a mix of 1 large bag of pine fines with 1 small bag of topsoil.

Michael -

I agree with Ricky. Fafard makes a fine 100% pine bark mix. What % of perlite is in the Fafard 3B mix? You may be a little too heavy on the peat moss, a more aireated mix may encourage root developement. How bid were the cuttings? What size container are they in? ;)
 
I have them in a mix of (1 part) stable manure mix and (3 part) Fafard 3B grow mix.They are healthy enough looking but they just refuse to grow.they are around 1 year old.
I suspect the manure may be the problem - do you have other crotons in the same mix and growing well?
The manure may be making the pH too high...
Some croton varieties may be more sensitive to a higher pH...
You could remove the old soil mix and re-plant in new mix without the manure to see if they start growing, or you could start adding vinegar to your water to lower the pH of the solution around the roots...
I would try a new mix if they were my plants - my favorite is Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix - I think it's the best high quality potting mix available at bigboxstores. Sometimes I add more drainage material, like perlite or haydite.
BTW it's way cheaper at Sams Club than anywhere else, at least around here...
 

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From another gardening forum:

"I mixed a large sample of manure with distilled water, I inserted my pH meter into the water and got a reading of 10.1. Thinking that the meter must be out of whack I checked my tap water and then some vinegar for calibration reference. The meter was working properly.

After a little research I learned that stables frequently add lime to horse manure for odor control. This will result in manure that is so alkaline that it could be disastrous to add to a vegetable garden, especially here in the west where soil is frequently quite alkaline to begin with. Adding limed manure could raise the soil pH significantly for many years, causing severe nutrient deficiencies in the plants.
"

And also:
"I've seen horse manure composts that contain as much as 43 lbs. of lime per cu. yd."
 
Yikes :eek::eek: I will not be adding manure to my mix anymore




From another gardening forum:

"I mixed a large sample of manure with distilled water, I inserted my pH meter into the water and got a reading of 10.1. Thinking that the meter must be out of whack I checked my tap water and then some vinegar for calibration reference. The meter was working properly.

After a little research I learned that stables frequently add lime to horse manure for odor control. This will result in manure that is so alkaline that it could be disastrous to add to a vegetable garden, especially here in the west where soil is frequently quite alkaline to begin with. Adding limed manure could raise the soil pH significantly for many years, causing severe nutrient deficiencies in the plants.
"

And also:
"I've seen horse manure composts that contain as much as 43 lbs. of lime per cu. yd."
 
I think the moral here is Know thy manure, as in That dude really knows his s**t...
I would think added lime would be a definite problem for acid-loving crotons, but fully composted horse manure without any added lime may be just fine...

When I hear someone say their plants just will not grow, pH is usually my first suspect, and it's not always just the soil mix pH - the problem may also be related to the pH of the water supply being used...
 
I concur about the manure/soil. I think that well composted, non-limed manure is fine in the landscape, I would never use it in container growing.
 
Much faster growth but also much more water used,also a lot less color.the croton used for comparison was Norma.I got tired of watering it all the time so I moved it.
 
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