Updated pics with a few seedlings thrown in.

Bullwinkle

Esteemed Member
1,558
17/11/10
602
133
I finally got down to some gardening last week and put down some Harrells that Lamar had picked up for me 2 months ago.The plants did very we
UNDER THE LIGUSTRUM.jpg
ll over the winter in spite of my neglect and should really take off once we get some rain.
 
Rubens,this one was a small cutting 3 years ago and simply has never stopped growing.It is now over 6
rubensupdated.jpg
ft tall.This plant actually has a wonderful final pink color that you can never see because it is always flushing new leaves that overpower all the more subtle colors.
 
Last edited:
Wow, wow, wowza! Mike, I can't believe how incredible all your plants look! Here I pore over mine and all I get is leaf drop. Don't know what to do anymore. I am about to give up on crotons, so I'm so glad you posted these to inspire me! I can't even single out one or two that are my favorites, because they are all my favorites. Thanks so much for posting! I'm going to look at them again. By the way, your seedlings have made it to the big time, IMHO. They are amazing! Please share with me how you get your plants to look so great? I'd love to know what I'm doing that's different. I don't think I can blame it on cold. Our low was 37 this year and that was only once or twice. Very mild winter. What was your low? Mine started dropping leaves last fall and are just slowing down with this. No scale, very few spider mites on just a few prone ones. What gives? I have some in too much sun, some in too little, but most in filtered.
 
Thanks Anna,no cold weather here this winter.Only 1 night in the 40's all winter.Warm with lots of rain up to about 6 weeks ago.I wish I could say I did something this winter to keep them looking good but I did nothing,in fact I did quite a bit of travelling so they did not even get regular water.This should be a great growing season once we get some rain.Dont worry your plants will look great by June :)
 
Great post Mike, the plant ID Will be tough. My first one came from a cutting from an old bank parking in Ft Lauderdale about 10/12 years ago. 4 years ago I got one from Stan with out and ID. Stan said it could be a plant from the Davis group. I have an airlayer in the pot know so it can be shared and hopefully it will be IDed.
 
Thanks Anna,no cold weather here this winter.Only 1 night in the 40's all winter.Warm with lots of rain up to about 6 weeks ago.I wish I could say I did something this winter to keep them looking good but I did nothing,in fact I did quite a bit of travelling so they did not even get regular water.This should be a great growing season once we get some rain.Dont worry your plants will look great by June :)

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm not so sure. Someone told me maybe I was watering too much during the cool season? Is that possible? A good watering twice a week even in cool weather? Last year I started using commercial fertilizer for the first time ever in my garden (the spring before the fall auction and again in fall). A Florikote 8-2-12 for palms, and the slower release Harrel's K-Mag equivalent every 3 months. Not too much fertilizer, about 1/4 to 1/2 c. per plant spread around the canopy, depending on size. Before then I'd only used alfalfa pellets and K-Mag and they were doing great, but it was a lot of work for me because it needed to be done once every month to six weeks. I'm getting too old for that. Don't know if anything I was doing was wrong, but it worked against me. Phil, if you're out there, let me know if you think any of this is wrong for our climate.
 
Anna - your fert program looks good. I've been using an 8-0-10+2Mg from Lowes on palms and crotons. A few nights in the low 40s over the winter, but we are still not in a tropical climate!
Kind of hard to overwater now that we're in a dry season. I watered twice weekly during the winter.
 
Phil, did you see a lot of leaf drop this year? I'm thinking maybe I have a disease? A fungus or something? I don't see anything. On occasion I see little black spots here and there (not spider mites), or those little round fungal things, but most of the time it seems like healthy leaves dropping continuously. Most of my crotons have gotten thin. I'm a little fed up.
 
Anna don't lose faith Mikes place is really ideal for great growth and color. He has been doing it for a while and will yank a slow grower out and try something else. I am a non learner I just keep begging them to grow and the reward is never coming. The one thing I am really working on is improving my sand. We live on man made fingers with sea walls and our fill was trucked in beautiful clean Sand ( no natural organic material). I mulch 6/8 inches 3 or 4 times a year with city free ground material and I am improving my conditions very slowly. I am doing tons of air layers if anyone has a need let me hear from you Buler Buler Buler
 
Wow Mike. Thanks for sharing the great assortment of photos. Your plants definitely look like they had a happier winter than mine. We have been so dry in Vero that I am getting considerable leaf drop in areas that are not getting covered well by the irrigation system. I am looking forward to a bit more consistent rain and moderate temperatures so my crotons can start coloring up and pushing growth. Keep the photos coming!
 
Sorry to have hijacked your thread, Mike. This thread should be about your gorgeous crotons, not what ails mine. Hey, I'd love to see more! The color on yours is unbelievable! That Exeter and John Criswick are unbelievable!
 
Anna you have not hijacked anything :) Please post your pics here and let us see if there is anything out of the ordinary with your plants.Phil is right about one thing 200 miles can be the difference between leaf drop and health.I have been to Mike Harris and Lamar recently and their plants show no leaf drop this winter.I cannot explain how warm we have been in the winter over the past several years.My low temp this winter was 48 for 1 night!! Other than that there was nothing that could be remotely called a cold snap.My high electricity bills tell the story.
 
Anna - how about a few pics to help diagnose whatever ails your crotons ...
Anna you have not hijacked anything :) Please post your pics here and let us see if there is anything out of the ordinary with your plants.Phil is right about one thing 200 miles can be the difference between leaf drop and health.I have been to Mike Harris and Lamar recently and their plants show no leaf drop this winter.I cannot explain how warm we have been in the winter over the past several years.My low temp this winter was 48 for 1 night!! Other than that there was nothing that could be remotely called a cold snap.My high electricity bills tell the story.

Are you kidding? Post my crotons next to Mike's? Not a chance. I'm sure you guys are right. I am just a little too cold here to have crotons look their best. I don't think I'm going to give them any more space in my garden. I've got to evaluate the situation over the next couple of years. I guess Keith is the only one with similar weather. Phil, I thought your place was more like mine, but even two or three degrees makes a huge difference to these tropical plants. Figures I would fall in love with something that is never going to do well here. We'll see what happens this summer. Many are quite leggy now, and yes, I'm trying to air layer them. Mike, please keep posting!
 
Wow Mike. Thanks for sharing the great assortment of photos. Your plants definitely look like they had a happier winter than mine. We have been so dry in Vero that I am getting considerable leaf drop in areas that are not getting covered well by the irrigation system. I am looking forward to a bit more consistent rain and moderate temperatures so my crotons can start coloring up and pushing growth. Keep the photos coming!
Cant seem to get any amount of rain down here either... a A few plants have dropped like crazy ... Come on rain
 
Top