Leaf drop

Many/most of my crotons are suffering leaf drop right now. This has been going on since September and now many of them have gotten very, very thin and sparse. I can't blame it on cold. What is it? I don't have any croton scale in my garden and very few plants have a few spider mites. What could it be? I pick up every leaf that drops, lest it have some disease I can't see. Some plants drop like crazy, then there will be another right next to it that barely drops any. Last year the same thing happened this time of year, but not quite as bad, I don't think. I haven't a clue. I need HELP! What should I do?

 

Leaf drop is normal this time of year. The dry wx does not help.

 

Ana, I am also seeing a lot of leaf drop in Ft Myers. And, like Phil said low rainfall is most likely the reason . Ft Myers got .39 inches of rain the whole month of November . We have our sprinkler system going 3x a week but that is not the same. Hopefully, we will get some rain with the approaching cold front but I am not holding my breath as they always seem to break up before they get to out area.

 

Thanks, Phil and Judy. I will try to water more. It seems like it's more than that, though. We'll see what happens with this cold spell. Had a bit of rain last night for the first time in ages. I'm already hoping for spring and we haven't had any cold yet! We still have some mosquitos!

Judy, I really wish you would hang out here more. Would love to know how both your gardens are coming along post Irma. How do your crotons look? Are they recovering?

 

I Think from my experience here, lots of water and organic material give us the best chance to have our best leaf growth and color. I have been building my soil for several years with mulch from our city waste pile. This is the best fallearly winter for me ever. Say Hello to my little RED friend!!!!

 

Sorry I forget to blow the last one up if anyone can please do so.

 

Looking good Lamar. It seems that up in Vero we have been getting too much rain rather than not enough. The dry season has yet to start so the saturated soil from Irma has not had a chance to really dry out. We are supposed to get down into the upper 30s tonight, which will be the coldest it has been in over a year (don't think we ever got into the 30s last winter). Hoping my less cold hardy plants don't take a beating. It has been a few years since my sensitive plants have gotten leaf damage from the cold. Normally I would have mulched everything by now, but it has been a very busy year.

 

Judy, I have been thinking about you since Irma and hoping your gardens are on the mend. I remember you posting a while back that you may have lost most of your crotons down in keys and was keeping my fingers crossed that they might have pulled through. I did not realize it had been so dry on the west coast, because we have been getting more than enough rain here. Keep us posted.

 

What a nice exchange from some well known Croton Veterans and the pix are great. Many thanks, I always pick-up some valuable hints from these discussions.