Crotons

[LJG]

I figured I would ask this here. I just received about 20 different Crotons. I know nothing about them. So I was probably not wise to purchase so many as after I did I wondered why not many in SoCal have them. So my question is how do they grow in 10b SoCal? Most the ones I have seen looked leggy or beat up. Do any of you guys have great luck with them to where they look healthy like in FL for example? or are they more like an annual.

Also, how about water? Lots like other tropicals?

[epicure3]

(LJG @ May 27 2007,23:58)

QUOTE

I figured I would ask this here. I just received about 20 different Crotons. I know nothing about them. So I was probably not wise to purchase so many as after I did I wondered why not many in SoCal have them. So my question is how do they grow in 10b SoCal? Most the ones I have seen looked leggy or beat up. Do any of you guys have great luck with them to where they look healthy like in FL for example? or are they more like an annual.

Also, how about water? Lots like other tropicals?

I have had great luck with crotons. Keep them dry in the winter when there is very little growth. Lots of water in the summer. Plant them by May close to other plants in a protected area. If your temps go below 40 in the winter, cover them up. A couple of nights below 40 is fine, but consistent temps below will cause leaf loss. here are some pics of some of mine. Most are petra, but I am not really sure. There are so many named varieties or hybrids that I couldn't tell you the exact names of all.

Crotons will never look as nice in SoCal as they do in Florida. It is very dry here and crotons resent the lack of humidity. They are also not very salt tolerant so will not be happy with just landscape water. But, even with these negatives, they can still look pretty good.

These ones are about 2 and 1/2 years old.

Same ones

[epicure3]

A larger shrub....

same one

[epicure3]

Some others...

[epicure3]

Surrounding a dypsis lutescens....

closer view

[epicure3]

[SubTropicRay]

Nice plants John.  I see a Petra, Yellow Excurrens and William Jennings Bryan in your garden.  Jeff will hook you up with some stuff you won't see in other Cali gardens.

[epicure3]

(Ray, Tampa @ May 28 2007,21:42)

QUOTE

Nice plants John.  I see a Petra, Yellow Excurrens and William Jennings Bryan in your garden.  Jeff will hook you up with some stuff you won't see in other Cali gardens.

Thanks Ray. I'm impressed that you are able to tell what they are based on my very poor pictures. I need to learn how to work the camera a little better.

[SubTropicRay]

John,

Crotons are almost as big a passion as palms for me.  It's sacrilege to post that here I know.

Ray

[epicure3]

(Ray, Tampa @ May 29 2007,07:16)

QUOTE

John,

Crotons are almost as big a passion as palms for me.  It's sacrilege to post that here I know.

Ray

No it's not. You're in the right forum. They are far and away my most favorite plant, other than palms. They are marginally hardy here in SoCal which is why they need to be planted strategically. Growth literally stops b/w Jan-April so they need to be kept dry and then kicks in again in May. It is really too cool for them to be really happy. Plus the lack of rain. I probably have about 20 or so crotons around the garden. Some in shade , some in sun. They all do pretty well for this area if you follow the rules.

I have a bunch that are flowering right now.

[SubTropicRay]

It's great that you're growing them there.  The color they provide (without flowers) is unmatched.  I just did about 30 air layers on plants that are getting a bit too leggy for my taste.  It's literally a plant that keeps giving.  The plant is so genetically unstable that seedlings look radically different from the mother plant.  That's part of its mystique as well.  Bob Alonzo, the most famous name in croton ID, just told me that a croton named Candy Cane is offspring of a plant name Rheedii.  The two look nothing alike.

Ray

[LJG]

(Ray, Tampa @ May 28 2007,18:42)

QUOTE

Jeff will hook you up with some stuff you won't see in other Cali gardens.

Jeff Searle? This is where I got mine. He sent me 20 total plants that I had him pick out. I think I have 14 different ones, a few doubles. It is sad to think they will never look as good as they do now. Man what I could do with crotons in the right environment. They really shape a landscape and round it out nicely.

John, I am slowly strategically placing them. Always sheltered and most against a wall or the house for extra protection. Thanks for the reply to my thread.

[SubTropicRay]

How about some photos Len?  I'd love to see the varieties.

[LJG]

Taking photos is easy. It is the shrinking and loading that is hard.

I will take some and put the names. I am sure you have them all. Some are crazy, like Picasso's Paint Brush.

[SubTropicRay]

Len,

There are some 800 named varieties and Jeff S. has some pretty rare stuff.   I'll bet you've got a few things I don't have.

Ray

[Peter]

Do crotons take from cuttings, or do you need to airlayer?

[SubTropicRay]

Both will work Peter.

[Peter]

Thanks Ray!

[Tropicalken]

I am also trying to get a variety of crotons going in my yard in South Pasadena, California. Some have been in the ground six years, but are still not too large, perhaps only 2 1/2 to 3 feet. I guess it's the lack of heat.  I have had problems in the winter with root rot, especially with new ones I purchased but did not plant. All of the sudden they would wilt and would be dead shortly after. Last year I rooted about a dozen cuttings I brought back from Hawaii. They all died from rot during the winter. Now I'm trying again. I was recently in Florida and a generous croton collector in Boca Raton gave me some to try. I guess I'll drag them in the house this coming winter and plant the following spring. Do you guys have any ideas to prevent winter root rot. I did not overwater the plants I lost and as you know we didn't have much rain. Perhaps I should have doused them with a fungicide every few weeks.

Do you guys know of any online sources for unusual crotons. By unusual I mean something not sold in Home Depot or Armstrong Nurseries. There is a nitch to be filled and it could be by someone in the Croton Society in Florida. The bummer is that the California shipping requirements are so strict that most people can't be bothered. I can't blame them.

[epicure3]

I wish I knew someone here that sold some different varieties as well. As far as the root rot goes, are you sure that's what it is? Even in the winter they need a little water to survive. Maybe they are wilting from not enough water. Just an idea. I have had crotons growing in the garden for about 3 years and the few that have croaked were from overwatering in the winter for sure.

[SubTropicRay]

The same holds true here.  I try to use peat based potting mixes (for containerized specimens) for maximze drainage.  Like most plants, they like water as long as they're not sitting in it.

[Kris]

Dear Epicure  

those colourful palnts are terrefic,though in our heat the leaves usually appear druppy.so when they died we never replaced them.

love,

Kris  

[Tropicalken]

To lessen winter root rot in California, we should perhaps use the soil mixture recommended by the local Plumeria Society. Half of their soil mixture consists of pumice, which ensures good drainage and minimizes winter root rot.  I guess the drawback would be all the extra watering we would need to do in the warm months.