A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Can my poor, beleagured croton be saved??

Hello, all. I recently took over care of my girlfriend's croton, since its poisonous leaves are a danger to her new roommate's cats. The plant (which she only got about 4 months ago, herself) did NOT appreciate the move, and took a turn for the worse almost immediately. Now, 2 and a half or so weeks later, it's looking just terrible. It's down to two leaves, and I can see roots in the top layer of soil. It looks like a lost cause to me, but a lot of what I've read suggest that crotons are capable of bouncing back, as long as you meet their somewhat fussy needs. After spending the day reading up on proper care, here are all the indignities that I now know it has suffered:

-Insufficient light. My apartment is not nearly as sunny as hers, and though I tried to put it near windows, they are ivy covered and all face east or south, and simply do not get much light. Today, I moved it to the outside windowsill of the only ivy-less window (it's south-facing), in the hopes that it would like that better. Once the weather starts to turn, though, I suspect that leaving it outdoors won't work, and the inside sills aren't big enough for it to sit on.

-Temperature flux. The air conditioner tends to blast the strongest in my room, and while it hasn't been freezing cold (it's late summer in DC, after all) the plant has definitely undergone a change of temperature---from I would estimate upper 70s at her place to low 70s at mine---and I hear they're not too keen on change.

-Possibly incorrect watering. Under her care, the plant was happiest getting only about a weekly dose of water, enough to wet the soil down to the bottom of the pot. It hasn't seemed as thirsty since the move, so I've been waiting even longer between waterings, until the top inch or two of soil feels dry. It still seems like it's suffering from over-watering, though!

-Spider mites! Noooo! I didn't even know to check for these until reading up on care today, but then I looked, and sure enough, fine webbing could be found all over the place, some with tiny round eggs (I assume) caught inside. I didn't have a spray bottle or isopropyl on hand to spray down what remains of the plant, so I planned to get some today, and to try in the meantime wiping off the webbing with a soaked paper towel. It was while doing so that the rest of the leaves (save for the stalwart two....) succumbed. I mean, it only had 4 or 5 healthy-looking leaves before that, but now it doesn't even have that many. Gah!

Is there anything left to be done, especially with fall almost upon us and sunshiny days on the way out? I feel terrible! I can't even count the number of plants that have died on my watch. I know that it will take a good number of weeks or months for the leaves to fill out again, even under the best of circumstances---that's fine, I don't mind if it looks a little scruffy in the meantime, just so long as I can pull it through! Can it be rescued, and if so, how? I don't want to subject it to another minute of abuse.

Thanks so much for any help!

It is possible to make a window sill larger but cutting a piece of wood so that it will fit underneath the edge of the window pane and then out over the existing sill. Then alittle weatherstriping will take care of any drafts.

sometimes over and under watering look the same.

You may want to find a pot one inch wider than it's current home and transplant it. About a week before the transplant give it some plant food to help with the transplant shock.

Leaf drop isn't unusual when I plant is moved.

Mine responds very well to alittle plant food when I've been messing with it.

Hi, TK! I really appreciate the response.

I'll look into extending the window sill as we get a little closer to cool weather. Right now it seems to be getting adequate sun on my roommate's balcony---the two remaining leaves don't look much healthier, exactly, but they are already taking on a reddish hue which I know happens with greater sun exposure.

As far as watering, I guess I'll just try to be extra attentive to what it's asking for. I suppose the watering schedule would have to be adjusted anyway, with moving it to a sunny spot. I'm also trying to be better about emptying the drip tray.

I'd be up to trying to transplant it, but isn't that awfully risky with a plant in such weak condition? It's only a few months old (well, it only came home from the plant store a few months ago; I guess there's no way of knowing its actual age...). Also, I read somewhere else that only healthy/growing plants should be fertilized?

Again, I so appreciate your response. I'm still hoping that there will be a little bit of improvement around the corner, now that it's getting a good dose of sunshine during the day.

It seems like the bigger the plant is, the less adaptable it is when it is moved. If it is otherwise healthy and in a good situation now, it should be able to recover from dropping leaves and the spider mites. I personally think crotons are very hard to grow if you don't have a lot of sun. (Don't feel bad, I have killed a couple of them myself.) You might try to put it under a grow-light or a fluorescent light. If you don't want to disturb it by repotting, you could just add some new soil to the top if the roots are exposed. I would also try to raise the humidity in the area it's in: either spray/mist with a bottle, or set on a pebble tray, or put near a cold-mist vaporizer, or put it in the kitchen or bathroom. Air conditioning systems take the humidity out of the air, drafts coming in in winter will be also very dry. I don't really know if it makes a difference when you fertilize it, but if it were my plant I would put in one of those slow-release sticks that go into the pot, and only do that after it starts to show signs of growing new leaves.