Pitcarin

Jeff Searle

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26/08/08
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A pretty croton, not often seen in collections. Anyone else growing one? Growing along side Licuala parviflora.
 

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A few pics of what I've been calling Pitcairn;p seem to recall reading or hearing of two forms of it though...
 

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Lets face it, 26F will kill most any croton!

You'd be surprised Jeff. I did lose many plants but just as many in close proximity survived and some without defoliating much. Of course, this is due the superior care these plants receive here. :p Plants in central Florida are hardened off to cold more than the wimpy ones down south. A 26F here has a similar effect to 33F down south.
 
26 degrees here will kill most tropicals - have you actually measured 26 with a thermometer near your plants?

Ray,

Throw that one Home Depot thermometer away and get a couple of good quality,accurate ones. Lol....I also would find that many of these plants will survive at a 26F hit.


Edit......I meant to write, that these plants WOULD NOT survive 26F.
 
Ray,

Throw that one Home Depot thermometer away and get a couple of good quality,accurate ones. Lol....I also would find that many of these plants will survive at a 26F hit.

I believe that Ray's statement about 26 F to be accurate. His weather tracking vigilance is proof enough for me. For an hour or two at 26 F then heating up to 40's, I can see it. 24 hours of 26 F, I would have some doubts. They start seeing 50's up yonder about 30-45 days before South Florida does. These plants do have a strong desire to survive and upper West Coast plants have to be more acclimated than the Southeast Coast ones. At 26 F, I am sure that the "cold hardier" cultivars are hating life when it happens but do survive.

Just an old Moose's opinion. :p

Still would love Ray to post a photo of his Pitcarin that took the 26 F hit. :)
 
I've got a $36 Accuweather weather monitor. It's pretty accurate although I can't say there isn't a degree or two error in its calibration. Folks, if 26F killed crotons reliably, I wouldn't see any old cultivars around my area. Remember that I did lose 60+ cultivars so 26F is definitely lethal. That said, come by my garden and whatever is there survived 26F. If we doubt the accuracy of the thermometer, let's say 25-27F. Keith had plenty of survivors at his place and it was about the same temp there.

26F on December 12th is very different from the same temp on February 12th. The plants harden off with each successive cool/cold front. In December, it may have been in the 90's as recently as three weeks before and get completely shocked by 26F. By February, 26F doesn't pack the same punch. As Ron mentioned, it's 26F for only an hour or less but the time below freezing was probably 8-10 hours. The other thing is this was the first time I'd had temps below 30F in over 10 years. These plants aren't getting stressed by extreme cold year after year so they're more likely to recover than plants in an area that sees regular freezes.
 
Pitcarin needs to get established in more gardens in a variety of locations.

Anyone got some rooted cuttings going? Would be nice if one showed up at the Glock's Garden Tour in November. :)

This may be a slow finicky cultivar? :confused:
 
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