Intro

[Crotonologist]

Greetings from Louisiana,

This looks like the place to be for crotons - glad I found it!
Now to see if I can attach a photo...
I found this one at Lowes late August or early September this year, photo taken September 26...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's a Stoplight...

 

[Crotonologist]

Same plant on November 4 moved indoors for a little cold spell...

 

[Phil Stager]

That's a Stoplight. Likes lots of light to get those hot red colors; low light and it tends to black out.

...and YES, this is the place for crotons! Welcome aboard.

 

[Crotonologist]

Thanks for the welcome Phil!

Here's one I found at Home Depot this September, photo taken Nov 4...
Bottom half of plant was original plant in 3 gal pot, top half is new growth since I repotted it shortly after purchase...
BTW all that new growth was in full sun.
Magnificent...

 

[Dypsisdean]

Welcome - It's always nice to have some new blood. And especially nice when they learn so quickly how to post nice pics.

 

[Moose]

Peyton - welcome to the forum. You have some well grown cultivars there. You have the perfect summer weather for crotons. Your cold front events are something you have to prepare for. Everything in containers, you are ready!

Kindest regards,

Ron.

 

[ScotTi]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Crotonologist]

Thanks for all the welcomes

Yeah Moose, south Louisiana summertime is a great croton clime, but the few freezing fronts that we get in the winter are a real challenge. I over-wintered my first croton in the house last year, and really fell in love with crotons this fall when all the stores stocked up, so now I have a bunch of crotons to babysit this winter. I plan on moving them indoors only when temps are forecast below 40 F....

Next spring I want to plant some in the yard and try covering them for freezing weather, so we'll see how that experiment goes next year.

This is my first one, now going into its second winter here...
Zanzibar

 

[ScotTi]

That is a very nice Zanzibar and one of my favorite Crotons. I have yet to find a replacement for mine that I lost last Winter.

 

[Crotonologist]

That plant is the replacement for the one I lost a couple of winters ago...
Here I've only seen it for sale at Lowes, usually a single specimen in a shipment of Exotic Angel Plants from Hermann Engelmann Greenhouses...
My first one succumbed to too much cold (but not freezing) and wet, so when I found this one I transplanted it to a larger clay pot with a lot of perlite in the mix and moved it indoors more diligently for cold wet weather...

 

[Central Floridave]

I have found the thin leaf variety are the least cold hardy. Paintbrush and Zanzibar both need some extra protection in the winter.

 

[junglegal]

Welcome aboard! You're off to a great start

 

[fawnridge]

Welcome to the Croton Experts Club where uncertainty is standard and every specimen has at least three positive IDs - all different. You'll love it here!

 

[Jeff Searle]

Peyton,

Welcome to the Croton Forum. You have some beautifully grown plants there in your pictures. Glad to have you on board!

Maybe someday if you ever make it down to central or south Florida, there's lots of private gardens to visit, and the members will be more than happy to show off their plants!


Jeff

 

[Crotonologist]

Thanks again for the warm welcomes
Feels like I already know you guys from reading so many of your posts in this forum before deciding to join in.

I would love to see some of these spectacular plants in person - it's been way too many years since I've been to central/south Florida...
I envy y'all's access to crotons down there - here they are scarce and mainly the same old commercial varieties (a few new ones this year) at the bigboxstores...
Seems I can't even find a decent mail order source for crotons on the internet which kind of surprised me...

One day I'll take a tour, so I'm looking forward to meeting everyone in person

Best regards,

Peyton

 

[palmisland]

Welcome Peyton! Keep posting pics. Just remember the phrases....looks like a, could be a, I think its a, resembles a, might be a, I thought it was a...........


Randy

 

[Moose]

Welcome Peyton! Keep posting pics. Just remember the phrases....looks like a, could be a, I think its a, resembles a, might be a, I thought it was a...........


Randy

LOL - Randy definitely has the verbage down.

 

[Marie Nock]

Kudos to you Crotonologist! You seem really adept at mining the Internet for obscure information on crotons and we really need someone like you on the forum. A very warm welcome!

 

[Crazy for Crotons]

Welcome to the great croton genetic instability Peyton.