croton problem - calling ricky

11 years ago

I've lost two old croton recently. They were right next to each other, went one after the other. This happened after I got some croton-attacking white fly that moved through my yard a few years ago. All other crotons in the yard, most of which are rooted babies of the two I lost, survived. The white fly went through like a wave around the mixed hedge, but by the time it got to the mother plants, the once-defoliated babies had bounced back. And the babies are seven or eight years old and quite big.

So, the mother plants looked like they were coming back and then died. I'm thinking the borer Ricky has mentioned before.

Here's the mystery. I also lost an oak tree that used to shade those crotons a couple years ago. And more recently, I've lost some well-established plumbagoes right in the same area.

So I'm wondering if something is deeply wrong in that area of the yard. The cabbage palm also doesn't look good. Weirdly, my gardenia, also in the same area, is blooming with abandon at the moment and looks healthier than it ever has. I give it occasional doses of coffee grounds, but nothing else. Did my coffee grounds kill my oak, crotons and plumbagoes? I'm also wondering if the croton borer can also attack plumbago canes and none of this has anything to do with the oak. Several neighbors have lost seemingly healthy live oaks, including several old and lovely ones in my neighborhood. Fairchild has been out and couldn't figure it out, but advised all of us not to replant oaks for the moment. I don't think losing the oak shade is the problem - the baby crotons are in full sun and fine.

Any ideas?

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Comments (4)

fawnridge (Ricky)
11 years ago
Mel - what you have is not a Croton problem, but a soil problem. It sounds like there's something in your soil that's killing your plants. One bug would not be attacking so many different plants and trees. Bad soil, on the other hand, wouldn't care what's planted in it, everything would decline and eventually die.

I don't believe your coffee grounds have anything to do with it. Rather, they would help the plants survive.

What's changed in your soil since the before the plants started to decline? Answer that question and you have a better chance at solving the problem.
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
11 years ago
This is my fear Ricky. I was so hoping you'd tell me that the croton borer also attacked plumbago and then I could rationalize that I had that AND whatever is killing oaks in our neighborhood.

We put in a pool very close to this area eight years ago. And everything was fine for awhile but I wondered if we lost the oak because we weakened it by cutting so many roots, especially when something was going around our neighborhood killing oaks.

But nothing has really changed since then. We don't irrigate, and never have. And I've never had anything besides too much water kill plumbagoes. Our neighbor also does not irrigate, or do much of anything besides mow.

I'm glad my coffee grounds aren't hurting anything. They seem to make the gardenia happy.

I'm only a couple blocks from the bay. Do you think saltwater intrusion could do this? None of the houses in my neighborhood are on wells anymore, haven't been for decades, and none of the neighbors remember why they abandoned their wells, though many of the older houses, including mine, have old capped wells.

Ugh. I gotta find something to fill in that part of the hedge.
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fawnridge (Ricky)
11 years ago
Mel - lots of possibilities here. First, your pool is now 8 years old. Any chance of an underground leak close to the affected area? Chlorine will kill most plants. Next, your location to saltwater. Yes, saltwater intrusion could be the culprit. Have a professional come in and dig a hole. Although, the roots of your plants would have to be very deep for the saltwater to have an effect. Plus, Crotons don't mind a bit of saltwater.

As far as the oak trees dying. Well, good riddance, but that's just my opinion. Oak trees in Florida, and I don't care which one, are hotels for bugs. Every pest known to man lives there and feasts on the tree. The only way they ever became natives was by dropping a million seeds that have a 90% germination rate. Oak trees die all the time. They're born sick and either take a hundred years to keel over or 5 minutes after the landscaper's warranty expires.

Bottom line is to get your soil tested. If it's bad, clear the area, drop a couple of yards of topsoil, and replant on top of your new hills.
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Ricky. I guess it could be the pool, though it would have to be a very small leak since we've never had to put water in it since we filled it. Rain takes care of the evaporation. It's a salt water pool, which I assume would not be good for plants either. Ugh.