I wrote a reply this afternoon but now I see it's not here. Houzz strikes again?

I don't know if you can root an entire bushy top, but I guess it's possible. You'd need to cut off most of the leaves or it will wilt badly. I leave 3 or so leaves on individual cuttings, you could try doing the same on each branch. I cut the newest, tender, top leaves off, I keep the next few leaves down the stem which are more mature and cut away all the rest below them. I usually take cuttings of 4 to 5 inches long, rooting an entire top would be new to me but the techniques would be the same.

You mentioned rooting in water and you could try this, but if it wilts I'd put the cutting in a pot of medium and put the whole thing in a plastic bag or some kind of clear plastic or glass container. A little opening and the top is good for minimal air circulation, but you need to retain the high humidity. Bright light is good but absolutely no direct sunlight. It'll take several weeks or more to start rooting. The cutting might drop some leaves on it's own, which is okay as long as it's not a massive drop. If you can remove those dropped leaves it will keep the possibility of bacteria down.

Personally I would take a few individual 'insurance' cuttings as well, and root them separately. I'd also only take the top from one of the two stems, root one at a time. However, if the stems are actually two separate plants in the pot, then it won't make any difference.

Let me know how you decide to proceed, interesting project and I love propagating.

Russ

Forgot to mention, your Ram's Horn sure is one curly-leaved croton. Don't think I've seen one so massively bunched together with curled leaves. I'll post a pic of mine tomorrow if I have time.

Russ

now the question is which stem to cut. they are not equal. the thinner stem
also has the larger collection of leaves. the thicker stem has the ball shape to it.
the stems are roughly the same but one is definitely ever so much larger.
I repoted the plant when I got it, say 2 weeks ago. my plant is still to cut only one stem and leave the other alone. I will attempt to root the top using the advise everyone has so kindly offered up. probably get off the fence this weekend and take action as the clock is running now or next year so to speak.

Fred, would you be interested in air-layering? It's pretty easy and you'd root the top while it's still on the base. Only issues I see would be the thinness of the stems and the fact that it'd probably take longer to root. If the layer didn't work you could still cut the stem where the notch was made and root the top as we'd talked about.

Not sure there's a lot of benefit to layering in this case, but just thought I'd mention it.

Are you planning on cutting BOTH stems eventually? If so, I don't think it matters which stem to cut now. If you were only cutting one, I was going to suggest cutting the stem that seems to be leaning, and leave the one that appears to be more vertical.

Russ

Oh wow thats awesome. I want one!

I had not thought past the first proceedure. Being that it is 20 th of June and cool, is it advisable to wait till it gets hotter? today is only 65. again regarding the date (growing season here is way shorter than central Florida) and the length of time it would take to air layer is that still an option this year? The weather may turn hot or the summer may be cool right now its cool and overcast, might be in the 80's next week, but.........

bielo83, I got this from a friend so I've no clue where you could get one, sorry.

I will hold off today but am strongly considering action on Sunday despite the cool weather.
Fred

With many plants, warm media temps are important for rooting. That being the case, you may indeed be better off waiting until temps warm up more -- unless you have a warm location indoors.

Fred, I hadn't realized your temps might still be cool. You'll probably need two months of warm temps, when will it start cooling off again for early fall? I guess 80s might be warm enough if it'll stay up there during the day. I forget where you are, but do you ever get to 90s there??

Russ

This weeks forecast says Tuesday might be near 88. Yesterday it only got to 65.
The weather here has been up and down. The national long range forecast says
the last week of June and first week of July will be below average temperature
with above average precipitation. As for when fall arrives, we can have frost in
late September. Not only do I live in N.E. PA, but I live in the mountains to boot.
Am I correct in speculating that (especially this year) Air layering will take too long? Oh, yes it does sometimes get into the 90's and on rare occasions 100.
Fred

The deed is done.

the one in the dirt is now in a mini plastic greenhouse I'll keep indoors.

the cuttings in an even closer view

Looks good Fred. If you see major wilting of leaves on the cuttings, you'll probably have to cut some more leaves off to prevent all the transpiration. It'll take a VERY humid environment to keep all those leaves intact without wilting.

Your cool temps are way less than ideal for rooting, but looks like you're giving it a good shot. I think air-layering would have taken too long, you're better off going this way and hedging bets by rooting in soil mix and water.

Keep us posted on progress.

95 to 99 degrees here for the last 4 or 5 days. You could root a broom handle if you stuck it in some perlite.

Russ, central Florida

I remember those days! Florida is a magical place for growing stuff! Upper 50s
at night and lower 80's to upper 70's next week here.
Fred

3rd of July and no progress, and no deaths either. Temps have been very cool for this time of year and seam to be impeding things. Nothing to do but wait and watch.

Hang in there Fred, hopefully you'll get some warmer weather this month and August and you'll see plants respond. What about switching to growing plants that do better in cooler temps? I know at least one ex-tropical grower that switched her interest to hostas.

Russ

I did plant 2 Hostas in my out door garden this year, does that count?

Sure! I could get interested in hostas but they don't like the heat down here, and the slugs and snails converge on your yard from miles around if you have them. The lime green ones and those with corrugated and odd-textured leaves are very interesting.

Russ

Russ,
I remember those awful horned caterpillars on the poinsettia hedges! Had to use pliers to pull the darn things off or they would draw blood if you used your fingers! Yikes! Here is a photo
of my Tomatoes.

here are some new photo's of the cuttings. nothing exciting yet though.

Yup, lots of bugs and crawly things here as you remember. There's a small, fuzzy 'saddleback' caterpillar that if you just brush against it will turn your skin on fire.

You do well with tomatoes up there, way too hot for them here right now. I've grown them like yours before, in a circle of fencing to hold up the branches.

The cuttings look good, keep me posted on rooting. Haven't forgotten about the lower-growing sans for you, had to mow today and will be out of town manana.

Russ

18 July and I have just noted 2 tiny green nubs on the cut stem! Too small to photograph just yet, but soon, Yippee!

Okay then, it's coming back. Request pics when leaves are big enough.

Russ

Growth so far

Gotta love seeing those new shoots! You might have some regular leaves by the end of Aug.

August of what year, LOL! Just kidding, it has been about a month so that is about right.

The crotons struggle in your cool summers, but they're worth it for the color. And of course the Rams Horn has those extraordinary curved leaves.

Aug 23 2015

Lookin' good! This will be a show-stopper next summer.

What's in the soil mix? I see a lot of what looks like composted bark, what else?

Russ

They've grown alot! Nice!

mostly it perlite and Miracle Grow with some bark.

Great job, keep showing pic!!

not only that, but the 2 of the 3 cuttings in water have rooted! I'll photograph them this week.

Here is what it looks like in March 2016, (please ignore the Lucky Bamboo that needs trimming , I'll tend to it soon)

winter has been rough on the cuttings, but they are still soldiering on.

Looks great, especially this time of year coming out of winter. I got a new cultivar last summer called Revolution which I think is a sport of this croton. It has longer and more curly leaves. I'll root some of the tips this summer, let me know if you want one.

That Lucky Bamboo looks like Dracaena sanderiana.

Russ

I think that Luck Bamboo needs to be potted in soil now, I always has some dried up leaf here or there. It seams to prefer distilled water as the leaves look worse if I'm using my well water. Mineral content? I do have hard water, no I don't use a softener. Thanks for confirming the ID!

Your Revelation sounds neat, let me know if you get around to rooting some.

The cuttings of this plant; of 5, I have 3 left. One, the hard wood, is currently sitting in water with roots waiting for more humid conditions to transition to dirt.

One was in a tiny pot very root bound so I transplanted into a bigger pot just the other day, this does not look happy at the moment. But I'm hopeful he will soldier through it.

The last one is doing alright, I guess I really should do a Croton parade so you all can see, LOL!

Fred

here is the parade!

While I was at it I added this to the parade!

Since you root with a LOT of roots on the cuttings, even rooting in water it might help if you put the bottle and cutting in a large zip lock bag. This is especially helpful if rooting in a medium, and almost essential with so many leaves. If too much humidity prop open the top slightly or a lot.

I take fairly short cuttings, usually 4 or 5 inches of stem, and cut off all but 3 or 4 leaves. Then I cut any long or wide leaves in half or more. This cuts down the transpiration loss of moisture from the cutting. Commercial propagators root in mist houses where transpiration is minimal because of so much humidity, and they root 6 inch or longer bushy cuttings with ease.

Are the leaves of that yellowish one firm? If they're a bit limp then it needs more humidity or if it has good roots it needs more frequent watering.

The last croton is Mammie. There's an all-yellow version that's very attractive too, these are among the most common crotons planted in Florida and perhaps the world. Petra and Norma are the other very common ones. Nurseries here are now carrying Magnificent and Dreadlocks plus a few others that were never seen on shelves a couple of years ago.

Here is one of my favorites, an old heirloom croton called Day Spring. Below that is an unidentified that might be another heirloom, General MacArthur. I have extras of Day Spring and can root any of my other several dozen crotons for the asking.

Keep up the good work with Ram's Horn.

Russ

The yellow leafed one was , until 3 days ago, in a 1 1/2 inch pot and very root bound. So far so good, even with out the miniature greenhouses you mentioned. Very resilient plant!

The one cutting has survived. For me they are very slow growers- summers too short and too cool for optimal growth. I live in zone 5 (barely) in the North East. Both plants are healthy. Thanks for asking.