A plant in need! Help!!

Hi and Happy New Year! Need emergency help, my sister's neighbor took a plant from a relative who had passed on. She said it is a "crewton". It had some kind of white bugs so she doused it with vegetable oil mixed with baking soda and water to kill the bugs. She repotted it and on Christimas, gifted it to me. I think it is suffocating and I don't know what to do. There are no bugs but I have it in an isolated spot but leaves that look healthy are dropping by the bunch. The slightest touch takes a leave off, and by that I mean if I turn the pot to quick. Its very pretty, the leaves are long and leathery looking. The center leaves are deep read and greeen and the outer ones are bright yellow and green. Is there anyone who knows what I need to do. I fear it won't be here for New Years and I would love to give it a home..

Thanks in advance for your help and time.
Teddyjae

The description of your plant sounds like a Codiaeum variegatum (Commonly called "Croton"). Even without blooms they are beautiful plants ... grown as landscape plants here in Florida for their colorful foliage.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=codiaeum&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=YXYbTfm2LMSAlAfP9fDHBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDsQsAQwAg&biw=1280&bih=701

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/b/Euphorbiaceae/Codiaeum/none/cultivar/0/

They like a lot of sun and warm temperatures: http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/croton.html The white bugs may have been mealybugs or possibly white flies. Vegetable oil is not something I'd use to eradicate them ... it will smother the bugs but if left on the foliage it will smother them as well.

any thoughts on how to get it off?

It would help to know what the bugs are.

MEALYBUGS: look like little white blobs of cotton: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=mealy+bugs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=IK8bTe2VFcH6lwfDlOTuCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CDUQsAQwAQ&biw=1280&bih=701

http://houseplants.about.com/od/pests/a/Mealybugs.htm

Every so often when I find mealy bugs on a plant, I use a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol and wipe them off.


WHITE FLIES: look just like the name implies, little white flies: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=white+flies&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=o68bTcObLcWBlAfm4vGEDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQsAQwAQ&biw=1280&bih=701


I haven't had white flies in many years so I'm not real sure how to control them. You might check your local garden center to see if they carry insecticidal soap of some sort.

Control of white flies: http://houseplants.about.com/od/pests/a/Whiteflies.htm

Mealy bugs she thinks it was mealy bugs and she sprayed it with oil and baking soda mixed in water. I have tried rinsing the leaves but it doesn't seem to help get the oil off. She read that was a safe insecticide to use... Oh My!
The local florist said to wipe the leaves down with a citrus juice, milk or beer to get the oil off but I can't touch the leaves without them coming off.

This message was edited Dec 29, 2010 5:38 PM

There are several insecticides that would help. It may take several applications to get it under control. READ THE LABLE and follow what it says on what you buy. I know Bonide and I'm sure Bayer makes one.

Crotons also drop leaves if they are not in a warm area of your house. Mine at the moment are pretty bare, but wil put start putting out new leaves in spring.

So I guess there is no way to get the oil, baking soda, & water mix off this poor plant.... I tried spraying it with a 2 tablespoons of dawn dish soap mixed in a quart of water but the leaves are still sticky as all heck. The red plants in the center are almost bare, do you think if all the leaves fall off the plant might come back, or is there a way to root one of these bare stalks. The green and yellow are dropping but slower. I feel so bad, it was so beautiful. I think it smothered. Something ran a muck with that all natural insecticide, I'm thinking they didn't give good directions or it might have been meant for outdoors....


Any thoughts on what I should do??

Teddy, using a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol wipe each leaf and then wipe with a damp cloth, this should take off the oil, keep it warm, no direct light, but bright light, the alcohol should kill the mealy bugs, but keep an eye on the plant as they can hide. Remember the croton is a tropical plant and also needs humidity, so set it on a large tray filled with rocks and water, this will create the humidity that the plant needs.
Love ansd patiences will help. In the spring gradually increase the light, bu setting it outside when temperatures permit. it should reward you by leafing out .
Hope this helps.

Thanks Annabelle,
I did that and although the leaves are still sticky the plant is still alive. The red ones in the center have dropped all of his leaves but the yellow and green on the outside is still hanging on. Hope he makes it til spring. Unfortunately, we have been blessed with really cold temps and my home is feeling the effect.. Its old and a work in progress.... Could you tell me if I can repeat that process, more than once?

If you have given the plant one treatment, i would hold off for at least two weeks, and then give it a "Bath" using a little Dawn and cotton balls, then a good rinse.
We are in southwestern Michigan and the cold here is brutal, our high today was -3 with lake effect snow, spring can not get here soon enough.