what can I do to "bush up" my var. croton? It has gotten so leggy and bare at the bottom. I am tempted to cut it off and root, but I haven't been successful in the past.
your help will be greatly appreciated
Croton experts, pls help
Its hard to tell from the picture, and I am not familiar with the variety, but I would also check the plant for thrips if you want to do everything you can to keep it from defoliating or getting damaged. Has it dropped any leaves recently?
no, most of them fell during the "winter".
This is Croton Eburneum pinch the tips every so often to get it to branch better.Grows as a large bush in pots for us up here in the arctic! LOL :-)
Kyle
I think you should try a de-caf soil mix in that kind of pot.
Kidding aside, my approach would be a.) as FF suggests, check for pests --or just assume the worst and give it a good spray with Orthene or some other systemic, b.) similar to Eclipse's thought, and your own, take cuttings and root them to create better branching and a better overall planting. Croton roots well for me, with roottone F in a Promix-B soil. Make sure you have a good, light mix in the pot, first of all, and that it's not staying too wet --if you don't, dig up the plants, create more drainage by drilling more holes with a tile or glass drill bit, and go with a fresh soil mix. Put the growing plants back in, and root your cuttings right in the pot with them. The trimmed plants should branch, and the new cuttings should fill out the planting overall pretty quickly if you maintain a nice warm and sunny environment for it.