I have a croton that I seperated from a pot that I purchased with two other plants in it. It did well for a few days after repotting and then suddenly started drooping, and now is in the process of dropping its leaves. It had a small amount of new growth at the top that I'm considering cutting off and repotting, but is there any hope for the plant itself? Is this normal behaviour after a big change, or did I possibly damage the root ball when I seperated it from the others? Will the cutting root on its own or is there something else I'd need to do with it? On a seperate note, lately I've noticed tiny flying black bugs around my plants, I believe they came from a bag of miracle grow potting soil. What are they, and how do I get rid of them? I notice them alot when I water, they seem to come out of the soil. Help please!!
It's in shock. Leave it be for a while and don't water it too much (maybe once every week or so) - it will slowly but slowly come back to health. The black flies sound like fungus gnats - let your plants dry out.
Thanks Lorax. Is it a bad idea to take the cutting from it now then? The trunk feels fine, no soft areas or anything else so I'm assuming new leaves should come back from the nodes?
Leaves should come back from the nodes - don't take the cutting until it's re-established itself, or your chance of either piece surviving will drop dramatically.
Not that this is any helpful advice or anything, but I have had the same problem with bags of Miracle Gro potting soil. Is this a common occurrence with bags of potting soil, or does Miracle Gro just put together a substandard product?
I've only ever had this issue with Miracle Grow. I also found another forum online with tons of posts and everyone who named a soil, named that one. Think I'll stick to the "cheaper" brands lol!
miracle gro soil has fertilizer mixed in and that is what can cause issues. some plants don't need a lot of it to begin with and/or shouldn't be fertilized when they are 'dormant'. it's also not a good idea to fertilize a plant immediately after repotting it or when it's ill (in shock or has a bug or fungus infestation). with the time release stuff, you just don't know how much is being released and you've also got the possibility of having completely too many of the granules in the container - too much fert can burn the roots. and, then, over time, it does dissipate and there's nothing to indicate that, so you won't know when to start adding it manually (if you start adding it too soon, you run the risk of overfertilizing). i never use their soils (even the perlite has fertilizer mixed in) as i'd rather control when and how much fertilizer is applied. when it comes to repotting, that will generally send a plant into shock - especially if you did a lot of fiddling with the root ball. let it be for a bit and it should recover just fine. the fungus gnats can be dealt with by allowing the soil to dry out a bit (they like the moistness).
Oh, I've had that experience with *many* different brands of soils. It seems to me that it's usually the bags of soil that the vendors have left outdoors for an extended period of time....they get rained on, get and stay wet....then the fungus gnats move in. When I simply didn't have enough $$ to purchase more soil, I've taken my insecticidal soap and sprayed it all over the soil at the top of the bag and closed it up for a few weeks....no more gnats.
Thanks so much for the tips!! :) Still trying to get them out of the plant, letting it dry out didn't seem to work
I've heard of using cinnamon as a fungicide, could you sprinkle the soil with cinnamon powder? I'm not sure if this would work, but I just tried it on one of the flats of sedum I picked up the other day.
