VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 September 2008

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1 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 September 2008 Magnificent In this Issue: Croton Society News Items New Croton Scale Another way to control new Croton Scale Recent Society meetings

2 Croton Society News: Our next meeting will be November 15th The meeting will be hosted by Jeff and Andrea Searle at their home in Southwest Ranches, FL Address: SW 52 Lane, Southwest Ranches, FL The meeting will commence at noon. Refreshments & a light lunch will be served. Please feel free to bring a favorite dish. Following lunch, a plant auction/sale will take place, with all proceeds to benefit the Croton Society. RSVP to Jeff by Saturday, November 8th - Cell # (best number), House # , or him at palms@rainforestcollection.com. The Croton Society will be participating in the following upcoming events: The USF Fall Sale: Saturday, October 11th from 10AM 4 PM and Sunday, October 12th from 10AM 3PM. University of South Florida Botanical Gardens, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa Campus. This will be the 11th Croton Fall Fiesta event for the society. We need volunteers for set up, sales and tear down. Please call Connie Hoerstgen if you would like to volunteer to help at There is early admission and no fee to those members wishing to volunteer. The Southwest Florida Yard and Garden show Saturday October 25th from 9AM 4 PM and Sunday October 26th from 10 AM 3 PM. This premier event is hosted by the University of Florida (UF) Collier County Master Gardeners office and will be held on-site at the UF Extension Office at Immokalee Road, Naples, Florida. Croton Society member, Terry Seeley will be representing the society for this event. We need volunteers for set up, sales and tear down. Please call Terry if you would like to volunteer at Next year, the Florida State Fair will be February 5-16, We need your ideas as well as crotons to be used in the display. Anyone who would like to volunteer with the setup, caring for plants throughout the display time and tear down please call It s that time of year again for the Annual Croton Membership Renewals. Please be sure to send in your annual renewals of $25.00 for domestic memberships and $35.00 for International memberships by November 1st. Only current members will be receiving the 2009 color filled croton calendars. You don t want to miss out! All contents in this publication are the property of the Croton Society Inc. and may not be reprinted or copied without permission. The Croton Society Inc. recognizes that all articles used in this publication are the property of the author and all photographs and illustrations used are the property of the owner.

3 Fred Sanders WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Judy Adams Yuma, AZ Linda Coyner Naples, FL David Grover Indian Harbour Beach, FL Heath Jorgenson Bradenton, FL Cleo Millare Palm Bay, FL Elizabeth Morse St. Petersburg, FL Lowry Smathers Vero Beach, FL Bradley Vigansky Port Charlotte, FL The Croton Society Inc. P.O. Box Tampa, FL (813) (Connie) PRESIDENT Harold Lee VICE-PRESIDENT Ray Hernandez Rheedii #2 TREASURER Connie Hoerstgen

4 Alasdair MacLeod Plant Brokerage & Landscaping Services Rare & Exotic Plant Specialist (tel.) (fax) 8202 Santa Clara Blvd., Ft. Pierce, FL Licensed Insured Through the State of Florida Department of Agriculture Pest Alert we ve become aware of a newly discovered species of scale insect in South Florida. Since its discovery this past April in Monroe County, this insect has since been found in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Saint Lucie, and Indian River counties. As a plant broker and landscaper, I travel throughout the state locating and purchasing plants for clients. While purchasing Crotons in late May, I personally became aware of this newly discovered insect and subsequently had to find another, non-infected source for the plants I required for contracts. This search caused me to inspect plants closer than ever before and start making inquiries among South Florida growers. The conversations with growers have given me some additional information on this new insect beyond what is currently reported by the Department of Agriculture: Unlike some other scale insects, the eggs/newly hatched scale are carried underneath by the female, and are protected by her waxy outer carapace. This means that contact insecticides only affect the adult mother scale, and not the eggs. On the plus side, this also means that your soil is not full of juvenile/larval scale as is the case with Asian Cycad Scale. The female scale insect releases the juveniles when under stress (i.e. severe climate change, contact with insecticide). This was reported to me by growers who had sprayed adult scale with a contact insecticide, only to find thousands of juvenile scale infecting the target plant and the surrounding crotons within 48 hours. A Division of Plant Industry representative also collected a sample of scale for lab confirmation, placed it in a ziploc bag, and placed it overnight in a refrigerator, only to find the bag filled with thousands of juveniles the following morning. The movement of these juveniles or crawlers is via air movement and a silk-like filamentous strand attached to the young scale. These miniscule (0.5mm to 1mm) young scale, in my and others observations, seem to travel directly to new growth, congregating around the midrib of the tender new foliage. The adult females which are 3.5mm to 7mm in length appear to prefer the stems of Crotons. So, how do we stop a fast moving, airborne pest that multiplies when sprayed with contact insecticides? One grower s answer was to remove all the infected growth on his crotons. While this did eliminate the scale insects from his plants, the setback time is substantial. The next solution reported to be successful is the application of the systemic insecticide Imidacloprid sold to commercial users as Merit or to homeowners as Bayer Advanced Systemic Tree and Shrub Insecticide. Two soil drench treatments, one week apart, seem to be effective after three weeks. The other reportedly successful solution was reported to me by a large volume grower. Knowing that the scale had spread through a large portion of the nursery, the grower wasn t worried about a few more plants becoming infected. He sprayed an application of Cygon (per label recommendation for soft scale) on all infected plants. Approximately 48 hours after the initial application, the grower applied a second application to kill the newly moved juveniles on the initial plants and the surrounding plants. A final application of Cygon was made 7 days after the second application to kill any remaining scale before they could reach sexual maturity. It is my sincerest hope that we can stop this scale before it devastates Florida s Crotons. This insect has also been reported to infect and cause substantial damage to the following plants: Codiaeum variegatum Crotons, Psidium guajava Guava, Ficus aurea Florida Strangler Fig, Mangifera indica Mango, Ardisia escallanoides Marleberry, Hamelia patens Firebush, Psychotria nervosa Wild Coffee, and Bursera simaruba Gumbo Limbo. As the Florida Department of Agriculture looks towards an official solution to this problem, it is up to growers and collectors to share information to fight the spread of this newest pest.

5 Upper Left: Scale infested Croton Leaf Upper Right: Adult scale on Croton Stem Middle: Damage caused by scale Bottom: Adult Female Scale on Croton Stem

6 Coffee, crotons best new friend? by Phil Stager Another article in this issue provides extensive information on a new exotic soft scale insect, probably an undescribed species in an undescribed genus of unknown origin, that is attacking crotons and other plants in Florida. The threat to our crotons should not be taken lightly. If you wonder what a scale insect can do in an environment without natural predators, take a quick look at the so-called Asian Cycad Scale or, more properly, Cycad Aulacaspis Scale (CAS) or Aulacaspis yasumatsui. It is a scale that has extinction possibilities for many cycads in the genus Cycas. For complete information, go to the following website: One treatment (not cure but treatment) for CAS and other scale insect is coffee grounds. Tom Broome, a cycad grower here in Florida, conducted extensive experiments using coffee grounds to control CAS. I urge all of you to download, read, and digest his excellent paper available at: If coffee grounds work on CAS and other scale insects, it will probably help and cannot hurt in the control the new croton scale. I have been using all of my coffee grounds on two previously infected King Sago s (Cycas revoluta) for the past few months and have not seen a trace of CAS since using the coffee treatment. This year, the shoots of several species of bamboos (1) in my yard have been infested with mealy bugs. Since coffee grounds have also proven effective in control of mealy bugs, several of my bamboos will get the coffee grounds treatment. Once the bamboos get a few pounds of coffee grounds, all of my coffee grounds will go to the crotons in the yard. Since prevention is almost always preferable and cheaper than a cure, my goal is to get the crotons immunized with coffee well before croton scale appears in my neighborhood. I also plan to give my crotons booster shots of Imidacloprid since it has a proven track record in preventing and controlling scale insects. Refer to the article by Ray Hernandez in an earlier issue of our Newsletter on using Bayer 3in1 insecticide for controlling a variety of croton pests. Imidacloprid is one of the 3 active ingredients. Imidacloprid is available to homeowners in a higher concentration in Bayers Tree and Shrub Insect Control and to commercial growers as Merit. The time to get ready for this new pest is NOW. Please report your experiences and suggestions to the editor.

7 CROTON SOCIETY Meeting in Palm Bay, Fla. Surrounded by a massive display of rare and unusual tropical plants, Society members from both coasts experienced an unforgettable meeting hosted by Cleo Millare & Dr. B. Frank Brown. Invaluable information on the new scale attacking Crotons was presented by Alasdair MacLeod who has been following the progress of the new insects. After a delightful lunch, members were treated to Jeff Searle's rendition of The Auction Man in a very successful auction. Thanks to all of the members who donated to the auction and kudos to Society member Joe Grazaffi for his awesome donation of a beautifully grown Claude Lorraine.

8 CROTON SOCIETY MEETING in Tampa Fl. On August 2nd,2008 Connie Hoerstgen hosted the Croton Society Meeting at her home in Tampa. Although it was a very warm and humid day, the quick shower that arrived did not dampen the mood for Croton members. Phil Stager stepped up to the plate once again to be the auctioneer, and most members left with a rare Magnificent Croton. Discussions at the meeting focused on the scale infecting Crotons. Literature and photos were given to members to help them identify the scale along with possible solutions to avoid infecting the plants they own.

9 CROTON SOCIETY Meeting in Bradenton, FL On August 16, 2008, Keith Hanks hosted the Croton Society meeting at his home in Bradenton. The members in attendance were shown a beautiful display and artistically designed landscape of rare crotons. New Society member Lynda Coyner from Naples Botanicals Garden informed the members of the Garden s plans to include massive displays of Crotons. Literature on the new scale attacking Crotons and other plants was distributed. In spite of the threats of passing thunderstorms, our auction of rare plants raised extra funds for the treasury. Our special thanks to Keith and all of the members who donated all the varieties to the auction. Rose Charmer Pandora Monarch

10 What are these Crotons doing???? Every now and then, we see Crotons doing the strangest things. Being a genetically unstable plant, we are not surprised, although the anomalies below are special. Merging of new crotons stems, ruffled leaf growth, (normally indicative of Croton Flowering) and the decision to swirl are all something excitingly new. If you have any ideas as to why, let us know!!

11 New Croton Sports All of the Croton sports on this page have been found by Keith Hanks. The Mamey on the left has literally been taken over by the yellow sport. Pictured above is a close up of the unusual sport that is unnamed at this time. Three headed Croton Another Mamey sport that has not made up it s mind what it wants to be! Originally a Yellow Mamey sport, it is constantly changing..notice how each head on this plant has a different shape, color and pattern to the leaves. Yellow sport on Red Quill. Although this sport looks like Red Quill when it is flushing out with new growth, this sport remains true to it s yellow coloring. A beautiful variation to an old favorite.

12 The Beauty of Disreali Glen Roof s Coral Showers