A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 new here...

Hi everyone--
I am new to the site and I am new to caring for plants.

I have a rubber tree and a croton that I am particularly concerned about. Both are from my grandmother's funeral (last November). The rubber tree has lost all its leaves. I think it's dead--I just haven't admitted it yet. The croton has lost leaves from two of the stems. The third lost one about a month ago, but hasn't lost any since. It hasn't put out new growth since November.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

...The plants that my grandmother had growing are doing well despite their caregiver...

Welcome to the garden helper stitchin alot! I am sure you will find lots of helpful folks here and everyone is friendly. I am going to copy your message to the houseplant section so that you can get some better answers. We have lots of knowlegable folks who will be glad you give you some advice. In the meantime, welcome again

try repotting them alot of time those plants people get from flower stores are in the smallest pot possible, don't give up on it just yet it may have went into shock when it was moved.
good luck and welcome.

I repotted both back in January--After that, the rubber tree started doing better.

Then in June, when one of the stems had lost all its leaves, I cut it back and tried to root the pieces of the stem that I cut. That wasn't successful--in fact, it was after that that the leaves started dropping from the 4 or 5 remaining stems of the tree. The stems are not putting out new growth and are shriveling up. I still water it when the soil gets dry, but I have a feeling it is pointless at this point.--but at the same time, if there is anything that can still be done to save it, I want to try it before I dump the dirt and start over.

As for the Croton, I hope there is still time to save it. Any advice would be VERY much appreciated.

Many thanks and I apologize for this lengthy post.

Hello Stitchin' Alot!!
I'd like to Welcome You to The Garden Helpers Forum. We have a great bunch of gardeners here, all able to help you (I'm not one of them, as I'm not too prolific with house plants, well, some...)
but Will Creed slides by and he'll be able to help you in a bit, Bill, our Head Gardening Guru, may slide through as well, I'm sure you'll find an answer of two....I've read some posts here on those croton plants you mentioned.
Nikkal's from your area too, maybe she'll give you a shout!!!
Glad to have you on board, hope you stick around and ask lot's of questions and help others as well.
Happy Gardening!!
Weezie