I have no way of knowing if anyone bothered to look at my beauties, since I got no replies in what I viewed as an urgent situation. I made the decision after some thought, that I was going to leave the cats alone. After all, I told myself, that I was planning on finding some host plants for cats, and so now I have. I know they're moths and not butterflies, but after more looking around, have found that they most likely will not kill the plant. Sue, who would like to know if anyone has read this

All Euphorbias from the Madagascar part of the world need to have for soil to provide growth and good health is, anything rocky, grainy, and/or gritty. Other easy to find mix items include Perlit (as mentioned) NAPA Floor Dry or NAPA Oil Dry and Sifted coarser sands ( NOT PLAY GROUND SAND ) 50 pound bag of construction all purpose sand will still need to be sifted, you want the bigger sizes of the bags gravel. After rinsed the combined sifted mix should be 30% 30% 30 % with remaining 10 % perlite allow to room air dry for a few hours ( up to 24) USE extreme care while handling from one pot to the next AVOID contact with a toxic White sap, mist the sap lightly to help it slow or stop. Wash hands and all areas that came close with soap and water after re-potting is done. As Jeff said drainage needs to be fast your soil in pic is eventually going to compact tightly choke it's roots and rot the remaining top . Not mentioned is where you live by zone or location. Either way at this point for the one in pic re-pot as soon as you can.

I found this info on another garden web site. I thought some of this info may help you especially since one of the respondents is wintering their tree in the basement. Good luck! On Jul 13, 2008, redinque from Pasadena, CA wrote: Beautiful, beautiful foliage, but requires relatively good soil and moisture. I planted it into the ground in clay dirt around September of last year where it promptly lost all its leaves around November when the temperature dropped to around 40 at night. I live in Los Angeles, CA. The bare branches (at least when it's small) don't look very appealing. It took a long time for the leaves to regrow probably in April or May, and I thought it had died. Slow growing and seems to be a plant better grown in a pot if soil conditions are not that good. I may dig it up and do just that. THIS POST PERTAINS TO WINTERING IN THE BASEMENT: Positive myrrtle77 On Apr 17, 2008, myrrtle77 from Northampton, MA wrote: we live in massachusetts,a firm zone 4. we have had our tree for seven years now. it has reached a height of almost 12', before a good spring pruning. we love her so much,she is the talk of the neighborhood, when she is leafed out. she gets early morning sun and shade the rest of the day and her color is still vibrant and she flowers pretty freely. they do like a fair amount of water,but, we have her pretty root bound, and she still does well. we leave her outside til the first frost is due and then she goes down into our basement for her winter nap. we water her about once a month and bring her up as soon as she starts to leaf out. i have taken cuttings for my mom, who lives in florida and she has rooted them quite easily and grows her plants in full sun in central florida. hope this helps anyone wanting this beautiful plant-we consider it well worth the effort for all its beauty! Positive WebInt On Mar 12, 2007, WebInt from Vista, CA (Zone 10a) wrote: This is a fast growing Euphorbia that is also called the Caribbean Copper Plant. Can be confused with Cotinus coggygria (Smoke Tree 'Royal Purple') for those not familiar, but break a stem and get the milky sap, you will know it is a Euphorbia. The white flowers really look nice against the red foliage. In SoCal it can grow to 10 feet tall but is deciduous in all but the mildest winters. My plant lost a few smaller stems and defoliated 100% during the 28 degree freeze from Jan 2007. However; all large stems have shot out new growth since. So they can handle a 28 degree freeze and recover nicely. Positive lakeshoredrive On Sep 30, 2006, lakeshoredrive from Chicago, IL wrote: This euphorbia's grows quickly from cuttings, overwinters nicely in a greenhouse and the maroon-red leaves look fantasic when grown in mixed containers. Positive BayAreaTropics On Sep 27, 2005, BayAreaTropics from Hayward, CA wrote: The new growth is a satiny vibrant burgundy. Not evergreen or especially drought tolerant. It actually likes more water than most euphobias and responds with fast growth. And should be given plenty of root room if grown in a pot or it grows sparse. Hardy to at least 30 degrees. No pests-at least outdoors

I've never seen root rot on a jaboticaba. Mine, which are in ground of course, are in the lowest point in my entire property. There have been some multi-day rain events that have left standing water in this area for a full 10 days without any root issues. During dry season, I'll let the hose run completely flooding the area. That doesn't leave any standing water for more than a day, but I usually have to do it a day or two in a row before flowering commences. Good luck. Harry