Croton Petra or Codiaeum variegatum is absolutely stunning, with its brightly variegated foliage. They are native to Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and the western Pacific Ocean islands. Found in open forests and scrublands, they can grow up to 10 feet tall in the wild.
Grown in a container, in our homes they rarely get above 6 feet or so.
Crotons have a bad reputation in the plant community as being finicky and hard to take care of. This can be true if you aren't familiar with the quirks of the plant, or if you don't know what the croton is telling you when it acts up.
Toxicity
Crotons are members of the Euphorbiaceae family meaning that the sap can cause skin irritation. The leaves, bark, roots, seeds, and latex are poisonous to animals and humans. Keep this plant away from curious pets and children.
The Adjustment Period
The adjustment period when you bring your croton home can be rough. Often we'll bring one home and then look on in horror as it drops a ton of leaves. I am here to tell you that leaf drop is normal for crotons when they are adjusting to environmental changes. Like a fiddle leaf fig, crotons have a big personality and dislike change. Grit your teeth and wait it out, the plant will stabilize over the next three or four weeks.
Light Requirements
Crotons require a lot of light. In the wild, crotons like full sun - that's more light than most of our homes can provide. The best place for your croton is going to be directly in a window (preferably south-facing), where it can see as much of the sky as is possible. Alternatively, it will do well under a plant light for several hours per day.
If your croton is leggy or not pushing out any new growth, it's a pretty good indicator that its light needs aren't being met.
In my experience, once I put my croton under a grow light, it absolutely took off. It was a stick with a handful of sad leaves but under the light, it has grown into a happy-looking bushy plant over the course of a few months.
Another sign that your plant needs more light is if it is dropping leaves or losing its variegation. As a general rule of thumb, the more variegated the plant is the more light it's going to need to be happy. To put it another way, the amount of light it gets determines how colourful its foliage will be.
Watering
While crotons are not as thirsty as other plants are, they still have precise watering needs. If they dry out too much, they'll drop leaves to let you know. Wilting means that they have been overwatered.
Watering when the top two inches of soil is dry can be a good rule to abide by, but I will always tell you to just water when the plant needs it. Stick your finger into the soil, or use a moisture meter to get a better idea of when your plant needs more water.
Remember that they are tropical plants, so while they don't want to be overwatered, they do prefer a consistently moist soil that is allowed to dry slightly between waterings. I find that their watering needs are similar to a prayer plant in terms of the type of moisture balance they prefer.
Temperature & Humidity
Crotons are native to tropical areas and prefer tropical temperatures. They are not cold hardy and are unlikely to withstand a frost. Temperatures below 10 degrees (that's 50 Fahrenheit) make for a sad plant. In winter it is preferable to keep your plant away from the windowpane, or any drafty areas of your home so that they don't get too cold.
Crotons prefer a more humid environment and if you have a humidifier to put beside it, it will thank you.
Food
Crotons like rich, fertile soil. As a houseplant, using a balanced fertilizer every two or three weeks in the growing season is a good way to deliver the nutrients the plant needs to keep producing those big beautiful leaves.
Soil & Repotting
Only repot your croton when it needs it. Some signs that it needs to be repotted include:
you see roots growing out of the drainage holes in the pot
the plant is root bound
roots growing out of the top layer of soil.
Repot into a container two inches larger than the container that it was previously in. Always choose a container that has a drainage hole!
Use a soil mixture that retains water, but that drains well. Adding perlite and/or orchid bark or cactus mix to your potting soil is a good way to achieve this.
Earlier I likened the croton to the fiddle leaf fig in terms of its personality. This holds for repotting. If you see some leaf drop after it is repotted, don't stress too much. Even though you're doing the right thing for the plant long-term, all it knows is that its roots are being disturbed, and that's going to freak it out a little bit.
Maintenance & Pruning
Like any other large-leafed plant, your croton is a dust magnet and will need you to wipe its leaves down once every month or so. Not only will this help your plant photosynthesize effectively, it also allows the brilliant colours of the foliage to shine.
Crotons in the wild range from shrubs to bushes to trees and depending on the species can grow quite large. You may want to prune your croton for a couple of reasons.
Removal of unhealthy portions of the plant
Maintaining the desired shape
Any dead plant matter can be cut back to its origin point, or back to where the die-off point is. When pruning to maintain shape do not take off more than one-third of the stem height in one session to avoid shocking the plant. If you do want to cut the plant back by more than one-third, do the third first, wait for new growth, and then cut back more. This will avoid undue shock to the plant. Don't prune unless you need to.
Pruning is best done in spring or summer so that the plant has time in the growing season to "bounce back" before it goes into winter. Remember when doing any cutting with this plant to wear gloves as the sap is a skin irritant.
Propagation
Luckily, propagating crotons is pretty easily done in several ways! Take a 3 or 4-inch stem cutting that has several leaves on it using sanitized shears. Water propagation, perlite, sphagnum moss, and soil propagation should all work. If you want to hedge your bets by using a little bit of rooting hormone, that's a good idea.
Keep the plant in a warm environment, and it should root in a month or so. Just like with pruning, it's smart to wear gloves when cutting the plant as the sap is a skin irritant.
All told, crotons aren't high maintenance once you know what you're doing with them. They're a great addition to your collection, and they're just fun to look at. As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Have fun and happy growing!
Photo Credits
Croton in pot - found on Pinterest from charlie cook .com
croton in ground - Pinterest, no credit given there
the rest are my photos