Gone Gardenin’ — With a little tender, love and care a croton will thrive

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This article was published 22/02/2018 (2841 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The croton is a resilient but temperamental plant. It has the reputation of being rather difficult to grow but if it is cared for properly and given the growing conditions that it demands, it can be an outstanding plant for the indoor landscape.

Crotons are tropical plants that grow wild in Indonesia and Malaysia. Anyone who has been to Florida or Hawaii, or many other tropical holiday destinations, will have seen crotons used extensively in outdoor landscapes.

Their stunningly colourful foliage is their main attraction; croton leaves can have a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours.

The leaves can be long or short, thin or thick, twisted or flat.

Foliage colours include green, yellow, red, orange, cream and pink and the leaves will usually be mottled, striped or have patches and variegation on their surfaces. Some variety names are a strong indication of leaf colour or shape; you can almost see the plant just by hearing the name.

“Sloppy Painter,” with splashes of colour on its leaves, “Gold Dust,” whose leaves are sprinkled with gold, “Red Bravo” and “Stoplight,” having bright red foliage, and “Corkscrew,” which of course has twisted foliage are just five of the hundreds of varieties of croton.

A croton will soon let you know that it is rather temperamental almost as soon as you purchase it because soon after getting the plant home it is very apt to drop many of its leaves. This is a frustrating characteristic and some people will simply give up on the plant at that point and discard it.

Crotons do not like to be moved, so they often go into shock and drop their leaves when they are moved. If, after a plant is moved, it is kept in the same spot thereafter and given the environment that it demands, it will soon recover and foliage will quickly appear back on the plant.

Crotons are true tropical plants and resent cold and drafts — they are used to warm tropical breezes and hot temperatures. They will not perform well if temperatures are below 15C and this is not a plant suitable for a cool sunroom in the winter time.

When you buy a croton it will be planted in rich potting soil high in organic matter. If you repot one you should use a similar planting medium and you should ensure that the container provides excellent drainage.

Crotons like moist soil but not wet feet and they should be watered only when the top few centimeters of soil feel dry to the touch and then the soil should be watered thoroughly until water runs out of the bottom of the pot. Taking the plant to the sink to water it will ensure that it drains properly and does not sit in a saucer of water for days after it has been watered.

If the leaf edges brown then the plant is likely being kept too wet, whereas if the plant wilts it is being kept too dry. Although crotons like high humidity, daily misting of house plants is a tedious chore that few of us are willing to do. It is a good idea to place the container holding the croton on a pebble tray to increase the moisture around the plant; having companion plants nearby will also increase the humidity in the area of the plant.

Crotons demand lots of light. In their tropical habitat they grow in full sun and when used as house plants they should get at least six to eight hours of direct sun a day and be placed as close to the window as possible.

Lack of light will soon be evident in the plant’s behaviour. It will become leggy, not look robust, and the foliage will soon lose its bright colour — in fact it might revert to green if left in low light levels for too long.

Insects can be a problem on crotons, and leading the list of pests apt to attack crotons is the spider mite. Increasing humidity will help to prevent outbreaks; giving the plant regular showers and regularly spraying it with insecticidal soap or a miticide will also help ward off spider mite infestations.

Crotons are relatively slow growing plants — they can grow to two meters in height — but eventually you may want to establish a new plant when the parent plant gets too tall and leggy.

The easiest way to do this is to cut the top 45 cm off the top of the croton and plant it in damp soilless mix and tent the container in plastic and put it in as warm a spot as you can to root.

Crotons are not the easiest plants to manage in the indoor garden but their stunning foliage is unparalleled, giving any interior landscape a bold splash of colour. If you can meet its needs, a croton might just ne the plant you are looking for to perk up your indoor space as winter continues to hang around.

Albert Parsons lives, writes, and gardens in Minnedosa.

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