The croton is an easy-to-grow houseplant known for its variegated foliage covered in green, scarlet, orange, and yellow splotches. Here’s how to care for a croton in your home or garden.
What plants are red and green?
Plants with bright red or green leaves bring life into rooms while adding a touch of warmth to the décor. Coleus, Caladium, and Red Perilla are a few examples of plants with red and green leaves.
How do you take care of a croton plant?
Crotons need plenty of bright light, a consistently warm spot and high humidity. They can take some direct sunshine but keep them away from direct midday sun. Keep the soil moist from spring to autumn, and provide some humidity by misting regularly or standing on a tray of moist pebbles.
Are crotons indoor plants?
Croton plants develop their best colors when grown in bright light. As houseplants, they must be situated in a sunny window. They will tolerate medium light indoors, but won’t grow much and foliage may revert to plain green.
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How long do Crotons live for?
How long do crotons live? The average lifespan of indoor croton is two to four years. To keep your plant outliving its lifespan, take stem cuttings from a mature, healthy plant to propagate the plant. A plant living outdoors in the correct zone in ideal conditions will live longer.
Are Crotons low maintenance?
Croton shrubs are low maintenance, and can be pruned to keep them at a manageable size, even as small as three feet high. Plant the same type together for a more uniform color and look, or vary the type of croton for variety. They work well as container plants or grown in the ground.
Can croton plants live outside?
Crotons (Codaeum variegatum), also called garden crotons or variegated crotons, are perennial evergreen shrubs that do best outdoors in planting zones 9-11, but are also popular additions to indoor landscaping in greenhouses or as house plants.
How do you keep Crotons alive in the winter?
As you would for any of your tender plants during a cold snap, water the plants well to insulate the roots and cover the plant with a blanket or a sheet. However, if they’re in a pot, when you grab for your jacket, grab your Croton, too, and bring it indoors with you.
How often do you water indoor Crotons?
It can be daily or weekly because you should never let the soil stay dry for an extended period. However, check if the soil is dry before watering to avoid overwatering and root rot. Keep your Croton plant evenly moist in the summer. The ideal humidity range for your Croton plant is between 40% to 80%.
Can Crotons stay outside in winter?
Croton is very frost tender and will not survive freezing temperatures. Southern gardeners in frost free zones should have no problem growing croton plants outside. Anyone who lives where there are temperatures that near freezing or 32 degrees F.
Do crotons come back every year?
Yes, croton plants are perennials. The word ‘perennial’ itself means “through the years.” A perennial plant like the croton will live through many growing seasons. Even if part of the plant dies (usually during the winter), it will use the same root system to regrow in the spring.
Will crotons come back after a freeze?
Even if freezing weather damages a croton severely, the plant almost always comes back, good as new, when spring arrives. Crotons need plenty of water. Even though they need good drainage they should not be allowed to dry out, which can happen in winter.
What temperature is too cold for crotons?
Since Crotons are Tropical Plants (not sub-tropical) they cannot tolerate cold spells, or extended ones—when the temperature drops down to 32 or lower—so we must add protection, and in particular for young plants.
Are crotons hard to keep?
Croton plants are vibrant but fussy roommates.
These plants have a reputation for being difficult to grow indoors. According to Gardening Know How, croton plants depend on bright light to develop their signature bright colors, so they should be kept near a sunny window.
Do crotons need a lot of water?
Basic Croton Water Needs
Croton plants loses a lot of moisture from their large, colorful leaves through a process called transpiration. They perform best in moist, humid condition, and they should be watered often but not excessively, recommends University of Florida Gardening Solutions.
Do crotons need full sun?
Many crotons grow best in full sun, but many cultivars can tolerate, and even prefer, light shade partial shade. Crotons are best grown in subtropical South and Central Florida. Frosts or freezes will damage them, but they quickly recover. When used outdoors this plant looks most attractive when grown in groups.
Do crotons grow big?
Croton is a small shrub used as a landscape plant in tropical climates. In its native habitat, croton is a branching, bushy shrub that grows up to 10 feet tall but those offered as houseplants are usually much smaller than the wild plant. The large, thick, leathery leaves are 2 to 12 inches long and quite variable.