Croton Plant

Fertilizer:

Croton plants are popular for their colourful leaves. So, to develop their leaves it requires nitrogen base fertilizer. Any balanced slow-release nitrogen-based fertilizer is good for croton. You can also use liquid fertilizer. Croton needs to be fertilised once every 2-3 weeks in its growing periods. Spring and summer are the growing season of croton. Compost is also the best option for it. Just add one handful of compost once in 2-3 weeks in its growing season. After adding fertilizer, water it thoroughly.

Repotting:

Croton needs reporting once every 2-3 years. when you see the roots are coming up on the soil or from the drainage holes and the plants growth will slow down means your plants need to be repot in another bigger pot. Plants need more space to develop their roots.

To repot the croton plant, take any pot slightly bigger than the current pot. Make 3-4 drainage holes at the bottom and cover those holes with some stones. If you want to add coconut coir add it over the stones and fill ¼ the pot with potting mix. Now gently remove the plant from the current pot and place it in a new pot at the centre and add the potting mix around it. Now press gently and water it thoroughly. Put it in shade for 2-3 days after that you can place it in sunlight.

Propagation:

Croton gets easily propagated through stem cutting. The stem cutting can be grown in water as well as soil.

Croton propagation through water-

Take 4-5 inch cutting from the plant with sharp and sterilized tools. Remove all leaves from the cutting, only 3-4 leaves kept left. Always use sterilized tools to take cutting to minimize further fungus attack on cutting. Now take a glass half filled with water, put the cutting into the water. Change the water once every 5-6 days. In 3-4 weeks, roots start to develop. When roots grow 1-inch-long means cutting is ready to transplant into soil.

Appearance:

The native place of the croton plant is southeast Asia. This is a very beautiful and colourful plant. If you want to add some vibrant colour in your garden then croton is the best choice for it. The croton plants are popular for their beautiful and colourful foliage. The colours of the leaves of croton are red, pink, orange, yellow, cream, and green. Sometimes it is a combination of some of these colours. Croton plants are very easy to grow. The shapes of leaves are long, short, thick, thin, and twisted. The colours of the leaves depend on the intensity of light. In some of the varieties of crotons green leaves contain yellow dots that look like golden dust. That variety is also known as croton golden dot. It has long narrow as well as short flat leaves. It looks so Pretty. It grows up to 10 feet tall on the ground and 3 feet tall in the pot.

Potting Mix and planting:

Croton plants require well drained soil. So, to make a potting mix takes 70 percent of any garden soil, 20 percent cocopeat, 10 percent vermicompost. It grows. In a pot it grows up to 3 feet or more than that in height so take a 6–8-inch height pot. Make 3-4 drainage holes at the bottom and cover those holes with some stones so the excess water will drain out easily. Now fill ¼ of the pot with potting mix and put the plant at the centre of the pot. Fill the rest of the pot with adding the potting mix around the plant and gently press it with your hands. First time water it thoroughly and after that water it whenever required means when the upper one-inch layer of soil gets dry. Put it into shade for at least 2-3 days then shift it in sunlight.

Sunlight:

Croton requires lots of bright light to develop their colourful leaves. It will do very well in complete shade also but its colour looks somewhat dull in shade. In winter and on rainy days croton can be placed in direct sunlight for a full day. Do not expose it to the harsh sunlight on summer days. It will burn the leaves or make some spots on the leaves.

Water:

If croton gets over watered then root rot problems will occur so avoid overwatering it. Check the soil first then water it. Depending on the climate condition and the plant place the watering schedule may vary for croton. If the plant is placed in open space, the plant needs water daily. In summer you need to water it daily or in winter water it after every 2 days. On rainy days water it only when required. To avoid overwatering check the soil before watering it if the upper 1-inch layer of soil is dry then water it. Summer and spring are its growing season so keep moist in its growing season.

The symptoms of overwatering or roots rot in croton -

Croton turns their leaves' colours to pale yellow and starts to fall off. If you see these signs in your croton, check the soil if it is soggy then remove the plant from the pot and check its roots. If the colour of the roots is black and it breaks easily that means the plant has root rot. Now to revive it repot it into dry soil. Before repotting it remove the thin rotten roots and then plant it in completely dry and well-drained soil again. Do not water it for the next 2-3 days after that water it always by checking the soil.

Now take a small pot up to 6-inch height and plant the cutting into the potting mix (soil 70 percent, cocopeat 20 percent, compost 10 percent). Put the plant 3-4 days in shade, after that put in sunlight or where you want.

Croton propagation through soil-

To grow croton cutting in soil take a 4-5 inch cutting with sterilized tools, remove the lower leaves. Now take a small pot about 3-4 inch, make some drainage holes at the bottom. Cover those holes with some stones and fill the pot with potting mix (soil 70 percent, cocopeat 20 percent, compost 10 percent ). Dip the cuttings cut end into the water and then into the rooting hormone powder. Make a hole into the soil with some stick and put the cutting into that hole and press gently. After that in 2-3 weeks you can see new growth on the cutting. Use of Rooting hormone powder is optional but roots are developed fast with rooting hormone powder. Croton grows very easily even without any rooting hormone.

Croton growing from single leaf-

If you put a single leaf into the water in 3-4 weeks nice roots will develop from the single leaf.

But to develop a new stem or new plant the axillary bud is needed. Some plants can propagate through the single leaf also but the croton leaves don’t have the capacity to produce buds from a single leaf. So, in croton stem cutting is very important.

Diseases:

I have had a croton plant for the last 4 years. I see only the powdery mildew on my croton. This is the common problem with croton. In this disease the plant leaves get curls. To cure the plant, I suggest washing the whole plant with plain water spray and then spray the plant with any fungicides. Repeat this process till the plant gets free from fungus.

Toxicity:

Croton plant is toxic for people or pets but only when you consume it otherwise it is just a beautiful house plant.

Common problems:

The common problem with the croton is the fungus attack (powdery mildew). This fungus slowly covers the entire plant. The leaves of the plants get curly and eventually the plant will die. So, when you see the fungus attack on the plant wash the whole plant with plain water spray. Remove all fungus from the plant and stop the further fungus growth, spray the plant with any fungicides. Follow this procedure till the plants get free from fungus.