Croton Plant Propagation

 

The scientific name of Croton plant is Codiaeum variegatum and the plant has colorful variegated foliage and nearly limitless leaf forms with hundreds of different varieties. The Croton plants actually grow best outdoors in warm, humid climates. The Croton plants like full to dappled light and plentiful water. Actually growing the plants indoors can be a challenge to mimic their ideal conditions. The outdoor croton plants can reach about eight feet tall, but as pot-grown houseplants the Croton plant tend to be much smaller, making the plant a good indoor plant in that regard. Generally, the Croton plants grow relatively slowly, gaining below a foot per growing season.

Furthermore, one of the primary challenges with the Croton plant care indoors is maintaining the plant ideal temperature. If it is too cold, the Croton plant will start losing their leaves. However, the croton plants are well worth the effort for the explosion of color the plant can provide in a space.

The Croton plants can be planted any time of the year, depending entirely on the temperatures remaining consistently seventy to eighty degrees Fahrenheit indoors, outdoors, or in a greenhouse. Be very careful about where you plant, as the croton plants are toxic to animals and humans.

Croton Plant Info

The common name: The common names are Croton, garden croton.

The botanical name: The botanical name is   Codiaeum variegatum.

The family: Croton plants belong to Euphorbiaceae family.

The plant type:   Shrub

The mature size: The mature size is about three to eight feet tall, three to six feet wide.

The sun exposure: Croton plant prefers full, partial sun.

The soil type: Croton plant does well in moist, well-drained soil.

The soil pH: Acidic

The blooming time: The blooming time is spring, summer, fall, winter.

The flower color: The flower color is yellow.

USDA hardiness zones: Eleven to twelve.

The native area: Croton plants are native to Asia.

Plant toxicity: Croton plants are   toxic to people, toxic to pets. 

Croton Varieties

The croton plant has lot of varieties, with names like 'Ann Rutherford', 'Dreadlocks', 'Mona Lisa', and 'Irene Kingsley.' For a plant with such incredible diversity, it is very impressive that there is only one species which is Codiaeum variegatum. Each of the plant is unique due to this plant's genetic instability and variability; enthusiastic collectors highly prize unusual varieties. The Croton plants are often classified by leaf type: oak leaf, curling, twisted, narrow, broad, and oval. A few notable varieties of Croton plants include:

-         The croton pictum variety: The croton pictum variety has large, brightly colored leaves of red, orange, bronze, green, purple, and yellow; they can grow up to three to six feet tall as a houseplant.

-         The Croton Gold Star variety: The Croton Gold Star variety has a narrow, linear leaves of green with bright yellow spotting; they has a tree-like habit and they can grow to only about twenty inches in height.

-         The croton Petra variety: The croton Petra variety is a prevalent variety with oval, green leaves with pronounced veining in red,  pink, orange, and yellow hues; The croton Petra variety can reach three to six feet tall.

How to grow Croton plant

Actually the trick to take care of a croton plant is to provide the plant steady warmth condition. A well-grown croton plant actually keeps its leaves down to the soil level. Even the croton plants outdoors actually drop leaves after a cold night. The Croton plants in addition need sun to maintain their vivacious leaf colors.

If you are caring for the croton plant indoors, low humidity can actually make the plant particularly susceptible to spider mites. Mist your Croton plants daily to help avoid an infestation. The Croton plants can be brought outdoors in warm weather, as long as the plants are properly acclimated to the light and temperature conditions.

Planting Crotons

The Croton plants outdoors need to be planted in a loose, well-draining soil. If your area actually experiences a nighttime temperature of below fifty degrees Fahrenheit at any time of year, you will have to pot your croton plant to bring them indoors. You can use a sturdy container that will be able to anchor the Croton plant as it gains height. The Croton plants indoors naturally should be placed by your brightest window. A good quality potting mix that drains well should suffice. Make sure the Croton plants are protected from drafts around the windows and doors, as well as air-conditioning vents.

Light requirement

The Croton plants actually need a fair amount of sun. Bright, indirect light is paramount. There are some Croton plant varieties that don't tolerate unfiltered, direct sun as well as others, but the plant will thrive in dappled sunlight. If the Croton plant is getting inadequate sun, the plant leaves will turn green.

Water requirement

You need to keep the Croton plants evenly moist in the summer. The croton plants need about one inch of water per week. You can reduce watering in the winter to biweekly. Watch the Croton plant for signs that it needs more water, such as the wilting of young foliage. You can easily increase watering if the wilting is noticeably during hot weather, but make sure you check the top couple of inches of the soil with a finger for moisture before you increase water. If it's still moist, you can hold off on watering. Also Mist frequently during the growth period.

Soil requirement

Actually a well-drained, moist soil that has been enriched with compost is perfect for the Croton plants. The Croton plants prefer humus-rich, acidic soil.

Temperature and humidity requirement

For the Croton plants grown indoors, you need to keep the room above sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and don’t expose the Croton plant to cold drafts. Humidity, along with a lack of bright light, can affect the plant leaf color. You need to keep the humidity level at forty to eighty percent. If the humidity is not actually high enough, the Croton plant might drop some of its leaves. If you are having trouble to maintain the moisture in your home at this level you can run a humidifier in the room or set a humidity tray beneath the Croton plant and then group it with other plants.

Fertilizer requirement

You can easily apply slow-release pellets 3 times per growing season: early spring, midsummer, and then early fall. Or you can use a liquid fertilizer every other month during the Croton plant growing season from early March to the end of September. Since fertilizers vary widely by type, you need to read the package instructions for the feeding quantity. Generally, if you intend to feed the Croton plant on a regular schedule, you can reduce the package-suggested amount by half strength. Then, observe the Croton plant's growth rate over the next month; you can easily adjust and then add or reduce the fertilizer depending on how vigorous you want your Croton plants to grow. Stop giving the Croton plant fertilizer during the winter months.

Because the Croton plant prefers slightly acidic soil, you can use acidifying fertilizers that contain ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, or sulfur-coated urea. Actually, your best target NPK ratios are 3-1-2 and 8-2-10 (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium).

Pruning Croton plant

The Croton plant actually respond well to trimming, so if your croton plant becomes leggy you can easily prune it back hard at the beginning of the plant growing season. You can remove unhealthy leaves and branches or if you want to maintain a specific shape. You can just trim above a node or leaf set. Try not to remove more than 1/3 of the Croton plant stem at one time. The Croton plant will re-grow from the cut portion. If you are pruning an indoor Croton plant, move the plant outside once the plant is been hardened off (by gradually introduced to outdoor conditions for a week).

Croton Plant Propagation

The Croton plants can be propagated any time of the year; actually the codependent factor is just temperature. In tropical locales where the temperature remains consistently in the seventy to eighty degree Fahrenheit range, you can actually propagate the croton plants year-round outdoors. Also, you can actually propagate indoors or in a greenhouse if you can maintain those temperatures.

The Croton plants don’t grow well from seed, as the Croton plant is unstable and the offspring won't resemble the parent plant. The Croton plants are easily propagated with stem cuttings. The Croton plant stem cuttings encourage new growth and they will control the size of the plant. You can actually use a rooting hormone on your stem-cut ends to increase the odds of rooting success.

The Croton plants sometimes produce "sports," or shoots, that are entirely different from the parent plant. These offshoots can actually be potted up separately, and only the cuttings will reproduce a plant identical to the parent. The following is how to propagate the Croton plant by division:

To get started you will need a well-draining commercial potting soil (peat moss, sand, and a vermiculite mixture), sterile pruners, a growing container, and rooting hormone (this is optional). You don’t actually need a container if you plant directly in the ground in tropical environments.

Just use a sharp, clean pruning shears to cut a four to six inch stem with the circumference of a pencil at a forty-five degree angle right above a leaf node. The cutting ought to have at least 3 leaves.

For a higher rate of rooting success you can easily dip the cutting in rooting hormone at the cut point.

Just plant the cutting in moistened soil about one to one and half inches deep. Put the Croton plant in a warm, sunny spot away from cold drafts. Make sure you keep the soil moist but not soggy. You can enclose the container in a clear plastic bag to create a greenhouse atmosphere to increase rooting success. After about 1 week, you can remove the plastic bag.

The Croton plant roots should develop in 4 weeks. If you notice new growth on the plant, it has rooted. You can also test the rooting by giving the Croton plant cutting a gentle tug. If it actually feels taut, it has set roots. Once the plant has rooted, it means the plant is ready for transplanting to a larger container or a spot in the ground.

How to Repotting Croton Plants

You can easily repot the young croton plant every year in the spring or early summer for the first 3 growing seasons. Subsequently, only repot the plant when you notice the roots growing out of the drainage holes or you see the roots growing at the soil level. Get a pot with ample drainage holes. The pot should be only one size larger than the plant's current pot. Put 1 to 2 inches of damp peat-based potting soil into the bottom of the new pot.

You can remove the Croton plant from its old pot by turning the plant on its side and gently sliding it out of its pot. Set the plant in the center of the new container. Fill in around the Croton plant roots with potting soil. Water the Croton plant, and then add additional soil if needed to bring the soil level to about 1 inch below the rim of the new pot.

Pest and disease control

The Croton plants are actually susceptible to a few plant diseases and pests. The Crown gall disease is a common bacterial infection that affects the Croton plant. The crown gall actually appears like thick, swollen growths on the croton plants stems and the veins of the plant leaves. If your Croton plant gets this particular disease, it is actually recommended that you pull up the Croton plant, and then discard it, and then sterilize the pot and gardening tools. The disease can actually spread to other plants and it will leave a path of destruction in its wake.

The Anthracnose disease is actually a fungal infection that is sometimes called leaf blight or leaf spot. The Anthracnose disease makes tan-colored spots on the plant leaves. You can easily cut off any infected foliage, and then avoid letting the leaves touch other plants since its spores can easily spread. If most of the Croton plant looks affected you can easily treat the Croton plant with a standard copper-based garden fungicide.

Some of the insects that like the Croton plant include spider mites, mealybugs, scales, and thrips. You can easily use pesticides to remove these pests or less harsh alternatives, such as insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. If the Croton plants are left untreated, the plant leaf growth might get stunted, some of the leaves will drop, and the Croton plant can eventually die.