Croton

Colorful Croton houseplants

Due to the broad color palette of the leaves, this houseplant in almost any interior because one color always matches. This tropical houseplant is from the Crotoneae family and is also known as the Spurgeon family.

The Croton watering

The Croton should always have a slightly moist soil without drying out between waterings. Make sure the soil is not wet, as this can cause root rot, which will not benefit the health of the plant. We recommend that you give the Croton small amounts of water more often than a large sprout all at once. Watering once a week is sufficient in most cases. However, the amount and frequency of watering depends on a number of factors namely: the ambient temperature, the light intensity, the size of the plant and the size of the pot.

Watering the Croton

Spraying the Croton is necessary to prevent spider mites on the plant and encourage its development. The more often you water this houseplant the better, we recommend watering this houseplant at least once a week. In the winter months when the heater is on, we even recommend watering this eye-catcher twice a week.

The best pitch for the Croton

The wonder shrub will maintain its wonderful colors when it receives as much light as possible, just be careful with direct sunlight in the summer months! If you do give this houseplant a spot where it gets a lot of direct sunlight, you need to build it up slowly so it can get used to the amount of light. If you do not do this, its wonderful leaves will burn. If the Croton is placed in a spot with too little light, it will no longer produce new leaves and its color intensity will be greatly reduced. Move it in this case and it will recover on its own.

This houseplant also likes the necessary warmth, during the day the minimum temperature is 18 degrees Celsius and at night the temperature is around 12 degrees Celsius. So the Croton is not really suitable for greenhouses or garden rooms.

Help!!! The leaves of my Croton are discolored

Even though you obviously do everything you can to keep the leaves of your Croton as colorful as possible, they may still discolor or become less beautiful. This is often due to the care of the houseplant. The light intensity is very important for the colors on the leaves of the Croton. When the leaves become darker, we advise you to place the houseplant in a place with more light. It is also possible that the Croton gets dark edges on its leaves, this is a sign of too much water. When this houseplant drops its leaves, this is a sign of too little light or too much water.

Pruning the Croton

This houseplant is not a fast grower but should it grow too tall you can cut off its stem at the desired height. It is best to do this in the spring or summer so that the stem can sprout again. We advise you to cut away the shoots in early autumn, this way the sunlight can reach the plant better during the winter period. During pruning, milky sap will be released, we recommend that you immediately rub its "wounds" with charcoal dust or cigarette ash. Apart from keeping the milky substance in, this will also prevent bacterial infections from developing. After pruning, the Croton is susceptible to this.

Propagating the Croton

This houseplant can be propagated by cuttings, for this you need head cuttings of about 10cm. Cut off this piece and stick the "wound" in cigarette ash or charcoal dust to seal the wound. Then remove 2/3 of the leaves that are on the stem and root it in moist soil. The best temperature for the cutting is around 23 degrees. We recommend putting a plastic bag over the cutting to increase the humidity and temperature. Eventually, this baby Croton will grow leaves as colorful as its mother.

Is the Croton a poisonous houseplant?

The Croton is a member of the Spurgeon milk family, the milk/juice that can be released during trimming is irritating to the skin. Also be careful with clothing as these juices can cause nasty stains. Furthermore, it is important to protect this colorful appearance from pets and small children as ingestion of the sap can be dangerous.

Repotting the Croton

The Croton is best repotted immediately after purchase or in the spring. If you notice that the Croton is getting a little too tight in its jacket, we advise you to take a pot 20% larger in diameter than its predecessor. Repot the Croton Excellent in the spring, this allows any damaged roots to recover better. A larger pot stimulates growth, increases health and creates a natural water buffer because the soil can absorb more water. This makes caring for the Croton a little easier.

Fertilizing the Croton

If you want to give your Croton an extra nutrition boost, we recommend to do this only in the spring and summer period. During the winter period the Croton Excellent is at rest, it hardly grows and consumes few nutrients. Also, never give your houseplant more than is prescribed on the packaging. Too much is in fact harmful to the plant because these nutrients are often quite acidic and this can affect the roots.

The flowering of the Croton

As an indoor plant, it almost never blooms; if it does bloom, you probably won't even notice. The flowers of this houseplant are very small and white. If you do see them, we advise you to cut them away, because they do not contribute to the ornamental value of the plant and they cost a lot of energy for the Croton Excellent.

Common diseases in the Croton

The Croton can suffer from Mealybug when placed in a spot in a draft. Also, this houseplant can suffer from spider mites, this is often due to too dry air. Both of these pests can be easily combat with a powerful jet of water. Be careful that the spray is not too powerful which will damage the leaves. For a longer-term solution, we recommend treating the Croton Excellent with a chemical or biological pesticide.

Buying a Croton at Green Bubble

Are you looking for a beautiful, healthy and sturdy Croton as a houseplant? Then you've come to the right place at Green Bubble! The moment you buy one of our Crotons you naturally want a beautiful and fresh plant. At Green Bubble we work directly with growers so we can guarantee the freshness of our houseplants. We strive to deliver healthy and high quality plants to our customers every day. This ensures that you get your houseplant delivered as fresh and good as possible!

Want to buy a Croton but don't feel like going to your local garden store? We get it, that's why we ship your Croton directly to you and for free! Buying a Croton is easy in our webshop where you can buy different types of Croton of the highest quality!

Ease of ordering and great houseplants, that's what Green Bubble stands for. Want to buy a great Croton Excellent? Join the Green Bubble!