Color Your World with Crotons

Looking for a flashy houseplant to visually jazz up an inside setting this fall and winter? The croton (Codiaeum variegatum) can certainly deliver the dazzle. Placed in a sunny location, this tropical plant will literally light a room up with its kaleidoscopic display of foliage colors. Yellow, orange, copper, pink, red, green, ivory — these are the many hues that stripe, streak, spot and blot the leaves, making it look less like a refined indoor plant and more like the result of an explosion in a paint factory. 

Crotons also come in a wide range of leaf shapes. Some crotons sport large, glossy leaves almost a foot long and 4 to 6 inches wide, but there are also varieties that wave thin, finger-like leaves at admirers, while others flaunt foliage mimicking the shapes of oak leaves.

Crotons — easily found in nurseries and big box stores with garden centers — are normally bought as 1- to 2-foot specimens, but don’t expect them to stay that way. Depending on the cultivar, they can stretch to 6 feet tall. However, a yearly pruning in the spring will keep them to the size you desire. 

Croton care

Leaf-drop is a big bugaboo with indoor crotons, and it is usually caused by dry conditions. Misting the foliage occasionally and putting the plant on a tray of pebbles filled with water for extra humidity will help. In addition, keep the plant away from vent drafts.

Too much moisture can also be bad news. Crotons prefer soil that is slightly damp but not soggy, so water when the upper part of the dirt in the pot feels slightly dry to the touch. The plants will become stressed in standing water, and root rot is a definite possibility. When the leaves begin to wilt, it usually means there is way too much water in the pot.

Monthly applications of a diluted, water soluble, low-nitrogen fertilizer are treats for crotons in the spring and summer when they are actively growing, but during the fall and winter, regular watering will suffice. 

Being a plant, the obvious question to ask is, will a croton flower? It can, but the small, ½-inch, star-like, off-white blooms are definitely a sideshow when compared to the riot of colorful leaves.

One word of caution: croton leaves are toxic, so keep this plant away from the curious mouths of kids and pets. This plant's sap can, in some cases, also cause dermatitis, so minimize touching the leaves and branches.