Product Description:
A bright burst of color on deep green leaves, the Golden Petra is a popular indoor plant as easy to care for as it is to love. Commonly known as the Croton Petra or botanically as codieaum variegatum this plant is coveted for the auburn, scarlet, and lemon colored veins that mark its bright, bushy foliage. The croton plant has colorful variegated foliage and nearly limitless leaf forms. As evergreens in USDA hardiness zones 11 and 12, they are often grown outdoors as ornamental shrubs. In their native habitat, crotons like humid, warm conditions with dappled light and plentiful water.
Light:
Crotons need bright, indirect light. Some may not tolerate unfiltered, direct sunlight and tend to thrive in dappled sunlight. Vibrant colors depend on if it gets sufficient bright light. If the plant lacks the light it requires, the leaves will turn green.
Water:
Keep them evenly moist in the summer. Croton plants need about one inch of water per week. Reduce watering in the winter to biweekly.
Soil:
A well-drained, moist soil that has been enriched with compost is ideal. This plant prefers humus-rich, acidic soil.
Temperature:
Keep the room above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and do not expose the plant to cold drafts.
Humidity:
?Humidity, along with the lack of bright light, also affects the color of the leaves. Keep the humidity level at 40 to 80 percent. If the humidity isn’t high enough, the plant may drop some of its leaves.
Fertilizer:
Apply slow-release pellets three times per growing season: early spring, mid-summer, and early fall. Or, you can use a liquid fertilizer every other month during the growing season from early March to the end of September.
Propagating Croton Plant
You can propagate croton plants any time of year; the codependent factor is temperature. In tropical locales where the temperature remains consistently in the 70 to 80 F range, you can propagate croton plants year-round outdoors.
- Propagate new croton petra from tip or stem cuttings or air-layering.
- Choose 6? inches cutting with new growth on it.
- Remove the lower leaves
- Dip the cutting base in a rooting powder to help the croton root quicker.
- Plant cuttings in pots with well drained slightly moist potting mix of 1 part peat moss and 1 part perlite.
- Place pots in a warm location with bright, indirect sunlight.
- Roots should develop in six weeks or less.
NOTE: A mini greenhouse ? pot covered with plastic will help speed up rooting of stem cuttings.
Potting and Repotting Croton Plant:
Repot a young croton every year in the spring or early summer for the first three growing seasons. After that, only repot when you notice roots growing out of the drainage holes or see roots growing at the soil level. Get a container with ample drainage holes. It should be only one size larger than the plant’s current container.
Croton Care:
A well-grown croton keeps its leaves down to the soil level?and the trick to this is to provide steady warmth. Even in outdoor settings, crotons drop leaves after a cold night. Vibrant leaf colors depend on the quality of light; they need lots of bright, shifting sunlight.
Low humidity inside the house makes crotons particularly susceptible to spider-mites. Mist the plants daily to avoid an infestation. Crotons can be brought outdoors when temperatures remain above 50 F, provided they are properly acclimated to the light and temperature conditions.
