Thread: Croton plant care?

Anybody had any luck with these/ I really like them, have a whole flower bed full of them, they look like siht! Maybe just to hot for them being in the sun?

Most plants that are used for indoor growing are tropical underbrush in their native environment. You need to replicate that environment for them to grow well. Warm temps, filtered light, water well then allow to get slightly dry before it's next good watering....just like it would get in nature.

Mine are outside, as nature intended, but they dont like it!

They need shade, if they've been planted recently they may toughen up.

^ no they don't.

Crotons will give their best colours when planted in sun, if in the shade more of the green will develop. Make sure you have good drainage.
They could possibly do with a light dressing of ericaceous compost (ie the stuff used for azaleas.)

Fair enough, I wondered if they may have been raised in a shade house then planted in full sun.

Originally Posted by Propagator

^ no they don't.

Crotons will give their best colours when planted in sun, if in the shade more of the green will develop. Make sure you have good drainage.
They could possibly do with a light dressing of ericaceous compost (ie the stuff used for azaleas.)

Correct. However, plants that have been in the shade (or have been repotted / replanted) and are suddenly moved into full sun will suffer and show burnt leaves.

They need to gradually adjust, and develop 'sun leaves'. After that they can grow really big in full sun.

They're also fairly easy to propagate from cuttings; easy to do a whole border with them from cut stems.

Originally Posted by Propagator

^ no they don't.

Crotons will give their best colours when planted in sun, if in the shade more of the green will develop. Make sure you have good drainage.
They could possibly do with a light dressing of ericaceous compost (ie the stuff used for azaleas.)

Is this available in Thailand, never heard of it?

Originally Posted by Airportwo

Is this available in Thailand

Don't know, as I have never looked for it, but I think a decent Garden centre would have some.

It is a compost specially formulated for lime hating plants.

There's a range of acidic fertilizers and potting mixes available but I've never seen them in Thailand, or for that matter had cause to look for them; the soil in the north appears to be naturally acidic.

I'm new to this garden stuff, so bear with me.
Appears Crotons like acidic soil, pretty much guess mine is on the alkaline side.
So if I water it with a weak solution of water with vinegar added, will this help?

If you can find granulated sulfur it does the trick. Lasts a long time and is slow release. Vinegar won't last long.
Coastal soils do tend to be alkaline but you can get a little test kit from a good garden shop.

Originally Posted by beano

If you can find granulated sulfur it does the trick. Lasts a long time and is slow release. Vinegar won't last long.
Coastal soils do tend to be alkaline but you can get a little test kit from a good garden shop.

You must have a different class of garden shop where you are, the ones in Pattaya, (that I know off) tend to specialise in treating me like an Alien! rather than garden related stuff........

Update! watered plants with a vinegar solution, saw a huge improvement, So went to the garden shop for some acidic substances - they looked at me as if I was an Alien! "nobody in Thailand does this" guess I need to buy vinegar in bulk!

Originally Posted by Airportwo

I'm new to this garden stuff, so bear with me.
Appears Crotons like acidic soil, pretty much guess mine is on the alkaline side.
So if I water it with a weak solution of water with vinegar added, will this help?

My friend used to piss on his to make the soil acidic

Pity they died