Crotons make for easy care indoor plants?

Is a Croton a bad choice for a plant that is almost acre free when it comes to indoor plants?

I have on low light in my apartment.

Crotons a bad choice for that?

They are colorful...and that's why Im interested in them

John

Reply to
me63401
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Mine is growing well since 1998 in the kitchen widow with two hours of morning sun. They have a habit of dropping leaves. Select another plant that will grow well in low light conditions (sanseveria, philodendron, ti plant, silver queen, aspidistera, staphillia).

Reply to
Phisherman

Crotons like it warm and humid with bright light. Most people like to keep their house cooler and drier (especially if aircondtioned) than will make a croton happy. If they are not happy they will grow poorly, drop leaves and not look their best, or in extreme cases just die.

For example, in Sydney in a beachside suburb, in a north facing sunroom which is warm and bright, they are OK in summer but go backwards in winter because the humidity is too low. In Brisbane botanical gardens by the river (pleasant in winter, sweatbath in summer) they grow very well.

If the temperature and humidity are OK they still need good light to develop their best colour and grow strongly.

BTW what do you mean by "acre free"?

David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Very bad. They require far more light than one can possible maintain indoors without running up a very high electric bill or burning the house down with halogen lamps.

Reply to
Cereoid-UR12-

The conditions John described certainly make crotons a bad choice for his situation, but your assertion that innumerable artificial lights are necessary to maintain a croton isn't necessarily so. We kept one in the windows of our south facing living area that have gotten so large that we took cuttings and threw the huge 4' plant out this fall. We did keep it outside on our north facing porch during the summer and hauled it inside after washing off the spider mites when frost was imminent, but we have never provided addition artificial light during the winter. It grew from a small 1' plant in three years. Yes, it lost leaves while inside, but so many side shoots broke and so many new leave developed to replace those lost that the loss was unnoticeable. If blossoms were a sign of happiness, it bloomed two or three times a year.

Reply to
B & J

Time for another reality check for BJ.

The reason most people grow crotons is for the colorful foliage.

The leaf color fades and the leaves drop in low light conditions.

Unless you have copious artificial light or a sunny bay window or a greenhouse, trying to grow crotons indoors will be a big disappointment as are you, BJ.

Many plants actually bloom when they are under stress. Not surprised at all that even plants find you difficult to live with, BJ.

Reply to
Cereoid-UR12-

I have never successfully grow a croton indoors so don't bother even looking at them any more. It was one of those plants that no matter what I did - even bright sunny window - it dropped leaves. I wasn't that much interested in it to go to heroics anbd set up a lighting area to keep it alive. Some just work and some don't thems the breaks. I sure would like to know, however, WHY THE HELL do they sell them as houseplants!!!! Its a scam I tell you - a scam!!

Reply to
Tina Gibson

Well.....its sounds like I should forget abt Crotons then.

What plants are good for low light inside an apartment

John

Reply to
me63401

Well likely there will be no answer from the row house gardener....

Low Light Plants Aglaonema Aspedistra Bromeliad Calathea Cissus digitata (Mystic Ivy) Cissus rhombifolia Ctenanthe Draceana 'Janet Craig' Draceana 'Janet Craig Compacta' Draceana massangeana Howea (Kentia Palm) Maranta (Prayer Plant) Philodendron Platycerium (Staghorn Fern) Pleomele reflexa Podocarpus Pothos Rhapis Palm Sanseveria (Snake Plant)

Reply to
lvhippy

Actually, I'm a bit disappointed in you, for you have ALWAYS been right. We do not have a greenhouse or a sunny bay window, but the south facing room does receive bright light from the windows during the day with no additional light beyond the incident light from a reading lamp that we turn on in the evening. From November through February the plant does little additional growing but does maintain its bright leaf color. When March arrives, it begins to put on vigorous, new growth that is a bright green, and that is also when is when it produces its first messy blossoms. It again becomes STRESSED enough to produce more blossoms in June and again in August when it was sitting outside.

John

Reply to
B & J

Maybe you should just buy a small croton and see how it goes - nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you do decide to do so - keep us posted on the results!! Tina

Reply to
Tina Gibson

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