Can you upload some photos?

crotons have separate female and male flowers. male flowers are like little fireworks and what you are getting now are female flowers : they look spiky.

see pics of both here

my crotons bloom indoors too, even at a very early stage as a rooted cutting. the trick is to give them a very warm sunny window.

That said, can you propogate the male and the female flowers? If so, how?

Debbie, crotons are propagated the same way almost any other flowering plant is. If the female flowers are fertilized (with pollen from the male flowers), they should produce seed and then that seed can be germinated to produce more plants. But there is a very good chance that any seedlings will not closely resemble the mother plant.

I kind of thought that was the case. Thank you so much. Have a good

I'm so thankful to have stumbled across this thread! My previously-dormant plant has now sprouted both male & female flowers, after having received a ton of sunlight over the last year :) Has anyone else encountered simultaneous male & female flowers like this?

Mine have only sprouted one or the other, so far. Hoping they eill sprout at the same

Flowering again! This makes me happy!

I repotted mine but it's not doing well. What do you use for potting soil?

Hi, This is my 1st croton plant and its nonstop flowering, just wandering shld you leave the flower alone? what happen if you cut the flower? any idea? Thanks

it drops past flowers and it gets messy quick. you can cut them off near main stem.

it'll bleed a bit, then dry up. it's not going to harm it.

Vilmavnc, you can cut the flower stalk off if you wish, some growers might prefer to have the energy put into beautiful leaf production rather than blooms and possibly producing seeds. But most folks leave them alone. The small flowers are short-lived and will leave a bare stalk once they fall off. If you are lucky to get seeds, they will produce hybrid plants, usually with similarities to one or both parents.

By the way, if your croton didn't come with a name it is either Petra or Norma which are very similar, but most likely the latter. They both have an interesting back-story as to their origin, Norma is probably the most sold croton in the world.

For anyone interested in the history of the very popular croton Norma, it was hybridized by a nursery in Italy in the early 1970s. One of its parents was an important variety called Bravo. The manager of the nursery, Dell Amico Giannina, named the new hybrid Norma after his sheep dog! The nursery later used Norma as a parent to produce the popular and similar Petra, which was named for Mr Giannina's daughter.

I have taken this information from the book "Crotons of the World" by the late, great Dr. Frank Brown, whom I have long admired for his work in crotons, Ti plants and aglaonemas.

Most of the pictures in this thread are of Norma, there are many hundreds of other beautiful croton varieties with different color combinations and leaf shapes that are well worth finding and growing.

Russ1023 Thank you so much for your advices, I guess I will the flower alone coz it seems right now it seeding coz I saw some tiny seeds after the flowers are falling off.

Vilmavnc, seed pods will be small, green, and less than half an inch across. There could be only one or many on the stalk. They turn very dark colored when ripe and will split apart in sections to release the seeds, which are black and an eighth inch or so. If you get seeds and want more info, post again here and I'll be glad to help you.

Derek, looks like Petra altho colors on the right-hand plant are coming across on this end as fluorescent pinks and purples.

Ants are the pollinators for crotons, so they need to be outdoors for pollination and potential seeds. I suppose it's possible they can self-pollinate simply by wind, vibration or bumping of the plant like some other types of plants.

Hello everyone)) I am so happy I found this discussion - I need advice about my croton. It is very tall and was flowering non-stop while also losing the lower leaves; it also looked like it was hiding away from the sun (eastern window sill) so I cut off the flower stem and moved it into the bathroom with indirect light for the time being. What do you think? How can I make it happier?

Hi Hu ...2749,

Pls tell us what you're trying to accomplish.

These Crotons need a lot of light, will likely go all green if out of strong light. Clicking on your pic shows me the top has reverted to mostly green already. You will only get the multi-colored back by putting in back (slowly) into strong, direct sunlight.

KarenS, NYC

Looks like Houzz is messing up again, everyone appears to be Hu- with a number.

If you are concerned about the height and bare stem, consider that you can buy expensive, decorative trees at florists and specialty nurseries with tall, bare stems and beautiful growth at the top.

If you don't like that look, there are a couple of things you can do. Easiest is to pinch or clip off the growing tip, or tips if there are branches at the top. This will make the plant bushier since it forces more branching, and it also might trigger some new growth lower on the bare stem. But it might not.

If you are not familiar with propagation, the other technique might seem radical but guarantees growth further down the stem and shorten the plant. You can cut off the top of the plant. The bare stem will produce several new growths at the top, but will probably take all summer to be a decorative plant again. Putting it outside in bright shade in better growing conditions will hasten recovery. You can propagate cuttings from the top if you want more plants. Let me know if this interests you and I will give instructions

Cutting the top is relatively safe for the potted part of the plant but definitely has some risk since it is in far less than good conditions. There is at least some possibility you could lose the base. Crotons make poor house plants and prefer the higher light and humidity of the outdoors. If you attempt this, I would wait until late June or July and move it outside to a bright but shady spot. Put some of the cuttings from the top in water as insurance plants, in case you lose the base.

I would move your croton back into better light, a dim bathroom is not a place for a croton. Karen is right that they need a lot of light, as much as possible short of direct afternoon sun. Early morning sun then shade is good, dappled sun under canopy of a tree is excellent.

I would try pinching off tips of the branches for now and see what happens. This time of year it will take a few weeks to see anything happening. By the way, if you don't know the variety of your croton (there are many, many hundreds) it looks like Magnificent.

Let us know how it goes, more questions are fine.

Russ

Hi Karen and Russ, thank you so much for your replies and suggestion, they are great and so detailed. Great points on what I would like to achieve - just basically to keep my Magnificent croton happy - and on changing my perspective about a longer stem - done :D

I have now also followed your advice and moved it to a western window sill, I think it has got the most sunshine in my house.

i will not yet go radical with cutting off the top entirely but I can start by pinching off upper tips Russ - I guess the brightest green ones in the picture, right?

I live in the UK, we do have hot July and August here, so you think it will like it outside then? 🤔

Thank you again for your help, and I will keep you posted if the pinching wil have any effect 🤗

Maria

all variegated crotons always grow GREEN new leaves. they can have a few small yellow splotches, but pink or red or yellow, new leaves are green. so that's something not to worry about.

that said, in order for them to develop variegation from that point on they need to be in very good part-sun indoors 3-4 hours at least. putting them outside in summer is excellent for variegation and growth. they really grow well in 85F (28C) temps. just keep them away from hot noon sun : it bleaches the variegation. then in the fall when the temps go into 60F or so they develop very bright colors, brightest if pink. but bring them in when it's going to be below 51-53F : it damages leaves and they can drop them below 50F.

you actually do not have to pinch the leaves that started growth, but just remove the very tip : easiest with small scissors or your nail: wipe the white sap with moist paper towel right away. some people get skin irritation from it, just so you'd know.

your croton looks mature enough, so it should produce several buds quickly and you'll have a nicer crown soon.

Thank you Petrushka :) I pinched the top as suggested, it was really easy. Good to know about the junior green leaves, and how they can actually change them depending on the temperature.

I will take it outside in summer then when the night temperatures will be higher than 51F (10C) and observe how it will like it.

Again, I am so grateful to everyone for your advice - Karen, Russ, Petrushka - sending you the best greetings from Surrey, UK :)

Stay safe and well,

Maria

Hello everyone, beautiful plants!! Good job. I’m new at this but need your expertise. We purchased Crotons and planted them in the ground with mulch around it then rocks around that and weed mesh underneath (see pic) We are in SC and now it’s raining. there seems to be puddles forming around them. Will they die?

Please help! Thank you all :)

If the water stays there for more than a day or so, you could have trouble with rotting roots at some point. If it drains away within a few hours you should be okay. Of course your winters in SC are too cold for crotons, so they might have to be treated as annuals unless you plan to dig up, pot and bring them inside.

Hello guys, I just want to thank you again for your help a couple of months ago - my croton since then nicely grew up, changed its color and is definitely enjoying its new environment 🤗 here it is ‘before and now’ ☺️

Hi mamashechka,

Thank you for sending us an Update. That looks like quite a good recovery; the bright color suggests it's getting excellent light. Looks like your plant couldn't be happier.

I'm assuming it's outside now for your Summer. Guess when it has to go back in for Winter, it'll go back to green. Maybe you could investigate supplemental lighting for the Winter, not an area I know, but Petruska may & Russ too.

Great work, it made me smile to see its recovery, Congratulations!

My croton is three years old and has bloomed twice! It need tons of water I’ve noticed, and if you have then put bound they tend to flower more

indoors in winter tehy are best in warm window (not too close if it's freezing outside) with sev hours of sun. so-east or so-west is great. i keep mine in west window and it grows and develops nice variegation too.

If your croton has been growing indoors be very careful with outdoor sunlight. My croton has always been happy in a west-facing window. I put it on the deck in direct sun one June morning and scorched a lot of the leaves. The ones that were badly burned eventually dropped off. Others survived but have permanent dry, tan spots. It’s been back in its old spot indoors ever since and has put out much new, healthy foliage, so it’s doing fine. It even flowered in January.

Hello all, it is such a wonderful post and loved all the advice given here. My croton is about 4 years old, flowered twice before and has a long stem with flowers and pink small buds as of now, which I guess will bloom into star shaped flowers again. I have the tag that it came with but it doesn't say the name. I would like for it to grow bushy at the bottom so it looks best. I am in Toronto Canada and it's January. Should I pinch off/cut the new growth at the top of all branches now or wait till May/June? I water it once a week and have kept it at west facing window. Also, how to propagate this beauty and when? How long will it take to grow? I would like to give this as a gift to my friends who are new to planting and this is such a fuss and mess free plant. Thank you all in advance for your time and help, appreciate it. Stay safe and healthy 🙏.

Shalini, your croton is Petra, the most common croton sold in America. Petra was the name of the daughter of the nursery manager where this croton was hybridized, in Italy some time between 1970 and 1980. A look-alike variety called Norma was developed at the same time by the same nursery, Norma was the name of the manager's sheep dog. Norma has been sold a lot in the US, but Petra has pushed it out of the market place.

Personally I wouldn't tip or cut any branches, leave them for propagating material in early summer. Take 4 to 6 inch cuttings and cut the bottom leaves off, leaving 3 or 4 leaves at the top. I root them in a light, peat-based potting soil, you can add perlite if you wish. Keep the soil moist but not wet, don't let it dry out completely. If leaves wilt, humidity is too low so you'll have to put it in a clear plastic bag or any clear container. A large zip lock bag works well, blow into it while you seal it so it doesn't collapse on the plant. I sometimes stick 2 chopsticks on each side of the pot to hold the bag up, but there are many creative solutions. If you see a lot of condensation inside the bag, you might have to open the top a bit to allow fresh air exchange. You can root in water if that's easier for you, younger tip cuttings are preferred rather than those from older woody branches.

There's a very old propagation technique called air-layering, mossing, or marcotting that allows rooting of the branch while attached to the mother plant. I can explain this if you want to try it.

Hello Russ1023, thank you so much for the detailed explanation, this shows your knowledge and the zeal to share it with others, commendable!! I will try the propagation method in early summer, as mentioned. I will let you know if I face any issues at the time. Thanks again!

I saw croton seeds for the very first time in Miami FL past week.

Some were still greenish, some dark purplish. I decided to try to sprout, though they say they do not come out the same as parent plant.

So... I have 2 seeds that sprouted so far in about 2 weeks.

Petrushka, do you know the variety name of the seed parent? And possibly the other parent? Just curious about the possible colors and leaf shapes. Seedlings can look similar to a parent or have traits of both. Literally every croton in the world is a hybrid except the original green form, so they all have a lot of mixed genes from prior generations. As colors develop, pics appreciated.

I don’t know the name, but there were 2 next to each other far away from others.

this is the one with seeds:

The older leaves were almost black!

I loved the netting ..

it was next to this one , also with yellow variegation:

It has much larger oval leaves. Never seen either on pics.

and here r the seeds:

Petrushka, I don't know how much you know about crotons and their seeds, but I assume you opened these pods and planted the several individual seeds that were inside each one.

The black leaved plant looks like a Stoplight that has turned black, which all three of mine have done so it must be a common thing. According to pics in Dr. Brown's book Crotons of the World, Stoplight is supposed to have coral colored leaves with some red, yellow and green accents. Some of my black leaves have occasional spots of red. I think the yellow netted leaves are chlorotic, if they're older leaves and not at the tips of branches, that's the case.

I'm less sure of the yellow leaved croton, could be Dayspring or some others. Are these plants in heavy shade under trees? Crotons like bright shade with dappled sunlight, but heavy, darker shade affects colors and compactness a lot.

I'll post pics of my black Stoplight and Dayspring for your comparison. Waiting for seedlings to show colors and leaf shape is always exciting. Do you have any other crotons?

Yes, I pulled seeds out of course, soaked, filed a bit, soaked more.. sprouted 2 ...I think others were not ripe. Have 3 more from a different one, prolly not ripe either: hard to tell. the husk was still not dry. i took a chance anyway. Are they supposed to be dry? The darks from Stoplight were not dry, still attached.

I have sort of widespread ones, nothing unusual And some older varieties. All self-Ided so not sure, of course.

Eleanor Roosevelt , Johanna coppinger, pink mrs iceton , Pinocchio, Victoria Gold bells maybe, Nestor may be, dreadlocks ...go find pics.. some I don’t know names of.

currently rooting what is may be ‘Madam butterfly’...

I had 2 Petras for a decade but lost them last year to corona (we decided to stay in FL for 2 more months..so I lost 30% of my plants between NJ And FL... cause then we were stuck in NJ waiting for FL to subside..I should change my handle to In-Betweens 😏).

the above 2 crotons are in dappled shade..and they are not maintained well in my opinion, not pruned, etc. it’s in Pinecrest gardens. They have lots of crotons, quite old. Huge ones! lots of fantastic ones, I go to admire😁!

i‘ve seen pics of Stoplight, it has red and yellow, lots. The one above had no reds or orange whatsoever, and leaves are different , longer.

The other one is not Dayspring: I found pics on Palmpedia of Dayspring, they look totally different!

based on some pics and ID of other peoples plants it looks like ‘Lt. Paget’

Hi Russ, I live in St. Petersburg and have been collecting crotons for about 6 years. I probably have around 50, 20 in the ground and the rest in pots. I am interested in hybridizing crotons. I am not sure how to do this. I am not even sure how to tell a male from a female flower. Do I collect pollen from a male and then put it on a female, if so how do I know when the timing is right? Or, should I move some of my potted crotons close to another croton and hope the ants will pollinate? How do I tell when the seeds are ready to be put in soil? All I know for sure is that it will take a few years to see if it's a keeper or not. Sorry for all the questions! I ask around in some croton groups on facebook, but all I get are vague answers. Thanks in advance.

Hey Scott, I haven't been involved in the hybridizing process with my crotons, they're all in pots close together in one big area under a live oak and ants have apparently done their work. For some reason 2013 was an unbelievable summer for seedlings. In those days I simply checked for seedlings in the pots and on the ground around the bigger specimen crotons. I can almost always find seed pods on plants, even now in the middle of winter. I've thought about bagging the pod stalks with some kind of netting like panty hose so I can catch seeds as the pods open, but haven't done that yet.

Are you not seeing seed pods on your plants? If not I think that's very unusual, even if your plants aren't close together. Any chance you have a pest company contract that would be treating the yard for ants on a regular schedule? Also, have you checked around your plants for seedlings growing in the ground or in the pots? Very young seedlings have two opposite roundish to oval green leaves, I have a weed here that looks similar but I've learned to distinguish between the two. At some point the seedlings will start to show color, obviously those slightly larger plants are easier to spot.

I do have seedlings that have developed outstanding colors and patterns that defy identification of the parents. Leaf shape can at least rule out parents, characteristics like an interrupted leaf can reveal a parent if you have an adult plant in your collection.

Seed pods start out as green beads along a stalk, but become larger and turn very dark colored with age. Dark brown I think, to almost black. They'll eventually split along several edges and expel the seeds, which have angled sides, not round. I don't recall how many seeds are in each pod, but I think 4 or so. Petrushka who posted above says she filed the outer coating of the seeds, so she's way ahead of me on techniques of planting and might shed more light on this process for you.

I checked my 'Crotons of the World' book by Dr. Brown and he addresses propagating by cuttings but oddly not the pollinating process. I say oddly because he does cover that in detail in his book 'The Amazing Aglaonema', which I also collect in a much bigger way than crotons.

If you have a list of your crotons, you might consider sending it to me at bluesea14808@yahoo.com. I probably have 50+ different croton types if I include the seedlings I've grown for years, maybe I have some named varieties you don't have and would like to trade. Some of my crotons came from botanic garden sales where the old croton society had booths, they probably disbanded prior to you starting your collection. I've only found Peterson's as a sales source but never bought from him. I've bought a few locally when I can find them, often without names.

Have you visited the Edison or Ford Estates in Ft. Myers, they have crotons from the 1920s planted by Robert Halgrim who was manager of the Edison Estate in those days. Have you driven around in old neighborhoods in your area looking for old varieties in the yards? I find most people are friendly and will let you take a couple of cuttings if you offer a rooted plant of a different variety in trade. I've found some varieties, like Yellow Mrs. Iceton, at businesses, they usually have no problem with you taking a cutting or two.

I'll try to find more info on pollinating, etc for you, I'm interested as well.

Russ

Hi Russ, thanks for the info. I also have Dr. Brown's book and thought it was weird he didn't include anything about the pollinating process. I've gotten a lot of my crotons from Peters Crotons at plant sales. I have seen seed pods on my crotons, I guess I didn't realize they could have been pollenated by ants. I just spoke to a very nice lady from one of the facebook groups. She said she cuts the male flower off the plant and then puts it together with a female flower and puts a mesh bag around it and waits for the seeds to finish, then all the seeds are in the mesh bag ready to plant.

I haven't been to the Edison Ford Estates yet, but it is on my list! You're right that The Croton Society disbanded before I started collecting. I have met a few of the people who used to be in it and even ran it, in August two of the old timers from the group gave me about 30 air layers of some pretty rare stuff. They both told me they just wanted to preserve the plants and wanted them passed onto the next generation of collectors and asked me to do the same. I would definitely be into trading, I think most of them I want to grow a little more before I take cuttings. I have not tried rooting cuttings, all I have done is air layers, am ready to try rooting cuttings. I moved all of my potted plants into my garage before tropical storm ETA, because I was worried about the wind. Well, our entire city (I live in Madeira Beach) was flooded during the storm surge. During the storm I checked my garage, and it was a foot deep in saltwater, and to top it off my gas can floated up and spilled gas into the flood water. I flushed everything the next morning and ran the irrigation in the garden. Amazingly, I only lost one croton named chief. I figure I should let every thing bounce back real good this spring before I take any cuttings. Where are you located? I will type up a list of what I have.

Scott

Scott, I emailed same day of your post and before I could send it Houzz hiccuped and it vanished. Same thing 2 other times, I hate this website. Anyway, here is a partial list, probably another 10 or 12 names to add, plus my hybrids.

Ill update the list in a few days.

Any here that interest you?

AFD 5 - Fantasia

Aureo Maculata - Gold Dust

Bogoriensis

Bowl of Gold

Dayspring

Eburneum

Fiesta (I think)

Franklin Roosevelt

Freckles

General Paget

Golden Glow

King of Siam?? (curly leaves)

Mango

Ovalifolium

Red Tortilis

Rainbow

Turtle Back - Tortoise Shell

Twist and Point

Twist and Turn

Tiger Eye

Victoria Gold Bell - Reasoner's #2

Petra

Undulatum - Piecrust - Mortimer

Volutum - Ram's Horn

Yellow Mrs Iceton

Hi Russ, I'm interested in Dayspring, Tiger Eye, Victoria Golden Bells, and Rams Horn. What town do you live in? Here is a list of what I have. The ones with the asterisk next to it means they are not quite ready for cuttings (they are the ones I just got a few months ago). As you can see not a lot of them are ready to take cuttings of yet, maybe this summer? Also, Do you know about the Croton Encyclopediai on the palmpedia site? http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/CROTON_ONLINE_REFERENCE

Eleanor Roosevelt -I have a full plant to trade or you can have it

Franklin Roosevelt

Magnificent

Fred Sander*

Pictoratum

Fantasia

Robert Lavalois

Fantastic- I think I have a full plant to trade or you can have

Dreadlocks

Mango- Not sure why, but this has no orange, more of salmon color

Congo*

Rudy Bachman*

Irresistible*

Johanna Coppinger

Rubii*

Maryland*

Yellow Fondue

Fishbone

Yellow Petra

Mona Lisa*

Geisha Girl*

Victory*

Playboy*

Mosaic*

Madam Butterfly*

Pink Eburnum*

Sybil Griffin*

Pitcarin*

Philadelphia*

Cornbread*

Gonzales*

Pie Crust*

Connie Cutler*

Goldfinger

Acbaefolium

Mrs. Snyder Disraeli*

Cutlers Gulfstream*

Cornelius Halgrim*

Major Dade*

Prince Philip*

Davis #1*

Veitchii*

and a couple that I’m not sure of the names

What is the clear sticky liquid on the bloom? Is that what attractes the ants to pollinate?

Dr. Brown doesn't have info on this in his book 'Crotons of the World', but I would assume you are right that it's a nectar to attract ants, the pollinators. Good observation!

Hey Scott, if you're still monitoring posts on Houzz, I wasn't notified you had posted again 6 months ago. Apologies for not responding.

I'm still interested in trading, please get back to me here or bluesea14808@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Update on my croton which has been flowering for me about every 6 months. Today, I found my plant to have another bloom plus two other blooms starting on adjacent branches. First time I have simultaneous blooms on same plant!

Adjacent blooms starting

Marlene, ants are pollinators for crotons. So if your plant is outside and in a yard that's not treated with insecticides, it's possible you could have seeds. It's late in the year for seedlings but maybe you're in a warm country or southern tier state in the US.

Your croton is probably Petra and has interesting history. It was hybridized in Italy by Azienda Gloriale Diem Nursery 70 or 80 years ago. Croton Norma is nearly identical, it's one of the parents of Petra and just as popular. Petra was the name of the nursery manager's daughter, Norma was his pet Sheepdog.

Yay super happy to find this thread. My croton is over 30 years old and its flowering. i just acquired it and repotted.