Euphorbia family. Homeland Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. 14 species are common in nature, but only one is grown as an ornamental plant - Codieum variegated Codieum variegatum or Croton. This common houseplant is prized for the beauty of its leaves.
The stems are erect, strongly branching. The leaves of the kodieum are leathery, shiny, alternate. In nature, croton grows up to 3-4 m tall, in room conditions, up to a maximum of 1 m. Sometimes, even in indoor conditions, crotons can bloom. Inflorescences are racemose, loose, about 20-30 cm long, the plant is dioecious, therefore the flowers are male or female. Male flowers are white, on thin long pedicels, five-lobed, but the petals are smaller in size than leathery reddish sepals, stamens of about 30 pieces, they give the flowers the appearance of a fluffy ball. Female flowers are white-yellow, on thick short pedicels. Sepals are leathery, fused at the base with petals into a ball, three thin as petals, bent back in the upper part. Female inflorescences are completely nondescript, male ones are more elegant, but of no decorative value. There are codieums with laurel-shaped leaves, lobed, twisting, long ribbon-shaped, finger-shaped, etc. At home, there are a large number of hybrids, the exact name of which can be difficult to determine.
Care ha crotone
Temperature: Croton is a heat-loving plant, in summer it is satisfied with the usual room temperature, you can take the plant to the garden or to the balcony, until the temperature at night is not lower than 13-14 degrees and there is protection from the wind. In winter, croton grows perfectly in a cool room, optimally about 18-20 ° C, at least 14 ° C, temperatures above 20 ° C and lack of sun in winter lead to sprouts. The croton flies around the lower leaves, it loses its decorative value. Therefore, if it is not possible to contain a codeum at 18 ° C, make sure that it has enough light. Be sure to protect the battery from directed dry air.
Lighting: Croton is light-loving, to maintain the multi-colored color of the leaves you need a lot of morning and evening sun (the ideal place is the east or northwest window), in the southern sun it is burnt. They teach the spring sun gradually, and in summer you will need shade from the sun in the hottest hours (from 12 to 15 hours). In winter, you need good lighting, a bright room. You can illuminate the croton with ordinary lumens or LED lamps.
Watering: plentiful from spring to autumn, the soil should only have time to dry in the upper third of the pot. In winter, watering is moderate, dry the soil at half the height of the pot (as it dries from above, wait with watering for another 2-3 days). Croton does not tolerate the complete dryness of an earthen coma, while it can lose almost all the leaves, although excessive dampness of the soil is also not desirable. A landmark for watering - if the leaves began to droop slightly. If they went down like rag, this is already a serious problem - part of the lower leaves can shrink and fall off. Croton water loves warm and soft.
Top dressing: April to August with full mineral fertilizer for indoor plants, every 2 weeks. You can use any fertilizer for ornamental and deciduous plants, there are special ones for variegated ones. It is important that feeding includes not only macronutrients (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus), but also equally important trace elements: boron, iron, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, sulfur.
Humidity: Croton likes moist air, optimum humidity is 40-45%. Dry air that can damage the plant - in rooms with central heating in winter. It is regularly sprayed and periodically wiped the leaves, if the humidity drops to 10-20%, it happens in severe frost, if the batteries are very hot, cover them with damp sheets, and put the pot in a wide tray with water. In another period, when the heating is turned off, the croton does not have to be sprayed at all, it does fine without it.
Transplant: once every two years, old in three to four years. If a salt deposit or even a dense crust has formed on the soil surface, you need to remove the top 2 cm of the earth and add fresh. Croton soil: 1 part of turf, 1 part of sheet (or peat) land, 1 part of fine gravel (2-3 mm). Croton does not like too large spacious pots. From store soils, you can recommend universal Terra Vita (living earth), soils for large plants, such as palm trees, ficuses, or soil for seedlings of vegetables (do not forget to sterilize it) with acidity from 5.5 to 6, i.e. slightly acidic.
Croton reproduction
Cuttings, they are better rooted in late winter, early spring. Rooting can be put in water or in wet expanded clay. If the handle does not want to take root, cut off the tip of 3-5 mm from it, dip it in a stimulator (root) and put it on rooting again, but adding heating so that the temperature of vermiculite or soil is 25-26 ° C (you can put it on a battery on a wide pallet or on an electric heater).