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

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:32:10 -0500, wrote:

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

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).

wrote in message
...
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

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

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.


wrote in message
...
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

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.

John
"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in message
. com...
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.


wrote in message
...
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

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.


B & J bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote in message
...
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.

John
"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in message
. com...
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.


wrote in message
...
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

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!!


"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in message
. com...
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.


B & J bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote in message
...
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.

John
"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in message
. com...
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.


wrote in message
...
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

The conditions John described certainly make crotons a bad choice for his
situation,

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

What plants are good for low light inside an apartment

John

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:24:59 -0500, wrote:

The conditions John described certainly make crotons a bad choice for his
situation,

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

What plants are good for low light inside an apartment

John
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)

"Cereoid-UR12-" wrote in message
. com...

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.

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

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

"lvhippy" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:24:59 -0500, wrote:

The conditions John described certainly make crotons a bad choice for
his
situation,

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

What plants are good for low light inside an apartment

John
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)