Croton plant care - Codiaeum variegatum 'Petra'

Hi everyone! Welcome to Plants and Lucia. My name is Lucia and this is Olivia. Today we talk about crotons. Okay, coming up... Whether you're coming back or this is your first time in this channel, thank you so much for watching. This channel is all about houseplants. So if you want to learn how to take care of them, how to display them, or even how to connect with them, make sure to subscribe so we can see each other every Tuesday and Thursday and talk about plants! But now, let's get to the crotons. This plant is super cool, you guys. First of all, it has many colors. So as you can see, it can have green leaves, it can have yellow leaves, it can have red. It's like... It's a super colorful plant and I don't know, it just makes me happy to look at her. The second very cool thing about her is that she actually communicates very well. So she gives very different signs if she's missing water, if it's too much sunlight or not so much sunlight. And I will tell you these signs throughout the video. But right now, let's talk about how you can keep your croton very happy at your home. In terms of humidity, crotons do prefer the more humid side, but they're very chill, actually. So they're not like calcius and need a lot of humidity. So even 40% should be fine. When we talk about temperature, they also like the warmer side of the spectrum. So keep her in a room that is between 15 to 27 degrees celsius. They don't want to be super cold. So in the winter, try to keep her away from colder windows. In terms of light, they love bright indirect sunlight. So they will be very happy in a room that has a south-facing window, as long as they don't get direct sunlight. You can also put them in a room that has an east or west-facing window. I think the only window that they wouldn't be so happy about would be the north-facing window. Because there they won't get so much sunlight. So if your plant is not getting so much sunlight, she will tell you. And this is the first sign that I'm going to tell you today. It's super cool. So when they're not getting enough sunlight, they will tell you with their leaves. So as you can see, these leaves are super green and they're not irrigated. They're not yellow or red. This happened because I had this plant actually in a room that didn't get so much sunlight. So the plant started growing these leaves. Now I have moved her to a room that has a south-facing window. So hopefully the variegation starts again. In terms of watering, this plant will be very happy with moderate water. So the way that I check if my plant needs water is with my finger, just like I do with many of my plants, actually. So I put my finger inside the soil until the second knuckle. Once I feel that the soil is dry, then I water. So make sure that you let your soil dry in between waterings, and you don't let your plant sitting in soaked soil. And the method that I use for watering this plant, of course, is the bottom watering method. I love this method because I make sure that the water really gets into the roots from the bottom. But at the same time, after you're done bottom watering, you actually let the water drain down. So your plant is not going to be sitting in water. And this is going to make her very happy. So here comes the second way that your plant can communicate with you. If your plant is missing water, you will see it by looking at the leaves again. So if the leaves look down and droopy, that means that your plant needs watering. The soil for this plant needs to be rich and very good at drainage. So what I usually use for this plant is 50% all-purpose houseplant potting mix and 50% perlite. That way I provide the drainage that she needs. Very important to know, do not eat this plant. This plant is toxic when ingested. So if you have cats or dogs, either don't have your plant at home or have it in a place where they're not gonna chew on it. Because this is very toxic for them. It's not a problem to have her around, that's not toxic. Just don't eat it. So for an extra tip, if you want your plant to be busher and not grow so much to the top, kind of like a tall leggy plant, you can actually do this by doing the pinching method. So what this means is, I'll show you here, when you have new growths like this leaf right here, just pinch it out. And this will encourage your plant to grow at the bottom. When you do this though, make sure to wear gloves because this plant is also a skin irritant. So once you pinch it out, it's gonna release a liquid that can actually irritate your skin. So it's good to have gloves when you do this. But this method would actually help you to make your plant more bushy instead of a tall leggy plant. So how do you take care of your croton? Please make sure to comment below so we can all learn together. If you would like to join this community, you're always welcome. So make sure to subscribe so we can see each other every Tuesday and Thursday and talk about plants. And as always, I will see you in the next video. Okay, bye!