Garden croton is Codiaeum variegatum. Labels may say Joseph's coat or fire croton. Those names belong here. Genus Croton is a different plant.

Wisconsin Horticulture: air layer in spring, or softwood cuttings in summer. Seed is possible. Seedlings will not match the parent, so a named cultivar stays on a cutting or a layer. Missouri G6560: herbaceous cutting and air layer, slow to root, plastic, good light. Iowa lists croton among stem-tip plants. Cane, division, and leaf cuttings are not named for croton on those sheets.

Indoor only. Florida hedge spacing stays off. Wisconsin and UF/IFAS: sap can irritate skin. IFAS: it also stains.

For mix, see soil propagation. Air layering has its own page: air layering.

Stem cuttings in mix

UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: 3 to 4 inches, 3 to 5 leaves. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone. Pot, keep the mix moist. Roots in less than a month at 70 to 80 °F.

UF/IFAS Charlotte County (Mitchell, 2022): 3 to 6 inches, 3 to 5 leaves, sterile medium, about four weeks.

CSU PlantTalk: 4 to 6 inches, bottom leaves off.

Iowa State: at least two nodes, 3 to 6 inches. Hormone if desired. Most houseplant stem cuttings root in 3 to 6 weeks. Air 65 to 75 °F. Heat mat under the mix at 75 to 80 °F.

Missouri: most cuttings 4 to 6 inches, cut just below a node. Croton is marked slow to root.

UNL G1853: tip cuttings generally 3 to 5 inches.

Those lengths and weeks are not one number. IFAS counts leaves. Iowa counts nodes.

Air layering

Croton is a dicot. Iowa State and Missouri Botanical Garden take a ring of bark off. Illinois groups croton with dieffenbachia on an upward-slant cut. That is a different wound.

Iowa State: 12 to 18 inches from the shoot tip. Two complete rings one inch apart, peel the bark, scrape the cambium, dust with rooting hormone, wrap moist sphagnum and plastic. Roots in several weeks. For some species, several months.

Missouri Botanical Garden FAQ: 8 to 15 inches from the tip, a bark ring about one inch wide. Hormone. Roots 4 to 16 weeks.

Missouri G6560: a strip of bark 1/2 to 1 inch wide. Usually a month or more.

Arkansas FSA-6024: at least 10 to 12 inches from the tip. Ring 1 to 1.5 inches. Hormone.

TAMU Earth-Kind: spring on last season's shoots, or mid-summer on mature current-season shoots. Hormone may be used. It does not guarantee roots on hard varieties.

Wisconsin: air layer in spring.

Illinois: names croton, then an upward slant 1/3 to 1/2 through the stem, roots after 3 to 4 months. MOBOT gives 4 to 16 weeks.

Light while propagating

For a rooting cutting, Missouri G6560 says only this: croton is slow to root. Cover it with plastic and give good light. No hours, no numbers. Wisconsin, UF/IFAS, Charlotte, and CSU describe light for the grown plant, not stage by stage while roots form.

Wisconsin Horticulture: best color in bright, indirect light, and indoors croton needs bright, indirect light. More light gives more vibrant color and a more compact habit. In too little light the leaves may revert to shades of green. Too much direct sun makes them gray and dull.

The sources split on sun. CSU PlantTalk says croton does well in a sunny spot, and bright light increases variegation while low light diminishes it. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: bright sunlight brings out the most color, but overexposure can cause fading and restrict foliage growth. Charlotte (Mitchell, 2022): too much light can fade red and orange.

Indoors, UF/IFAS suggests a cultivar such as 'Petra' that stays brightly colored in indoor light. Even those lose some color without adequate light. Charlotte: indoor crotons get less light but can keep their color for months.

Green new leaves on a rooted cutting are not a problem by themselves. UF/IFAS and Charlotte both say croton leaves start green and color up as they mature, and Charlotte adds that they need enough light to do it. Neither gives a timeline.

Check a spot with the propagation light DLI calculator.

Common mistakes

  • Expecting one cutting length. IFAS gives 3 to 4 inches, Charlotte 3 to 6, CSU 4 to 6, and Iowa 3 to 6 inches with at least two nodes.
  • Expecting one rooting time. IFAS says less than a month or about four weeks, and Iowa 3 to 6 weeks.
  • Treating genus Croton as this plant.
  • A succulent callus-dry rest. UNL's dry-callus line is for succulents, not croton.
  • Using Illinois's slant wound as the croton air layer. Iowa and MOBOT ring the bark.

Garden croton belongs here. Codiaeum variegatum.

People also ask

Can croton root in water?

CSU PlantTalk: mix, or a glass of water until roots start, then pot. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions stays in mix with hormone. Iowa's water notes are general: change water one to two times a week, pot at about 1 inch roots. Water roots are more coarse. Illinois does not recommend water. No croton-only week count for water.

How long until roots?

Stem cuttings: IFAS less than a month at 70 to 80 °F. Charlotte about four weeks. Iowa 3 to 6 weeks. Air layer: Missouri a month or more. MOBOT 4 to 16 weeks. Iowa several weeks to several months. Illinois 3 to 4 months on a different wound. Not one number.

Will seed give the same plant?

Wisconsin: offspring will not resemble the parent. Keep a named cultivar on a cutting or a layer. UNL lists seed and does not add that caveat.

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