How often to water croton

The interval

A croton is one of the thirstier houseplants in this journal. Water it about every 5 days while it is growing and about every 10 days in winter. Growing means the warm, bright months from spring to early autumn, roughly March to September in the northern hemisphere and September to March in the southern. Winter is the cold, short-day part of your own year. The Missouri Botanical Garden asks for moist soil in the growing season and less water from early autumn to late winter, and the longer gap follows the light, because a croton in a short grey day uses far less than one in summer sun.

Test the top 2 to 3 cm by touch. If it is dry at that depth, water, and if it is damp, wait a day and test again. The compost should stay lightly moist, never soaked and never bone dry.

Water from the top, thoroughly, until it runs from the drainage holes, and empty the saucer. The Royal Horticultural Society advises rainwater or filtered water and says the plant wants humid air, bright indirect light and warmth, with a bathroom as an ideal spot. Humidity is high for this plant, so a light misting about every 3 days, or a tray of damp pebbles, helps in a heated room.

Overwatering turns up as lower leaves yellowing and dropping in compost that is wet to the touch, and at its worst as root rot. Underwatering is blunter. A pot that dries out completely makes the leaf edges brown and crisp, and the plant drops leaves. The Missouri Botanical Garden adds that a croton may lose its lower leaves in too much shade, so a plant that drops leaves in a dim corner is not always short of water.

The thing particular to a croton is that it treats any sudden change as an emergency. The journey home from the shop, a draught, a cold night or a missed watering can each make it drop leaves, and watering cannot save a leaf that has started to fall. Keep the watering steady, keep it warm and bright, and most plants leaf out again.

Related guides

How to tell whether a plant actually needs water

The finger, the weight, the leaf and the pot. Four ways to read a plant's thirst, and what overwatering actually is.

Rescuing an overwatered plant

How to tell overwatering from underwatering, how much root damage is recoverable, and the exact rescue steps once compost has stayed wet too long.

Watering through a southern winter

Winter in the southern hemisphere runs June to August, and houseplants drink far less then. How to read the soil, and why overwatering is the bigger risk.