Other Names:  Blindness Tree

Description:

A subtropical evergreen shrub with a woody stem, presenting attractive, shiny dark green leaves with deep maroon undersides and a papery texture; a showy indoor accent plant that adds interest and color; easy to care for

Features & Attributes

Chinese Croton's attractive glossy narrow leaves emerge coppery-bronze, turning dark green in color with curious burgundy undersides throughout the year on a plant with a round habit of growth.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen houseplant with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other indoor plants with less refined foliage. This plant can be pruned at any time to keep it looking its best.

Planting & Growing

When grown indoors, Chinese Croton can be expected to grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This houseplant will do well in a location that gets either direct or indirect sunlight, although it will usually require a more brightly-lit environment than what artificial indoor lighting alone can provide. It prefers to grow in average to moist soil. The surface of the soil shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely, and so you should expect to water this plant once and possibly even twice each week. Be aware that your particular watering schedule may vary depending on its location in the room, the pot size, plant size and other conditions; if in doubt, ask one of our experts in the store for advice. It will benefit from a regular feeding with a general-purpose fertilizer with every second or third watering. It is not particular as to soil type or pH; an average potting soil should work just fine. Be warned that parts of this plant are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so special care should be exercised if growing it around children and pets.

There are many factors that will affect the ultimate height, spread and overall performance of a plant when grown indoors; among them, the size of the pot it's growing in, the amount of light it receives, watering frequency, the pruning regimen and repotting schedule. Use the information described here as a guideline only; individual performance can and will vary. Please contact the store to speak with one of our experts if you are interested in further details concerning recommendations on pot size, watering, pruning, repotting, etc.

-- THIS IS A HOUSEPLANT AND IS NOT MEANT TO SURVIVE THE WINTER OUTDOORS IN OUR CLIMATE --