Famous and loved for their incredible coloured leaves, the Croton Plant brightens up every room. However, if you have spotted that your Croton Plant has started to become quite droopy, then this means something isn’t quite right. There are a few different reasons why your Croton Plant might be drooping, from watering issues to other environmental factors. If the drooping leaves have cropped up all by themselves, and there are no other issues with your plant, then you may have caught the issue quite early which would be great. However, even if there are other problems with your plant, it doesn’t mean that you can’t fix them.
Below we will go through each of the common causes of a droopy Croton Plant, so you can figure out what is wrong with your plant and take the right steps to solve the problem.
Underwatering is a common cause of drooping Croton Plant leaves
A consistent lack of moisture tends to be one of the most common causes of a droopy Croton Plant. Although they don’t like to be sitting in super soggy soil, it’s important that there is some moisture in the potting mix. Underwatering can cause some real problems for your plants, especially if consistent as their roots will crisp up which means they can’t aerate and your plant won’t be able to get what it needs to thrive.
Whilst there are some more serious issues caused by a lack of water, the first sign is usually your Croton Plant starting to droop. This indicates that you have caught the issue early and you should be able to fix it pretty easily.
How do I know if underwatering is the cause of the droopy leaves?
To figure out if underwatering is the cause of your Croton Plant’s drooping leaves, take the plant carefully out of its pot and check the moisture in the soil. If the soil is very dry and powdery then underwatering is probably the main cause. You can also check the moisture levels in the soil using a moisture meter, but we recommend taking a good look at the root system to check how far the issue has progressed.
How do I fix an underwatered Croton Plant?
You want to be careful when reintroducing water to your Croton Plant as a sudden change of environment can cause the plant to go into shock. This can actually mean your plant loses some leaves in response. To avoid this, give your plant a little bit of water once a day for a week. This should gradually moisten the potting mix and your Croton Plant should stop drooping so heavily. After a week of daily watering, return to a more normal schedule, making sure not to forget any watering from here on out!
Overwatering can also cause droopy Croton Plant leaves
What is strange about drooping Croton Plant leaves is that the problem can be caused by both overwatering and underwatering. This is because too much water can rot the roots, meaning they are unable to aerate just the same as if they crisp up. This starves your plant of nutrients, oxygen and moisture.
If the leaves are also turning quite soft and dark brown in colour, then you are likely overwatering and the issue has been going on for a while. However, if droopy leaves are the only sign of unhappiness it usually means you have caught the problem early, which is important when trying to revive an overwatered Croton Plant.
How do I know if overwatering is the cause of the droopy leaves?
As with underwatering above, the best way to know if the droopy leaves on your Croton Plant are caused by overwatering is to remove the plant from its pot. This will allow you to feel the potting mix to see if it is waterlogged and to see if the roots have started to rot. They will feel soft to touch and be black in colour if they are rotting.
How do I fix an overwatered Croton Plant?
If you think your Croton Plant might be suffering from overwatering and subsequent root rot replace the potting mix right away and trim away any rotten roots. This will allow your Croton Plant to start to recover and grow new roots.
Now that the initial problem has been fixed, it’s important to take a look at how often and how much you are watering your Croton Plant. Cut back on one of the
A drooping Croton Plant can also be caused by low humidity levels
If there don’t seem to be any issues with your watering routine, and the root system feels and looks super healthy, then the droopy plant might be caused by a lack of humidity. Really dry air can mean the plant transpires a lot more, which is when it loses moisture through the leaves. This can cause them to droop down and look quite limp and lifeless.
Luckily, fixing the issue is super easy so here are some ways you can increase the humidity for your Croton Plant to prevent drooping leaves:
Mist the leaves regularly
This is one of the easiest ways to increase the humidity for your Croton Plant and can stop the leaves from drooping. Mist the leaves a few mornings per week and this should help boost the humidity. (We love these amber glass ones from Amazon).
Build a pebble tray for your Croton Plant
Fill up a tray with small stones and fill it up halfway with water. It’s really important that when you place your Croton Plant on the pebbles, the water isn’t reaching the bottom of the pot as you don’t want the roots to be sitting in a pool of water. Throughout the day the water will slowly evaporate around your plant increasing the humidity.
Invest in a humidifier
If you tend to forget to mist the leaves, or the other methods aren’t working for you then we recommend buying a humidifier. It keeps the humidity in the room at a consistent level without you needing to do anything! They will stop your Croton Plant drooping and go a long way to stopping brown leaf tips on all of your houseplants – so definitely a wise purchase. Oh and they’re super affordable too,, we always recommend this humidifier from Amazon as a great place to start.
Those are the main three reasons why your Croton Plant has begun to droop. Watering issues are the most serious problems so it’s important you get any problems sorted as soon as possible before they cause too much damage to your Croton Plant.
To learn more about how to care for your plant, check out our Croton Plant care guide.
