Ron in Delaware and/or Peyton - what is your method of over wintering. Do you keep your soil wet, moist or add water sparingly? What is the make-up of your soil?
Last year I overwintered my first croton, Zanzibar, after losing one the year before by letting it stay too cold and wet. So last year during the growing season I bumped my new Zanzibar up into about a 10" clay pot and went kind of heavy on the perlite in the soil mix. I only watered it when it got pretty dry or even started to wilt a little and it made it through the winter fine, mostly indoors with morning sun through a window, but outdoors when the weather was nice.
This year I have way more crotons, so a bigger challenge...
A few days before our first cold weather during the first week of November I hosed them all down real well with Bayer 3-in-1 Insect Disease and Mite Control then moved them all inside about three days later. After about 7 to 10 days I start to see a little leaf drop, I think due to the low light levels in the house. I like to put them back outside as soon as possible for some bright light air and water, but the last time I moved them in they had to stay inside for 3 weeks. Some lost a lot of leaves, some held their leaves pretty well.
Today I found a lot of spider mites on my big Mammy, also on a Petra next to it, and a few mites on some others, plus some pots were starting to dry out pretty well. So they all went back outside today where I tried to knock the mites off with a sharp spray from a hose, watered the dry pots, then hosed them all down again with the Bayer 3-in-1.
I'm really not happy with my current overwintering situation...
I have a large screened in porch room that I plan on closing in with glass as a future winter home for my crotons. I also have two of those 10 x 12 harbor freight greenhouses full of cacti and succulents and heated just enough to keep them above freezing when cold fronts come through, but I plan on converting one of the greenhouses for crotons once I install a better heating system and downsize the prickly stuff...
BTW my favorite potting soil is Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix, really great stuff. For crotons I add perlite and haydite for additional drainage. I don't like a lot of bark in my soil mix as it tends to break down and compact the soil after a while...