Under natural conditions, dracaena (Dracaena) grows in the warm latitudes of South America, eastern and central Africa, India and the Canary Islands. Some species of dracaena in the homeland reach a height of up to 3 m. Dracaena belongs to the family - Asparagus.
For growing in a city apartment, dwarf species are chosen - compact plants from 30 to 90 cm tall. These compact dracaena grow very slowly - no more than 15 cm per year.
With good care, the "dragon tree" (the so-called plant) lives from 5 to 15 years, depending on the botanical species, which number more than a hundred.
Dracaena pleases with flowering extremely rarely: small plain white flowers open at night, exuding a not always pleasant aroma. An exception is the fragrant dracaena, which throws out loose panicles of greenish-white flowers with a pleasant aroma on peduncles.
Be sure to look at a similar plant - nolin.
| Dracaena grows slowly, 10-15 cm per year. | |
| Almost does not bloom at home. The value lies in luxurious leaves. | |
| The plant is easy to grow. Suitable for a beginner grower. | |
| Perennial. |
Useful properties of dracaena
In a city apartment, the role of dracaena not only decorates the interior. Its large leaves turn carbon dioxide into oxygen during photosynthesis. Dracaena absorbs vapors of toluene, formaldehyde, ammonia by the respiratory pores.
On the "exhale" dracaena leaves moisturize the air, release bactericidal substances that destroy pathogens.
Care for dracaena at home. Briefly
In order for the plant to maintain a beautiful appearance, not to hurt, and to saturate the air with useful volatile products, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for it. Dracaena feels best at home in a room with windows facing east or west.
Lighting should be diffuse, the plant does not tolerate direct sunlight. The optimal distance from the window is 1.0 ... 2.0 m. It is undesirable to overshadow the dracaena - the leaves become pale in color. The rule does not apply to varieties whose leaves are naturally dark green.
General recommendations for choosing optimal conditions for dracaena.
| Temperature | 18-23 ° C throughout the year. In winter, the plant is able to withstand + 13 ° C (without watering). |
| Air humidity | The plant does not tolerate dry air: it is recommended to spray the leaves 2 times a week. In winter, it is necessary to move the pot with dracaena to a distance of at least 1.0 m from the central heating radiators. |
| Watering | A moisture-loving plant needs abundant watering: in the summer - 1-2 times a week, in the winter a little less often - about 1 time in 10 days. A reasonable balance should be observed - water the dracaena without excessive waterlogging. |
| Dracaena primer | The optimal composition of the soil is garden soil, peat, coarse sand, in proportion (3: 1: 1). Mandatory drainage layer of small gravel or pebbles (3-4 cm). |
| Fertilizer and fertilizer | In the summer (during the period of active growth), once every 2 weeks they give top dressing with soluble fertilizers. |
| Transfer | When the roots fill the pot, a transplant is made - in March / April, every 2-3 years. |
| Dracaena propagation | The main method - during the period of active growth (in the spring), stem or apical cuttings are rooted in the soil substrate or water. The method of propagation of dracaena by seeds is rarely used. |
| Growing Features | To give a decorative look, the plant is formed by pruning - shorten the too long false stem (root the top), shorten the dried ends of the leaves. It is very useful to wipe the leaves with a damp cloth from dust. |
Care for dracaena at home. In detail
Bloom
Under natural conditions, Dracaena blooms every few years, in the artificial microclimate of a city apartment - even more so. Given the species diversity, the flowers vary in color: small whitish flowers with a pinkish or cream shade are collected in panicle-shaped loose inflorescences.
They open at night and fill the room with aroma, a particularly pleasant smell of fragrant dracaena. Under favorable conditions, a fruit is tied - a berry.
Temperature mode
A plant from the southern latitudes, domestic dracaena does not like the cold. It is best to maintain the temperature not lower than + 18 ° С. Some species of this plant come from regions with a continental climate, where temperature fluctuations are significant. So fragrant dracaena winters at a temperature of + 12 ° C.
In winter, watering dracaena should be limited!
In the summer, to increase immunity (for hardening), the plant should be taken out to fresh air.
Spraying dracaena
Dracaena flower at home is extremely sensitive to humidity. To create favorable conditions, artificial humidification is recommended:
- spray 2 times a week;
- wipe the leaves with a damp cloth;
- use a humidifier in the room.
In winter, the pot with dracaena should be kept away from central heating batteries, which dry the air very much.
Lighting
Dracaena loves sunlight, but the lighting should be diffused. Best for growing plants are windows to the east or west, where there is no sun - direct rays cause burns on the leaves. Shadow plants also do not like.
Plants with a monochromatic dark green color of leaves are less sensitive to lack of lighting, and variegated varieties lose their decorativeness when shaded - the color of the leaf plate turns pale.
All types of dracaena, without exception, must be periodically deployed relative to the direction of lighting. Otherwise, plants with curved trunks and a one-sided crown are formed.
Watering dracaena
Dracaena is very sensitive to both excess and lack of water: moderate soil moisture should be adhered to - the lump of land in the intervals between irrigation should dry for a short time. Excessive watering causes oxygen starvation and rotting of the roots, which threatens the death of the plant.
In the summer, dracaena at home should be watered 2 times a week, in winter the interval between watering is reduced to 1 time in 10-12 days.
The first sign of lack of moisture is drooping leaves, with a constant lack of water, the lower leaves are curled, covered with dark dots, then turn yellow and die.
Dracaena pot
When choosing dishes for growing dracaena, the material does not matter, the main thing is the shape due to the structure of the root system. In plants of this family, the roots are similar to a stem with small lateral branches.
Dishes for planting dracaena should be high so that the root is free without distortion vertically. It turns out that the choice of the pot depends on the age of the plant, i.e., the length of the root. Any container must have a drainage hole.
Dracaena primer
"Dragon Tree" is very unpretentious, the main requirement is that it should be a fertile loose composition with a slightly acid reaction. It is not difficult to independently prepare the substrate from improvised means: land from your own garden / garden (3 parts), sand (1 part), leaf humus (1 part) and peat (1 part).
Drainage is mandatory - a layer of rubble, pebbles or other material 3-4 cm thick is poured onto the bottom of the pot to drain water.
Fertilizer and fertilizer
The easiest way to feed dracaena is to buy complex water-soluble fertilizers labeled “for exotic heat-loving plants” and follow the recommendations on the packaging for dosage and frequency of use.
Dracaena actively consumes nutrients during growth, in the summer - from July to August, feeding is required 2 times a month.
In cool time and in winter, the frequency of top dressing is reduced to 1 time per month, but at temperatures below + 15 ° C they are not carried out at all.
Dracaena transplant
Dracaena needs a transplant as the roots grow. A plant in 2-3 years completely fills the volume of the pot with roots.
For further successful growth, the flower needs a more voluminous and deeper planting capacity: if the roots have nowhere to grow, the dracaena itself will also slow down the development, which immediately manifests itself in a deterioration in appearance.
Pruning
A beautiful compact view of dracaena is achieved by formation. In not very favorable conditions (lack of light, for example), the plant stretches. The optimal solution to the problem is the forming crop pruning. Trimmed stems and tops are material for cutting cuttings for rooting.
If on vacation
Unpretentious dracaena can be safely left unattended for a short time. Even if it seems to you that your flower has dried up, this is not so: dracaena for such an extreme case has sleeping buds that grow when watered. It is impossible to fill the plant "with a reserve" with water before leaving - excess moisture in the soil causes rotting of the roots.
If you cannot devote much time to dracaena or often leave home, dracaena is ideal for you - home care for this flower is very simple.
Dracaena propagation
When breeding Dracaena, 2 methods are used - vegetative (by grafting) and seed.
The apical cuttings and segments of trunks that remain after the forming haircut of the bush are easy to root and grow a few more plants to decorate the house. The most successful rooting takes place in the spring. There are 2 traditional ways:
- The stem is rooted in ordinary water with the addition of 1 tablet of activated charcoal to disinfect and suppress putrefactive processes.
- Sliced cuttings are planted in wet sand 1/3 of the length and create a mini-greenhouse, covering with a film.
The optimum root formation temperature is + 25 ° C. At lower temperatures, grafting is difficult.
Propagation of the "dragon tree" by seeds is not so common - a lengthy procedure sometimes takes up to 1/2 year: the seeds are soaked for 5 days and then germinated in a nutrient substrate at a temperature of + 28 ° C.
Diseases and Pests
During the cultivation of dracaena, the florist may encounter manifestations of unpleasant symptoms.
Brown spots on dracaena leaves - a characteristic sign of lack of water. So the plant reacts to rare watering and insufficient air humidity.- Leaves are slightly colored. in those plants that lack lighting for the full production of chlorophyll.
- Tips and edges of dracaena leaves dry - The problem of overdried air from a nearby central heating radiator.
- Soft twisted dracaena leaves - A sure sign of a lack of heat, in the room it is cool for a heat-loving plant.
- Decay of the root system comes from stagnant water in the soil. This can happen with excessive watering and poor drainage in the landing tank.
- Light dry spots on dracaena leaves appear as consequences of sunburn.
- Fast falling leaves Dracaena most often occurs due to excess moisture in a cool room.
- Yellowing of the lower leaves in dracaena, followed by drying and falling, it is a natural “age-related” phenomenon in adults, the foliage apparatus is constantly updated.
Brown spots on dracaena leaves - a characteristic sign of lack of water. So the plant reacts to rare watering and insufficient air humidity.Of the pests, Dracaena is threatened only by leaf-eating (spider mites, scabies, mealybug mealy) and leaf-sucking (aphids, thrips). They do not represent a mortal danger to the plant, but they spoil the decorative effect and weaken the bush.
Types of home dracaena with photos and names
Fringed dracaena
The most popular view among gardeners. Extremely unpretentious plant with dark green leaves grows very quickly, when pruned, it grows. Large plants adorn offices and spacious living spaces.
Dracaena deremskaya
The tallest of dracenes - in the homeland grows up to 4-5 m high. Lanceolate leaves of a dark green color can reach 1.5 meters in length. In a young plant, the leaves are directed upward; with age, the leaves become drooping.
Fragrant Dracaena
At home, the plant blooms extremely rarely. Beautiful leaves up to 10 cm wide are literally dotted with a thick unstable trunk that requires support.
Dracaena Godsef
A compact shrub with shiny oval leaves with white spots on a green background is somewhat reminiscent of Dieffenbachia. Dracaena Godsefa can please the owner with unprepossessing greenish-yellow flowers with an unexpectedly pleasant aroma.
Dracaena Sander
A low plant with dark green leaves of a lanceolate form on a thin trunk. The leaves are decorated with spectacular silver stripes.
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