The grower who planted this plant in the house, according to legend, grows happiness in the house. And there is some truth to this. In the house where this plant is, the air is fresher and cleaner, since its leaves work like filters - they absorb harmful substances and microbes. This plant is a dracaena, which has a rather spectacular, exotic look. The information in the article will help you learn how to care for the dracaena, what conditions it needs, etc.
General information
The most different types of dracaena are increasingly found in apartments, shopping centers and offices. There are more than 60 varieties worldwide. Many of them come from Africa, but there are representatives of Central America.
This is one of the most durable plants in the world, belonging to the asparagus family. Often they are confused with palm trees (cordilina, yucca, etc.).
Before we learn about how to breed dracaena, we will consider its general description and species.
General description of dracaena
A plant with a lush crown of long stiff foliage and a slender trunk is very similar to another southern plant - a palm tree. Most of the varieties of dracaena, including domestic ones, are able to grow up to 2-3 meters in height. Under the restrictive measures existing in indoor conditions, dracaena loses its uniqueness and decorativeness to a greater extent. Its trunk becomes bare and long, and a small number of leaves are located only at the very top. You can learn about how to care for dracaena by reading the article.
Domestic varieties have a leafy trunk, formed as a result of the death and subsequent decay of old leaves. Traces of fallen leaves remain on the trunk. This is quite normal.
Indoors, dracaena looks great both as an independent element and in a wide variety of compositions with other plants. The elegant look of the plant not only decorates any interior, but also cleans the air of many harmful substances.
Kinds
There are several varieties of dracaena. For home floriculture, only a few of them are used - those that are compact. Practice shows that with a competent approach to caring for this plant, you can get a luxurious elegant tree.
Below are the most popular varieties.
- Bent away. The species is characterized by strongly inclined leaves. A weak stem branches from the beginning of the root. The bright green plate has a longitudinal strip of yellow.
- Fragrance, or fragrant dracaena. It can grow up to 3 meters in height. Leaves are wavy, hanging. It blooms with pink buds exuding a pleasant aroma.
- Surcurulose is a shoot-forming species. The plant is a bush with dark green foliage that has golden blotches.
- Deremensis, or deremskaya. Tall variety with a powerful tree trunk. Dark green foliage grows in length up to 50 centimeters. Depending on the variety, stripes of different colors may be present on the sheet plates. At home, Derema dracaena does not bloom.
- Sander (or bamboo of happiness). This is a very common and attractive species, which is unpretentious in content. It grows to 1 meter in height. The shape of the stem and leaves is similar to bamboo.
- Bordered dracaena (or marginata). In vivo, growth in height can reach up to 5 meters. The view is the most unpretentious. The plant has the ability to clean air from formaldehydes.
Care
Indoor dracaena grows better on the northern windows, but it is quite photophilous.
Watering for it is necessary moderate, since its roots can rot with an excess of moisture. With complete drying of the soil due to lack of moisture, all leaves of the plant dry, then they are discarded.
Home dracaena can have different heights depending on the type, but almost all types fit perfectly into the design of any room. For the most part, they are unpretentious and survive well at low indoor temperatures and with a lack of lighting in the cold season. During this period, watering should be reduced.
And the plant is not afraid of drafts, but the sunlight should be diffused. The air temperature at the site of dracaena should not be lower than 15 degrees in winter, and in summer it should be about 25 degrees.
About the reproduction of dracaena at home
Of course, for many it is easier to get rid of the old plant and buy a new copy in the store. But do not complicate things when there is a plant that can still serve. He just needs to regain its former freshness and beauty.
Knowing how to properly plant dracaena in the home, it will be easy to do this even for the most inexperienced grower.
How to propagate dracaena? It practically does not bloom in open ground, and it is also unjustified to expect the appearance of new shoots. And from the roots, new plants grow only in very rare cases. And by what method can it be propagated at home if generally accepted methods are unacceptable to her?
Each year, the dracaena shoots are stretched by 10-15 cm. This eventually leads to their excessive stretching and loss of attractiveness of the plant. It is necessary to take some measures. One way is plant rejuvenation, which is convenient to combine with reproduction. As a result, you can get 2 copies of dracaena: young, just starting its development, and updated maternal.
This can be done using apical and stem cuttings. This event is best carried out in the spring, during the period of active vegetation of dracaena.
Breeding methods
In fact, there are ways to get offspring from dracaena. They do not require special knowledge and effort. At home, it can be propagated in the following ways:
- stem cuttings;
- apical cuttings;
- air bends;
- seeds.
The most preferred methods of propagation are apical and stem cuttings. In addition to the fact that these processes are simple, they give an almost guaranteed result. More information on how to propagate the dracaena in the most common ways (cuttings) can be found further in the article.
The more complex and long-lasting method is the formation of layering, and the longest and most difficult is the sowing of seeds. The latter method is complicated by the fact that getting seeds is almost impossible at home.
The use of apical cuttings
Propagation of dracaena by cuttings is convenient and uncomplicated. If a home-grown adult dracaena has lost its attractiveness, you should try to rejuvenate it.
The top of the shoot, covered with leaves, must be carefully cut with a sharp knife at a distance of about 15-18 cm from the very bottom sheet. All old foliage and the remains of the leaves should be removed from it. The future seedling needs to be dried for 2-3 hours at room conditions.
Next, how to transplant dracaena? First you need to root the dried stalk in the following ways:
- in ordinary water with a small amount of charcoal and root formation stimulant added to it;
- mixtures of peat, sand and crushed coal;
- vermiculite or perlite;
- steamed soil for decorative palm trees or in a special mixture for dracaena.
Rooted cuttings should be either in greenhouse conditions or under a film, adjusting the air humidity with ventilation (open twice a day for about 20 minutes).
It should be borne in mind that when propagated by cuttings, dracaena does not tolerate waterlogged soil. The temperature should be kept between 20-22 ° C. Young seedlings respond very well to frequent spraying with warm, defended water and some top dressing.
The remaining stem with an old developed root system should not be thrown out. This palm should be put in a warm place, covering its slice with a packet. After about one month, with moderate watering, new lateral shoots may appear on the trunk, which will give the plant a new life.
Stem cuttings
Propagation of dracaena by cuttings from the stem is also not a very difficult process. If the main stem remained too long during circumcision, you can use it to propagate the plant with cuttings cut from the middle of the shoot. A similar technique is useful when drying or decaying the upper part of the plant, but the roots remain healthy.
You can cut several fragments of cuttings with a length of 10 to 15 cm. This should be done so that the cut passes exactly at the place where the old sheet was stained, and the slices should be even and clean, without any delamination and cracks.
How to transplant dracaena further? First, rooting should be performed similarly to the method described above. There is a difference here - shoots can be placed in the substrate not only vertically, but also horizontally. Instances of the former trunk go deeper into the soil by 2 centimeters in the case of vertical planting and are just slightly pressed in in the case of horizontal planting.
In the method of propagation by apical cuttings, as a rule, only roots appear, and when propagating dracaena from the cuttings, in addition to the roots, shoots from buds that were previously in hibernation are also formed. The root system sprouts in about 30 days, and then (after 4 weeks) the first shoots appear.
Conclusion
The exotic dracaena plant looks spectacular and can grow well in height. Its peculiarity is that the old plant can be updated and give it its former accuracy. Propagation of dracaena at home is a fairly simple process. And very convenient for the revitalization and rejuvenation of the plant are two simple methods presented in the article, which can be successfully performed even by beginners.
This amazing tropical culture with proper care can live about 15 years.