Homeland dracaena are the tropics and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Latin America. In nature, these are slender evergreens with a woody stem. Unusually colored leaves give decorativeness to dracaena. Due to the lignified, leafless stem, the plant is often called a false palm, although dracaena has nothing to do with it.
A favorite variety of many gardeners is dracaena marginata, the care of which is simple. The flower has a slightly branching stem, narrow leaves with a reddish border. The plant develops well in a pot, is not afraid of dry air and irregular watering.
Dracaena: how to care for a plant
The flower should be placed so that diffused bright light falls on it, or it was in partial shade. Direct sunlight negatively affects the plant, although with insufficient lighting, its decorative effect is reduced. Move the flower pot a meter away from the window facing the southwest or south side.
Dracaena is a heat-loving plant, therefore, it is necessary to observe the appropriate temperature regime in the room (in summer the air should warm up to +20 - +25 degrees, in winter should be at least +12 degrees). Temperature changes are especially dangerous for a plant: a sharp increase or decrease in temperature by 10 degrees can cause the death of the flower. Critical for many species is the mark already at +14 degrees Celsius. Dracene must be protected from drafts and prevent its weathering in the cold season.
Dracaena Marginata: Care and Watering
The plant requires regular year-round watering. In the spring and summer months, dracaena should be watered twice a week, in winter, one watering of 5-6 days is enough. In the summer, you can put the pot in a container of water once a month and keep the plant there until the exit of air bubbles stops. After that, it is necessary that excess water glass. Watering resume no earlier than a week after the procedure. For hydration use only settled (at least half a day) water.
The flower needs high humidity. You can put the pot on wet pebbles, and also spray the leaves on the front and back sides daily. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that water does not accumulate in the funnel of leaves - this can cause rotting of the trunk. Even regular spraying sometimes cannot prevent the leaves from drying out slightly and yellowing. This process is not dangerous, quite common and does not affect the decorative flower.
Dracaena must be fed with fertilizer for indoor plants every 15 days .
Dracaena Marginata: Care, Reproduction and Transplantation
Plant breeding is performed in several ways. For example, cut off the upper part of the flower and perform rooting of the apical stem; for this, lower heating and phytohormones are used.
Also, air layers are received from the apical part of the dracaena, and the apex is cut off. Reproduction is also carried out with pieces of the stem without leaves (5–7 cm long), which are used as stem cuttings.
A dracaena transplant is performed when the roots of the plant begin to appear out of the pot. Every spring, it is worth replacing the top layer of the earth with a fresh one, enriching it with fertilizers based on algae and manure. The flower requires good drainage (pebbles or expanded clay), which when transplanted, put on the bottom of the pot.
Dracaena Marginata: Care and Pest Protection
Plants are rarely affected by diseases and pests. However, dry air can cause ticks. Increasing air humidity and treating the flower with pesticides will help solve this problem. Sometimes dracaena can be affected by thrips, causing discoloration of the foliage. They are removed with a beer-soaked cotton swab.