An exotic plant dracaena native to the subtropical and tropical forests of Africa, Asia and South America. Dragon tree, or false palm, as it is also called, grows in the homeland in natural conditions and can reach a height of up to 20 meters. But indoor relatives miraculously took root in colder conditions on the windowsills of amateur gardeners in many countries of the world, including those that are widely represented in all regions of Russia. Despite the rather unpretentious nature, a dracaena can catch a cold. Diseases of the flower must be treated in time to prevent its death, as well as infection of other flowerpots.
Causes of problems
Like any other indoor flower, dracaena requires some care, care, even love. This living organism really needs certain lighting, watering, it is subject to the influence of external factors. Scientists even conduct tests with the help of which they want to prove the existence of a biological relationship between a plant and a person, the presence of compatibility and contraindications to the content of certain flowers at home for certain people. And today there are confirmed facts that plants really respond to pain, have a sense of fear, can experience joy, listen to music and remember.
There are two main reasons why dracaena can get sick:
- Physiological.
- Infectious.
The first reason is associated with improper conditions of the plant's existence, with errors in caring for it. The second cause of the development of diseases can be various infections or pests.
Physiological factors causing ailments
Dracaena diseases often result from improper flower care. For example, if the owner of the plant is incompetent in this or he does not have the opportunity to create suitable conditions. There may be several reasons for this:
- excess or lack of lighting;
- excessive watering or, conversely, too dry soil;
- lack or excess of mineral and nutrients in the soil;
- drafts;
- low or high temperature, its sharp changes.
In order to avoid mistakes in the home maintenance of the plant, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the basic requirements before purchasing it or immediately after the acquisition, the fulfillment of which is necessary to create favorable conditions for the growth of such an extravagant flower as dracaena.
Care, diseases that may occur - all of this we will consider further. Please note this information if you do not want the plant to suffer.
Is dracaena hardy? Diseases, the photos of which are presented below, can destroy the plant.
Care
Lighting for dracaena should in no case be too intense, but at the same time, the shadow will not work. The best option is scattered sunlight in the summer, as well as southern, southeastern windows in winter. It is advisable to constantly rotate the plant so that it develops evenly from all sides. Variegated plant species are especially sensitive to the sun, in which the brightness of the color directly depends on the lighting: the more light, the brighter the leaves, and vice versa, when the light is insufficient, they darken.
Air temperature should also depend on the time of year. In summer, Dracaena is comfortable at 18-20 degrees, but in winter it should be a little cooler. The maximum allowable air temperature is 30 degrees, the minimum is 8 degrees. If this indicator exceeds or falls below the permissible level, the plant will slow growth and become ill.
Dracaena is hygrophilous, it must be regularly sprayed, watering should be plentiful, but at the same time water stagnation in the flowerpot must not be allowed. Water should be boiled to remove excess fluoride, because excess of this mineral can cause leaf disease.
You should also not forget about feeding the plant once or twice a month. Do not use phosphorus fertilizers for this purpose. It is best to buy ready-made complexes designed specifically for dracaena care.
The soil can be prepared independently, using turf soil, rotted manure and sand, or you can buy a ready-made mixture. It is recommended to regularly drain the soil, but this must be done very carefully, since the delicate root system of the plant is in the upper layers.
Physiological diseases of dracaena and their treatment
First, it should be noted that the drying of the lower leaves of the plant comes from the natural aging process. The tips dry first, and then the whole leaf. It's not worth being scared. To preserve the decorative appearance of the flower, the yellow tips need to be carefully trimmed in parts, while it is not recommended to remove the entire sheet at once, it is enough to beat from the shrunken fabric.
But if young leaves begin to turn yellow and dry, then this already indicates a disease. It arises as a result of too plentiful or irregular watering. To eliminate the symptoms, just change the water regime.
Dracaena diseases also occur with insufficient air humidity or drafts. From this, the tips of the leaves of the plant acquire a brown color. The flower needs regular spraying, do not forget about it. Brown spots on the leaves can also indicate a sunburn. Such marks first look wet and then dry.
What to do when drying young tips
The cause of blackening and drying out of dracaena leaves is soil problems. To eliminate the disease, the following is necessary:
- transplant a plant if this has not been done over the past three years, since the accumulation of salts in the old soil leads to the death of suction roots;
- change the fertilizer, perhaps it is not suitable for this type of plant, it has a lot of fluorine or other minerals;
- change the soil, add more peat and humus, perhaps it is too light or too clay and heavy.
Causes of leaf decay
When in a plant such as dracaena, leaf diseases are accompanied by decay, the causes should be sought in violation of the lighting regimen or in insufficient heat. With non-infectious decay, watery-brown tissues are formed, separated from the healthy part by a green stripe, which is a symptom of a physiological ailment. Rotting with the formation of yellow tissue is characteristic of bacteriosis. Here's what is recommended to do in this case:
- make sure that there are no overflows that can cause rotting of the root system and, as a result, leaves;
- change the soil to loose and softer to provide oxygen access to the roots;
- change the air temperature to the optimum value.
Help with sagging and falling leaves
Dracaena diseases often occur due to low air temperatures, because the relatives of this plant are from the tropics. When freezing, for example, if the room is less than 10 degrees, or the flowerpot stood near an open window, the leaves sag, become dull. With prolonged exposure to adverse conditions, the roots may rot. To save a flower, it must be sprayed with warm water. If no significant improvement occurs, try replanting. Sometimes the only way to help the dracaena is to cut and root the top (if the roots and trunk are affected by rot).
Infectious ailments
The most common infectious diseases of dracen:
- alternariosis;
- heterosporosis;
- phylostictosis;
- bacteriosis.
With alternariosis, brown spots with a bright middle appear on the leaves. If you look closely, you can see concentric circles on them. Over time, the spots turn black due to fungal spores. This disease is treated with fungicides. The most effective means is "Fundazole". It should be bought in a specialized store and make a solution for spraying at the rate of 1 gram per half liter of water. Other copper-containing fungicides can also be used for this purpose. But in this case, you should definitely study the instructions for the drug. Spraying should be carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 10 days.
Treatment of heterosporosis, phylostictosis and bacteriosis
We continue to study the disease of dracaena and their treatment. Another common ailment is heterosporosis. Its distinctive feature is the formation on the leaves of elongated spots of light brown in color with a dark red border. And with phylloctictosis, light brown irregular-shaped marks appear with a yellow-green border and black dots - pycnids. Both of these diseases are treated with fungicides. Most prone to these ailments are plants that grow with dry air and lack of moisture.
Excess moisture and too high air temperature contribute to the development of a disease such as bacteriosis. At the ends of the leaves of dracaena, droplets of liquid appear, which, when dried, form an oily film. Between a healthy and affected area, a yellow stripe becomes visible. Sometimes ulcers form on the stems of a diseased plant. If such a flower is sprayed with water, then the disease will spread to neighboring plants. Unfortunately, there is currently no cure that can help. The affected plant must be discarded as soon as possible.
Pest diseases
Many pests are very fond of a plant such as dracaena. Diseases, white plaque forming, can occur due to the defeat of the flower by the mealybug, false scab, mite. These pests are very insidious. Dracaena marginata often suffers from them. Diseases (photos are presented in the article) pose a serious danger.
In each individual case, treatment is prescribed differently, so it is necessary to correctly diagnose.
If a mealybug attacked the dracaena , the appearance of colonies of insects with a wad-shaped cannon on the stem and leaves of plants is characteristic. In this case, it is necessary to carry out the following activities:
- remove insects with a cotton swab dipped in soapy water;
- wipe the pot and window sill with soapy water, wash the plant in the shower;
- spray the flower with an insecticide or soap-alcohol solution (1-2 g of soap per 200 ml of vodka).
Spraying should be repeated several times until the symptoms disappear completely.
When affected by a false scab, on the lower side of the leaves of dracaena, white sticky mucus forms. Measures to combat it are the same as with a mealybug.
If a faint yellowish or white coating appears on the leaves, then you should look for a spider mite that can hide on the back of the sheet. To combat it, an effective means is the insecticide "Actellic".
Sometimes a white coating is formed as a result of watering with too hard water, in which there is a lot of lime.