Often in apartments and office premises you can find a beautiful, palm-like indoor flower of dracaena.
The origin and appearance of dracaena
About 160 species of trees or succulent shrubs of the genus Dracenov grow in the natural environment. The distribution range covers the tropical and subtropical forests of Africa, South America, Asia, as well as the Canary Islands. The plant belongs to the Asparagus family. Wild trees reach a height of 20 m.
The plant Dracaena got its name because of the bright red color of the resin Dracaena Draco - one of its species growing in the Canary Islands. According to legend, trees grew from droplets of blood from a slain dragon. Currently, 4 more species are known that emit the same resin. Science explains the appearance of red droplets on the cracks of the trunk by the presence of dark red gum in the resin.
"Dragon blood" is used for medical purposes, from it receive varnish for processing metal products, and is also used as a natural dye.
Interesting! In South America, the plant is called the "tree of happiness." According to the legend, it brings love, happiness and prosperity to the house.
Leaves of dracaena grow from the apical rosettes. The flowers open at night and have a pleasant smell.
Indoor dracaena grows to 2 m in height and above. Indoors, she can live up to 15 years.
It is grown in apartments, summer gardens, greenhouses, and it often decorates the halls of hotels and restaurants. This is facilitated by the fact that caring for indoor dracaenas usually does not cause problems.
Dracaena in the interior of the house
Before acquiring a tree, you must immediately determine where the palm of the dracaena will grow, and how much space it can take. Depending on the conditions of detention, dwarf, compact or tall plants are selected.
Types of dracaena for indoor breeding
About 15 species of dracaena are grown indoors.
Dracaena marginata
It is also called fringed. This is due to the fact that in this species green leaves have a white or red border. Dracaena Marginata was introduced to Europe from about. Madagascar.
Indoor flower grows up to 3 m in height, so it is grown in high and spacious rooms. Leaves are glossy, hard. The sheet plate reaches up to 0.8 m in length and 15 mm in width. Old leaves fall off on their own. Belongs to narrow-leaved varieties.
The stalk is thick, slightly branching. On it, the attachment points of old fallen leaves are clearly visible.
Depending on the color of the leaves, dracenes are secreted Magenta, Bicolor, Tricolor.
Dracaena tricolor
Magenta leaves have raspberry fringing, Bicolor has longitudinal pink stripes on them, Tricolor has tri-color leaflets: narrow red and yellow stripes are located on a green background.
Dracaena draco
The second name is Canarian dracaena. In the room grows up to 1.5 m. The leaves are grayish-green with clearly visible veins. The length of the sheet plate reaches 60 cm, the width is up to 30 mm. The birthplace of the tree is Ethiopia and the Canary Islands.
With sufficient lighting, the leaves become reddish.
Dragon tree
The trunk is powerful. Has a lot of shoots.
Dracaena cordyline australis
It grows wild in New Zealand on rocky slopes. Under natural conditions reaches 7 m in height. The trunk of the tree almost does not branch.
Leaf length - up to 1 m. The color is bright green above and bluish below. A red border may be placed along the edge. The central vein of the leaf plate is orange or red.
Bush dracaena
Into Europe imported from Africa. Leaves have a uniform green or striped color. The bush species is one of the most hardy species of dracaena.
Derema Varneki
The height of the tree is up to 2 m. The leaves are green, with a white longitudinal stripe in the middle and small light strips scattered across the leaf plate. White flowers.
Derema Bausey
Like Derema Varneki, this variety has a white stripe in the center of the leaf, but, unlike it, has stripes of a dark green hue at the edges of the leaf.
The thick trunks of the dracaenas of Derema are densely leafy.
D. Fragrans, or fragrant dracaena
The birthplace of fragrant dracaena is Africa. The leaf reaches 65 cm in length and 10 cm in width. In the center of the sheet is a longitudinal strip of gray, yellow, yellow-green colors.
The fragrant flowers of Dracaena are small in size, have a pleasant aroma, are collected in panicled inflorescences. In indoor conditions, a tree can bloom 1 time in 7-10 years.
The most common varieties are:
- Fragrant Knerki. The plant has long leaves of dark green color with a narrow strip in the middle of a lighter shade.
- Scented Linden. The leaf is green, along its edge is a yellow or white strip.
- Fragrant Massange. Tall decorative tree. Has leaves up to 60 cm long. A wide strip is located in the center of the sheet plate. The crown is dense.
- Fragrant Rotiana. On a sheet plate on both sides there is a narrow border of a yellowish tint.
- Scented Stadneri. Tall variety. It has long lanceolate leaves of bright green color with dark stripes.
Fragrant Dracaena Stedneri
Transplanting dracaena into a pot
After the acquisition, the plant must be transplanted from the planting container into a flower pot. Also, dracaena is transplanted at a young age annually, an adult tree - 1 time in 3-4 years. A transplant is best done in the spring.
What you need for landing
For a transplant you will need:
- flower pot;
- priming;
- drainage material;
- gloves
- water for irrigation;
- secateurs.
A flower pot is selected more than a planting container so that it contains the entire root system and has a margin of 2-3 cm. The material from which the container is made does not matter.
As the land, neutral soil suitable for growing palm trees, ficus, etc. can be used. It can be purchased in a store or made independently from turf and leafy land with the addition of sand and horse peat.
As drainage, you can use fine gravel, pieces of broken brick or expanded clay.
Optimal place
For the normal development of an indoor flower, it is important to choose the right place for it.
Dragon tree in the house
The optimal conditions for dracaena during the growing season are as follows:
- Temperature - from +18 to + 22 ° ะก.
- Placement on the eastern or southeastern window sills. You can install a flower pot at some distance from the south window.
- For normal development, the plant needs to organize sufficient lighting. The tree loves diffused light, so it is necessary to exclude direct sunlight on the sheets. For a plant with variegated leaves of light, more is required than for a tree with monochrome leaves.
- The selected location should be protected from drafts. Do not install the flower near the air conditioner. It is also necessary to exclude sharp fluctuations in ambient temperature.
Step-by-step landing process
It is not difficult to transplant a dracaena plant. It is important to clearly follow the sequence of steps.
Attention! It is not recommended to transplant the plant immediately after purchase. It should get used to a new place. A quick transplant into a new flower pot is performed only if the plant has a painful appearance.
Sequencing:
- Pour a thick layer of drainage into the prepared flower pot (up to 1 / 4-1 / 5 capacity).
- Top with some of the soil.
- Remove the plant from the container, inspect the roots. Damaged or rotten - remove. Sprinkle the place of cut with crushed charcoal.
- If the plant has a normal appearance, does not get sick and develops normally, then transplantation is best performed by the transhipment method, since this method is more gentle for the root system.
Dracaena transplant
- Cover the remaining voids with soil.
- Water the soil liberally.
- Run the second watering after about 10 days. If the plant is sick after planting, a growth stimulator for the roots, for example, Kornevin (1 g of the drug per 1 liter of water) is added to the water for irrigation.
Dracaena propagation
The tree is propagated using cuttings, air layers and seeds.
Cuttings
With this method of propagation, two types of cuttings are used: apical and stem. In the first case, the apical part of the shoot of 10-15 cm is cut. The cut should be smooth.
Propagation by apical cuttings
Then it is placed in a glass of water. Water in a glass should be at room temperature. During root sprouting, water may become cloudy. In this case, it is replaced with a fresh one.
In addition, the root can be held before rooting in a solution of Epin or Zircon growth stimulants.
You can also place cuttings in a box with a prepared wet substrate of peat and sand or with ready-made soil for palm trees.
Planted stalk is covered with a glass jar or plastic bag to create a mini-greenhouse.
Periodically, the shelter is removed and the landing is aired.
When using stem cuttings, the shoot is cut into pieces of 5-20 cm in size. Each piece should have 2-3 buds. It is buried 2-3 cm into the substrate or laid horizontally and covered with a layer of earth from above.
Horizontal germination of cuttings
A mini-greenhouse is being built over the cuttings. Rooting occurs within 1-1.5 months.
Seed cultivation
Planting material is purchased in stores or obtained independently.
Seeds are sown in a peat-sand substrate to a depth of 0.5-1 cm and covered with glass or plastic wrap. Germination capacity is kept at a temperature of + 25 ° C to + 30 ° C.
Seeds germinate sparsely. Shoots appear 1-3 months after planting. When the seedlings grow to 4-5 cm, they are dived and planted in separate pots.
Dracaena Care
Indoor dracaena plant care at home is simple. In order for the plant to develop normally, it is necessary to fulfill the basic agrotechnical requirements for growing a flower.
For the spring-summer period, a flower pot with a tree can be taken out to the open balcony, to the loggia or the garden.
During this period, it is advisable not to allow the temperature to be above 27 ° C.
Watering mode
The home flower of dracaena is a hygrophilous plant. Therefore, watering should be plentiful. Broadleaf species require more watering than narrowleaf species.
Attention! Drying of an earthen coma and stagnation of water in a flower pot should not be allowed.
During the growing season, it is enough to water the flower once a day.
The tree does not respond well to increased concentrations of chlorine, fluorine and bromine in water and soil. Therefore, for irrigation they take settled or rain water. If there is a lot of fluorine in tap water, it is filtered.
After watering, it is recommended to loosen the earth in a pot.
During the growing season, periodically wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. This will give a beautiful look to the flower and allow you to clean the leaf pores from dust. Also 2 times a month the plant is sprayed with warm water. Spraying is carried out in the morning or in the evening.
If you do not moisten the air, then the ends of the leaves will turn yellow and dry. In addition, dry air is an ideal medium for the reproduction of scale insects, spider mites and other pests. So spraying is also a disease prevention.
Top dressing
It is carried out during the growing season. Complex fertilizers or the mineral composition of Dracaena are taken for it. The concentration of the working solution is performed according to the instructions. Typically, the frequency of feeding is 1 time in 2 weeks.
During flowering
Indoor dracaena bloom very rarely. Young plants bloom at the age of 8 to 11 years.
The flowers are small, white or yellowish, collected in panicles. In fragrant dracaena, they have a sweet, delicate aroma; in other species, the smell can be unpleasant.
Dracaena flower
Care during the flowering period does not differ from caring for the plant during the growing season.
During rest
How to care for potted room dracaena at home during dormancy? At this time, it is not recommended to place a flower near heating radiators, since in these places the air is hot and dry.
The optimal conditions for keeping the tree in winter are to maintain air temperature at + 15 ° C and moderate watering (as the soil dries). For variegated varieties, the temperature is slightly higher in winter.
Top dressing is carried out once a month or not at all.
Winter preparations
In order for the plant to prepare for the winter period, in the autumn they gradually reduce the amount of watering and lower the temperature. Also increase the time interval between dressings. During this period, nitrogen fertilizers must be excluded so that they do not stimulate the growth of the green mass of the flower.
Dracaena is a very beautiful and spectacular plant that fits perfectly into the interior of any room.
