Dracaena - propagation at home in different ways. Pruning dracaena at home step by step

Small palm shrubs, growing historically in Africa and South Asia, have gained immense popularity among our gardeners and housewives. And then the question arises: how and what to feed dracaena at home? It is quite expected and even natural, since in domestic climatic conditions it grows exclusively at home. A distinctive feature of the plants is the presence of hard tips and their different colors.

There is an opinion that dracaena belongs to unpretentious plants. I would immediately like to emphasize that this is a heat-loving southern plant, therefore, in our latitudes it needs to be provided with additional care.

The dragon tree requires a special temperature regime, environmental conditions with high humidity, high-quality lighting, as well as thorough watering in the summer. It is equally important to know what and how feed dracaena in summer, how to feed the soil throughout the year. Without additional elements, the tips of the leaves become dark and after some time all the greenery simply falls off.

If the plant does not receive at least minimal care, its leaf blades will begin to dry out. Direct sunlight on contact with leaves contributes to the formation of burns, and in low temperature conditions they curl. The dragon tree is susceptible to pests and infectious diseases. To eliminate these factors, it is necessary to constantly fertilize and spray the plant with fungicides. The presence of a sufficient amount of nutrients and substances in the soil allows not only the bush to actively develop, but also its green mass. The plant will be healthy and lush.

How to feed dracaena for better growth? First of all, we recommend planting the plant in slightly acidic soil. Be sure to include garden soil, sand and peat in the mixture, and it is necessary to maintain a ratio of 3:1:1, respectively.

How often and with what should I feed dracaena at home?

Experienced gardeners recommend using specialized ones, available in a wide range in stores. They are sold not only in the form of ordinary granules, but also in liquid solutions and compositions that you can prepare yourself at home. The issue of frequency and frequency of feeding deserves the closest attention.

The plant reacts sensitively to both the deficiency of useful elements in the nutrient medium and their excessive amounts in the substrate. Be that as it may, there is a danger that the root system will completely die and the leaves will fall off.

How to feed dracaena in summer? In the warm season, nutrients are added once every 1.5-2 weeks.

The most effective method is foliar feeding, which has proven itself excellent in situations where the ends of the leaves dry out.

With the arrival of cold weather (when the average daily temperature in the room does not exceed 20 degrees Celsius), the plant does not require additional fertilizer. At this time, the plant and leaves develop much more slowly. To ensure the vital functions of dracaena, a minimum of minerals and trace elements must be present in the soil. In winter, you can feed dracaena only once a month. Any foliar feeding is useless; only the substrate is suitable for fertilization.

Mineral fertilizers for dracaena

Dracaena will not grow without potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). The optimal ratio of the listed elements is 3:1:3; if you reduce the nitrogen concentration to 2 parts, the plant may respond to fertilizing somewhat worse. There are no highly specialized formulations for dracaena on sale.

Feeding is selected individually; you need to focus on NPK.

How to feed dracaena for better growth: folk methods

How to feed dracaena at home? People's advice recommends using bird droppings or rotted manure. To obtain an organic solution, mix 1 part manure and 4 parts clean water. The final composition is infused for 5 days. If we talk about home conditions, then the specified concentrate must be diluted in liquid, maintaining a ratio of 1:15. The store sells ready-made organic preparations. They are diluted with water only according to the instructions. Dracaena is watered under the base.

Certain gardeners strongly recommend using meat water for feeding: a specialized liquid that contains blood, which remains after the meat is removed from the cutting board. This composition contains protein, thanks to which the plant itself actively develops. Folk remedies also have a number of disadvantages, the main one of which is an unpleasant characteristic odor. Experts strongly recommend taking the pot with the substrate out into the open air. After three days, the smell is eliminated, disappears and the dracaena is brought into the room.

The frequency of feeding is determined in each case individually, and it is necessary to take into account the appearance of the leaves. If we can determine that the plant is developing slowly or is drying out, we recommend adjusting its care.

Dracaena is native to Africa. This cute exotic plant is very popular today. Dracaena fits perfectly into any interior, be it an office, bedroom or kitchen. The leaves on straight stems form a beautiful green bouquet, which is why dracaena is also called a palm tree.

Features of caring for dracaena

An adult dracaena can grow up to three meters in height. The elongated bright green leaves of the plant extend from the base by 13–75 cm. With proper care, dracaena can live for 15 years. She is unpretentious, but still requires the owner to follow certain rules of care.

Watering

Dracaena is a moisture-loving plant. In summer it requires watering once every two days. If the summer is very hot, it is worth watering it daily. It is necessary to monitor the dryness of the soil and the tone of the leaves. During the spring-autumn period, it is recommended to spray the leaves of the plant once a day with water at approximately 150C. It is better to use filtered or at least boiled water.

In winter, dracaena begins a period of hibernation, and it only needs one watering every three to four days. Dracaena standing near the radiators needs to be watered a little more often. The top layer of soil in the pot acts as an indicator. However, despite the fact that the palm tree loves a humid climate, it cannot be flooded. Otherwise, the root system may rot. Before you start watering, you need to slightly loosen the top layer of soil.

Lighting

Dracaena grows well in a sunny place and loves western or eastern windows. However, dracaena must be protected from direct sunlight. You can shade it with tulle or tracing paper, creating diffused light. It should be remembered that dracaena species with variegated leaves require more light than species with dark green leaves. Lack of light leads to a loss of brightness in the color of the palm tree.

Top dressing

From the beginning of spring to the end of August, dracaena begins a growth period. At this time, it needs to be fed once every two to three weeks. For feeding, you can use special preparations, such as “Rainbow”, “Ideal”, “Dracaena”, etc.

There are more than 60 species of dracaena. Dracaena can have brightly colored leaves that need a lot of color.

Some types of dracaena: photo

Dracaena reflexa

Dracaena Reflexa

Pruning dracaena at home

You can adjust the height and width of the dracaena by trimming. Both the main trunk is trimmed to reduce the height of the palm tree, and the side stems are trimmed to increase the side shoots. The main trunk of dracaena is cut at any level. By becoming a little shorter, the plant will become healthier and take on a more well-groomed appearance. The best time to prune dracaena is during the period of active growth - March-August. Withered, yellowed or diseased leaves are also pruned off.

If you decide to prune a flower in winter or autumn, you risk harming it. Pruning is a rather stressful procedure, and winter is not the easiest period for houseplants. Therefore, pruning dracaena in winter can lead to various problems and even the death of the flower. In spring and summer, on the contrary, dracaena is rich in “growth hormones”, which contribute to the rapid healing of “wounds”.

The trimmed dracaena trunk actively develops lateral buds, and the flower begins to densely branch. So, thanks to pruning, the palm tree rejuvenates. The cut parts of the plant can then be used for propagation.

Pruning dracaena: necessary tools

Sharp knife or scalpel;
drug "Zircon";
paraffin or silicone.

If the stem at the place of pruning has leaves, then they should be removed 10–15 minutes before the cut. You need to cut with a knife at the place where you want to see a new branch, under no circumstances breaking off the last part. Before work, a knife or scalpel should be held over the fire for disinfection. The cut area should be treated with crushed activated carbon and Zircon, which is diluted as follows: 20 drops of the product per liter of water. The drug helps the plant survive stress and stimulates the growth of new leaves. The cut is sealed with molten paraffin.

Pruning dracaena at home step by step

Pruning dracaena step 1

Pruning dracaena step 2

Pruning dracaena step 3

Pruning dracaena step 4

Pruning dracaena step 5

Pruning dracaena step 6

Pruning dracaena step 7

Pruning dracaena step 8

1. You can not trim all the dracaena trunks, but make them into “steps”.
2. Pruning dracaena rejuvenates the plant.
3. Use a melted paraffin candle to seal the cut areas.
4. Wet the moss and wrap it around the trunk so that the cut area remains open.
5. The easiest way to secure the moss is with an elastic band.
6. Trimmed dracaena trunks are covered with moss for a month.
7. After attaching the moss, you need to put a bag on the dracaena and secure it at the bottom with an elastic band.
8. After a month, remove the moss - new buds will appear under it.

After the procedure, it is recommended to spray the flower with water several times a day for a week, because from the “wounds” it begins to lose moisture greatly.

Trimming dracaena video: how to form a crown (part 1)

Those parts that have been cut off can be placed in a glass of water so that they take root. The “wounded” dracaena should be placed in a warm (about 250C) shaded place where there are no drafts. To speed up the growth of new shoots, you can wrap the entire plant with film for a week or two, making yourself a mini-greenhouse. You need to water the wrapped dracaena through a tray.

Trimming dracaena video: how to form a crown (part 2)

It is very useful to wrap the cut area with wet sphagnum moss and put a transparent bag on it - this way the moisture will not evaporate quickly. But the waxed part should remain open. Twice a week the “compress” should be removed and moistened. After new shoots appear (this will happen in about a month), the bag and moss are removed. This wrapping promotes the rapid appearance of young leaves. However, you need to understand that some buds will still dry out.

But there is another opinion: the buds wake up from sunlight, so there is no need to wrap the cuts, but, on the contrary, you should put the dracaena in the brightest place and regularly turn the pot so that the buds wake up evenly.

How to make a dracaena bonsai

Bonsai means "tray plant" in Japanese. The art of creating miniature trees, called bonsai, was born in Japan about a thousand years ago. You can simply buy bonsai at a flower shop. True, these beautiful trees cost a lot. Therefore, in order to save money and for fun, try growing a dracaena bonsai yourself.

The basis for creating any bonsai is that the plant is kept in the same pot all the time, and its roots and “cap” are regularly trimmed. This technique allows you to achieve an approximate balance between the foliage and the root system. The result is a unique desired shape of a mini-tree.

To create a bonsai, take a dracaena about 30 cm high, with a well-developed crown. After removing the plant from a flat pot specially designed for bonsai, you need to trim the roots so that it fits into the bowl tray. The root collar should be 1 cm above the ground. Approximately one third of all roots need to be trimmed.

The root system for bonsai is shortened as horizontally as possible.

After two weeks, the deciduous part of the palm tree is pruned. To do this, the top and side branches are pinched (trimmed) from the top, and the lower branches are shortened in accordance with the shape you want to see. As the branches grow, their length is regularly pinched, and unnecessary branches are completely removed. In this way, the crown is gradually formed. The roots should be trimmed once every two years when transplanting the plant into a larger pot.

Dracaena is one of the most unpretentious indoor plants. Its homeland is the Canary Islands and tropical forests of Asia and Africa.

Currently, there are about two hundred species of these flowers, like the palm tree, the name of which is unusual for our ears.

In most cases, it has a tree-like trunk, elongated, less often oval leaves, collected in a bunch.

Did you know? Translated from Greek, dracaena means “female dragon.” Therefore, the plant is considered a symbol of women born in the year of the Dragon.

Caring for dracaena at home

Lighting

For these indoor flowers, which look like a palm tree, placement in partial shade is quite acceptable, but it is recommended to place them in brightly lit areas of the room, but without direct sunlight.

Varieties with variegated colored foliage need more light than plants with green leaves. Lack of lighting negatively affects the growth of dracaena.

The most correct for growing are the eastern or western sides, which have windows facing them.

Air temperature and humidity

Although dracaena comes from warm regions, this plant does not like heat or dry air. The plant will develop fully in summer at a temperature of 20-25 °C, and in winter at 15-18 °C. It is also necessary to maintain air humidity by placing a container of water nearby or spraying the dracaena once a week.

Did you know? The plant is beneficial in various industries: brushes and juice are produced from dracaena and horsehair fibers, and the resin is used for treatment. The plant itself has a positive effect on the nervous system, bringing peace and good mood.

How to water dracaena correctly

In order for the plant to please with its healthy appearance and lush greenery, it must be properly watered. The frequency of watering depends on the variety, but there are general recommendations.

Summer watering rules

Dracaena growth mainly occurs in the summer, so it needs to be watered in large quantities during this period. However, there is the following nuance - watering must be done after the top layer of soil has dried by 2-3 cm. This usually happens on the 8-10th day after the previous watering.

How to water dracaena in winter

Already in the fall, the soil dries out much more slowly; dracaena rests during this period and until the end of the winter cold. Accordingly, watering is needed less often. Its frequency is once a month. You need to focus on drying out the soil, because the plant may be standing near a heating device, which means watering will be needed more often.

It should be remembered that your home palm flower does not tolerate frequent watering, as it leads to stagnation of water and rotting of the roots, so do not make such a mistake in care.

Fertilizing and soil care

There are special complex fertilizers that are intended specifically for indoor plants and are sold in stores. Fertilizers in liquid form are preferable for plants. They should be added with water for irrigation. It is necessary to take into account that it is better to do this during the period of active growth, i.e. in spring and summer.

Many lovers of indoor palm trees, and flowers in general, are interested in their growth, so they want to provide them with suitable care.

An important question is what to fertilize dracaena for rapid growth.

This plant requires the following elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium in a ratio of 3:1:3. Therefore, select the right fertilizer based on the presence of these substances in its composition.

Important! In summer, dracaena is fertilized once a week, and in winter, when the plant is resting, it is better not to do this more than once a month.

The soil is very important for dracaena: nutritious and slightly acidic is preferable. You can buy ready-made soil in the store; there are special mixtures for this type of deciduous plants. If you decide to prepare the soil yourself, then you need to take an equal number of parts: leafy soil, sand, humus, turf soil and peat.

Rules for pruning dracaena

Pruning dracaena can be done in cases of preventing the spread of the disease or in order to change the shape of the plant.

It is worth pruning dracaena during the rest period, i.e. in winter. It is imperative to disinfect pruning tools, and also sprinkle the cut areas with coal or wood ash. You can trim the top of the main trunk, after which the dracaena will begin to grow side shoots.

How to transplant dracaena correctly

If you recently purchased a dracaena, it needs replanting. How often is dracaena replanted? A young and actively growing plant needs to be replanted regularly - once a year, and it is better to replant an adult dracaena once every two to three years. The best time for replanting is the period of gradual emergence of the dracaena from a state of rest: the end of winter - the beginning of spring.

Be sure to place drainage at the bottom of the new container. The diameter of the container itself should be 2-3 cm larger than the previous one. The plant is transplanted by transferring an earthen clod with dracaena roots. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the root system.

After adding the required amount of soil, the soil should be watered and left in a shaded place. After shrinkage, you can add more soil if necessary.

Did you know?It is very rare to see dracaena blooming at home. The inflorescences of this plant are small, the flowers are white or creamy green.

Dracaena propagation

If you want to grow these beautiful indoor flowers, which look like a palm tree and are called dracaena, you can do it in different ways. The most labor-intensive of them is seed.

Seed method

Dracaena seeds are available for sale, so you can grow this plant from scratch. After studying some rules, you will learn how to germinate dracaena from seeds.

Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked in water at a temperature of 26-30 ° C for about a day. After this, you need to make a hole in the already prepared soil, put the seeds there, sprinkle with soil, cover with film and put in a warm place.

Lighting must be sufficient. It is necessary to water and ventilate the seeds from time to time. The first shoots will appear in about 1.5-2 months, and when the sprouts reach a height of 6-7 cm, they can be transplanted into permanent pots.

In general, growing dracaena from seeds will take about 2 years.

For this method, you need to take only strong young stems about 4 cm long. Each such cutting should have 2-4 buds. Having cut off the required part with a disinfected tool, it is rooted in the prepared soil, watering and ventilation are provided. It is better to make a small greenhouse for the cuttings using a plastic bottle.

In order to propagate dracaena yourself, you must follow a number of rules that allow you not only to obtain young specimens, but also to preserve the main plant without harming it. Propagation of the plant is possible both by cuttings and seeds. It is important to consider that the characteristics of its reproduction will depend on the variety of the plant.

General information

Dracaena is an unpretentious indoor plant that stands out among others for its exotic appearance. In its structure, it most closely resembles a small palm tree with a strong trunk and a spectacular spreading crown. The oblong, sword-shaped leaves may have different colors depending on the variety. It usually ranges from rich green to light green with white veins, but greyish, reddish and bluish shades may be present, giving the plant a unique appearance. The varieties of dracaena bordered and fragrant, as well as dracaena Sander, have gained the greatest popularity.

Photo gallery: unpretentious types of dracaena

At home, you can create beautiful plants that can be an excellent gift for family and friends.

Cuttings

Let's consider the most popular option for vegetative propagation - cuttings. For propagation, you can take the upper part of the stem with leaves (apical cuttings) or the stem itself without leaves (stem cuttings).

Apical cuttings

In this case we are talking about cutting off the top of the plant. To do this, use a sharp tool: pruning shears or a knife, pre-treated with alcohol. The height of the cutting should be at least ten centimeters. The cut can be either straight or oblique - this point does not play a fundamental role.

It is important that the cut is smooth, the stem should not have bark burrs and should not be crushed at the time of cutting

Carry out this procedure carefully, without damaging the stem and bark on it. The smoothness of the cut will determine how quickly the plant takes root.

In order to avoid rotting of the cutting, you need to let it dry for one or two hours at a temperature of +20–22°C, and to prevent rotting of the entire plant, you should powder the cut of the shoot with crushed coal or pour it with molten paraffin.

Almost all varieties of dracaena at the stage of drying cuttings need to remove excess leaves from the part that will be immersed in the substrate. The exception is the dracaena bordered, the stem of which is not covered with leaves.

Afterwards you can begin the rooting process. There are two ways to root apical cuttings:

• in water;
• in the substrate.

In the first case, warm water is required (optimal temperature +20–25°C). It must be changed as it becomes cloudy, that is, once or twice a week. To prevent the water from becoming cloudy too quickly, a whole tablet of activated carbon is added to it, as it has disinfectant properties. The use of rooting preparations reduces the time for roots to appear by 1–1.5 weeks. For this, Zircon is most often used (calculated at 2-3 drops per glass of water).

When choosing a method for rooting dracaena in a substrate, pay special attention to the choice of soil: give preference to sand, vermiculite or perlite. In addition, the use of hydrogel, as well as ready-made mixtures for cacti and palm trees, is common. To speed up the process, you can use powdered rooting preparations, these include potassium humate and Heteroauxin. They are used to powder the bases of cuttings soaked in water before placing them in the substrate. Liquid preparations are also applicable in this case. Epin, Zircon or Ecogel are used during the rooting period to water the soil, guided by the instructions attached to the substance. To avoid plant rotting, do not over-moisten the substrate. In order to check the moisture level in it, just rub a small amount of soil in your palm: the substrate should crumble into lumps. For cuttings, create a mini-greenhouse (made of plastic, polyethylene or glass), in which the air and soil temperatures should reach +20–22°C. During the day (3-5 times), the leaves should be sprayed with water at room temperature. In Dracaena fringe, the leaves at the top are often tied into a bunch, which helps prevent excessive evaporation of moisture. It is important to note that in order to avoid excess humidity in the greenhouse, it is worth carrying out morning and evening ventilation for 15–20 minutes.

Video: apical cuttings of dracaena

This type of reproduction can also give positive results. Typically, this method is used for plants that for some reason have lost their attractive appearance. For example, you cannot do without this procedure if the top begins to rot or dry out. In this case, the stem is divided into cuttings 5–20 cm long and rooted in a light substrate. Depending on the location of the cuttings in it, the following methods are distinguished:

• horizontal;
• vertical.

On the left is the vertical method of root formation; on the right - shoot germination during horizontal rooting

For horizontal rooting, sand, perlite or vermiculite are used as a substrate. In this case, the stem in a lying position is slightly pressed into the substrate; nothing is sprinkled on top of the cutting. Air and soil temperatures should reach +20–24°C. The presence of a mini-greenhouse promotes rooting. It is important to note that a sign of a successful stem cutting procedure is not only the roots that appear in the plant, but also the shoots that sprout from dormant buds. The cutting itself is destroyed over time, since the substances from it are actively spent on the formation of roots and shoots. During the period when plant nutrition no longer begins from the cuttings, but from independently formed roots, the shoots can be planted in separate pots.

Material on how to properly transplant dracaena will also be useful:

The number of young plants will be equal to the number of shoots, since each of them can be planted separately

When vertical rooting, sand is used as a substrate, but soil can also be used. The combined option is especially good, when the plant is planted in the ground, sprinkled with sand on top, the layer of which will be 5 cm. Thus, the roots appear first in the sand layer and sprout from it and become stronger in the ground. Thanks to this method, there is no need to replant the rooted plant, since it is already in the soil. The optimal temperature remains +20–24°C, and the presence of a mini-greenhouse allows you to speed up the process of root emergence. In this case, only the lower part of the cutting is immersed three centimeters into the substrate.

Under suitable conditions and good material taken for plant propagation, rooting takes 1–1.5 months, and shoots appear after 2 months

At low air temperatures, the rooting process may take a longer time.

Propagation by seeds

At home, obtaining dracaena seeds is quite problematic. This is due to the fact that this plant blooms quite rarely even in the most favorable conditions. Many species bloom for the first time at the age of eight to eleven years. Dracaena can bloom relatively quickly:

• fragrant;
• bent;
• Draco;
• Godseff.

Panicles with small fragrant flowers can be white or yellowish in color

If you are still interested in this idea, you need to carry out artificial pollination of flowering specimens:

1. Use a soft bristle brush, going over all the inflorescences one by one;
2. Clean the resulting seeds from the pulp and immediately plant them in the ground.

After flowering and successful pollination, dracaena produces orange-red drupes resembling cherries, which after ripening can be used for planting

Seeds purchased at the store are planted in March. For planting, you can use ready-made soil or mix peat and sand in equal proportions yourself. In order to speed up the germination process, seeds can be germinated in advance:

1. Pour water at room temperature (+20–22°C) into a shallow saucer.
2. A moisture-absorbing material (a piece of cloth, gauze or cotton pads) is placed in a saucer with water, on which the seeds are laid. To avoid rapid evaporation of water, cover the top of the container with glass or film.
3. Place the saucer in a sunny place (+20–22°C). Typically, sprouts appear within two to three days.
4. To prevent the seeds from drying out, add water as needed.

Large amounts of water can be dangerous, so keep the cloth moist without submerging the seeds completely.

Planting of germinated seeds occurs to a depth of one centimeter. Cups for planting must be equipped with a drainage system. Containers with planted dracaena seeds are covered with polyethylene or glass, creating the effect of a mini-greenhouse.

Seed germination usually takes one to five months. The soil should be kept moist at all times. The greenhouse is ventilated in the morning and evening for ten minutes. The emerging sprouts must be shaded, protecting them from direct sunlight.

This method is good because it allows you to root a new plant without immediately cutting it off from the main trunk:

1. To do this, you need to decide how tall the young plant will be: this distance is measured from the top.
2. At this point, the trunk is cleared of leaves and a small cut is made to the middle of the trunk.
3. A small hard object made of wood or plastic is placed in it.
4. A transparent bag with peat is secured under the incision site.
5. After this, the package is closed. It is important to note that the soil in it should not dry out.
6. Over time, the bag and peat will be filled with roots, after which the resulting shoot can be completely separated from the mother and transplanted into a small pot.

1 - trunk cut; 2 - packet fixation; 3 - securing the bag with peat; 4 - separation of the sprout with emerging roots

Peculiarities of propagation of different varieties

Depending on the type and variety, dracaenas may differ not only in appearance, but also have their own characteristics during the reproduction process. For example:

• Dracaena Goldena is propagated by cuttings. In this case, the trunk without leaves should reach 20 cm. It is lowered into moist soil so that two or three buds remain on the surface. The temperature under the mini-greenhouse should reach +28–30 °C. The plant is maintained in this form for 30 days;
• Dracaena Reflexa, also known as recurved, tolerates cuttings well, but can also be propagated by seeds;
• Hooker's dracaena almost never blooms at home, so it is much easier to propagate the plant using apical cuttings or air layering, and it is important to observe the temperature and humidity conditions;
• fragrant dracaena is a very slowly growing shrub, which should be taken into account when pruning and propagating it;
• A feature of Dracaena derema is the ease of rooting in moist soil, even without the use of special preparations;
• An interesting process is the propagation of Dracaena Sander: the plant can be given interesting shapes, for example, twisted;

  Giving a plant an unusual shape is possible even for inexperienced gardeners

• Dracaena Marginata, also known as edged, comes in five varieties: main green, bicolor, tricolor, purple and colorama. Each of them has its own color scheme. During propagation, the shoots of this plant can also be placed close to each other, twisted and made into twisted shapes. Propagation is best done by cuttings using a liquid rooting agent;

  Planting several trunks side by side can achieve interesting results.

• When propagating dracaena Godsef, it is important to place the cuttings under film or glass. The air temperature should reach +25°C;
• Dracaena Draco has a very wide trunk, which often has no branches, so it is better to propagate this species, so as not to harm the plant, by seeds;
• All methods are suitable for propagating Dracaena compacta. But it can be noted that when propagating by parts of a lignified trunk, the sections can be treated with paraffin, which will protect the trunk from drying out. In this form, dracaena is perfect for transportation over long distances and can lie for a long time waiting for planting.

Material on ways to combat diseases and pests of dracaena will also be useful:

Possible problems when propagating dracaena and their solutions

Reproduction of dracaena at home, as a rule, is not a very difficult process. And with a little effort, you can even get several young plants instead of just one. Nevertheless, even experienced flower growers sometimes still have to face some difficulties:

• rotting of cuttings rooted in the substrate. This happens if the soil is too wet: it should be moist, but not soggy. Perhaps the problem lies in the substrate itself: too heavy and dense, not suitable for dracaena;
• high humidity and high temperature, necessary for the rooting of dracaena, can cause rotting of the roots. To prevent this process, cover the soil with thick paper during spraying. Excess moisture after watering should also be removed;
• at the same time, excessive aridity of the soil and cool air can significantly slow down the development of roots and shoots. Therefore, compliance with temperature and humidity conditions plays an important role in the process of reproduction of dracaena;
• Dracaena seeds do not germinate. You should be patient: dracaena, when grown from seeds, does not sprout quickly. Individual seeds can germinate up to six months, although more often this process takes 1–3 months. Soaking with special preparations (Epin, Zircon or any other growth modulators) will help speed up seed germination;
• after trimming the top, the remaining “stump” of the dracaena does not form side shoots. External factors are to blame. The presence of side shoots and their number even depend on the time of year (for example, if you cut dracaenas in winter, the side buds may not wake up at all, or only one will wake up; in summer, the number of awakened buds can vary from 2 to 5). This process also depends on humidity, so a plastic bag is often placed on the stem to create an optimal air humidity regime.

Dracaena is easy to care for and is suitable for interior decoration in homes and office buildings. Even a person who has no experience in this area can independently propagate this plant from cuttings, following the instructions. Moreover, the whole procedure will not take much time and will not harm the main plant from which the shoots were taken.

Dracaena is a spectacular indoor flower, which is a rosette of elongated dark or light green leaves on a woody stem. Growing dracaena is a simple and enjoyable process, since the tropical exotic is unpretentious, lives 5-15 years, growing 1-2 m in height. While indoors, it purifies the air from harmful impurities: formaldehyde, toluene, ammonia emitted by linoleum, chipboard, and various low-quality synthetic materials used in interior decoration. Due to its property of purifying the air from pathogenic microbes and impurities, dracaena is recommended for decorating medical and children's institutions, apartments, and offices.

Indoor dracaena: types and names

The name of the flower means female dragon, the second name is dragon tree. The homeland of dracaena is Africa, but some species grow in the Canary Islands, the southern regions of Asia, and the tropical regions of Central America, where dracaena, according to Aztec legend, is called the tree of happiness. The oldest specimen of this tropical exotic grows in the Canary Islands, its age is 6000 years.

In nature, there are up to 150 species of dragon tree; the most popular in indoor floriculture are:

• Marginata or dracaena marginata is bicolor and tricolor;
• "Song of India" is distinguished by flexible shoots that are shaped in intricate ways, intertwining, twining or tying and a lush pale green crown;
• Sandera, also called “Lucky Bamboo” for the similarity of its young shoots to real bamboo;
• Deremskaya is distinguished by light green leaves with dark veins, white and light green borders along the edges;
• Canary forms a thick trunk, decorated with a gray-green tuft;
• Godsefa is characterized by spotted, oval-shaped leaves and a wavy edge;
• Goldena is highly decorative, thanks to dark transverse stripes on its wide leaves;
• The recurved one has thin branching shoots, curved elongated lanceolate leaves of olive color.

Attention! The dragon tree is sometimes confused with the cordyline tree. These indoor plants can be distinguished by their roots; the latter ones are white.

How to care for dracaena at home

The most popular species include Dracaena marginata, whose care is simple and pleasant. She, like most exotics, prefers good lighting, but does not tolerate direct exposure to the sun and drafts. The ideal place for dracaena bordered is an eastern or western window. Tolerates artificial light, partial shade, temperature 20-25° C in summer, 15° C in winter. The dragon tree will have an even trunk if it is periodically turned in different directions towards the light source.
For planting, use a soil mixture of equal portions of humus, turf soil, and sand. All types of this plant love abundant watering, but cannot tolerate stagnant water. In hot summers, dracaena fringe requires watering every 2 days. In winter, the amount of watering is reduced, since stagnant water combined with low temperatures lead to the death of the plant. Dracaena fringe does not tolerate dry air, requiring regular spraying, washing in the shower, and wiping off dust. In summer, spraying is carried out daily, in winter every 3-4 days.

From time to time, it is recommended to loosen the soil in which the dragon tree grows, and if a white coating forms on the surface of the soil, it is replaced.
The optimal time for fertilizing is spring-summer, the frequency of fertilizing is twice a month. Dracaena bordered is responsive to fertilizing with any complex fertilizers rich in nitrogen and phosphorus.

Features of transplantation

Dracaena, which does not require much effort to care for at home, requires regular replanting to promote its longevity. It is easy to determine whether a plant requires replanting: a dragon tree 40 cm high corresponds to a pot with a diameter of 15 cm. Usually, replanting dracaena at home is carried out every 2 years. Young plants are replanted annually until they reach 3-4 years of age.

The purchased flower requires mandatory replanting and soil renewal.

When doing this, you need to slightly crush the transport container, then carefully remove the flower from the container without damaging the roots. Clean the roots from the old soil. Place drainage material at the bottom of the new pot: expanded clay, small pebbles, sprinkle some soil, for example, special soil for palm trees, place the plant, cover it with soil, leaving the root collar open. To speed up the engraftment process, it is watered every 2 weeks with the growth stimulator “Zircon”. The surface of the soil is covered with small pebbles and other decorative material.

Reproduction methods

How to propagate dracaena at home interests all fans of this plant. Indoor exotics reproduce most effectively:

• apical cuttings;
• stem segments;
• air layering;

The best period for breeding is the first two spring months. Reproduction in the summer-autumn period is fraught with a longer rooting process.

To propagate a dragon tree using the first method, you need to cut off its upper part, treat it with a root formation stimulator, stick it into nutrient-rich soil, and cover it with film. Twice a day, open the film slightly for 20 minutes for ventilation to avoid increasing humidity and rotting of the cuttings. During the period of root formation, the cuttings are not watered, but sprayed 3-5 times a day with warm, settled water. To speed up the formation of the root system, the cuttings are sprayed weekly with a weak solution of fertilizers.

In the second method of propagation, the stem is cut into segments with 2 buds, up to 7 cm long. Rooting is carried out by cutting the bark of the segments, sticking them into the soil, and covering them with film. Just like with the first method of propagation, regular ventilation and spraying are carried out.

The third method is quite labor-intensive and requires experience. After making a small cut on the trunk of the plant, strip it of bark. Place some wet peat in a plastic bag and tie it to the trunk so that the cut is inside the bag of peat. After some time, roots will grow at the site of the cut. When they appear, cut off the trunk below the roots and plant a new plant in the ground. After a certain period of time, new shoots will appear on the cut trunk.

The most difficult process of breeding dracaena is propagation by sowing seeds. The seeds are sown in a nutrient substrate and covered with film. The first shoots appear after 30-40 days. The complexity of the process lies in the fact that this tropical exotic blooms extremely rarely in indoor conditions, and it is very difficult to obtain seeds.

How to prune dracaena

Pruning helps to rejuvenate and form a branchy ornamental tree. Dracaena marginalata is completely unpretentious in care and pruning, so anyone can do it.

For pruning, plants from 30 cm in height are selected, the optimal time is spring-early summer.

Pruning is done with a sharp knife or garden pruning shears 5 cm below the base line of the lower leaves. The cut must be covered with wax or sprinkled with charcoal, and treated with Zircon growth stimulator. The cut parts are treated with the drug “Kornevin” and rooted in a pot, covered with polyethylene, periodically turning different sides towards the light source.
If necessary, pruning is carried out in winter or autumn.

When cutting other types of dracaena: Derema, bent - the cutting height is chosen arbitrarily. After making the cut, clear the trunk of leaves 10 cm below it, and carefully cover the cut itself with melted wax. Spray the stem with water, wrap it in wet sphagnum, securing it with a rubber band, leaving the waxed cut open. Place a plastic bag on top, opening it every 5 days for ventilation. As soon as new buds appear, the bag and sphagnum are removed.

Diseases, symptoms, treatment

Although Dracaena marginalata is unpretentious in care, if the rules are not followed, it is affected by pests: scale insects, thrips, spider mites.

Scale insects attack leaves and stems, which begin to turn yellow and slow down their growth. If no action is taken, the plant will die. In case of severe damage by scale insects, the flower is treated with the drug "Actellik", in case of minor damage - with a soap solution with the addition of vodka or alcohol.

Small black insects - thrips - infect the leaves, causing spots to form on them, and the dragon tree slows down its growth. A soap solution applied for 24 hours will help get rid of thrips, after which it is washed off. After a week, the treatment is repeated.

Spider mite infestation occurs due to increased dry air. Affected leaves turn yellow and fall off. Treating the flower with Fufan or Fitoverm will help get rid of the mite. Maintaining the required air humidity is a reliable prevention of spider mites.

Insufficient watering and increased dry air can cause yellowing of leaves, the appearance of brown spots, and their drying out.

Drafts and too low air temperatures also provoke the appearance of brown spots.

Direct exposure to bright sunlight causes burns on the leaves of the dragon tree. To avoid this, the flower is moved to another place or shaded.

Video

Dracaena marginata, which is as easy to care for as other types of this exotic decorative flower, will become a real decoration for your home and office interior, bringing to it a refined atmosphere of the tropics.