Dieffenbachia, home care for which cannot be called too simple due to the capricious nature of the exotic guest, is a beautiful plant with large, colorful leafy plates. The name comes from the rainforests of South and Central America due to the German botanist Dieffenbach. The flower is often used to decorate office rooms due to the decorativeness of white, green framed or stained yellow leaves, giving the room a refreshing atmosphere of the tropics.

Dieffenbachia: cultivation features

Dieffenbachia flower is an extraordinary plant, before growing which it is worth learning a number of features:

  • Toxicity of the flower - pruning and transplanting should be carried out with strict observance of safety measures.
  • Very fast growth rates - while providing the necessary conditions for development, a new leaf plate appears on the flower every week, while the lower part of the trunk is exposed. This causes a loss of decorative properties and the need for trimming.
  • Culture intolerance to sharp drops in temperature and drafts.
  • The need for moisture.
  • Intolerance of lime - water for irrigation and spraying should be used either settled or filtered.

Home Care

To preserve the decorativeness of an exotic flower, the grower is required to create a favorable microclimate and its constant maintenance.

Lighting

Varieties with colorful leaves need a lot of diffused light, excluding direct sunlight. Lack of lighting can cause a loss of color characteristic of the variety and a decrease in decorativeness. Varieties with a dark and uniform color are able to tolerate minor shading. It is also allowed to place such representatives in the corners of the rooms, provided that full artificial lighting is provided.

Temperature

The plant needs to maintain a constant temperature regime in order to exclude the possibility of drops that are harmful to the flower.

Depending on the season, the optimum temperatures are:

  • in summer - from 21 to 25 ° C;
  • in winter - from 18 to 20 ° C.

Humidity

With a low level of humidity, especially during the heating season, Dieffenbachia needs daily spraying. Young specimens are rinsed systematically under a warm shower, and adults are wiped with a damp cloth.

Soil requirements

For successful cultivation of the plant, light, drained soil is used, providing free access of moisture and air to the root system, with weak acidity. The soil mixture can be prepared independently from peat, sand, deciduous and sod land in a ratio of 2: 1: 4: 2, or purchased in specialized stores.

Advice! In the case of using a universal substrate, its throughput should be improved by adding sand, perlite and charcoal.

Watering a room flower

Before watering, water is prepared in advance - per day. In the spring-summer period, the soil is moistened regularly with plenty of water so that it does not have time to dry out. With the advent of cold weather between irrigation, it is worthwhile to withstand a time interval of about 3-5 days for a little drying of an earthen coma.

Important! Despite the flower’s need for constantly moistened soil, overmoistening can provoke a drop of leaves in the plant.

Fertilizer application

Care activities include systematic supplemental nutrition. During the period of intensive growth, liquid complexes for ornamental plants are used, with which the soil is enriched three times during the month with a dosage reduction of half. Organic fertilizers are sometimes used, in which there is no lime.

Advice! Varieties with white foliage should not be fed with organic fertilizers, since the color turns green from nitrogen. For the same reason, the introduction of complex fertilizers for such varieties is reduced to once a month.

Pruning

When, as Dieffenbachia grows, the lower part of the stem remains without leaves, the plant is rejuvenated by one of the methods used during propagation (apical cuttings):

  1. The upper part of the shoot to the exposed area is cut off.
  2. Poisonous juice is removed from the slice, and the stalk is placed in water or a substrate for rooting.
  3. If water is used, then the plant is planted in the soil after the roots grow by 3 cm.

Transplant at home

The plant replants after the pot is completely filled with the root system. The best time of the year for the procedure is considered spring, but in some cases, transplantation is carried out twice a year. The flower is transferred to a new pot, 2-3 cm larger in diameter of the previous one and with a good drainage layer.

Protection of Dieffenbachia from pests and diseases

Among the pests that infect the plant, spider mites, aphids, mealybugs, thrips and scale insects are noted. You can fight them with the help of a soap solution applied with a sponge, or spraying with an insecticidal preparation in case of strong settlement. Of the diseases, bacteriosis is distinguished, the bacterial nature of which makes the disease incurable, and root rot.From it, processing with a systemic fungicide or pruning with rooting of the apical stem will help.

Flowering dieffenbachia

The appearance of an inflorescence in the form of a cob, covered with a petal of a light green tone, is very rare in a room environment. The main decorative value of the culture is the beauty of the leaves.

Dieffenbachia: reproduction

The propagation of dieffenbachia is carried out mainly by vegetative methods: obtaining seeds at home is almost impossible.

Stem cuttings

In addition to apical cuttings for propagation, segments with one kidney obtained from the remaining bare stalk can be used.

The procedure is as follows:

  1. The resulting cuttings are aged two days in the fresh air.
  2. After drying, the parts of the shoot are laid out on a mixture of peat and sand with their buds up, after which they are covered with a film and kept at a temperature within 25 ° C.
  3. After rooting, new specimens are transplanted into separate pots.

Air layering

Uncommon admission due to the complexity of execution: improper execution of the procedure may not produce results, while the mother instance will be damaged.

If the grower decided to implement this method of reproduction, then you should use the following algorithm:

  1. Incisions are made on the stem and covered with moistened moss, which is fixed with a dark film.
  2. After root formation, the shoot along with polyethylene is cut off.
  3. When cropping is done, the film is removed.
  4. The shoot with sphagnum is planted in a prepared pot of soil.

The main problems when growing

Since caring for an exotic flower requires certain knowledge and skills, beginning flower growers face a number of problems, a possible solution of which is given below:

  • Drying of the tips of the sheet plates - it is necessary to stabilize the temperature, increase air humidity or reduce the amount of watering.
  • Fading of leaves - it is necessary to provide good lighting, to feed with phosphoric and potassium fertilizers, to limit the introduction of nitrogen-containing complexes.
  • Withering of the lower leaves - it is worth transplanting the plant into a larger pot.
  • Yellowing of the foliage - you should limit direct sunlight, spray, ensure regular watering, adjust additional nutrition.

Attention! Correcting comprehensive care will solve all such problems.

Why can't Dieffenbachia be kept at home?

The tropical representative is a poisonous plant, but the poison is not dangerous for a stronger body and animals. Cats are very fond of eating leaf plates, which are only anthelmintic for pets. However, the contact of Dieffenbachia with young children is best limited. There are also superstitions that state that Dieffenbachia is a “husband” and the presence of a flower negatively affects a man’s ability to conceive and male potency in general. And according to some signs, the flower absorbs oxygen, which contradicts the basics of botany.

So, Dieffenbachia is a beautiful plant that requires constant attention. But with proper care, the flower will thank the owner, decorating the city apartment with a tropical decorative effect.

Similar:More from the author: