Dracaena Marginata - home care, reproduction, pruning and shaping

A green tree with narrow leaves has settled in many homes and offices, its unusual appearance attracts attention, and the undemanding care allows it to grow amateur gardeners and even those who have no experience in this matter. The view of dracaena marginata is not picky about watering and location, therefore home care light enough.

Outside of its natural habitat, it is also known as the "dragon tree" because of the leaves, which have a bright border and make it recognizable among other varieties. The tree successfully propagates by cuttings, which allows you to independently increase the amount of decorative greenery at home and in the office.

Characterization of branched dracaena marginates

Dracaena is an evergreen small tree that came to us from South Africa, where it grows in natural conditions. In apartments, houses and offices you can find such varieties as fragrant, bordered, deremsky. One of the most unpretentious representatives of a kind is branched dracaena.

For plants of this species are characterized by such features:

• a straight trunk having one width along its entire length;
• tree stiffness;
• long and narrow leaves, pointed at the ends;
• veins of foliage are located in parallel;
• straight and smooth roots of a yellow hue;
• green color of leaves with variegated additions;
• the size of an adult plant depends on the variety and can be from 50 cm to 3 meters;
• It has white flowers with a rather sharp aroma.

Due to the presence of specifically colored leaf edges in a red-violet color, the tree is also called "dracaena bordered." This is an original variety that in nature reaches a height of 5 meters.

A flower is chosen for interior decoration not only because of its external data, but also its useful properties:

• humidification of air;
• purification of indoor space from formaldehydes;
• the destruction of microbes;
• beneficial effect on the human body.

In order to grow this tree, you need a minimum of knowledge and skills, but as a result, you can get a beautiful plant that will delight the eye for many years.

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Care for dracaena marginata at home

When caring for a tree, you should adhere to the main recommendations regarding maintaining the temperature regime, moisture, watering and timely fertilizing of the plant, so that it develops and is not exposed to diseases.

Lighting

A feature of this variety is its love of light and the need for constant bathing in the sun. This is one of the few plants that is not afraid to take sun baths and becomes only stronger and brighter from them.

Temperature and humidity

Since the flower was brought from tropical countries, it needs air temperature as close as possible to indicators for such latitudes. The tree does not tolerate low temperatures, in winter try not to let the thermometer fall below + 16 ° C, otherwise the plant will suffer. The optimal and acceptable temperature for dracaena in the range is 22-28 degrees heat. In the summer months, it is perfectly acceptable to leave the flower in the flowerbed, in the garden or on the balcony, where the temperature will be much higher.

Dracaena noticeably responds to a lack of moisture, the tips of the leaves begin to dry in it. To avoid this, you should spray it several times a week in the hot months, in winter there is no such need, the flower itself adapts well to low moisture levels. In order to refresh the leaves, you need to bathe the plant in warm water at least once a month, for this purpose a shower is perfect.

Watering and feeding

The flower does not like plentiful watering and a large amount of water, it should be watered little by little, but often so that the soil is not dry, but at the same time the moisture should not stagnate in it. It is convenient to use a watering can with an irrigation nozzle for watering.

It is recommended to feed Dracaena throughout the year with mineral fertilizers, which are specially provided for this type of plant. In the winter period, top-dressing is required once a month, more than half of the dose provided for the tree is sufficient. The rest of the year should be fed twice a month.

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Cropping and shaping

Florists are advised to trim the dracaena in a timely manner to give it branching and an aesthetic shape. For this process, you need to choose the spring months when the growing season begins. Cropping allows you to:

• restrain the growth of shoots up;
• to activate the appearance of side trunks;
• give the necessary shape to the plant;
• get sprouts for breeding dracaena at home.

The procedure should be carried out in several stages:

1. Cut the top of the tree so that at least three leaves remain on the trunk;
2. Sprinkle the place of cut with activated carbon, woody is also suitable;
3. Put a plastic bag on the formed flat top to retain moisture;
4. Wait until the lateral shoots appear, after which the polyethylene can be removed.

On average, when applying such an algorithm of actions, a flower appears from three to five lateral shoots, which begin to actively sprout and give the tree a new shape.

Problems of growing marginate at home

Despite the fact that fringed dracaena is one of the most picky representatives of its species, as with any indoor plants, it can still cause difficulties in the growing process, which will require certain actions to be eliminated.

Disease

Decorative tree is prone to the following diseases:

1. Heterosporiosis is caused by a fungus that infects foliage with its spores. Brown spots appear on it, which, if untreated, spread rapidly.You can get rid of the fungus by spraying the leaves and the topsoil with fungicides.
2. Phyllosticosis is also caused by a fungus that can enter the plant from the air, water, or other infected flowers. A characteristic feature of this disease is brown spots on the surface of the leaves, they can be of different sizes and shapes, and upon closer examination, you can notice a black dot inside each speck. As soon as the first signs of phylostictosis were noticed, the plant must be isolated and cut off the affected areas of greenery, and then treated with fungicides.

   

3. Tomato spotted wilt virus is another disease that can cause dracaena, its first sign will be the acquisition of a bronze or purple hue. Then they will begin to curl and dry. For treatment, cut off all affected leaves and treat the plant and soil with special agents several times.
4. Alternariosis is a fungal lesion that appears in brown velvety spots on the greenery and spreads rapidly, leading to complete wilting. To eliminate the fungus, you need to cut off the sick leaves as much as possible and treat the tree with fungicides.

   

Powders and solutions to combat these diseases can be bought in specialized stores for flower growers, they always have detailed instructions for use.

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Pests and methods of dealing with them

Pest insects can also cause the tree to lose its aesthetic healthy appearance:

1. Scale shield - its signs are a gray coating on the leaves. To get rid of the pest, the plant is treated with a soap solution and special means.
2. Thrips - when they appear on the tops of the leaves, light dots appear and they begin to dry out. Spraying with appropriate solutions is used.

   

3. Aphids - the appearance of a sticky coating on a flower is characteristic, you can get rid of it with a soap solution, thoroughly washing the plant, as well as using means such as Fitoverm.
4. Spider mite - can be seen by the appearance of a small spider web on flowers, the next stage of development will be dark spots on the foliage. Soap solution will be an effective method of struggle at the initial stage of infection, if spots have already appeared, then the flower should be treated with acaricides.

   

5. Mealybug - characterized by the appearance of powdery lumps and white plaque on a tree. To combat it, treatment with a soap and alcohol solution, as well as spraying with insecticides, is suitable.

What to do if the ends of the leaves dry out?

There may be several reasons for this phenomenon, respectively, each of them requires a separate application of preventive measures:

• low humidity in the room, respectively, it is necessary to spray the flower more often;
• improper watering, adjust the mode of soil moisture;
• direct sunlight, rearrange or shade the plant;
• diseases and pests, we determine which disease the flower has undergone and treat.

You can not ignore the wilting of the tips of the leaves of the plant and wait for this to pass by itself, it is necessary to take measures.

Propagation and transplantation of dracaena at home

It is recommended to transplant a young dracaena every year, and when the dragon tree reaches maturity, this procedure can be carried out once every several years. For transplantation, a transshipment method is used.The soil must be well moistened, remove the flower from the pot with an earthen lump and move it to a new one, with an updated substrate. During this procedure, the root system can also be treated. You should choose a substrate specifically designed for dracaena and palm trees.

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When breeding a fringed beauty at home, it is important to adhere to the following steps:

1. We process a sharp knife with alcohol and cut off the top of the dracaena up to 10 cm high.

   

2. We remove the extra leaves so that the shoot stem is at least 5 cm.
3. We prepare a substrate with a high peat content and select a pot up to 10 cm deep.

   

4. We make a shallow hole in the substrate with our hand and plant an escape there. You can place the trimmed top in activated carbon water and leave the roots to germinate, then the plant will shoot when planting faster.

   

5. We put the flowerpot on the windowsill, and cover the sprout itself with a small jar to create a greenhouse effect.

We take care of the young plant by watering and moisturizing it, and soon it will begin to grow and give new shoots. In addition, dracaena can be planted by dividing the plant trunk similarly to the method described above.

Common Growing Questions

Dracaena is a great option for green decoration of the interior of any room, which also serves as an air purifier and actively fights harmful microbes. Subject to the rules of care, the plant does not cause additional trouble to its owners and gives positive energy.