Dieffenbachiais a plant from tropical regions, in our climate it is grown in apartments as a houseplant. It is valued for its attractive habit and very nice leaves. See how the cultivation andcare for difenbachia looks likeat home, is it easypropagation of difenbachiaand what causesdifenbachia leaves and what other diseases may threaten this plant.
Dieffenbachia
What does difenbachia look like
Dieffenbachiais a herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Araceae.It comes from tropical areas of America, from Mexico to Argentina and Paraguay. It can grow to a height of 1.8 meters, but in pot cultivation these interesting exotic plants are usually grown in a shrub form and do not grow up that high.
The stems of diphenbachia are stiff, erect, growing vertically upwards. Large, heart-shaped to lanceolate leaves, often multi-colored, reach up to 25 cm in length. Varieties such asdifenbachia 'Exotica'(dark green leaves covered with cream and pale green discoloration),difenbachia 'Rudolph Roehrs'( young leaves become creamy white, with time pale green spots with green veins and edges appear),difenbachia 'Tropic Snow'(leaves creamy white with spots along the innervation).
In the natural environment, diphenbachia creates flowers growing from the tops of the stems, covered with flower sheaths, characteristic of plants of the genus picture.However, under growing conditions in an apartment, this happens very rarely. Even if this happened, the emerging inflorescences should be removed as soon as possible to prevent the leaves from dying off.
Dieffenbachia - flower
Note!The juice flowing in the tissues of diphenbachia is highly poisonous. All work on the care of diphenbachia should be carried out with gloves. Avoid growing difenbachia if there are small children at home.
What to do in case of diphenbachia poisoning?
Always wash your hands after caring for diphenbachia. If you get diphenbachia juice, wash your eyes with plenty of water. If the mouth becomes irritated, rinse with water, milk (do not swallow!) And suck on ice cubes. In case of severe irritation, it is necessary to contact a doctor quickly.
Dieffenbachia - care and cultivation
Sun exposure
Growing difenbachiashould be done in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight. This plant needs a lot of light but diffused. In too strong sunlight, it is easy to burn defenbachia leaves, and in too dark a place its leaves will lose their interesting color, they will turn completely green.
Temperature
Dofenbachia grows best in the temperature range of 18-20 ° C. It also tolerates short-term drops in temperature to 11 ° C and increases to 25 ° C.
Watering diphenbachia, moisturizing
During the growing season - from spring to summer,watering difenbachiashould be abundant, in autumn and winter it should be more sparing. The top layer of earth should dry out between waterings. The plant is best watered with stagnant water at a temperature such as the ambient temperature. Never water diphenbachia with cold water. Diphenbachia carealso requires maintaining adequate air humidity. This is important because under natural conditions, diphenbachia grow in lowland, humid sites in equatorial forests. In the apartment, in order to increase the air humidity near the plant, it is worth placing a tray with moist pebbles. It is also advisable to sprinkle the leaves, especially if the temperature in the room is too high.
Fertilizing difenbachia
In spring and summer, we applydiffenbachiafertilization, applying diluted liquid fertilizer every two weeks. For the fertilization of diphenbachia, it is worth choosing a fertilizer for ornamental potted plants made of leaves.
Transplanting, soil for diphenbachia
Replanting diphenbachiais done in spring, when the root ball grows larger in the pot. The new pot should be two sizes larger, as diphenbachia grows quite quickly. At the bottom of the pot, a drainage layer of pebbles or expanded clay should be created, and the rest of the pot should be filled with light, permeable soil with a pH of 5.5 - 6.0.It can be an equally mixed universal soil and garden peat.
Dieffenbachia - reproduction
The reproduction of difenbachiais quite easy and is often done at home. The occasion becomes when the plant grows too tall and we want to trim it. A cut off piece of stem can be easily rooted. Older specimens often lose their lower leaves and their nice shape, so they need to be rejuvenated. This gives even greater opportunities to increase the number of plants. The stem is cut to a height of about 10 cm, from which it will sprout more branches, and the cut part of the stem is cut into smaller pieces that will be used as cuttings.
Diffenbachia propagationis best done in spring or summer. For this purpose, a piece of stem 8-15 cm long is cut off so that the cut part has a knot with at least one eye. Then such pieces of shoots are placed horizontally, dipping halfway in a mixture of peat and felt. In order for them to take root, they need to be provided with temp.21 - 24 ° C and constant humidity.
Dieffenbachia - diseases
Most problems occur when the care of diphenbachia is carried out incorrectly, and the most common diseases of this plant arediphenbachia leaf diseasesAnd so, if the substrate temperature is too low or it is flooded, it rots roots of diphenbachia, which is initially manifested by yellowing of the lower leaves. In this case, it helps to limit watering and move the plant to a warmer place (above all, the pot should not stand directly on the cold floor). When the plant is too dark, its leaves lose their contrasting color and the entire leaf blade turns green. This is a sign that diphenbachia should be moved to a lighter place.
With too high humidity in combination with a lack of light,corkiness of difenbachia leavesIt manifests itself in the fact that cork-like growths appear on the petioles and at the base of the leaf blades.This disease of difenbachia occurs most often in the fall and winter. Watering should then be limited and the plant should be moved to a brighter place. Sometimes the reason for the lack of light is simply the overcrowding of several plants standing next to each other, so you just have to move them a little further away from each other.
In addition to physiological diseases,diphenbachia diseasesinfectious diseases can also occur on the plant. The most common are: phytophthora, root rot, rhizoctoniosis, brown and ringdiphenbachia leaf blotchand gray mold. Symptoms of these diseases and methods of combating them are discussed in more detail in the article Diseases of houseplants.
Sometimesdiscoloration of the leaves of diphenbachiacan also be caused by pests of houseplants, mainly spider mites. If spider mites appear on the upper side of the leaves, mosaic-like discoloration develops. First you can see them along the veins, then they cover the entire leaf surface.In such a situation, one of the spider mite preparations must be applied.
Mealybugs may also appear on diphenbachia (the plant shows insects surrounded by white woolly discharge) and cups (small insects visible on shoots and leaves, covered with a convex, hard, brown or reddish shield). In order to control these pests, you can spray Provado Plus AE or apply the Ultra Shield or BR Shielding Scale in the soil. Less frequently, aphids appear on diphenbachia, which can be combated in housing with Agrocover Spray.
