Dieffenbachia: types and rules of cultivation

Dieffenbachia is one of the most beautiful plants on our planet. For some time now, she has become a favorite of flower growers. Whether it is harmful or useful, its types, features of cultivation and care, diseases and pest control, read this article.

Dieffenbachia is a flower that is not indifferent to those who want to create a real corner of wildlife in an apartment or at work. Abundant bright greenery very decorates the room, making it look like an evergreen rainforest, cool and humid. No wonder. The homeland of the plant is the countries of North and South America, where more than 30 species of this flower grow in the wild. The countries of growth of Dieffenbachia are characterized by subequatorial, equatorial and tropical climates. This explains the love of this culture for moisture and diffused sunlight.

European expeditions that poured in after the discovery of South America here for easy prey, spread the plant in the countries of the Old World, where scientists have bred completely new varieties with even more beautiful and vibrant colors. The first managed to create a completely new variegated variety for decorating the greenhouse of the Austrian imperial court, Joseph Dieffenbach, the court gardener. In honor of him, the overseas beauty was named.

Anyone who wants to grow a beautiful and healthy plant needs to know the following.

• Dieffenbachia grows rapidly, under good conditions it is able to throw out a new leaf every week. For 5 years, the length of an indoor flower can be more than 2 m.
• Light leaves with a variegated marble color indicate that the plant loves light very much, it must be kept near the window.
• A flower with dark-colored foliage prefers shade, it can be placed in the back of the room, where it will grow beautifully.
• Dieffenbachia, or rather, its juice, is poisonous, but if safety precautions are followed, the plant is not capable of harming health.
• The plant perfectly cleans the air in the room, releasing oxygen and enriching the air with phytoncides.

More than 150 years have passed since Dieffenbachia conquered people with its splendor and variegated leaves. The fact that the plant is fraught with danger to human health was established only in the XX century. Studying plants of the arid family, scientists have determined that most members of this group contain a chemical in the juice of stems and leaves - calcium oxalate.

If it gets on the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, the juice causes extremely unpleasant reactions:

• a feeling of pain and burning in the eyes;
• burning pain and swelling of the mucous membrane when it enters the nose and mouth;
• nausea, acute and painful spasms when the substance enters the gastrointestinal tract;
• irritation, itching on the skin is caused by the sap of the plant in adults and children with allergies.

The impact of toxins on the body occurs at lightning speed. Provide first aid to the victim and it is necessary to seek qualified help from specialists at the first signs of deterioration in health:

• dizziness and headache;
• the appearance of weakness, sweating;
• cramps in the abdomen;
• sore throat, shortness of breath.

People with allergies, bronchial asthma need to urgently take an antihistamine. Animals and small children can find themselves in such an unpleasant situation, so it is better to keep the plant in places inaccessible to them. Those who care for a flower, in order not to harm their health, should adhere to simple rules:

• do not touch the broken twigs and stems of the plant with your bare hands;
• be sure to wash your hands after contact with the flower;
• process the leaves of the plant, wash them only with rubber gloves.

If you are vigilant and attentive to the flower, it is not able to have a negative impact on human health. Remember that dieffenbachia is only dangerous if you touch it while excreting.

There are more than 35 types of indoor dieffenbachia, among which you can find the one that will decorate your home.

• "Painted" or "Motley". It is a tree variety. In height, it can reach more than 2 m, so a room with a high ceiling is suitable for it. Large chic oval leaves more than 40 cm long have a bright green color, on which an intricate variegated pattern of light yellow stripes stands out.

• "Painted", she is "Spotted". This beauty from distant countries was hiding in the second tier of dense tropical forests, therefore painted dieffenbachia is a bushy plant, its height is small, about 1 meter. The bush looks voluminous, lush and greatly adorns any space, be it an official institution or an ordinary city apartment.

The flower got its name from the leaves. Large, about 50 cm in length, with sharp tips, they have a delightful coloration. It seems that nature itself has used them as an artistic palette. On a dark background of a leaf plate, splashes, stripes, strokes, white, yellow, light green dots are placed in an artistic disorder, creating an incredibly beautiful picture.

If the plant has dark colors, the flower can be safely placed away from the window.

• "Nice". Growers love Dieffenbachia "pleasant" for the docile "character". She is not capricious to lighting, she tolerates prolonged drought, unlike her other brethren. Plant height - about 1.5 m, leaf plates are very wide - up to 60 cm. Dark leaves have ornate thin white stripes.

• "Magnificent". This variety of Dieffenbachia is also called "Royal". Outwardly, the plant corresponds to the name. The coloring of the leaves resembles a royal robe: dark green spots are occasionally scattered on a light background. Along the green trunk there is an exquisite white speck. The flower grows superbly, perfect for landscaping large areas in the halls of institutions, cafes, winter gardens. Shade tolerates well.

• "Bauze". Unlike others, this variegated Dieffenbachia has miniature leaves measuring 40 cm, although the tree is more than 1 meter tall. The trunk of the plant is powerful, the shoots are strongly bushy. The middle of the leaves is light colored. The flower loves well-lit places, in darkened rooms it withers and dies quickly.

• "Bauman". This flower is the owner of the largest leaves of all Dieffenbachia: from 70 to 80 cm in length. The plant is more than 1.5 m tall. Owners of spacious apartments with high ceilings love it. Like many variegated Dieffenbachia, this specimen has bizarre light blotches on dark leaves. The plant loves light and does not tolerate drafts at all.

• Leopold. This flower can rightfully be considered exotic in our country. Among lovers of indoor flowers, it is rare. The leaves of the plant have an unusual elliptical shape. In the middle of the green leaf, a clear and even white line stands out brightly, as if it was drawn along a ruler.

The trunk of the plant is short, no more than 5 cm in height, the cuttings are small, tightly pressed against the thick trunk.

• "White Flame". This new Dieffenbachia strain is delicious. The leaves of the plant are glossy and resilient; in their color they resemble the tongues of a blazing fire. The flower is low: from 60 to 70 cm in height. Like all Dieffenbachia, the plant loves light and warmth, but does not survive in a draft.

• "Pretty". This dieffenbachia differs from its relatives in the highly elongated shape of the leaves, the surface of which is glossy and dense. The coloration of the greenery of the "adorable" is very original. On a dark green background, on both sides of the central vein, there are dense oblique light straight lines. From a distance, a simple pattern resembles a herringbone. Sometimes in the picture there is an abundance of small white dots, it seems that the plant is covered with a light snowball. For this, Dieffenbachia received its second romantic name - "Tropical Snow".

A guest from America is not as picky about her living conditions as it seems at first glance. With proper care, a green pet will live and delight you with its beauty for more than 10 years.

The flower needs a sufficient amount of light, otherwise it will quickly wither and die. Plants with light-colored leaves should be kept in well-lit rooms. Dieffenbachias with dark greens can be found in shaded areas, away from windows. Soft diffused light is good for all varieties.

Do not put the plant on the southern windows, do not take it out on terraces and balconies in the sweltering summer heat.

Dieffenbachia loves abundant watering. The ground should be moist, but not wet, squelching like a liquid porridge. It is enough to water the plant once a week. You can use a wooden skewer to determine how wet the earthen lump is. Gently, from the edge of the pot, so as not to injure the plant, place it in the ground 2-3 cm. If the soil on a stick is dry, it is time to water the dieffenbachia. It is better to use regular tap water, which has been kept for 24 hours. If water collects in the pan of the pot during watering, it must be poured out. The plant does not like to be in water. To avoid such situations, place several plastic bottle caps under the bottom of the pallet.

In winter, a dormant period begins for Dieffenbachia. Watering should not be frequent, only if necessary, depending on the room temperature, which should not exceed 18 degrees Celsius. Fertilizing flowers at this time of year is not worth it. In summer and spring, during watering, special nitrogen-containing fertilizers for decorative deciduous plants are added to the water. Plants are fed once a week. The amount of dressing recommended by the instructions is advised by experienced flower growers to be halved.

The air in the room where dieffenbachia lives should not be dry. It is imperative to maintain a humid microclimate for the well-being of the plant, especially in winter, when heating devices make it dry and hard.

The plant needs to be sprayed, kept away from batteries. Place a pallet with small damp pebbles or shell rock next to the pot. You can use special devices to humidify the air in the room. It is beneficial not only for plant health, but also for humans.

In summer, the plant will respond gratefully to a warm shower. During water procedures, be sure to cover the soil in the pot with a film so that excess water does not get there. It is good to wipe the dieffenbachia foliage with a damp cloth as it becomes dusty.

Dieffenbachia is a culture that is undemanding to the soil. It is only important that the soil is not too acidic.For planting, you can use any ready-made soil mixture for decorative green plants, for example, for ficuses or dracaena. Florists advise adding coconut peat to the finished soil from the store. It makes the soil looser and more breathable, allowing the roots to breathe freely.

The mixture is made up in the proportion:

• coconut peat - 1/4;
• ready soil - 3/4.

You can make the soil yourself from the following components:

• peat - 2/10;
• sphagnum moss - 2/10;
• river sand - 1/10;
• leaf land - 4/10;
• charcoal - 1/10.

Dieffenbachia flowers are very modest. Outwardly, they resemble the familiar calla lilies. From the leaf axils, the flower throws out an ear wrapped in a green or pale pink petal. Flowering continues for several days, after which the blossoming flower dies off, but does not fall off, as happens in other plants.

The lifeless inflorescence must be removed, otherwise dieffenbachia, which has spent a lot of energy on flowering, will weaken and may die. To restore vital energy, the plant needs to be fed with fertilizers. Many growers feel sorry for their dieffenbachia, do not allow them to bloom and remove the buds in advance. But if there is a desire to admire this rare phenomenon, do not forget to add potassium-phosphorus fertilizer to the water for irrigation during the entire flowering period. This will help your plant survive the flowering period and not weaken.

Regular pruning of room dieffenbachia is a must. The flower grows very quickly, pulls its lush crown up, and leaves the trunk bare, with rare lonely leaves below. In order for the bush to become a decoration of your home again, you need to do it correctly pruning.

To do it right, follow the advice of experienced dieffenbachy lovers:

• do not water the plant for 5 days before pruning, this will reduce the production of caustic sap;
• before the procedure, treat the knife blade with alcohol;
• cut a tree dieffenbachia as low as possible so that there are no bare spots;
• sprinkle the cut area on the bush with crushed activated carbon to avoid infections;
• we update the side shoots at the bushes;
• when removing branches and trunks, be sure to leave below the cut off place the buds, similar to rings - after a while they will wake up and the young growth will move into growth;
• leave the removed shoots in the air for about 15 minutes, so that the cut site is covered with a thin film, after which the plant can be rooted in water or earth.

Dieffenbachia is transplanted once a year, from early March to late spring. If the plant looks great, you don't need to disturb it. But if the lower leaves wither, turn yellow and fall off, and the soil dries out quickly after watering, it is time to plant the plant in a more spacious pot. Step-by-step recommendations on how to plant a flower will help you avoid mistakes.

This will require:

• a stable flower pot 2-3 cm larger than the previous one;
• drainage for the plant: expanded clay, ordinary foam, broken ceramic dishes;
• settled water;
• gloves.

Step 1.

• Prepare dieffenbachia for planting. To keep the plant free from the old pot, do not water the bush for 4 days.
• Sterilize the flower soil in advance in any convenient way to kill harmful bacteria and larvae. Heat the ground in the oven, microwave, or pour it well with boiling water and air dry.
• The soil may be dry, but not wet.

Step 2.

• Wear protective gloves.
• Pour the prepared drainage into a new pot. If the container is much larger than the previous one, a large layer of drainage will help make it smaller in volume.
• It is recommended that the drainage takes up at least 1/3 of the volume of the pot.

Step 3.

• Remove the dieffenbachia from the old container along with the earthy clod. Examine it carefully.
• If there are signs of disease or rotting of the root system, carefully remove the soil, being careful not to damage the roots.
• Cut off diseased and rotten roots, sprinkle the cuts with activated charcoal.

Step 4.

• plant the flower in a pot so that the trunk is kept straight;
• cover the plant with earth, water.

The most common breeding methods for dieffenbachia are cuttings or dividing the bush. Cutting is a method suitable for all types of these plants. The division of the bush is used for the propagation of low-growing bush varieties.

The trunk and lateral shoots are used for grafting. This makes it possible to multiply and rejuvenate the flower: when cutting off the crown of the dieffenbachia, it gives new lush shoots. If the cut trunk with the crown is long enough, it is divided into several parts and each is rooted in water or sterilized soil.

When dieffenbachia is rooting in water, use ordinary water with the addition of activated carbon - 5 tablets per ½ liter of water. Charcoal can be replaced with a few drops of Fitosporin. The vessel in which the plant is standing should not be transparent. If it is a glass jar, wrap it in dark paper. The water needs to be changed every 4-5 days.

For cuttings rooted in the ground, it is better to create a mini greenhouse: cover the sprout with a bag or jar on top. It is important not to forget to air and lightly spray the plant every day. It is easy to propagate a dieffenbachia bush during transplantation. For this, an adult plant is carefully divided into two parts. Each of them should have a complete healthy root. The halves are planted in separate pots as independent plants.

Dieffenbachia rarely get sick, but if trouble strikes in order to save the green beauty, it is important to know what dangers may threaten her.

• Fusarium. The main symptom of the disease is that the leaves of the plant wither before our eyes, covered with brown longitudinal spots. The reason is the presence of pathogens in the soil.

For treatment, it is necessary to treat the plant according to the instructions with the fungicide "Fundazol", transplant it into another pot with pre-treated soil. It is better to cut off the diseased parts of the plant.

• Anthracnose. In this disease, the tips of the leaves dry out, brown spots appear at the edges and spread throughout the plant. The cause of the disease is a violation of the temperature and watering regime. Perhaps the air in the room is too dry, the plant is rarely watered. Waterlogging of the soil and drafts in the room can also lead to this disease.

Treatment-treatment of the affected plant with "Vitaros" or "Fundazol", compliance with all the necessary rules of care: no drafts, humidification of the air, abundant watering no more than 1 time a week.

• Leaf spot - the appearance on the leaf plates of brown spots with an orange edging. An abundance of moisture at a temperature too high for a flower leads to the disease. For treatment, you need to create comfortable conditions, treat the plant with a fungicide.
• Root rot - a sign that the plant is flooded. It is necessary to remove it from the pot, remove the rotten roots. Places of cuts and possible wounds should be treated with activated carbon or trichopolum powder. If the roots are completely in a deplorable state, it is better to cut off the surviving aerial part of the plant and root it again.
• Viral disease - bronze, characterized by the appearance on the leaves of a pattern in the form of circles and arcuate stripes with a tint of bronze.
• Viral mosaic looks like chaotically scattered bold spots with white dots in the middle.

A diseased plant, sadly, will have to be destroyed. It is doomed to perish and can infect all your flowers.

Pests cause considerable harm to the plant.

• Mealybug - an insect that affects all parts of the plant: stems, stem, leaves. A characteristic feature of the pest is the appearance of deformation of the leaves, their rapid wilting and the presence of white streaks, as if they were sprinkled with flour.
• Spider mite destroys the flower, while enveloping the trunks, leaves, young shoots with cobwebs. The tree begins to wither and shed its foliage.
• Thripsattacking the plant, destroy it, sucking out the juice, which is safe for them. The leaves of the flower curl and dry, the plant freezes in growth and dies.
• Shields feed on the intercellular fluid of plants and leave behind small brown crusts that are difficult to remove from the surface of the plant. Like thrips, scale insects are carriers of dangerous viral diseases, the result of which is the death of the green pet.

To get rid of insects, you need to do several procedures.

• Carry out mechanical processing of the plant. Carefully remove pests with your hands using a washcloth or cotton swab from each leaf, shoot, trunk. Green special soap helps to cope well with this task.
• After removing insects, treat dieffenbachia with Actellik or Karbofos according to the instructions.

If the plant is in the wrong conditions, it also looks sick.

• With a lack of light, the trunk of the plant is strongly stretched, and sometimes deformed in search of sunlight. The leaves lose their light color, darken, become smaller. So that the plant does not suffer, you need to rearrange it in a lighter place or lower the temperature in the room, reduce watering and feeding, so that the flower temporarily stops growing. Special phytolamps can be used to help the plant.
• Under the influence of bright sunlight, foliage can become covered with gray spots - burns, become dry and fall off, as it happens in autumn. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to adjust the watering and carry out regular spraying of the plant.
• If the trunk of the plant becomes soft, the leaves are watery, with a black bloom, this indicates that the plant is flooded with water. Dieffenbachia must be carefully removed from the pot, the roots must be treated with a fungicide and transplanted into the soil from high-moor peat and fine sand. Watering should be temporarily reduced and the plant moved to a well-lit area. So it will quickly recover and will again delight you with its beauty.

Without indoor plants, our life would be gray and uncomfortable. Dieffenbachia with its festive greenery always cheers up its owners. Take care of this wonderful plant with love, and it will reciprocate you.

See the video for helpful tips on caring for dieffenbachia.