Among the huge variety of plants used for home, office, apartments, shopping centers and landscape decorations, the dracaena family is common. The group has 40 species, which vary in size and shape. This beautiful plant requires proper care and attention.
Why can a plant get sick?
Like any other flower, dracaena are susceptible to disease. Typical symptoms: Brown coloring of white areas of leaves (dead or yellow tips) may indicate fluorine toxicity or alkaline soil. Brown spots on the roots with a smell indicate soft rot.
Dracaena is an excellent choice for home breeding.
Reddish or light brown spots surrounded by a yellow halo may indicate that dracaena has spotting. Yellow spots on dracaena leaves, yellow or dead streaks indicate that the plant has become too cold.
Note! Damaged leaves or stunted growth may indicate infection with thrips, coastal flies, scales, mealy bugs, or mushroom mosquitoes.
Diseases and treatment of dracen
Having determined the disease, measures should be taken to treat it. Recovery of diseased flowers is not always possible, especially when the situation is severely neglected.
Fluorine toxicity
This is one of the most common problems faced by dracaena. Fluorine toxicity is manifested in the form of yellow tips of leaves, edges and dead spots. Leaves have dark brown and dead patches with yellow edges.
Yellowing of dracaena leaves caused by excess fluoride
Too many soluble salts or boron cause the same symptoms. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to maintain soil pH in the range of 6.0-6.5, avoid fertilizing dracaena with fluorinated products and do not water the plant with water with a high fluorine content. To determine the toxicity or alkalinity, water and soil are checked and, if necessary, adjustments are made to help the plant move away from the damage. It is important to regularly leach accumulated salts and fluorides from the soil in potted plants, slowly passing through the soil the amount of distilled water equal to the two volumes of the pot in which dracaena grows.
Helpful information! Having noticed the accumulation of white deposits on the outside of the vessel (especially near drainage holes, which is a sign of excess salts), rain or distilled water is used to wash off the excess salt.
Fusarium leaf spot
Young leaves become covered with reddish or rusty spots. The plant can be preserved with iprodione, thiophanate methyl, mancozeb and chlorothalonil. To combat Fusarium spotting, a fungicide is used to treat it. If the new leaves stop blushing, then the treatment was successful. It will not be superfluous to adjust the irrigation technology. In order to limit the spread of infection, they avoid watering from above and make sure that the plants are not flooded.
Dracaena Pests
Ticks
Observing a white coating on the dracene, it can be assumed that the plant became ill with mold. Fuzzy white spots are not a strong signal. They are often caused by sucking pests that feed on plant tissue fluid.
Spider mites (technically arachnids) when viewed with the naked eye look like tiny moving dots. The appearance of the spider mite first manifests itself in the form of a light scattering of dots on the leaves of plants, which begin to twist, followed by yellowing or bronzing of a larger area of leaves. If the infection is severe, a thin web of ticks can be seen. They prefer hot, dry and dusty conditions, and drought-prone plants are especially vulnerable to them. Dracaena is not growing what to do? Water the plants regularly to reduce the likelihood of tick problems.
Even home dracaens are prone to attack by parasites.
Sometimes spraying plant leaves with water reduces dust and knocks down spider mites. To get rid of them, they spray the plant with insecticides for indoor plants. Insects are easily removed using pyrethrins.
Scale insects
Mealybug on Dracaena - grayish wingless insects that move slowly and are covered with a waxy coating. They have wax threads coming from the bodies. They tend to group when feeding, looking like cotton masses, often concentrating in the axils of the leaves and other protected places. In adult females, the cotton scales on the pillows have brownish bodies with a characteristic white corrugated bag of eggs.
Important! The action of large or small beetles reduces the viability of plants and can lead to death.
These pests also produce drops of a sticky, sweet substance known as honey dew, which causes soot growth, can twist leaves due to their consistency and attract ants. This is the answer to the question of why dracaena twists leaves into a tube. On flowers that grow outdoors, pests are usually controlled by natural predators, unless beneficial insects are destroyed by persistent broad-spectrum pesticides, dust, or ants.
It is recommended to regularly spray the plant with a strong stream of water to bring down mealy bugs or other pests, rinse honey dew and reduce the amount of dust. You can also use ready-made insecticidal soap or garden oil to combat bugs.
The closest relative of the mealybug is the scab, living on a dracaena. Outwardly, they look like dried brown spots on dracaena leaves or vesicles (the so-called “shields”). Such shields can cover a significant area of the flower. Hence the name of the parasite. Often they are located quite densely, forming a kind of bark on the trunk and leaves. It is recommended to deal with them by mechanically removing the shields, for example using a toothbrush.
Note! The process is simplified if you pre-treat the insects with vodka or kerosene.
Thrips and other pests
Several types of thrips feed on dracaenas. These pests are tiny, soft looking insects that penetrate plant tissue and feed on cellular contents. Their appearance leads to distortion of plant tissue, the appearance of white or silver spots, and in severe cases, to a slowdown in growth, twisting and falling leaves. Many beneficial insects help control thrips on street dracaenas.
Fungal diseases
How to save dracaena if the top has dried up? Some fungal diseases, including leaf spots and root rot, can affect dracaena plants. The spots on the leaves look uneven or rounded, while the leaves curl and fade. Usually this leads to the fact that the leaves turn yellow, twist, dry. Ultimately, it dies. The roots of diseased plants become soft, turn brown and then blacken.
Such leaves in dracaena need only be cut
A thorough inspection of plants before buying them will help to avoid problems with diseases. Do not water dracaena on top of watering and allow waterlogging of the soil. Any containers should have drainage holes, and there should be an adequate distance between the plants.
Note! It is very important to quickly cut and destroy leaves on which spots appear. Infected plants are isolated from healthy ones.
To control pests, they use natural enemies, such as Vedalia beetles. They are forcibly planted on a plant, previously bought in a garden store. After some time, the mealy bugs disappear, and the flower is restored. With severe infection, the plant is saturated with a botanical pesticide called garden oil.
Soft rot
Soft brown rot and an unpleasant smell on root cuttings. The only way out is to buy plants without disease and get rid of those that have them. Reducing stagnant water and good drainage are important to prevent soft rot disease.
Brown spots
Brown spots on the leaves can be caused by several different factors.
Symptoms in plants:
- brown, dry spots on the leaves;
- the tips of the leaves turn brown;
- leaves begin to curl;
- small brown spots with a yellow fringing.
If any of these symptoms are detected, it is recommended to adjust the irrigation technology. If the soil dries too much, the tips of the leaves are wrinkled and will have brown tips and spots. Dracaena disease which is not treated for a long time - ultimately dies.
Interesting information! To understand that a flower needs moisture, a simple method is used. In the soil, a scratch is made to a depth of 3-4 centimeters. If it is dry, watering is necessary.
Dracaena needs to be watered approximately every 7-10 days. Because of the heating in houses, it is often hot and dry in winter, so plants have to be watered more often. If brown spots appear on the leaves, edged with yellow, then this may be a leaf spot disease.
To treat it, you should try a home remedy:
- put in a container one or two tablespoons of baking soda;
- add 1-2 (depending on the number of tablespoons of soda) teaspoons of mineral oil;
- mix the solution and pour into a spray bottle of water;
- shake the solution and spray all areas of the plant affected by brown spots.
Worth to know! You must always remove the damaged area of the sheet or the entire sheet if its main part has a brown tint. This helps the plant recover and look better. To do this, use sterilized scissors.
Step-by-step instructions for the correct removal of damaged or fallen leaves:
- Trim brown leaves or stains with clean scissors. Only damaged tips or spots are cut off so that tiny brown edges remain. This is necessary so as not to damage the remaining healthy foliage on the plant.
- When the entire leaf turns brown, individual parts of the plant are removed at their base.
- If the sheet has managed to curl, but is still not completely affected, it is also worth cutting off the damaged part and giving it the opportunity to recover.
Prevention
Constant care of plants is required. Intact, healthy plants have every chance of avoiding problems compared to diseased plants with poor health. The algorithm is as follows:
- grow dracaena in areas of the garden that offer full sun and partial shade;
- if dracaena grows indoors, it is important to provide bright, indirect light;
- excessive sun exposure can cause damage;
- dracaena successfully develop in shaded conditions;
- you need to maintain moist soil with a high content of organic substances with a pH level of from 6.0 to 6.5;
- Dracaena should be watered with warm water when the topsoil is dry.
Why do dracaena leaves die?
Leaves begin to brown at the tip, and then the entire leaf turns brown, folds and dies. This picture is often observed by the owners of indoor plants.
One of the most common causes is leaf moisture or waterlogging. It is important to always use well-drained soil. In addition, you should make sure that the pot is also well drained.
Important! Simply cleaning dead leaves will not solve the problem. It is necessary to determine the real reason that led to such results.
Essential Dracaena Care Tips
Proper cultivation plays an important role in caring for plants. The flower grows best in bright and indirect light. In low light, it will grow much more slowly.
Why is dracaena not growing?
The room should always be warm, regardless of the time of year. When the temperature drops below +18 ℃, the plant will stop growing. Sometimes it starts to hurt and even dies.
Humidity
If the surrounding humidity is high, the flower grows well. This parameter can be adjusted using pebbles located under the plant.
Fertilizers
In summer and spring, water-soluble fertilizers are used for home plants twice a month. When winter or autumn is outside, fertilizers are not needed.
Fluorine
The dracaena are extremely sensitive to it. Exposure to this chemical should be minimized. Fluoride can be present in tap water, which is why its use is not recommended.
With proper care, dracaena will delight with its beauty
The fight against dracaena diseases and other problems is best done through prevention. The result will be regular flowering without any concern for the wearer.
