dieffenbachia flower

Bright and attractive dieffenbachia with luxurious striped leaves native to South America. The genus is named after the Austrian botanist Josef Dieffenbach, who in the XNUMXth century was a senior gardener at the Imperial Botanical Garden in Vienna.

All types of dieffenbachia are evergreen plants from the Aroid family (Araceae). In nature, they can grow up to 2 m, and they can grow up to the same size in an apartment. So you need a lot of space for this flower. The leaves are large, with spots and stains, which gives them a special chic. But despite the beauty, dieffenbachia is quite rare to be found in our apartments, because almost mystical power is attributed to this plant. She told us about the features of this plant Tatyana Zhashkova, chairman of the Moscow Flower Growers club, collector of ornamental flowering plants.

Types and varieties of Dieffenbachia

In nature, there are more than 60 species of dieffenbachia (1). But only a few of them are grown in room culture.

Dieffenbachia Seguina (Dieffenbachia seguine). In floriculture, it is better known under the old name of dieffenbachia spotted (Dieffenbachia maculata). This is one of the most popular species and the tallest – the plants reach a height of 2 m. The leaves are large, up to 50 cm long, with patterns of their light specks.

This species has a lot of interesting varieties.

• Green Magic – with rich green leaves with a cream vein in the center;
• Camille – it has white leaves with a green stripe along the edge;
• Compact (Compacta) – undersized variety 50 – 65 cm high with light green leaves and dark green spots;
• Reflektor – a very bright variety with a camouflage color of the leaves: yellow and white spots are densely “scattered” on a dark green background;
• Rudolph Roehrs – with pistachio-colored leaves, a dark green stripe along the edge and the same color of the central vein, with white and green spots;
• Tropic Marianne – with leaves of creamy-light green color with white veins and a thin dark green border;
• Tropic Sun – with leaves of light green color with a dark green border and a central vein;
• Tropic Snow – with dark green leaves and numerous light stripes, strokes and spots;
• Tropical Tiki – with silvery leaves, on which numerous white spots are scattered, the border is dark green, and the central vein is light green.

Dieffenbachia Leopold (Dieffenbachia leopoldii). This species is native to Costa Rica. The plant is short, the trunk does not exceed 5 cm in height, but the leaves are long – up to 35 cm. They are dark green, with a white central vein. Petioles are short, about 15 cm, pale green with purple splashes.

dieffenbachia estreda (Dieffenbachia oerstedii). Tall species up to 1,8 m high. Leaves up to 35 cm long, glossy, dark green, with a white vein in the center and rare spots along it.

dieffenbachia macrophylla (Dieffenbachia macrophylla). The species is native to Peru. The stem is up to 1 m high, the leaves are large, up to 60 cm long, saturated green color and lighter veins. The juice has an unpleasant specific smell.

Dieffenbachia Bause (Dieffenbachia bausei). The plant is up to 90 cm high. The leaves are medium-sized, up to 30 cm long, oval, light green in color with a white marbled pattern.

Dieffenbachia care at home

Dieffenbachia quickly becomes a favorite, because it looks very impressive and is also extremely unpretentious. But some features of agricultural technology still need to be taken into account.

Ground

Dieffenbachia comes from tropical forests, and there is a lot of organic matter in the soils. Therefore, the soil for them must be fertile. Suitable purchased soil for decorative leafy plants.

But it is better, nevertheless, to cook it yourself. The best option is a mixture of leafy soil, humus, peat and sand in a ratio of 3:1:1:1 (2).

Temperature

These plants do not have a pronounced dormant period, so they need to be grown in warmth throughout the year. The optimum temperature is 20 – 25 ° C, in winter it should not fall below 17 ° C. Dieffenbachia does not tolerate drafts and temperature changes.

Lighting

Dieffenbachia can not stand the bright sun, and even more so direct sunlight – they need a shadow. Moreover, they are easily put up even with minimal lighting – they can be grown in the back of the room. However, in winter it is useful to put on the windowsill (3) – at this time the sun is inactive and harmless, and it becomes too dark away from the window.

Humidity

The plant loves abundant watering (in spring and summer every 2-3 days, in autumn and winter – once every 4-5 days), but does not tolerate excess moisture, so drainage is a must in the pot.

Fertilizers and fertilizing

Dieffenbachia is useful to feed once every 2 weeks from March to September – it is at this time that they are actively growing. It is best to use a complex liquid fertilizer. But it is important that it does not have a lot of nitrogen (2) – plants grow very quickly from it.

Trimming

As Dieffenbachia grows, the lower leaves are often shed, exposing the trunk – this is their natural feature. However, at the same time, plants lose their decorative effect. In order for the bushes to be lush, once a year they need to cut off the tops – then sleeping buds on the stems will wake up and new young shoots will appear.

Dieffenbachia reproduction at home

Dieffenbachia reproduce well vegetatively and there are 2 methods that give excellent results.

Top cuttings. In this case, the top of the plant is cut off, the lower leaves are cut off, if any, and the cutting is planted in a mixture of sand and sphagnum moss in equal proportions (2).

Stem pieces. It is better to root them in a mixture of sand and soil, also in equal proportions (2). Each piece should have 2 – 3 internodes. Segments of the stem are laid horizontally on the ground and covered with a film or glass.

Both breeding options give the best results in summer and late December. Cutting cuttings and pieces of the stem is best combined with pruning the plant.

Dieffenbachia transplant at home

Dieffenbachia grow very quickly, so they need to be transplanted annually. The optimal time is March. The new pot should be 2-3 cm larger than the previous one in diameter. And it is best to choose clay pots – they are heavy and will not turn over under the weight of large leaves of the plant.

Dieffenbachia diseases

Problems with dieffenbachia usually occur with improper care.

The stem rots. This often happens if the plant is poured or the room is cool – the temperature is below 17 ° C.

At the initial stage, when only part of the shoot is affected, the diseased tissue can be cut out with a sharp knife, and the wound sprinkled with crushed charcoal. If the stem has rotted badly, you need to cut and root a healthy top, and throw everything else away.

Leaves become pale. This happens if the plant is standing in a too bright room or direct sunlight falls on it.

Move dieffenbachia to a darker place and soon the color of the leaves will be restored.

Young leaves are falling. There are three reasons for this problem:

• too low temperature;
• dry air;
• drafts.

Move dieffenbachia to a warm place and spray more often.

The edges of the leaves dry. This comes from a lack of watering – Dieffenbachia do not like it when the soil dries up, it should always be wet. The second possible reason is cold air.

Dieffenbachia pests

Dieffenbachia most often affects 2 types of pests.

Spider mite. The first signs are numerous small whitish dots on the leaves. With a strong infection, the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off, a cobweb appears on the plant.

To destroy the spider mite, you can use the drug Kleshchevit (4).

Shchitovka. It usually settles on stems and on the underside of leaves. Insects are immobile and look like small brown bumps. With a strong lesion, the growth of Dieffenbachia slows down greatly, its leaves begin to dry out and, as a result, the plant may die.

It is difficult to fight the shield. The first step is to manually remove all insects with a cotton pad dipped in alcohol or vodka. And then carry out 2 – 3 treatments of the plant with Aktellik (4).

Why can’t dieffenbachia be kept at home?

The juice of this plant is poisonous to humans and animals. Contact with skin can cause severe burns. If the juice enters the stomach, swelling of the larynx and tongue, blurred vision, interruptions in the work of the heart, and anaphylactic shock may occur. Therefore, diffebanchias are not recommended to start in apartments where there are animals and small children.

In addition to the obvious harm from poisonous juice, the reputation of dieffenbachia is also spoiled by superstitions associated with it. It is believed that in ancient times the leaf of this plant could deprive a person of speech, sealing his mouth (which is completely understandable – poisonous juice, causing swelling of the larynx and tongue, did not allow a person to speak).

But now there is a different opinion: Dieffenbachia is called a “husband”, a symbol of celibacy. It is believed that this plant weakens male energy, which is why men cannot be in the same room with it. Therefore, it is not recommended to start unmarried girls. By weakening male energy, dieffenbachia allegedly makes married couples infertile.

But, of course, this is nothing more than superstition.

Popular questions and answers

She told us about the cultivation of dieffenbachia and the problems that may arise agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova.

Sources of

1. Dieffenbachia // The Plant List (http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Araceae/Dieffenbachia/)
2. Visyashcheva L.V., Sokolova T.A. Industrial floriculture. Textbook for technical schools // M.: Agropromizdat, 1991 – 368 p.
3. Dr. Hession DG All about indoor plants // M .: Kladez-Buks, 2002 – 256 p.
4. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation (https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii -i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/)