Drachen Diseases and Their Treatment

The exotic plant dracene comes from the subtropical and tropical forests of Africa, Asia and South America. A dragon tree, or a false palm tree, as it is also called, grows in the wild at home and can reach a height of up to 20 meters. But the room relatives miraculously took root and in colder conditions on the windowsills of flower growers-amateurs in many countries of the world, including they are widely represented in all regions of Russia. Despite the rather unpretentious nature, Drazena can catch cold. Diseases of the flower must be treated in time to prevent its death, as well as the infection of other flowerpots.

Causes of problems

Like any other indoor flower, dracene requires a certain care, caring, even love. This living organism really needs a certain illumination, watering, it is subject to the influence of external factors. Scientists even conduct tests with which they want to prove the existence of a biological relationship between plant and person, the availability of compatibility and contraindications to the content of certain flowers at home to certain people. And today there are confirmed facts that plants really react to pain, have a sense of fear, can experience joy, listen to music and remember.

There are two main reasons why Drazena can get sick:

1. Physiological.
2. Infectious.

The first reason is connected with the wrong conditions for the existence of the plant, with mistakes in the care of it. The second cause of the development of diseases can be various infections or pests.

Physiological factors that cause disease

Drakens disease often occurs as a result of improper care for the flower. For example, if the owner of the plant is incompetent in this or does not have the opportunity to create suitable conditions. There may be several reasons for this:

• Excess or lack of lighting;
• Excessive watering or, conversely, too dry soil;
• Lack or excess of mineral and nutrients in the soil;
• Drafts;
• Low or high temperature, its sharp changes.

In order to avoid mistakes in the home maintenance of the plant, it is necessary before acquiring it or immediately after acquiring the basic requirements that are necessary to create favorable conditions for the growth of such an extravagant flower as dracaena.

Care, illnesses that can arise, we'll discuss all of this later. Take this information into consideration if you do not want the plant to suffer.

Is the dracaena hardy? Diseases, photos of which are presented below, can destroy a plant.

Care

Lighting for dracaena should in no case be too intense, but at the same time, the shadow does not fit. Optimal option can be called scattered sun rays in the summer period of time, as well as southern, southeast windows in winter. It is desirable to constantly turn the plant so that it develops uniformly from all sides. Especially sensitive to the sun are variegated plant species, in which the brightness of the color is directly dependent on the illumination: the more light, the brighter the leaves, and vice versa, in darkness, they darken.

Air temperature should also depend on the time of year. In summer Drazen is cozy at 18-20 degrees, but in winter it should be a little cooler. The maximum permissible temperature is 30 degrees, the minimum temperature is 8 degrees. If this indicator exceeds or falls below the permissible level, the plant will slow growth and become ill.

Dracaena is hygrophilous, it needs to be sprayed regularly, watering should be abundant, but at the same time one should not allow stagnation of water in the flowerpot. Water should be boiled to remove excess fluoride, because the excess of this mineral can cause illness of the leaves.

Do not forget about fertilizing the plant once or twice a month. For this purpose, phosphorus fertilizers can not be used. It is best to buy ready-made complexes, designed specifically to care for dracaena.

The soil can be prepared on its own using the soddy earth, reparted manure and sand, or purchase a ready-made mixture. It is recommended to drain the soil regularly, but it needs to be done very carefully, because the tender root system of the plant is in the upper layers.

Physiological diseases of dracena and their treatment

First, it should be noted that the drying of the lower leaves of the plant is due to the natural aging process. First, the tips dry, and then the whole leaf. To be frightened of it it is not necessary. To preserve the decorative appearance of the flower, yellow tips should be carefully trimmed with parts, while it is not recommended to remove the entire sheet at once, it is enough to beat the dried tissue.

But if the yellow leaves start to dry and young leaves start, then it already shows the disease. It arises as a result of too abundant or irregular irrigation. To eliminate the symptoms it is enough to simply change the water regime.

Drachene diseases also occur when there is insufficient air humidity or drafts. From this, the tips of the leaves of the plant acquire a brown color. The flower needs regular spraying, do not forget about it. Brown spots on the leaves can also indicate a sunburn. Such marks first look wet, and then dry up.

What to do when the young tips are dying

The cause of blackening and drying of the dracaena leaves are problems with the soil. To eliminate the disease, you need the following:

• Transplant the plant if it has not been produced in the last three years, since the accumulation of salts in the old soil leads to the death of the suction roots;
• To change fertilizer, perhaps it is not suitable for this type of plant, it has a lot of fluoride or other minerals;
• Change the soil, add more peat and humus, it may be too light or too clayey and heavy.

Causes of decay of leaves

When in a plant like dracen, leaf diseases are accompanied by decay, the causes should be sought in violation of the lighting regime or in the lack of heat. With non-infectious decay, watery-brown tissues are formed, separated from the healthy part by a green band, which is a symptom of a particular physiological ailment. Rotting with the formation of yellow tissue is characteristic of bacteriosis. Here's what to do in this case:

• Make sure that there are no overflows, which can lead to decay of the root system and, as a result, leaves;
• Change the soil to a looser and softer soil to provide oxygen to the roots;
• Change the air temperature to the optimum values.

Help with sagging and falling leaves

Dracaena diseases often occur because of low temperatures, because relatives of this plant are from the tropics. When freezing, for example, if the room is less than 10 degrees, or the vase stands by the open window, the leaves sag, become dull. With prolonged exposure to unfavorable conditions, roots can decay. To save the flower, it should be sprinkled with warm water. If a significant improvement does not occur, try to transplant. Sometimes the only possible way to help dracene is to cut and root the top (if rotten roots and trunk are affected).

Infectious ailments

The most common infectious diseases are Drazen:

• Alternaria;
• Heterosporosis;
• Phyllosticosis;
• Bacteriosis.

With alternaria, brown spots with a light middle appear on the leaves. If you look closely, you can see concentric circles on them. Over time, spots become black due to fungus spores. Treatment of this disease is carried out with the help of fungicides. The most effective is the "Fundazol". It should be bought in a specialized store and make a spraying solution at the rate of 1 gram per half liter of water. Other copper-containing fungicides can also be used for this purpose. But in this case it is necessary to study the instruction to the preparation. Spraying should be carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 10 days.

Treatment of heterosporosis, phyllosticosis and bacteriosis

We continue to study the diseases of dracena and their treatment. Another common ailment is heterospose. Its distinctive feature is the formation on the leaves of oblong stains of light brown color with a dark red border. And with phyllostectosis, light-brown irregularly shaped markings appear with a yellow-green border and black dots-pycnidia. Both these diseases are treated with fungicides. Most of all, plants that grow with dry air and lack of moisture are prone to these ailments.

Excess moisture and too high air temperature contribute to the development of a disease such as bacteriosis. Drops of liquid appear on the tips of the dracaena leaves, which, drying up, form an oily film. Between the healthy and affected area, a yellow band becomes visible. Sometimes ulcers form on the stems of a sick plant. If such a flower is sprayed with water, then the ailment will spread to neighboring plants. Unfortunately, at present there is no medicine that can help. Affected plant should be discarded as soon as possible.

Diseases caused by pests

Many pests are very fond of such a plant as dracaena. Diseases, white plaque forming, can arise because of the defeat of the flower mealybug, false scab, mite. These pests are very insidious. They often suffer from dracene marginata. Diseases (photos presented in the article) carry a serious danger.

In each individual case, treatment is assigned a different, therefore, it is necessary to correctly diagnose.

If a powdery marsh has attacked the dratzen , the appearance on the stem and leaves of plants of colonies of insects with a cotton-like fluff is characteristic. In this case, the following activities should be carried out:

• Remove insects with cotton wool soaked in soapy water;
• Wipe the pot and sill with soapy water, wash the plant under the shower;
• Sprinkle the flower with an insecticide or soap-alcohol solution (1-2 g of soap per 200 ml of vodka).

Spraying should be repeated several times until the symptoms disappear completely.

When a false shield is damaged, a white, sticky slime forms on the underside of the dracaena leaves. Measures to combat it are the same as with a mealybug.

If the leaves have a barely noticeable yellowish or white coating, then you should look for a spider mite that can hide on the back of the sheet. To combat it, the effective agent is the insecticide "Actellik".

Sometimes a white coating is formed as a result of watering with too hard water, in which there is a lot of lime.