Dracaena "Golden Coast": description, cultivation

Dracaena Golden Coast is an ornamental deciduous evergreen shrub that attracts many with its bright appearance and rich color. Breeding and growing it is not difficult if you know how to properly care for the plant, which place to choose and how much light and air a green pet needs.

Description of Dracaena Fragrance Golden Coast

Dracaena has a fragrance Golden Coast green and thin trunk, which becomes lignified as it grows. A shrub grows up to 2 m in height, the crown is formed in the form of a rosette. Particular attention is attracted by the leaves - bordered by light, yellowish stripes, large, oval, leathery.

Flowering in dracaena is a rare phenomenon, the process lasts up to 4 weeks. The flowers are small, creamy, gather in inflorescences in the shape of a ball.

Growing and care

The main ingredients for quality care are:

1. Watering and humidity.
2. Light and air.
3. Top dressing and correct crown formation.

Watering

It is worth watering the dracaena sparingly, but regularly, the main thing is not to let the soil dry out. From excess moisture, the roots can rot, and the plant will disappear.
In summer, during a particularly hot period, dracaena should be watered at intervals of 3-4 days, in winter - no more than once a week. The water is preliminarily defended at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

Lighting

It should be bright, but at the same time, direct sunlight should not be allowed on the foliage. Daylight hours are at least 10-12 hours. In winter, the availability of light is ensured by lamps.

Temperature

Optimum room temperature: + 16... + 28 ° С, minimum + 15 ° С. If the indicators are below the permissible level or there are sharp drops up to + 10 ° С, the plant may die. It is undesirable to put the flowerpot in places with a strong draft.

Humidity

Since the plant belongs to the tropical, it is important to maintain the appropriate humidity level in the room - 60-70%. It is difficult to achieve such conditions in a house, therefore it is necessary to spray the dragon tree from a spray bottle with warm, settled water 2 times a week. You should also wipe the sheets from dust and dirt every 7 days, wash them in the shower.

Top dressing

The plant is fed all year round - in the summer, once every 7 days, in the winter - once a month. As a top dressing, it is advisable to choose a special fertilizer for palms with an optimal ratio of nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium in a ratio of 9: 3: 3.

Maintaining appearance

In order to properly maintain the appearance of dracaena, during the period of active growth - from spring to autumn - it is pruned.

Reasons for the procedure:

• the need for plant rejuvenation;
• deformation or formation of the crown;
• reproduction by division;
• prevention of diseases in dracaena and getting rid of pests.

The cutting sequence is as follows:

1. With a sharp, sterile knife on the central stem (above 30 cm from the ground) or a side shoot, make an even and neat incision, then treat it with a garden varnish or crushed activated coal. This will prevent the inner barrel from drying out.
2. If leaves grow at a distance of 10 cm from the cut, they should be removed in order to reduce the area of ​​evaporation itself and provoke the knocking out of new, lateral shoots.
3. To provoke the appearance of buds, the stem where the incision was made should be treated with a growth stimulant. For example, it can be a solution of "Epin", "Charkor" or any other.
4. Wrap the trunk around the cut 15 cm with wet moss, and leave the cut open.
5. Cover the plant with polyethylene - this will create the most favorable conditions for dracaena. In this form, the flower should be kept for 2-3 weeks at a temperature of + 25 ° C and a humidity of at least 70%.

After pruning, the plant should be watered abundantly, then put in a shaded place for 2-3 days.

Transfer

An important point in the care is the transplant. The future of the plant depends on how correctly and timely it is carried out. The optimal time for transplanting is spring, in other months it is not recommended to perform the procedure. In the fall, the dracaena is prepared for wintering, and a violation of this process will lead to the death of the plant.

The shrub is transplanted into a new pot, previously treated with boiling water. The bottom of the container is lined with drainage, the layer thickness is 2-3 cm. Next, they carefully remove an earthen lump with roots from the old pot, examine it for damage and transfer it into a new one, carefully filling the space between the walls and roots with soil. To adapt the plant to the new soil, it is watered with water and fertilizer. Many gardeners advise at first to water the shrub with water with the addition of "Zircon" twice a month.

Pot

The following tips from experienced florists will help you choose a pot:

1. You need to purchase a container, focusing on the size of the root system: add 3-5 cm to its volume. Do not buy a flowerpot with a margin - excess moisture will lead to rotting of the root system and the death of the plant.
2. Many gardeners recommend choosing ceramic flowerpots due to their porous structure, although dracaena grow well in plastic pots.
3. If the plant is already an adult, buy a container in the shape of an elongated glass.
4. A prerequisite is the presence of drainage holes in the bottom. They will help remove excess moisture from the flowerpot, prevent it from stagnating. Otherwise, it will lead to rotting of the root system.

Reproduction

It is optimal to propagate dracaena by cuttings. You can do this with seeds, but experienced flower growers argue that this method rarely gives the desired results due to the low germination of the seed.

When propagating by cuttings, you should cut off the top of the stem, and then gently stick it into a mixture of sand, peat, leafy earth and humus. The stalk must be watered, sprayed and, most importantly, covered with a glass jar to create favorable temperature conditions and protect it from drafts. Air the plant as follows: raise the jar, leaving it for 10-15 minutes, but provided that the temperature in the room is not lower than + 23 ° C. After a month, the stalk gives roots, after which it can be transplanted into the chosen pot.

Alternatively, instead of the top, you can cut off the stems of dracaena with a height of 6-9 cm, dry them and stick them into the earthen mixture described above.

With proper and regular care, a lateral shoot with leaves grows from the stem, which, when it reaches 10-12 cm, is transplanted to a permanent place.

Serious errors

In the process of caring for dracaena, novice growers make serious mistakes that negatively affect the appearance of the plant, and even lead to its death. The following tips will help you avoid this outcome:

1. If the dracaena has bloomed, you should not rejoice, as this indicates improper care. The peduncle itself must be removed - it will simply weaken the plant. If you do not want to do this, add more fertilizing.
2. Do not expose the plant to drafts. Dracaena itself is thermophilic and reacts negatively to temperature changes, especially in early spring and late autumn. You should not place the plant under an air conditioner - the soil not only cools down from the cold air currents, but also loses moisture greatly.
3. If the soil is not regularly renewed, it loses its useful composition. The lack of nutrients in the soil is not the best condition for the growth of dracaena, therefore it is advisable to regularly renew the soil in the flowerpot or completely replace it with a more nutritious and loose one.
4. Some gardeners, out of inexperience, put the dracaena in the light, but from the bright sun it can burn the foliage.
5. Diseases can be transmitted to dracaena from neighboring plants that have not been quarantined, as well as from soil that has not been steamed in an oven and is contaminated with fungi. Therefore, before you put a new plant next to the dracaena, it must be kept in a separate room for 12-14 days, and the purchased land must be calcined in the oven.

Dracaena Golden Coast Diseases and Treatment Methods

Of the pests, dracaena is most often attacked by scale insects and thrips. You can get rid of them with a dish sponge lathered with laundry soap. The foam is applied to the plant, left for a day, and then washed off with warm water. The procedure is repeated 3-5 times with an interval of a day.

If the leaves dry, becoming covered with brown spots, most likely the dracaena lacks moisture. It is necessary to increase the frequency of watering and spray the flower daily.

Rust on foliage can also appear due to non-observance of the temperature regime.

If whitish spots appear on the foliage, these are burns from direct sunlight. You can save the plant by simply moving the pot to another place.
When the foliage turns yellow, dries up at the tip - this indicates an excessive dryness of the indoor air. Therefore, it is important to spray the plant regularly, put a bowl of water next to it.

Is Dracaena Golden Coast poisonous?

Dracaena is not one of the poisonous plants, but its juice contains special compounds that can provoke allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, and diarrhea. The sap of the plant will not harm an adult, and in small children or animals it can cause deterioration in health. If there is already a plant in the house, it should be placed in a place so that pets and a child cannot reach it.

Dracaena Golden Coast in the interior

Various types of dracaena are widely used in decorating homes and offices, and Golden Coast is no exception. Photos with plant placement options will help you choose the best solution.

When using fragrance in the interior, the benefits and harms of the plant should be taken into account. Dracaena is able to cleanse the air of harmful substances, it also releases special phytoncides that suppress and destroy pathogenic microorganisms. However, the plant is capable of provoking an allergy attack, although this rarely happens.

Dracaena Fragrance Golden Coast symbolizes comfort and family well-being. With proper care, it will delight the owners with its beauty. According to Eastern teachings, this plant is capable of attracting wealth and good luck, if you put it in the southeastern part of the house.