Difficulties in growing dieffenbachia: what they mean and how to deal with it
A tall plant with large and beautiful leaves has firmly settled not only in office premises, but also in private houses. Amazing Dieffenbachia able to revive a nondescript room, adding a bright shade to it and bringing a fresh touch of a wild garden. However, in order to grow a gorgeous bush, you need to provide the plant with suitable conditions and properly care for it, otherwise, instead of a beautiful trunk with huge shiny leaves, you can, at best, get a bare stick with a leafy bunch on top of the head.
What difficulties are encountered on the way for flower growers who want to have diffebachia in their collection? The most common phenomena that can be seen are:
- falling of the lower leaves;
- drying of the tips of the leaves;
- loss of color by the leaf;
- new leaves grow small;
- the trunk becomes soft and sluggish.
Why do leaves fall?
Under indoor conditions, in most dieffenbachia, over time, the lower layer of leaves withers and falls off. This is normal when it occurs gradually. If the leaves began to crumble too quickly, the reason for this may be:
- Lack of moisture (watering from time to time)... Solution to the problem: to establish an irrigation regime and prevent the land from completely drying out.
- Small pot... Solution to the problem: urgently transplant the flower into a more spacious flowerpot.
In winter, the lower leaves may still turn yellow and curl up from drafts and cold.
Why do leaf tips dry?
A healthy dieffenbachia leaf should have a uniform color, without wet or dry spots. Drying of the tips of the leafy plate may indicate violations of the conditions for keeping the flower, namely:
- temperature drop;
- low humidity;
- draft;
- acidification of the soil;
- improper spraying.
To avoid such a phenomenon, the plant should be provided with a comfortable constant temperature (not lower than 17 degrees Celsius), be sure to make a drainage layer in the pot and spray the leaves regularly (in the daytime!), And also periodically wash or wipe them.
Reasons for the loss of brightness of leaves and their crushing
When a bright green leaf begins to fade, discolor and lose brightness, this signals:
- Lack of light or its excess - you need to rearrange the flowerpot in a more (or less) lit place.
- Lack of nutrition - feed dieffenbachia potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
- Excess nitrogen in the soil - exclude nitrogen-containing preparations for a while.
In the case when young leaves are discolored, moreover, they grow small, on the face of an increased acidity of the soil. You need to change the substrate to a new one.
Why does the trunk lose turgor?
Healthy Dieffenbachia (photo) the trunk is solid and firmly upright. But if it is cold in the room, besides, the soil is also acidic, the stem becomes lighter and softer and begins to rot, and the flower itself falls to one side.
At the initial stage, you can still cut out only the damaged parts, but when the defeat has taken on a large scale, it is better to cut off the top and root it, discarding everything else.