Features of growing dracaena Sander at home

An unusual houseplant with a bare, erect or twisting stem, resembling bamboo in appearance, is increasingly found in apartments, offices, shopping centers and boutiques. This is Dracaena Sandera, or "bamboo of happiness", as it is customary to call the plant due to its specific structure. There is a belief that “lucky bamboo” brings good luck and prosperity to the house, gives health and protects from troubles. Whether this is so is a controversial question, but the plant is valued for its originality, beauty and ability to add charm to the design of any room. It is not difficult to grow dracaena Sander, since the palm tree is very unpretentious and does not require special care. Thanks to its ability to grow both in soil and in water, incredibly beautiful compositions can be created.

Description of the plant

Dracaena Sanderiana is an unpretentious evergreen perennial with attractive leaves and shoots. On sale, a palm of this type can most often be found in the form of low columns with leaves at the top. Moreover, the trunks can be completely smooth or have numerous branches, twist in a spiral or stretch vertically upward. Each plant has a powerful tuft of roots.

A creative person will certainly like the dracaena, since you can create amazing compositions from young shoots and form bizarre shapes, intertwining the trunks with each other.

The dracaena does not exceed one meter in height, and the length of its leaves reaches 25 cm. In the shape of the leaves and stem, the plant resembles bamboo. In addition, knotty constrictions are located on the trunk of the dracaena, which create a resemblance to bamboo, although in reality these are just dormant buds. These are completely different plants. Their main difference is that the leaves of a palm tree grow directly from the trunk. By cutting off the top, you can stimulate the formation of lateral shoots, which is not typical of bamboos.

The leaves of the plant are very decorative, have a light green or variegated color. Sander's room dracaena usually does not throw flowers.

To obtain a coiled stem, a young plant is placed in a curved glass flask. Stretching out, the trunk takes the shape of a vessel. When the plant reaches the desired height, it is freed from the shackles, and it retains its acquired shape forever. The shoots that appear on such a palm will have straight trunks.

Advice

It is useless to form bends on the shoots in an artisanal way, twisting with wire or using one-sided lighting.

A feature of this indoor flower that distinguishes it from its fellows is the ability to grow in water. It is enough to place the dracaena in a container of water, sometimes add mineral fertilizers and make sure that the moisture does not end, and the flower will delight the eye with its exotic look for a long time. And so that the stem of the plant is not covered with young shoots, it is necessary to cut off the growing shoots in a timely manner.

How to plant dracaena

Dracaena Sander can be grown in two ways - in soil and in water.

• Growing in water.

Water is poured into a vase or other glass container so that the liquid covers the plant roots by no more than 1–2 cm. Otherwise, the stem may rot. Water for filling the container under the flower must be taken clean, without chlorine, and changed once a week. To stimulate growth, it is recommended to add mineral fertilizers once a month. A decorative hydrogel can be used instead of water.

• Landing in the ground.

Dracaena Sander has a powerful root system, so the pot for planting the plant must be taken high and not too wide. The soil is prepared from sod land, humus and sand. You can buy ready-made palm substrate at a flower shop. At the bottom of the pot, it is necessary to arrange drainage by pouring small pebbles or expanded clay. By making several shallow cuts in the bottom of the trunk, adventitious root formation can be stimulated.

Until the plant is fully rooted, the stem may shrink. As soon as the dracaena absorbs moisture in full, this defect will disappear by itself.

How to care for Dracaena Sander

Endurance is considered the trump card of this indoor plant, however, it also needs to be given at least a little attention and create conditions for existence.

Lighting

"Bamboo of happiness" is very unpretentious and can grow even in dimly lit rooms. The plant will feel great on a bedside table or desk in the corner of the office. However, under very dim lighting, the dracaena stems will begin to stretch out quickly, the leaves will lose their decorative color. If the flowerpot is on a windowsill, it will have to be turned from time to time to ensure that leaves and stems grow evenly on all sides. Dracaena must be protected from direct sunlight.

Designers like to use dracaena to decorate rooms without natural light sources, since wide windows are not needed to illuminate this plant and a few electric lamps are enough.

Temperature regime

Dracaena Sander is native to Africa, so it's no surprise that this culture prefers a warm environment. The most comfortable temperature for a palm tree is considered to be from + 22 ° C to + 35 ° C, that is, the atmosphere of an ordinary city apartment is perfect for it. But the flower can also withstand a drop in air temperature to + 17 ° C.

Growing the "bamboo of happiness", you need to take care of the access of clean air to the room. The plant is very fond of frequent airing and is not afraid of drafts.

Watering and humidity

All varieties of dracaena cannot do without a sufficient amount of moisture, but Dracaena Sanderiana is more demanding in this matter than all other members of its family. If the plant is grown in soil, then it should be watered regularly, as soon as the soil dries up a little.

Important!

When growing dracaena Sander, it is not recommended to allow the soil to dry out to a depth of more than 2 cm, and it is categorically impossible to bring the earthen lump to complete desiccation.

If the "bamboo of happiness" is grown in water, you must constantly monitor the liquid level and replenish the container as needed. Water quality is of great importance to this culture. It should be soft and free of chemicals. The temperature of the water used for growing or watering dracaena should be as close to room temperature as possible.

Dracaena Sander does not need spraying or any other way to humidify the air. A flower grown in water acts as a humidifier itself and has a beneficial effect on neighboring plants and the atmosphere in the room. However, it will be useful to take care of the purity of the leaves. The palm tree is very fond of having its leaves sometimes wiped with a damp sponge, removing dust.

Important!

Dracaena Sander does not tolerate the effects of chemical polishes.

Pruning

Dracaena grows rapidly, its stems stretch out, and after a while the flower begins to noticeably lose to young plants in decorativeness, ceases to correspond to the intended design, or simply does not fit on the shelf allotted to it. In such cases, pruning and transplanting is necessary. To shorten the stem, cut off the top of the bamboo. The resulting cutting can be placed in a container of water, rooted and then a new plant can be planted in the ground.

Reproduction

Reproduction of dracaena Sander is possible only in a vegetative way, namely by cuttings and pieces of the stem.

• To obtain a cuttings cut off the upper part of the shoot, grabbing 10-15 cm of the stem, and rooted by placing in water or wet soil.
• Cut the stem into pieces of 5-8 cm in such a way as to capture at least one dormant bud, and root in the usual way.

To root cuttings at home, it is necessary to maintain a room temperature of at least + 25 ° C.

Diseases and pests

With good care and normal environmental conditions, "lucky bamboo" almost never gets sick. If a flower grows in dirty water and there are plants damaged by diseases or insects in its neighborhood, dracaena disease is possible.

Most often, plants of this family are attacked by red spider mites and mealybugs. It is better to deal with them at home with the help of insecticides.

Among the problems that arise when growing dracaena, the following should be noted.

• With insufficient humidity and air temperatures below + 16 ° C, the tips of the leaves dry out, a brown rim appears along the edge of the leaf plate.
• Due to a lack of nutrients, the lower leaves quickly turn yellow and fall off.
• In a room with low temperatures, twisting of the sheet plate is observed.
• From prolonged exposure to sunlight, dry spots form on the leaves of the plant.

The unusual houseplant dracaena Sander multiplies easily, grows quickly and does not require special conditions. Everyone, even the most inexperienced grower, can take care of this unpretentious flower, hoping that it will bring prosperity and good luck into the house, and simply enjoying the bizarre compositions created from plants of the Dracaena family.