Rules for caring for Dracaena "Golden Coast" at home

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

Description of Dracaena fragrans Golden Coast

Dracaena fragrans Golden Coast has a green and thin trunk, which becomes woody as it grows. The bush grows up to 2 m in height, the crown is formed in the form of a rosette. Particular attention is drawn to the leaves - bordered with light, yellowish stripes, large, oval-shaped, leathery.

Growing and care

The main components of quality care are:

1. Watering and humidity.
2. Light and air.
3. Fertilizing and proper crown formation.

Watering

Dracaena should be watered moderately but regularly, the main thing is not to let the soil dry out. Excess moisture can cause the roots to rot and the plant will die.
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. Preliminary, the water is settled at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

Lighting

It should be bright, but at the same time, direct sunlight should not be allowed to hit the foliage. The duration of daylight hours is at least 10-12 hours. In winter, the presence of light is provided by lamps.

Temperature

The optimal room temperature is +16…+28°C, minimum +15°C. If the readings are below the acceptable level or there are sharp fluctuations up to +10°C, the plant may die. It is not advisable to place the flowerpot in places with a strong draft.

Humidity

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

Top dressing

The plant is fed all year round - in summer once every 7 days, in 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

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

Reasons for the procedure:

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

The trimming sequence is as follows:

1. Using a sharp, sterile knife, make a smooth and neat cut on the central stem (above 30 cm from the ground) or a lateral shoot, then treat it with garden pitch or crushed activated carbon. This will prevent the inner stem from drying out.
2. If leaves grow at a distance of 10 cm from the cut, they should be removed to reduce the area of ​​evaporation itself and provoke the emergence of new, lateral shoots.
3. To provoke the appearance of buds, the stem where the cut was made should be treated with a growth stimulator. For example, this could be a solution of "Epin", "Charkor" or any other.
4. Wrap the trunk around the cut for 15 cm with damp 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 humidity of at least 70%.

After pruning, the plant should be watered generously and then placed in a shaded area for 2-3 days.

Transfer

An important moment in care is replanting. The future of the plant depends on how correctly and timely it is carried out. The optimal time for replanting is spring; it is not recommended to perform the procedure in other months. In autumn, dracaena prepares for wintering, and disruption of this process will lead to the death of the plant.

The bush is transplanted into a new pot, pre-treated with boiling water. The bottom of the container is lined with drainage, the layer thickness is 2-3 cm. Next, the earthen lump with roots is carefully removed from the old pot, inspected for damage and transferred to 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 watering the bush with water with the addition of "Zircon" twice a month at first.

Pot

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

1. You need to buy a container based on the size of the root system: add 3-5 cm to its volume. Do not buy a pot with a reserve - excess moisture will lead to rotting of the root system and death of the plant.
2. Many gardeners recommend choosing ceramic flowerpots due to their porous structure, although dracaenas grow well in plastic pots.
3. If the plant is already mature, buy a container in the shape of an elongated glass.
4. A mandatory condition is the presence of drainage holes in the bottom. They will help remove excess moisture from the flowerpot and will not allow it to stagnate. Otherwise, this will lead to rotting of the root system.

Reproduction

The best way to propagate dracaena is by cuttings. You can also do this with seeds, but experienced gardeners claim that this method rarely gives the desired results due to the low germination rate of the seed material.

When propagating by cuttings, the top of the stem should be cut off, after which it should be carefully stuck into a mixture of sand, peat, leaf soil and humus. The cutting should be watered, sprayed and, most importantly, covered with a glass jar to create favorable temperature conditions and protect against drafts. The plant is ventilated as follows: lift the jar, leaving it for 10-15 minutes, but provided that the room temperature is not lower than +23°C. After a month, the cutting will give roots, after which it can be transplanted into the selected pot.

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

With proper and regular care, a lateral shoot with leaves grows from the stem, which, upon reaching 10-12 cm, is transplanted to a permanent location.

Serious mistakes

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

1. If the dracaena has blossomed, do not rejoice, as this indicates improper care. The flower stalk itself must be removed - it will simply weaken the plant. If you do not want to do this, apply more fertilizer.
2. Do not place the plant in 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 either - from the cold air currents, the soil not only cools down, but also loses a lot of moisture.
3. If the soil is not regularly renewed, it loses its useful composition. The absence of nutrients in the soil is not the best condition for the growth of dracaena, so it is advisable to regularly renew the soil in the pot or completely replace it with more nutritious and loose soil.
4. Some gardeners, due to inexperience, place dracaena in the light, but the bright sun can cause leaf burns.
5. Diseases can be transmitted to dracaena from neighboring plants that have not been kept in quarantine, as well as from soil that has not been steamed in an oven and is infected with fungi. Therefore, before placing a new plant next to dracaena, it must be kept in a separate room for 12-14 days, and the purchased soil must be baked in the oven.

Golden Coast Dracaena Diseases and Treatment Methods

The pests that most often attack dracaena are scale insects and thrips. You can get rid of them using 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 at intervals of a day.

If the leaves dry out and become covered with brown spots, most likely the dracaena lacks moisture. You need to water it more often and spray the flower daily.

Rust on leaves may also appear due to non-compliance with temperature conditions.

If whitish spots appear on the leaves, these are burns from direct sunlight. You can save the plant by simply moving the pot to another place.
When the leaves turn yellow and dry out at the tip, this indicates that the air in the room is too dry. Therefore, it is important to spray the plant regularly and place a bowl of water nearby.

Is Golden Coast Dracaena Poisonous?

Dracaena is not a poisonous plant, but its juice contains special compounds that can cause allergies, gastrointestinal upset, and diarrhea. The plant's juice will not harm an adult, but it can cause health problems in small children or animals. If you already have a plant in your home, it should be placed in a place where pets and children cannot get to 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 fragrans in the interior, the benefits and harms of the plant should be taken into account. Dracaena is able to clean the air of harmful substances, it also releases special phytoncides that suppress and destroy pathogenic microorganisms. However, the plant can provoke an allergy attack, although this happens rarely.

Dracaena fragrans Golden Coast symbolizes comfort and family well-being. With proper care, it will delight its owners with its beauty. According to Eastern teachings, this plant can attract wealth and luck if placed in the south-eastern part of the house.