When grown at home, dracaena lives for a very long time. At the same time, it grows, its size grows and its root system, which requires more space and nutrition. As a result, the question arises of transplanting a plant into a large container. Here at this stage, the owner will need to know some of the rules for safe dracaena transplantation.
Plant description
Dracaena is very popular among lovers of indoor plants, which she gained due to its unpretentiousness and pleasant appearance. In nature, it grows in the Canary Islands, in the African tropics and reaches gigantic proportions.
Dracaena (Dracaena draco, translated as "dragon tree") belongs to the agave family, which has about 40 species of these plants. Most often, fragrant dracaena (Dracaena Fragrans) is grown in apartments, but varieties such as Lindtnii, Massangeana, Rotmana, Victoriae are also known. On the leaves of the listed varieties there are strips located along the leaf, different in width.
Tall species are often used for landscaping offices, and the most undersized specimens are placed in living rooms.
Dracaena is a shrub that looks like a palm tree. Its stem is tall enough, numbing with time and bare. Long narrow leaves are arranged in a bunch at the top of the stem, so the dracaena is often called a false palm. However, this plant has nothing to do with such representatives.
Reasons for a Transplant
To choose the right time when you can transplant dracaena, you need to know that the period of active growth in this plant begins in late February - early March. At this time, dracaena gradually emerges from a state of winter dormancy. Just this moment is considered the most suitable for transplantation.
The need for this occurs in the following cases:
- The root system has grown so much that the roots are visible on the surface. The pot becomes too cramped and the plant is undernourished.
- Dracaena recently purchased and brought into the house. Specialized plants selling plants use temporary containers that are not suitable for permanent maintenance. In addition, the soil there may not be used of the very quality that is needed.
- The plant was heavily overfilled.
- Depletion of soil in a pot over time.
- Scheduled transplant.
- Infection with pests or diseases, treatment of which requires replacement of the soil.
To understand whether dracaena can be transplanted and whether it is necessary to do it at all, it is necessary to have some knowledge about this flower and its needs. The plant itself will tell you that something is wrong with it and that the conditions of its existence have become insufficiently comfortable.
Dracaena Transplant Rules
On the topic of how to transplant a dracaena, there are some rules and recommendations. This plant has sufficient resistance and vitality. Therefore, all manipulations in relation to oneself are easily tolerated.
However, it is better to think about how to transplant dracaena at home, without causing harm to the plant, before transplanting, taking care of everything in advance. For example, this will require some tools and fixtures. Namely: a good pot, drainage, suitable soil mixture, spray, sharp scissors or secateurs, a vessel with water.
The following are a few recommendations on how to transplant dracaena into a pot correctly. And the first thing to do is to prepare the container selected in advance, washing it with soapy water and wiping it dry with a clean rag. Processing the walls of the vessel with a solution of manganese also does not hurt.
Before transplanting, it is better not to water the dracaena day 3 so that the soil dries up and becomes more loose and lighter. This will facilitate the process of removing an earthen coma with a root from an old pot and without damaging the plant.
To gently extract dracaena from an old container, you need to tilt or turn the flower over and gently tap the walls of the pot, then remove the plant along with an earthen lump. Then, after inspecting the roots, cut off all the damage with a secateurs, and treat the places of the cuts with chopped charcoal to prevent decay. Next, irrigate the roots from the spray, using boiled water for this.
At the bottom of the pot pour a pre-selected drainage layer that should not be too thin, then the soil, and then place a root lump with the plant on top, gently pouring it on top and filling the voids on the sides. Take the ground around the stem for plant resistance and water well.
When filling the newly transplanted plant with soil, make sure that the sides remain at the pot. If you fill the tank with earth completely, then it will be inconvenient to water it in the future. To fill all the voids with soil, you can simply tap the bottom of the pot on the surface.
What should be the container
Thinking about how to transplant the dracaena correctly, it is first necessary to take care of choosing a suitable pot, which should be not only beautiful, but also as comfortable as possible for the plant.
The new container should be 3-5 cm larger in diameter than the previous one, so that the sprouted roots have where to develop and where to eat from. It is important. On average, the root system of dracen increases over the year by 2 cm.
It is necessary to check the number of drainage holes on the bottom of the container and increase their number if necessary so that excess moisture easily leaves the pot.
In no case should you place the dracaena in an oversized vessel, since moisture cannot be completely absorbed by the plant. Excess fluid does not go away. From this, the soil soups, and the dracaena can die.
Substrate Quality Requirements
Half of the success of dracaena transplantation will depend on how well the soil is selected. An ideal option would be a well-drained soil mixture with the addition of a part of peat, the acidity of which is from 6.0 to 6.5 pH.
Soil from a garden or a summer residence will not work at all, because it often contains too many fertilizers and mineral salts. You can, of course, and it’s even easiest to buy ready-made nutritional formula in a specialized store.
However, the most interesting thing is to pick and mix it yourself. To do this, you will need: sheet land (2 parts), turf (1), compost (1), peat (0.5). Expanded clay, crushed brick or river sand is suitable for drainage.
Transshipment transplant
Further, about how to transplant dracaena, by transshipment method. What it is? Transshipment is transplanting together with an earthen lump, when the roots are not affected, and the plant is transferred to a new large container.
This is a good example of how to transplant dracaena into another pot in the most gentle way. The method is used in autumn, when it is not necessary to completely replace the land. Thus, it is possible to transplant dracaena up to several times a year.
Transplantation with inspection of the root system
How to transplant dracaena when inspection of the root system is required? In that case, when the roots are very grown, densely and densely wrapped around an earthen lump, they are straightened and the entire lower part is removed with a secateurs.
When planting in a new pot, it is necessary that the root neck remains at the same level. In this case, an additional layer of earth is poured under the shortened roots, and the roots themselves are spread on the surface and, carefully pouring the substrate, they are crushed. Further, it is good to water, but not to allow waterlogging.
The same method is used when there are diseased rotted roots that are cut, and the slices are treated with charcoal.
Features of post-transplant care
So, enough has already been said about how to properly transplant a dracaena. But the plant after transplantation requires special care, which consists in the following:
- Do not put the plant in the sun - the dracaena does not like this.
- Avoid drafts.
- Keep the temperature not lower than 25 ° .
- To provide plentiful watering 3 times a week with spraying foliage from a spray bottle.
- Adaptation after transplantation will last up to 2 weeks, in order to help the dracaena survive this time it is necessary to stimulate the development of roots by Zircon, but not more than 2 times a month.
- It is necessary to feed in the period from March to October, when the plant is actively growing, once every 10 days, alternating mineral fertilizing and organic.
If you follow all the recommendations of experienced gardeners, then dracaena transplantation will not be difficult, and the renewed plant will please with rapid growth and a healthy appearance.