If you're not afraid of dragons, make a dragon's plant, the dracaena, the dominant feature of your living room. A dracaena resembles a palm tree, but is not one of them.
Dracaena marginata, popularly known simply as dracaena or dracaena, is a houseplant with ornamental foliage from the aspen or agave family. Its bare stem bears a rosette of narrow leaves that are colored according to species. The best known varieties are Dracaena marginata tricolor (its leaves are green in the middle and have red and yellow stripes on both sides) and Dracaena marginata colorama (its leaves are reddish with red stripes on the edges).
The dracaena is native to the mysterious and species-rich (but also endangered) Madagascar and is found in subtropical and tropical areas of Asia and Africa.
In indoor spaces of our homes it requires a bright habitat free from direct sunlight and a normal room temperature of around 20 oC throughout the year. Temperatures below 15 oC and above 25 oC could be dangerous to dracaena. And if you take proper care of your dracaena, it will literally outgrow you - "indoors" this native can grow up to 2 meters tall.
You can get a nice shape if you regularly pinch the shoots. If properly cared for, it will give us many years of enjoyment. Indoors, it grows slowly to a height of around 150 cm and can grow up to two meters. In places where it grows in the wild, however, we also find dracaenas that are 3 meters tall.
How much light and heat does a dracaena need?
Dracaena is a relatively undemanding plant, but it likes to be pampered. It will benefit from regular showering of its leaves and summering in a shady spot. If you don't have a bright spot in your home without direct sun, it will do well in a shadier location and on the other hand, it can even withstand direct sun. It can get used to a regular amount of light and does not like frequent changes of location.
When moved to a place with different light intensity, its leaves start to yellow and wither. If it does not get enough light, its leaves will begin to fade. However, direct sunlight may or may not burn them. As far as temperature is concerned, it can cope with normal room temperature and does not need to be heated or overheated, but it is not hardy.
Substrate, watering and fertilizing
Dracaena needs a regular peat substrate rich in humus and should always be transplanted in spring, at the beginning of the growing season, but no more often than once every two years. However, a simple change of the top layer of soil in which it takes root is sufficient. During the growing season, it requires a good watering and slightly moist soil. Water only lightly during the dormant season. Fertilize every 14 days during the growing season with a standard liquid houseplant fertilizer. In winter, fertilize no more than once a month or not at all.
As well as abundant watering, it likes moist air (humidity around 85%) and therefore dew on the leaves, wiping the dust off the leaves with a cloth and showering with lukewarm water, then summering and natural summer rains in temperate climates. Wetting the leaves is even more important for the plant than watering. On the other hand, it can also tolerate drier air. Dracaena can also be grown hydroponically.
Dracaena - a chemical laboratory and a psychologist
Dracaenas (as well as some other plant species) are able to reduce the trichloroethylene (TCE), formaldehyde and benzene content in the air, or help protect our health indoors. The dracaena was also behind the discovery of the so-called Backster effect, which is the ability of plants to respond to human emotions (named after the American Clive Backster). Backster recorded the plant's reaction to a threat on a lie detector he attached to a leaf of the dracaena.
Reproduction of dracaena plants
Dracaena is propagated by caraway cuttings in spring. Cuttings should be at least 10 cm long. Root them in a mixture of peat and sand, or a poorer substrate, and leave them in a warm place. Stick them vertically into the substrate.
You can also propagate a dracaena by cutting off the top of the mother plant and placing it in a jar with water and some charcoal. Roots will start to appear in 3 months.
Indoors, dracaena cannot be propagated from seed as it does not flower here. So, if we don't have any yet, we have to buy it or ask relatives, friends and acquaintances for cuttings.
Transplanting dracaena
Always repot dracaena in spring (at the beginning of the growing season) and no more than once every two years. However, a simple topsoil change is sufficient. When repotting, put a soil into a larger pot, add a portion of sand and also green manure. Of course, you can also use a humid peat substrate, which can be bought in a garden center or garden shop. Dracaena also requires drainage as it roots in the top layer of soil and hates waterlogging, although it loves moist air and soil.
Finally, don't forget to remove yellowing and shriveling old lower leaves.
