Dracaena or dragon tree is characterized by rapid growth and can reach heights up to the ceiling. Too elongated stem with few leaves at the top is an unaesthetic sight. Therefore, pruning is a must-have procedure in the care of dragon season and an important condition for maintaining plant beauty.
Features of pruning dracaena at home
Grow a beautiful and healthy indoor palm tree can only be provided with regular pruning. It is necessary to do this only in the recommended time and according to a certain technology.
Prune only fully healthy and well-developed plants growing in conditions that are comfortable for them. For sick and weakened palm trees, this procedure can be disastrous.
If the plant is painful, then it is necessary to remove the damaged branches and leaves, make a treatment, wait for its full recovery and only after that pruning.
Also, this procedure is not performed in newly transplanted palm trees. After transplantation, it is necessary to wait at least a month until the plant adapts to the new conditions and starts growing. Only in this case it can easily transfer the event.
Did you know? In some species of dracaena, the juice is blood-red in color. It is called dragon's blood. This juice is made into a metal lacquer, traditional medicine to improve blood circulation and pain, they tint wine.
Causes of flower cutting
Trimming dracaena produce for several purposes:
- to grow side shoots and form a multi-stem plant;
- to maintain decorative;
- for updating foliage and trunk;
- to prevent the development of diseases and damage by harmful insects;
- to propagate.
For side shoots
Without pruning and nibbling, the palm tree will grow with a single trunk. If you want to make a branched tree out of it, then you need to wait until the stem of the young culture reaches a height of 0.3 m before the beginning of the growth of the leaf rosette, and cut off 10 cm from the top.
Soon after the procedure, indoor culture will give 2-5 shoots. It is recommended to leave the 3 strongest ones and remove the rest.
For branching
Pruning for this purpose is carried out only according to indications, namely, when leaves are strongly sprinkled in the plant. In order for his lush crown to re-form, it is necessary to cut off the tops of each branch, leaving 2-3 dormant buds. Soon from them will appear young sheets.
This method of pruning is used, and if you want to form a multi-tiered tree. In this case, the tops of the branches are cut at different heights.
For sanitary purposes
Sanitary pruning must be done annually in the spring - old, damaged, deformed shoots, yellowed and dried leaves are cut. It can also be done at any time of the year if the plant is sick and you need to start its treatment.
Read also how to choose a dracaena for the house.
For rejuvenation
The older the plant becomes, the more the trunk is pulled out of it, giving the flower an unattractive look. Therefore, from time to time it should be rejuvenated - shortened by at least 5 cm. The trimmed part can be divided into fragments and put under reproduction.
You can cut the trunk completely, leaving a small stump with 3 buds.
After such pruning, the cut point must be treated with a growth stimulator, for example, Epin and wound with moss. Such circumcision leads to the fact that the plant forms not stems from growth points, but trunks.
Decorative trimming
The dragon trees make beautiful trees similar to the bonsai style. And although very small trees will not come out of it, you can try to create an original form. True, you have to make a lot of time and effort.
This forming can be done on a young plant that has grown no higher than 30 cm. It needs to be removed from the pot and cut the roots by 1/3. Then plant a palm tree in a flat pot with the recommended composition of the soil and good drainage. The root neck after planting should rise above the soil level by 1-2 cm.
When the plant adapts to the new conditions, after about 20-30 days, the formation of the crown can begin. Trim the tip, side shoots to create the desired shape. The roots are cut 1 time in 2 years.
Important! To obtain a lush crown on all sides, it is necessary that the sun's rays affect the plant evenly. To do this, turn the pot 90 ° twice a week.
When is it better to cut dracaena
The best time to trim room culture is a period of active growth: from March to September. It was at this time that the palm tree is able to recover faster after a stressful procedure and heal the places of cuts without negative consequences.
From mid-autumn to the end of winter, cutting the plant is strictly prohibited. At this time, dracaena is in a state of rest. She does not receive the whole complex of mineral substances, as there are no additional dressing and frequent watering, her immune system is weakened. This means that pruning will be a huge stress for room culture, after which it may not recover even with the onset of spring.
Winter pruning can be justified by only 2 reasons:
- Oblomom trunk.
- The rotting of the trunk, the disease or the defeat of harmful insects.
How to trim the dracaena at home
In order to trim the dracaena, it is first necessary to prepare the plant and the tools, and then follow the recommendations clearly.
Plant preparation
In order for the dracaena to easily endure the procedure and quickly recover from it, it is necessary to pour it abundantly and spray it with Epin, prepared in accordance with the instructions on the package, 2-3 days before the scheduled time. The soil at the time of pruning should dry well, and the plant, thanks to an anti-stress drug, will strengthen the immune system and produce special substances that will allow it to quickly get out of the shock state, to form new shoots and leaves.
Did you know? In Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, there grows a dragon tree with a height of 21 m, which is supposedly 300 years old.
Necessary tools
A knife is required to cut the trunk. Leaves and shoots can be cut with scissors or pruning shears. Tools should be pre-sanitized with an alcohol-containing agent, a dark solution of potassium permanganate or calcined them over a fire.
Step by step trim instructions
The circumcision technology is as follows:
- To determine on the trunk the place where the cut should pass. It should be located at a minimum height of 30 cm from the ground.
- Cut with a knife in just one motion.
- Remove the leaves at a distance of 10 cm from the cut.
- At a distance of 15 cm from the slice to process the stem growth stimulator ("Epinom", cytokinin paste, etc.). This will help the sleeping buds wake up and sprout.
- Around the trunk of 15 cm should be wrapped with moss. The cut itself must be left open for healing.
- Cover the stub with a plastic bag.
- To produce abundant watering.
Video: Pruning and breeding dracaena
Further care
After pruning, the cut must be smeared with garden pitch, liquid wax, or sprinkled with pounded wood (activated) charcoal.
The first time after cutting the stumps should be in a pristenenny place in a room with a temperature of + 25 ° C and humidity of 75%.
Watering of cut-off dracaenes is carried out 2-3 times a week, using the method of lower moistening, that is, they pour water into the pan. With this method, it is important to remember to drain unused liquid after 20-30 minutes to avoid rotting of the roots.
We recommend to read how to grow indoor dracaena.
Need in this period and spraying. They are carried out 3-4 times a week. Moss moisturize 1 time per week.
Periodically, the plant must be ventilated. Completely shelter removed when young shoots appear on the trunk. At the same time, the pot with the plant is transferred to a bright place.
Feeding can be done after 1-1.5 weeks. Fertilization with a high nitrogen content will be required to stimulate the growth of green mass. This may be ammonium nitrate (1 tsp. / 3 l of water) or Plantafol. Top dressing needs to be carried out only after plentiful watering in order to avoid a burn of a rhizome.
Can dracaena prune roots
Roots are trimmed during draysena transplantation, if they have grown too large or are damaged by rot. Trimming is carried out with sharp disinfected scissors or shears. Places slices sprinkled with powdered activated charcoal or charcoal.
If the rhizome struck rot, then the diseased roots should be cut and disposed of, and the healthy roots treated with a systemic fungicide.
If the root system has decayed completely, then the plant can be saved only by cutting off the top or parts of the trunk, which should later be rooted and grown from them young specimens.
Important! Before placing on rooting the stem fragments or the tip used for propagation, it is necessary to soak for 6 hours in a solution of potassium permanganate to prevent the development of a fungal infection.
Possible problems with pruning
Unfortunately, the circumcision procedure is not always smooth. Sometimes after it there can be difficulties.
For example, such:
- Buds do not let sprouts. In this case, you need to cut the plant again, placing the sections several centimeters lower than the previous ones.
- On the ground cut appeared rot. All rotten parts need to be urgently removed.
- There is a lag in growth in some kidneys.. Spraying of the shoots with carbamide or Epin’s mixture (2 drops) with Cytovit (2 drops) diluted with water (250 ml) will help.
Useful tips
Dratsenu can be called unpretentious indoor plants.
But in order for it to look beautiful, healthy and well-groomed, you must follow simple guidelines for care:
- Grow a culture in partial shade and diffused lighting near the southern and western windows. In winter, if required, use additional lighting.
- In the summer period to keep the plant at + 15 ... + 25 ° С (it is possible in the open air), in winter, during the rest period, the temperature may be reduced to + 10 ... + 15 ° С.
- Dracene should be protected from drafts and sudden changes in temperature.
- In summer, watering should be frequent and abundant - 3-4 times a week. In winter, the volume and frequency of moisture is reduced to 1-2 times a week.
- Humidity in summer should be above average - around 60%. Requires spraying 2 times a week and a shower. In winter, a decrease in humidity of up to 50% is allowed. Sprays reduce to 1 time. At low temperatures, spraying should be excluded.
- Top dressings are produced during the growing season - from March to September, with a frequency of 1 time per month. Fertilization is prohibited in winter.
- For dracaena transplant is important. Until the age of 5, it is transplanted once a year using the transshipment method. In the future, transplantation is made 1 time in 2-3 years.
Did you know? When grown in a dracaena room, it can purify the air of such harmful substances emitted by synthetic coatings, linoleum and chipboard, such as benzene, ammonia, formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, and 50% of pathogens, as well as 70%.
Thus, dracaena pruning must necessarily be carried out exclusively within the recommended timeframe and according to a certain technology. If everything is done correctly, the plant will quickly recover and will decorate the home over the years.
