All kinds of diffenbahia grow in the American tropics and are considered poisonous plants. Slaves on the plantations, when punished, then forced to bite off the stem of the diffenbachia. All this led to a swelling of the tongue and mucous membrane of the mouth, and the slave could not talk for a long time. Therefore, the diffenbahia was nicknamed the "mute rod". And in our time this plant was named after the German botanist Dieffenbach.
How to care for dienenbachia?
This plant can reach a height of 2 meters, it looks very impressive in the lobby of large rooms, in the office and in the apartment. A fairly capricious plant and very rarely blooms at home. Dieffenbachia does not tolerate sharp temperature changes. In the warm season, the optimum temperature for it is considered to be plus 20 plus 25 degrees, and in winter not less than plus 17 degrees.
This plant is afraid of drafts and likes a ventilated room. In the summer, the dienenbachia can be lodged on a balcony in a shady corner, it will be there to feel great. Since it does not tolerate direct sun rays.
Watering the Plants
Water should be moderate, while the soil should be not wet, but always moist. At low temperatures, it is very dangerous to water heavily the soil, this will lead to rotting of the stems and roots of the diffenbachia. For irrigation, you need to use a constant, warm and soft water. If you pour very hard water, the ends of the leaves become brown. If it is not enough to water the plant, the lower leaves fall on it. For an adult plant, falling leaves is a natural process. Once every two weeks, you need to wash the leaves and spray them regularly.
Additional fertilizing
From spring to autumn, during the period of growth, diffenbachia is sometimes fed with fertilizers. In winter, fertilizing and watering should be reduced, but not to dry the land. In two weeks, once the plant is fed with a complex fertilizer. Dieffenbachia responds well to organic substances that contain nitrogen.
Transfer
Once the roots begin to fill the pot, you need to do a plant transplant. And you need to do this in the spring. Dieffenbachia, if she fell ill or stopped in growth, also need to be transplanted. The new soil should be from such a mixture: sand, peat, turf ground in the ratio 1: 4: 2. The diseased plant should be carefully inspected, removed from it damaged places and treated with charcoal. Take a large pot, and on its bottom put a drain of expanded clay, broken bricks and so on. Be careful, since the dienenbachia juice causes irritation to the mucous membrane and the skin, so when transplanting a diffenbachia, wear gloves.
The plant is affected by various pests, for example, a spider mites. When you notice that the stems and leaves are braided with cobwebs, it's time to fight the spider mite. Falsaws and scabbards belong to pests, from them on the stems appear brown spots and remain on the leaves sticky discharge. The plant can be helped if it is treated with a special drug - actellic, take 2 ml of the drug per liter of water or treat it with a soap solution.
In conclusion, how to care for the room colors of diffenbachia, we add that you need to monitor this plant, in time and in sufficient quantities to water it, transplant, when it is required, and in a fairly spacious pot, be very careful not to forget that in addition , that this plant is beautiful, it is also poisonous.