Product Description:
Dracaena Colorama is an increasingly popular houseplant among beginners and experts alike. Because of its vibrant leaves, the plant is a superb way to brighten up your home while being rather low-maintenance at the same time. The dracaena plant is a popular ornamental houseplant, grown both indoors and outdoors in subtropical climates. It reaches a height of about three feet indoors, and has a bushy tree type of look. Its glossy leaves can grow up to one foot long and a couple of inches wide.
From the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), the genus dracaena comprises about 40 species. The most popular cultivar is the yellow edged variegate type named Song of India. An interesting fact about dracaena is that it possesses a secondary thickening meristem (the tissue which helps plants grow). Its secondary meristem allows it to grow wide, thick and succulent roots.
Light:
Filtered indoor light (such as through a sheer curtain in front of a sunny window) or a semi-shade spot is an ideal location. Never place a dracaena plant in direct sun, as the rays will scorch its foliage.
Water:
Dracaena require less water than most indoor plants. Keep them hydrated by misting the leaves with water and keeping the soil lightly misted (never soggy) as well with good drainage.
Soil:
To keep your Dracaena Colorama happy, we recommend potting it in a potting mix that is well-draining, aerated, and rich in nutrients. Combining equal parts garden loam and peat moss should do the trick.
Fertilizer:
Dracaena Colorama has low fertilizer requirements and should be able to take all the nutrients it needs from the soil. If you want to make it grow faster, you can give it a liquid fertilizer once a month, throughout spring and summer.
You can use a fertilizer that’s rich in nitrogen, with a nutrient ratio of 3-1-2. Dilute the fertilizer to one-half o one-third the strength and ensure that the soil is not dry before applying it.
Temperatures:
Dracaena prefers temperatures ranging from 65 ? 78? during the day. Night temperatures can drop about ten degrees cooler, but cold drafts and temperatures below 55? will harm the plant. Make sure that you display your dracaena away from any heating or cooling appliances.
Humidity:
Natural room humidity is fine seeing as the dracaena is such a hardy houseplant, but it does prefer the higher humidity of its natural rainforest habitat. You can improve humidity with a commercial humidifier or by placing the plant on a tray of pebbles, with water reaching just below the pebble tops.
Repotting:
Dracaena Colorama has a slow growth rate. It usually takes up to 10 years for the plant to reach maturity. As a result, you only need to repot it once every two years. The recommended season to repot this plant is in spring or early summer. After repotting, we recommend that you don?t give the plant any additional fertilizers until the following year.
Propagation:
The easiest way to propagate Dracaena Colorama is through stem cuttings. We recommend using this method in spring and summer, during the plant’s growing season. If you are pruning your Dracaena, you can also use the cuttings to grow a new plant.
- Use a sharp, sterilized blade. The blade should be sharp enough to make a straight, even cut. If the base of the cutting is torn or shredded, it?s likely to attract pathogens, which will result in rot.
- Cut 2 inches (5 cm) below the leaves. If your plant has several stems, you can safely cut all of them. The mother plant will develop dormant buds over the next couple of weeks, which will grow into new stems and leaves.
- Allow the cuttings to dry for an hour, away from direct sunlight.
- To minimize the chance of stem rot while propagating, we recommend rooting Dracaena cuttings in a very well-draining, porous mix. Fill a few containers with perlite or vermiculite, then place each cutting in a container.
- Lightly water the plants, and keep them in a warm room with plenty of bright indirect light.
- The cuttings should take three weeks to develop roots. Then, you can simply transplant them into the soil.
Pruning:
Remove yellow or dying leaves, and plant debris to encourage better-growing conditions. While pruning, always use clean utensils.
