Family maintenance of Brazilian wood

Scientific name and family and genus

Brazilian wood is also known as Brazilian iron, fragrant dragon blood tree, millennium wood. The genus Dracaena of the tequila family. Native to southwestern Africa. The common cultivated varieties are divided into middle spot, Phnom Penh, tricolor, rainbow, silver thread and so on according to the stripes of different leaves. At present, the most common on the market is the medium spot fragrant dragon blood tree, also known as the golden heart of Brazil wood.

Ornamental features

Beautiful, tall and straight, noble and elegant, with exotic atmosphere.

Purchase prompt

In the north, it is better to buy in spring. Those with larger halls can buy potted plants with a height of more than 1 meter and 2-3 plants per pot. The smaller living room can buy potted plants with a height of 50 centimeters and 100 centimeters. When buying, you should choose plants with outstretched leaves, bright leaves, no dry tip, no focal edge and strong growth.

The best position

① south window 1 meter in front of the sun can be placed for a long time. ② indoor bright area. ③ can be placed north to the balcony or under the shade of trees in summer.

Basic habits

Light

Like plenty of sunshine, strong adaptability to light. Strong light and shade can grow, but strong summer light is easy to burn leaves, while long-term shade can make leaves dim, lose luster or golden stripes.

Temperature

Like warm and humid environment, the optimum growth temperature is 18: 25 ℃, lower than 13 ℃ to stop growing. More than 6 ℃ can survive the winter safely.

Humidity

The most suitable air relative humidity is about 80%.

Soil

Fertile, loose, well-drained soil is required.

Fertilizer

Humic acid total nutrition organic liquid fertilizer is better for fertilization, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer can also be used.

Cultivation hint

April to September

Suitable growth period. Indoor farming should be kept in a bright place. In the growing season, there should be sufficient fertilizer and water, and humic acid liquid fertilizer should be applied once a month to keep the basin soil moist and not dry, but not stagnant water. If the air is dry when the new leaves are born, the leaves can be sprayed 2 or 3 times a day to ensure that the new leaves are bright and stretched. Outdoor maintenance in summer should be shaded by 30% or 50%.

October to March

For indoor maintenance in the northern area, it should be placed in a place where sunlight can be seen, and the normal growth can be maintained at room temperature above 15 ℃. Slow growth in winter, it is necessary to lose weight and control water. Generally, when growing for 2 years, you should pour the basin and change the soil in spring. Peat soil can be used to add 120% river sand and a small amount of rotten cake fertilizer or bone powder. The basin bottom pad is about 3 cm ceramsite or coarse sand as the drainage layer. If the plant is too high, the top of the trunk or branch can be cut off, and new buds will be sprouted soon under the cut.

Aquaculture tips

Brazilian wood can also be raised in water, such as in glassware, both leaves and roots can be seen, which is more interesting. In the spring and autumn growing season, 0.5 ‰ all-element compound fertilizer is added to the water every semimonthly to make the plant strong and the leaf color bright. When the growth of water is weak, it can be cultivated in potted soil.

Breeding hint

From April to October, cut off the branch tips or the new buds with more than 6 germinated leaves, remove the basal leaves, insert them into the clean river sand, pour water, cover them with transparent plastic bags, put them in the bright part of the room, keep the substrate moist, and take root in about a month. Cutting stem segments of more than 10 cm can also take root and sprout.

Special reminder

The biggest difficulties in the maintenance of the north are dry air and severe cold in winter. During drought, special attention should be paid to foliar spray, dust washing and humidification. Attention should be paid to heat preservation and frost prevention in winter.

How to conserve Brazilian wood

Brazilian wood because of tall plant type, fast growth, so the general family to choose large and medium-sized pot, basin soil to loose, fertile, well-drained sandy loam is better. Brazilian wood does not have creeping rhizome and no sprouting, so it is generally propagated by cutting method, as long as the temperature is not lower than 15 ℃. Before cutting, the old plant with high stem and shedding lower leaves was cut off, and then cut into 50-150cm stem segments, which were buried in wet bed sand, and new plants could take root and grow in about 1 month. Brazilian wood can also be inserted by water, but the basin water should be clean and should be transplanted into the soil in time after taking root. When putting on the pot, apply some basic fertilizer first to ensure the vigorous growth of the plant. In order to make the shape beautiful, the stem segments of different height can be planted in the same basin to form staggered changes.

Brazilian wood can adapt to a wide range of light, as long as the temperature is suitable, it can grow all the year round. But it is best to stop fertilization after September to make it dormant in winter, and the dormancy temperature should be kept at about 13 ℃. If the temperature is too low, the leaf tip and leaf edge will appear chloasma, reducing the ornamental value.

During the growing season, rarefied liquid fertilizer can be applied every half a month, and water should be sprayed to the leaves frequently to improve air humidity. Young plants change pots once a year in early spring, while old plants can change pots every other year. If the plant is too high or the lower leaves have fallen off, the top trunk can be cut off to sprout new branches and leaves and keep the plant moderate in height.

Culture methods and matters needing attention of Brazilian wood

Brazilian wood, also known as fragrant dragon blood tree, Brazilian iron tree, is a perennial evergreen tree in the lily family. It is named Dragon Blood Tree because its incision can secrete a kind of colored juice, namely "dragon blood". Brazilian wood does not come from Brazil, but is native to the African rainforest in Guinea. It has been widely introduced and cultivated in China.

The main stem of Brazilian wood is tall and straight, with scattered leaves shaped like umbrellas; the leaves are bright green or beautiful, like spring all year round. As a result, Brazilian wood is regarded as the best interior decoration hall.

1. Soil selection of Brazilian Wood Culture

The potted Brazilian wood on the market is mostly made of fine sand, which is used by growers to fully root plants, but long-term use is not conducive to plant growth. For plants to thrive, they must be replaced with peat soil in stages. The requirement of soil is not strict, and the soil with loose, good drainage, rich humus and partial acidity (pH5.5~6.0) is the most suitable. The culture soil can be prepared with 4 parts of rotten leaf soil, 3 parts of garden soil, 2 parts of river sand (or perlite) and 1 part of organic fertilizer.

two。 Watering method of Brazilian wood culture

Brazilian wood is more resistant to drought, but insufficient watering, basin soil is too poor growth. The basin soil should always be kept moist during the growing season, especially in the summer when it is growing vigorously. Family potted plants should be "dry and wet", that is, the surface of the pot soil should not be watered, that is, it should be watered thoroughly. People should gradually reduce the amount of water after autumn, and watering should be controlled during the dormant period in winter. Too much watering will cause root rot.

In the process of cultivation and maintenance, a certain amount of air humidity should be maintained. For example, when the air is dry, water should often be sprayed to the leaf surface to prevent the leaf tip from drying up and curling, and to make the leaf clean and bright. During the growth period, if the leaves were sprayed with water 2 or 3 times a day, the leaves would stretch well.

Water quality should be kept clean during the cultivation period. Water should be watered twice a week. It is not easy to have too much water to prevent the trunk from rotting. When it is hot in summer, spray can be used to improve the air humidity and spray water on the leaves to keep it moist.

3. Fertilization methods for Brazilian wood culture

Potted Brazilian wood should not be too large, it should be allowed to grow slowly in order to maintain an appropriate height. Therefore, less fertilizer should be applied. The application of dilute liquid fertilizer every 15-30 days during the growth period can make the leaves bright. Variegated leaf varieties should apply less nitrogen fertilizer or fertilizers with high nitrogen content so as not to lighten the speckle color of the leaves. Generally speaking, 20% ~ 25% rotten cake fertilizer solution can also be applied with 0.2% ammonium phosphate plus 0.3% potassium nitrate, and 0.1% urea plus 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate aqueous solution can be used for foliar spraying.

Brazilian wood in the growing period should be appropriate extra-root topdressing, with 100 times diluted nutrient solution spray leaves, once every semimonthly. After several years of cultivation, the plant is too tall or the leaves of the lower part of the stem fall off, and when the shape of the tree is poor, it should be pruned. Change the basin or soil every early spring. In addition, excessive ventilation, drought, irregular watering and excessive fertilization can cause leaf tip scorch.

4. Temperature requirements for Brazilian wood culture

The best temperature for Brazilian wood is 20: 30 ℃. It can pass the winter when the temperature is more than 10 ℃. When the temperature is too low, it will stop growing.

Brazilian wood can grow all the year round as long as the temperature and other conditions are suitable. When it is high in summer, it should be shaded properly, and the room temperature in winter should not be lower than 5 ℃, but it is best to make it dormant in winter, the dormancy temperature is 13 ℃, and the temperature is too low, chloasma will appear on the leaf tip and leaf edge.

5. Lighting requirements of Brazilian wood culture

Brazilian wood has a wide range of adaptation to light and likes light and withstands shade. However, if it is placed in too shady places indoors for a long time, it can lead to the yellowing of the leaves and lighten the stripes of the striped leaves. In spring, autumn and winter, we should see more sunshine, especially in winter. In the bright part of the room, it can be placed all the year round. If it must be placed in a darker room to watch, after 15-30 days, it should be kept in a place with suitable light for a period of time, and then placed indoors for viewing, so that it can be recycled. Brazilian wood is afraid of strong light, so we should pay attention to prevent direct sunlight in summer. For outdoor maintenance in summer, we should pay attention to shading with about 50% of the shading materials to prevent the leaves from being burned by the scorching sun and affect the ornamental effect.

6. Control of Diseases and insect pests in Brazilian Wood Culture

The main diseases are soft rot, leaf spot and stem rot. Ventilation and dehumidification can reduce the occurrence of diseases. After the onset of the disease, 75% wettable chlorothalonil or 70% wettable methyl topiramate 1000 times can be sprayed for prevention and treatment. The main pests are red spiders, shell insects, etc., which can be controlled by 1000 times of dichlorvos, or sprayed with other appropriate pesticides.

7. Matters needing attention in Brazilian wood culture

The main results are as follows: (1) Brazilian wood grows strongly and can form large plants. However, if the plant is too tall or the lower leaves fall off, it will affect the ornamental effect and need to be pruned. When pruning, if it is cut from the top of the plant or about 15 cm from the ground, it will sprout and grow new branches.

(2) the overwintering temperature of Brazilian wood should be kept above 10 ℃, the cold resistance of Brazilian wood with silver thread is slightly stronger, and the temperature should not be lower than 8 ℃. Fertilizer application should be stopped after late August to enhance overwintering ability.

(3) Brazilian wood prefers high humidity (70%-80%) environment. If the air is too dry and the leaf edge and tip are easy to curl when the new leaf is pulled out, the water spray on the leaf surface and its surrounding environment should be strengthened during the growth period. During the growth period, the city should pay attention to adequate water supply and keep the basin soil moist, but avoid stagnant water.

(4) when the plant grows too high and the lower part of the plant is hollowed out, the overlong part can be cut off. After cutting off the stem, it will germinate new branches under the remaining section, thus forming an ideal plant type.

8. Propagation methods of Brazilian wood culture

Mainly by cutting propagation. Except for winter, cuttings can be cut in other seasons, but it is better to cut in early summer. The top of the stem with leaves or the side branches that grow after being cut off can be cut, cut in pure sand, placed in shade or shaded by 50% or 80%. Or use current or perennial branches as cuttings, cut into 10-15 cm long, each cuttings with 4-5 nodes, remove the basal leaves. Plant ash or sulfur powder should be applied to the cuttings to prevent the incision from rotting. The cutting substrate is made of plain sand or vermiculite. It can be cut directly or by recumbent cutting. The temperature is controlled at 25: 30 ℃ and a certain humidity is maintained. It can take root in about 30 days.

Cuttings with terminal buds and leaves are easy to root, generally 25-30 days can take root on the basin; stem segments take root slowly, sometimes it takes 60-70 days to root and grow new buds. Rooting agent can be used to promote rooting, such as 1000 times of naphthalene acetic acid quickly dipped in treatment.

Brazilian wood can also be propagated with seeds. However, it is unable to maintain the characteristics of varieties, especially variegated varieties.