Care for Dieffenbachia is easy and rewarding, and this versatile indoor plant will bring tropical beauty to any space. Its striking foliage and air-purifying qualities make it a popular choice for home and office environments. But what are the essential care requirements for Dieffenbachia, and how do you keep it healthy and vibrant? In this article, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know about caring for your Dieffenbachia, from watering and light to temperature and humidity. We’ll also explore the fascinating history of this plant, its toxicity, and how to propagate it.
Dieffenbachia (Dieffenbachia Amoena) is a typical and traditional plant from many years ago. Another name for this plant is the dumb cane! Because if eaten, due to the its poisonous sap, a person may lose the power of speech. This plant has about 12 different species in the world and belongs to the Araceae family, and is native to Brazil.
Scientific Name | Dieffenbachia spp. |
Common Name | Leopard Lily ,Dumb Cane ,Exotica |
Family | Araceae |
Height | 0.6 to 1.2 meters (2 to 4 feet) |
Spread | 0.3 to 0.6 meters (1 to 2 feet) |
Foliage | Broad, oblong, pointed leaves with variegated patterns |
Leaf Size | 10-20 cm (4-8 inches) long and 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) wide |
Flower | Inflorescence consisting of a spadix and spathe |
Bloom Time | Late summer to fall |
Toxicity | Poisonous if ingested, may cause irritation if touched |
Light | Bright, indirect light |
Temperature | 18-24°C (65-75°F) |
Humidity | High humidity (50-80%) |
Common Problems | Yellowing leaves, root rot, spider mites, mealybugs |
This beautiful plant has large leaves that combine yellow, green and white colours. The leaves of this plant grow simultaneously as the stem grows, and over time, the stem loses its leaves; due to the growth of the plant, the lower leaves fall, and the stem is left alone as a single-branched rod.
In addition, this plant is considered a poisonous plant. Avoid contact of children and animals with the plant because this plant has substances that can blind the human eye. Of course, with care, you can enjoy keeping this beautiful plant.
It is interesting to know that Dieffenbachia is classified as a resistant and air-purifying plant, and it is very easy to keep; Dieffenbachia has pointed and oval leaves in various combinations of green, cream and white colors. In its native areas, when it reaches maturity, this plant can grow up to 3 meters, and the size of its leaves reaches 50 cm, so it is considered a giant plant.
Introducing Dieffenbachia
The scientific name of this plant is Dieffenbachia amoena, and Dieffenbachia in English belongs to the Araceae family and is native to Central and South America. Therefore, it can grow well if provided with good humidity, proper nutrition and excellent light.
This plant has a soft stem, the leaves of which have a beautiful colour pattern, the stem is often unbranched, and the terminal bud are constantly growing and active; over time, the lower leaves fall, and the stem becomes bare. Dieffenbachia has large, oval, pointed, green leaves with beautifully white, cream and yellow patterns in the middle part of the leaf, which can be seen from both sides.
Is Dieffenbachia poisonous?
It might be interesting to know that the name of this plant in Persian is poison leaf, which indicates the poisonous nature of its leaves. Note that Dieffenbachia’s poisonous sap will irritate your children’s or pets’ bodies. So, it is better to keep this plant’s pot out of the children’s reach. The common name of this plant is dumb cane, because its sap is poisonous. When it comes into contact with sensitive parts of the body, such as the lips, it produces blisters and stuttering, but note that Adenium is more toxic than Dieffenbachia. But in some sources, it is introduced as a deadly plant; however, it is exaggeration. Inside the leaves of this plant, there is calcium oxalate, which, if swallowed by your pets or children, will cause heartache, sore throat, numbness and tingling. It will bring the mouth.
care for dieffenbachia
In general, this plant is susceptible to room air conditioning and watering, and it is better to use it as an apartment plant that receives indirect sunlight and not be exposed to direct light in any way. Choose rich soil with high drainage. And if you can provide humidity above 50%, it will grow ideally, and we will examine all the cases one by one.
How much light does Dieffenbachia need to grow?
It needs a bright environment with indirect light. Placing the plant at a little distance from the south or east window is better. If you want your plant to grow well, it is better to place it where it receives a lot of filtered light (with curtains or frosted glass) during the day; at least 6 to 8 hours can help your plant grow well fast.
If your home or workplace does not have enough light, you can use artificial light to provide this light for the plant. The distance from the light to the tip of the leaf without a lens should be 20 Inch. Note that the plant cannot tolerate direct sunlight. In these conditions, the leaves will cause drying leaves on plant; on the contrary, if the amount of light received is low, the Dieffenbachia leaves will turn pale.
If you expose the plant to direct light from the beginning of spring, it will gradually get used to these conditions, and at the very beginning, the plant’s growth will stop for one to two months so that it can get used to those conditions.
Dark green varieties are more shade tolerant. But in general, the shade makes the plant grow grassy. In general, too much light causes the leaves of Dieffenbachia to burn. On the other hand, if the colour of your plant’s leaves is very yellow or white, too much shade may cause the plant to turn pale.
Dieffenbachia watering
One of the central and most important requirements for the rapid growth of Dieffenbachia is correct and necessary watering; try to do the first watering entirely in such a way that after watering, Throw away the excess water comes out of the pot and then let the soil in the pot dry to a depth of 1.8 -1.5 inch and then water it again.
Too much and too little watering will damage the plant. Under-watering will cause your plant to wither and over-watering will cause dieffenbachia leaves turning yellow. If this process continues, it will cause your plant to rot and die, so be careful when watering.
This plant does not need a lot of watering in the winter, and for Dieffenbachia to rest, water it whenever the soil dries up to 1.5- 2 inch. Make sure that after watering, the excess water comes out from under the pot because Accumulation of water under the pot is like watering a lot; in addition, it is better to use water without salts for watering Dieffenbachia (boil the water and leave it at ambient temperature for 24 hours until it reaches the ambient temperature and then water the plant).
also read Water For indoor plants
Do not specify the time for watering in any way because it will cause your plant to die; watering dieffenbachia in the apartment is an art. There is no exact time to determine its watering day. You should consider the weather conditions, the time of year you are in, the type of soil, the amount of light received, the amount of humidity and the plant’s location and create a correct watering pattern for Dieffenbachia according to the results of all these factors and find the Best Time to Water Your Plants. Of course, this also applies to other plants; you can never say exactly how much watering a plant needs.
Dieffenbachia keeping temperature
Dieffenbachia is like a relatively warm environment, and the cold causes the plant’s lower leaves to fall. This plant likes the temperature of 57 to 75 Fahrenheit and will have proper growth. But the winter temperature should not be too low, and for a short time, you can tolerate up to 50 Fahrenheit, but if it is long, it will cause the lower leaves to fall.
But if the temperature of your house is above 75 Fahrenheit, remember to spray and make an island for this plant. At the same time, with the increase in temperature, the amount of watering should also increase. If you live in cold areas, place the plant on the terrace inside the house and away from the glass during the winter. All parts of the plant will grow more slowly at temperatures below 60 Fahrenheit.
What should be the humidity level of Dieffenbachia keeping?
The Dieffenbachia plant likes a warm and humid environment; this plant likes moisture, but try to fill the pot with pebbles instead of spraying and, in this way, provide the moisture needed by the plant; this process is called island construction. Of course, basic dusting and using a cold misting machine are ways to provide moisture to Dieffenbachia. It generally likes 50-70% humidity; in this condition, it will grow ideally with broad and beautiful leaves. Never place this plant near heating devices because drying the air in the environment will damage the plant.
What is the suitable soil for Dieffenbachia?
Dieffenbachia soil should have good drainage because this plant likes to avoid very wet and always wet soil. Wet soil will cause the roots to rot. Interestingly, this plant is resistant enough to grow in heavy and light soils. Still, for Dieffenbachia to grow fast and excellently, it is better to choose a soil with high and rich drainage from the prepared soils available. You can use the market that has cocopeat and peat moss. Still, at home, I use the combination of cocopeat soil + perlite + peat moss + a little garden soil, be sure to disinfect the prepared soil before using it or water it twice. Do the first with soil disinfectant or fungicide. When you fill the pot with soil, it is better to fill the bottom with pebbles to increase drainage (the bottom should also have holes).
You can use African violet soil and light soils for this plant. Another recommended composition for Dieffenbachia can be one-third multipurpose clay + one-third of coal moss + one-third of gravel or perlite. be Spring is the best time to change the soil or transfer the plant to a new pot. Please do not overdo it; choose a pot with multiple drainage holes.
also read this article about choosing a pot for your plant
Dieffenbachia fertilization
It would help if you Care for Dieffenbachia by feeding this plant in the growing season using fertilizers that have equal amounts of high-use elements; from spring to late summer, you can use NPK (20-20-20 or 12-12-36) fertilizers every two weeks. Do pay attention to dissolving the mentioned fertilizers in water and give them to the plant as irrigation; stop fertilizing in the cold seasons of the year. You can also use humic acid every three months to regulate and improve soil performance.
Dieffenbachia pruning
Dieffenbachia does not need much pruning because it grows vertically, and it is enough to remove only the yellow and withered leaves of the plant.
Should we clean the leaves of Dieffenbachia?
You can use a sponge or a wet cloth to clean the leaves of this plant every month, but due to the poisonous nature of the leaves, be sure to pay attention to the following points. Be careful not to scratch the leaves. to clean houseplant leaves, hold the leaf with your left hand and gently clean the leaves with a sponge or wet cloth with your right hand every three weeks.
Dieffenbachia repotting
it is one of the important part of dieffenbachia care The plant’s growth is manageable to repotting every year and not too little. It is better to repot it every two to three years with a pot that is one size (20%) more significant than the old pot. You can repot in any year’s season but provide the conditions mentioned above. When the roots of the plant come out from under the pot or the growth of the plant stops, it shows that it is time to change the pot.
Dieffenbachia propagation methods at home
If your plant is very tall and the stem does not have many leaves, it is better to cut the plant.
This will give you both a shorter plant and a few more plant. Dieffenbachia can be propagated by dividing the plant and stem cuttings, which is the best and most correct method of taking cuttings from the plant. For this, you can use 2-inch cuttings. If it has a bud, place it in the room environment for 2-3 days to dry, then place it horizontally on the sandy soil to start rooting. Note that you must use gloves when propagating. Rooting of cuttings may take up to two months.
Below are other methods of Dieffenbachia propagation.
• When the age of this plant increases and its growth increases, its stems become leafless and are seen bare at this time. You can also reproduce it by dividing the stem and cuttings.
• You can reproduce Dieffenbachia by air-sleeping method from spring to summer
Dieffenbachia problems and diseases
Dieffenbachia plants are primarily trouble-free, but if you do not provide the right conditions and proper ventilation, the plant will suffer from diseases and problems. Our plants tell us about their issues with signs on their leaves, so be very careful with Dieffenbachia leaves. We discussed Dieffenbachia’s problems and also other Houseplant Diseases separately in a separate article, but in the following, we will briefly examine some of the issues.
What is the cause of the paleness of Dieffenbachia leaves?
This sign can have two main reasons: too much light; if the colour of your plant’s leaves tends to be white, the intensity of the light received by the plant is likely too high, or the plant needs fertilization. And if the colour of the leaves becomes pale, it can be due to a lack of light.
The reason for the presence of cotton whites on Dieffenbachia leaves
The cause of this is the presence of insects that you use insecticides or penetrating poisons every 14 days. To solve the problem of the plant thoroughly.
What is the cause of dieffenbachia leaves falling?
This problem can be due to improper light. Dieffenbachia likes filtered light. If your plant has drooping leaves or stems, it may mean that the received direct light is too much. Move the plant to a place with indirect sunlight. transfer
However, the leaves may turn yellow and droop if it does not receive enough light. Another reason could be improper temperature; this plant may fall due to being cold or close to the window in winter, so you have to move the plant to a place with a higher temperature.
What is the reason for the drying of the leaves of the Dieffenbachia plant?
In hot and dry weather, the leaves of this plant will dry, be sure to supply moisture to your plant in such cases. It means that with the increase in temperature, you should increase the humidity and watering of the environment; of course, drying and burning on the leaves can also be caused by direct light.
What is the cause of burns on Daphne leaves?
If you do not do the dusting correctly and adequately, this problem will occur, postpone the water spray on the leaves to the evening or morning.
How to make Dieffenbachia fuller?
To keep your Dieffenbachia plant plump, you need to prune long branches and branches that have gone out of their way so that they will sprout and grow again. This should be done with scissors or a sharp and clean knife. Make a 45-degree diagonal cut so that at least 6 inch of the branch remains, and remember to make this cut above the leaf node so the stem can grow back thicker. And make your plant complete.
Should you prune dieffenbachia yellow leaves?
You should know that if dieffenbachia leaves turn yellow, they cannot be revived and returned to their original colour. Therefore, it is better to prune the yellow leaves of Dieffenbachia from the plant so that it does not cause disease or spread to other leaves and plants.
What are the cause of dieffenbachia leaf and stem rot?
One of the diseases of this plant is Botrytis fungus; in this case, the cause is botrytis fungus, which protects itself from cold and humid weather and reduces dusting. Keep the plant at a temperature of 60 and spray it with fungicide according to the instructions.
How do we know that Dieffenbachia has aphids?
If you see a white bump and a ball on the plant’s stem, it means that the mealybug has attacked your plant, and you must first remove it from the plant with an ear cleaner and alcohol and then use poisons such as Confider every two to three weeks. Spray it with poison until the problem is completely solved.
I explained about the mealybug in another article, which you must read.
Yellowing of lower leaves and brown spots on Dieffenbachia
This is a sign in the plant that you overwatered the plant, and you should let the soil dry first and then water it. Throughout the year, observe all the points mentioned regarding watering.
Conclusion on dieffenbachia care
In this article, try to explain everything necessary for you about the needs and maintenance of the Dieffenbachia plant at home or at the workplace, what is left unsaid or raise a question in your mind in the comments.
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