Dieffenbachia is popular with flower growers due to its unpretentious care and beautiful appearance. Not everyone is able to grow it without problems. Often, due to errors in care and when planting a plant in the ground, the flower loses its decorative effect. The article contains the reasons why the leaves turn yellow in Dieffenbachia.

Improper care or conditions

Despite the fact that Dieffenbachia belongs to picky indoor crops, this does not cancel the need for care. Before you purchase a plant, you must familiarize yourself with the recommendations for care. Their ignoring leads to various problems, the development of diseases, and the loss of decorativeness.

Important! ABOUTDieffenbachia rgana (for example, leaves) contain poisonous juice, which when irritated by the skin causes irritation, and if in the oral cavity — then a swelling of the mucous membranes. Temporary blindness and other serious visual impairment may occur. Dieffenbachia should not be grown in apartments where there are small children and pets.

Poor lighting or direct sunlight

Dieffenbachia should grow in bright but diffused lighting. The lack of light affects the beauty of the leaves - they turn pale, yellow and fall. Direct sunlight is dangerous for the plant. Such contact causes burns on the leaves, which appear as yellow and brown spots. The plant is best grown on the western and eastern windowsills. When placed on the south window, it is necessary to shade it.

Heavy watering

You need to water this indoor culture regularly. For her, both prolonged growth in dry soil and too abundant watering are not at all desirable. The fact that you are excessively zealous with moistening the soil will be prompted by the condition of the leaves - they will turn yellow. You can save the plant by extracting and drying the earthen coma, watering with an antifungal agent or a solution of potassium permanganate.

Abundantly water the plant only in the period from spring to autumn. In winter, the frequency and volume of watering should be reduced. Water the plant with warm, settled, filtered, rain or melt water at room temperature.

Low humidity

Dry air is becoming the most common reason why leaf tips turn yellow. The homeland of Dieffenbachia is the tropics, so it requires high humidity.

Important! When the plant is kept in a room with a temperature of +18 ° C, it can not be sprayed. To maintain humidity, the leaves should be wiped with a damp cloth.

You can achieve the desired moisture in several ways:

1. Spray the plant with warm water more often (spraying in the summer is especially important).
2. Place the pot on a pallet with wet pebbles or expanded clay.
3. Install a humidifier in the room.

Draft

The flower loves fresh air, but does not tolerate drafts. Their effect may lead to yellowing of the foliage. When ventilating a room where Dieffenbachia grows, it is necessary to transfer it to another room or make sure that it is not under a stream of cold air.

Small pot

For this plant, it is necessary to pick up a pot 2-3 cm larger than its root system. Some gardeners, in an effort to limit the growth of a flower, plant it in a container too small. In this case, the leaves may turn yellow and fall. Young plants need to be transshipped annually into a slightly larger flower pot - about 2 cm - (once they reach 5 years of age - once every 2-3 years).

Incorrect soil

The soil for dieffenbachia is not very important. But if the plant did not fit the one in which it was placed, then you need to transplant it to another. A loose, fairly dense earth with good water and air permeability is suitable for it. You can prepare the appropriate soil in several ways:

1. Mix universal substrate with high peat content (70%) and baking powder (30%): perlite, vermiculite, coarse sand, crushed bark, coconut.
2. Combine 4 parts of soddy soil and 1 part of leaf, peat, sand.

A prerequisite for planting a plant is the presence of drainage at the bottom of the pot. It is made from expanded clay, coarse sand, broken brick, charcoal. When grafting and forming the crown, protection of the hands and face is necessary: ​​all work is performed with gloves, and after manipulations, hands are washed with soap under running water.

Non-compliance with temperature

The cause of yellowing of the foliage can also be incorrect temperature indicators. Most often, this problem occurs when the flower is hot. The ideal temperature for the content of Dieffenbachia in the summer is + 20 ... 26 ° С, in winter - not lower than + 16 ... 18 ° С. Deviation from these indicators affects the growth, development and appearance of the flower.

Deficiency or excess of minerals

Like any other indoor plants, Dieffenbachia needs regular feeding. They are especially important in the phase of active growth, when the nutrients of the flower are especially necessary. Lack of nutrition, as well as an overabundance of any element leads to the fact that the leaves turn yellow.

Indoor culture is fed with root fertilizers developed for ornamental and deciduous plants, 2 times a month at intervals of 2 weeks. Starting in September, the frequency of fertilizer application is reduced to 1 time per month.

Pests

The causes of yellowed foliage in a flower may be a defeat by pests. Some of them feed on leaves, others suck out the juice along with nutrients from the plant. Mass reproduction of pests can lead to the death of indoor culture.

Aphid

This is a small sucking insect that is difficult to detect. It lives on the lower leaf plate. It looks like a small black or green dot. It happens with wings and without. It feeds on plant juices. The first symptoms of the presence of an insect immediately affect the foliage. First, it turns yellow, and then curls and falls. With a strong infection, the plant dies.With a small spread of pests, it is necessary to treat the ground part of the plant with a soap solution. In advanced cases, treatment with Akarin, Inta-Vir, Fufanon, Fitoverm, Aktara (these are insecticides) will be required.

Important! The reasons why the lower leaves turn yellow in Dieffenbachia may not always be the mistake of the owner, the development of the disease or the defeat of the pest. Most often this happens for a natural reason - the formation of the stem and the dropping of old foliage.

Shield

Scabies can be found on the stem. This is a small insect with a shell. Like aphids, she sucks the juice from the plant. Scabies appears on plants with weakened immunity, which feed incorrectly, grow in soil with an excess of nitrogen, in the absence of proper care. Infection occurs from plant to plant.The first symptoms of the appearance of the scale are sticky fluid on the trunk. Destroy it by scraping with a brush. Acetic wipes are also effective, rubbing with tincture of garlic, red pepper. In case of severe infection, they resort to chemical treatment using Fitoverm, Actellik, Metafos.

Thrips

Thrips are small insects with 2 wings up to 2 mm in size of black, brown or yellow. The fact that these parasites chose a plant is indicated by small holes on the leaves, brown spots, deformation of the stems. Their reproduction is facilitated by dry air and the absence of spraying. They treat the flower with the insecticides Actellik, Inta-Vir, Fitoverm, Aktara.

Mealybug

A characteristic sign of the defeat by the mealybug is white, similar to cotton wool, discharge on the stem, leaves, shoots. These parasites, eating juice of a flower, negatively affect its growth, development and decorativeness. Pests are easy to detect on the plant - they move quickly, covered with a white coating. A parasite appears on plants growing at temperatures above +25 ° C and high humidity. Waterlogging of the soil contributes to its development.Infection occurs precisely through the soil. Remove the worms by wiping the leaves with soap and water, cyclamen broth, garlic, tobacco infusions. With severe infection, resort to the use of insecticides - "Actara", "Confidor", "Fitoverma", "Biotlin".

Spider mite

The presence of a spider mite is indicated by the presence of cobwebs on the stem and leaves. The tick itself can be found on the lower leaf plate. It looks like a shallow black dot. Since this harmful insect does not like coolness and high humidity, and dry air and heat provoke its appearance, one of the ways to deal with it is to spray the plant and put a plastic bag on it for several days.

Did you know? In the USA, Dieffenbachia juice was used to punish slaves. It was enough to chew the leaf petiole, and the slave had paralysis of the muscles of the face — he could neither eat nor talk. For its properties, the plant was named «dumb rods».

After this time, the insect will die. Also, they struggle with mites with soap wipes with the help of Fitoverm, Bi-58, Karate, Iskra-M, Actellik.

Disease

Dieffenbachia, if the conditions for caring for it are not observed, can be affected by diseases - fungal, bacterial, viral. One of the symptoms of the lesion is yellowing of the foliage.

Anthracnose

A characteristic symptom is yellowish or brown spots with a yellow fringing on the edge of the leaf and on the stem. Subsequently, yellowing and drying of the leaves occurs. The disease develops with excessive watering and waterlogging of the soil. It is necessary to treat as follows: place the flower under a warm shower, remove damaged organs, transplant into a new disinfected soil and pot, treat with “Ridomil Gold MC”, “Skor”, “Fundazol”, “Previkur”.

Root rot

Root rot can be detected during transplantation or suspected when the plant begins to turn yellow and the leaves wilt. It is manifested by the appearance of concave dark spots on the root neck and a light gray coating on the rhizome. The main reasons are bay, planting in contaminated soil, poor maintenance. In order to save the plant, it is transplanted and treated with means "Alinin-B", "Maxim", "Diskor".

Leaf spotting

If a brown spot with a yellow border appears on the sheet, which tends to grow, then this disease is spotting. The disease affects those crops that grow at high temperatures and humidity. The plant must be isolated, diseased leaves removed, treatment with Topsin or Fundazol fungicide.

Bacteriosis

A dangerous bacterial disease, which in most cases leads to the death of a room culture. It manifests itself by the formation of watery spots on the leaves, which later turn yellow and dry. Infection comes from a diseased plant. Bacteriosis cannot be treated, so the flower needs to be destroyed. This should be done as soon as possible, since it poses a threat to other indoor crops.

Bronze

A sign of infection with bronze is yellow or brown spots of rounded shape. The leaves wilted as a result of the lesion do not fall, but remain on the plant. The flower itself stops its growth. The carriers of the disease are thrips. At the first signs of the development of the disease, treatment with drugs should be started: “Aktara”, “Fitoverm”, “Actovit”.

Viral Mosaic

When this viral disease is affected, the flower stops growing, and mosaic spots form on its leaves. The causative agent is transmitted through the soil, an already used pot, is carried by aphids and other harmful insects. Like any viral disease, the mosaic is not treatable. The flower, soil and pot are subject to destruction.

Did you know? Dieffenbachia is able to purify indoor air from harmful substances such as formaldehyde, benzene, xylene.

So, a whole complex of factors can lead to yellowing of the leaves in dieffenbachia. To cure a plant, it is necessary to establish the exact cause and eliminate it.