Angel asked on
December 2004:
I recently bought a Diffenbachia
(dumb cane) in fair condition. The leaves
started to turn brown and a few of the leaves
had bug bites. So, I washed them and cut
the stems back a bit. It started sprouting,
but on the bottom a piece of the stalk rotted
off. I have now managed to cut off all of
the leaves except one, leaving just the
new sprout and the stalk. Did I kill this
Plant and can I start a new one from the
base? I am fairly new to house plants but
have managed to grow three different plants
beautifully. Do I need to keep it in low
light or by a window? And will it re-grow
from the base or just from the top? Thank
you in advance.
We replied:
Don't worry, your plant is not dead yet,
and it is possible to start a new plant
from the base. The sprout that you described
should eventually grow into a new stalk
and new plant. You can also grow a new
plant from the existing stalk using air
layering. Air layering is a method of
plant propagation where you make a small
incision into the stem, wrap it in spaghnum
moss in plastic, and then new roots will
form from the incision mark. When the
roots are fully formed, you can them cut
the stalk off, and re-pot it to form a
new plant. The following link is from
Iowa State University, and has a great
illustrative guide to air layering. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM268.pdf
You may want to check the
roots and other stalks to make sure they
are not suffering from rot. If so it they
are, then it may be best to make new plants
if the damage is very severe. The same
also applies to pest damage.
Your Diffenbachia will
continue to grow, but new leaves will
form from the top of the plant, and the
lower leaves that you lost will unfortunately
not be replaced. Diffenbachias do best
in medium light, so it will do best placed
in a window that receives a medium amount
of indirect light.
Julie asked on
November 2004:
My diffenbachia is quite mature, but has
just started being plagued by yellow leaves.
The yellow leaves appear to be the smaller
leaves. The plant doesn't appear to be over
watered.
We replied:
Yellow leaves can be caused
by several different factors. My first
guess would be that they are probably
caused by the plant being too root-bound.
The following link has more information
on how to determine if a plant is too
root-bound, and how to re-pot it. http://www.plantoasis.com/articles/1001_1020/1001_re-potting.htm
If the plant is not root-bound,
then it is also possible that the yellow
leaves may be caused by another factor,
such as a nutrition-deficiency if it has
not been fertilized for a long time. In
which case, fertilizing the plant will
probably help.
Amy asked on
September 2004:
We have such a Plant (Diffenbachias)
at our Office and it is growing so tall
it falls over. Is there a way to transplant
and or cut down without killing it or at
least with less trauma to the plant?
We replied:
If the plant and planter
both are tipping over, you could try transplanting
the plant into a heavy container. A heavy
planter will act as an anchor and shouldn't
tip over. If it's only the plant that's
falling over in the planter, then you
could tie the plant to stakes for support
so that it doesn't fall over.
Since Diffenbachias can
be propagated by stem cuttings, it would
theoretically be possible to cut your
plant, then re-root the cuttings to get
a shorter plant. However, if the cuttings
do not root, then you'd risk losing the
whole plant. I would not recommend risking
it, especially if you have a mature sized
specimen plant.
As I mentioned before,
Diffenbachia's can be propagated by stem
cuttings. So yes, you could slice the
plant down, and then brush rooting hormone
over the cuttings, and then keep it in
moist spaghnum moss until it rooted, and
then transplant.
Rose asked on
August 2004:
I have a huge Diffenbachia
with four main stalks that reaches my living
room ceiling. Lower leaves have started
to fall off and it is looking rather spindly.
It is definitely pot-bound and top-heavy
but I don't know what to do. I would like
it to be shorter and fuller. What should
I do?
We replied:
If your plant is root-bound,
probably one of the best things that you
can do for it is to re-pot. I would suggest
looking for a heavy pot since your plant
is so tall. Sometimes top-heavy plants
can tip over a lighter pot. I'd also look
for a pot about 1-2 sizes larger than
your plant's current container.
This link contains general
re-potting instructions:
http://plantoasis.com/articles/1001_1020/1001_re-potting.htm
Normally, a plant should
be re-potted up to its current level in
its new pot. However, Diffenbachias are
one of the few plants that can actually
be placed deeper in the soil. This is
one thing that can be done to make your
plant appear shorter.
To make your plant appear
fuller, one method for re-growing lower
leaves on Diffenbachia is air layering.
The following link provides graphic instructions
on how to do air layering:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/airlayer/airlayer.html
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