The key to growing a syngonium - Neglect!

I'm not joking. This is a photo of the one that resides in my office at work and it has been with me for the past 9 years. I've never changed the soil or repotted it. It's never had any fertiliser. It gets very little sunlight. And there have been many times when I've forgotten to water it.

Yet, it keeps surviving. I would be amazed if I could actually kill it as it seems impervious to any form of neglect.

But I do feel a little sympathetic to my plant from time to time. It has been so faithful and continually bears new foliage despite my lack of affection.

Syngonium plants aren't high maintenance. This is why they are a common indoor plant that many home gardeners opt for and do well with. They enjoy a moist soil but can live in any medium even when it dries fully (though not for long).

Your syngonium does need light for most of the day for perfect growing conditions. However, they can extract enough sunlight from a room that is barely lit without needing to sit on a windowsill. This syngonium in its pot never sees the light so the foliage has climbed down and extracts what it needs.

Syngoniums can be propagated from leaf cuttings.

CORRECTION:

Gary from Plant-Care.com has picked up a wee error in my plant identification. In his recent comment he states;

I agree with the "neglect" aspect of care for this house plant or office plant I guess is more correct. Many plant owners give their plants way too much love and attention.

However, the plant in the photo is a pothos and not a syngonium. They are in the same family, require basically the same care but are two different plants.

I posted a few couple for reference. syngonium images and a pothos.

Keep up the good work and keep sharing your plant knowledge!

Thank you for being so polite in your correction Gary. This is certainly my bad and I apologise to my readers for getting this plant mixed up and leading you all astray. I must admit that I had never even heard the term 'pothos' until Gary mentioned it and now I'm wondering whether I've ever seen these plants marketed as such. I shall continue to investigate.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (6)

Dracaena Marginata is not a plant that you grow for flowers - it's the foliage you're after. You can either grow it in the ground, planted en masse, or as a stand alone feature planted by itself in a decorative container.

And, it can grow just as well indoors as it does outdoors (that's if you live in a semi-tropical to tropical planting zone, that is). Dracaena's aren't very fond of frost but they can tolerate colder climates so long as they're protected. They don't like too much water but prefer their growing medium to be moist.

Draceana's come from the Dragon Tree, dracaena draco, which is a native plant to the Canary Islands, so their growing habits, likes and dislikes, and temperamental preferences are all very similar.

They can grow to more than 4m (12-13ft) but can easily be kept smaller by pruning the stems prior to spring.

The stems of a draceana marginata are commonly flexible and thin and seem adequately disproportionate to its height and also the foliage that tops it. They can easily be bent and shaped to conform to your structural desires by using bonsai wire to contort each stem.

If your dracaena is only single-stemmed and you want it to branch out, cut the foliage from the top and reduce the stem to the desired height. Within a few months the foliage will begin to bud from the wound and new branches will grow.

How to propagate dracaena maginata

Draceana's can be propagated by a variety of ways but the most easiest is by taking a cutting from the stem and after applying some rooting hormone to the base (don't forget which end is 'up') firmly push it into some potting mix. Water frequently and apply a liquid fertilizer when the foliage begins to appear.

Other methods of propagating dracaena include air-layering and basal root cuttings.

Fertilising dracaena marginata

Soluble liquid fertilisers are the best form of nutrient release for dracaena's but during their dormant period you can also add some slow release pellets to their growing area or container.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (0)