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Riparium Plant: Dieffenbachia

10930 Views 16 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  hydrophyte, 
H
Last week I picked up a houseplant that looks like a good riparium candidate, a Dieffenbachia cultivar.



The plant did not have any kind of label, so I don't know which specific variety it is. It has attractive leaves anyway.

I imagine that it will respond well to riparium culture. I remember seeing a stand of of large Dieffenbachia in a real wet location out in the rainforest. They look like plants that would grow well in swampy conditions. This plant will probably get bigger, but I hope that I will be able to control its size by trimming leaves.

I potted this one up in a Small Hanging Planter and situated it in my newly updated 20-gallon setup.


Like many of the most popular tropical foliage plants, Dieffenbachia are aroids, members of Family Araceae.

I wrote a few additional observations on this plant into a post on my blog.

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=150

I'll try to remember to return to this thread with a report on how well it grows.
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H

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
I think that it will grow pretty well in there.

This could be a good plant for that setup of yours shrimpo. DO you still have any of those planters left? I have often seen Diffenbachia like this one and similar among the houseplants in grocery stores or at Home Depot or wherever. They are common houseplants.
 
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I think that this plant will get somewhat bigger, but I imagine that the size can be controlled somewhat by trimming the largest leaves.

Are your other plants growing in that light? I understand that Diffenbachia only need moderate light, so if your other stuff is growing then it will probably be sufficient. However, 30 watts is pretty dim, and I imagine that the fixture probably has T12s. Is that right?

You might try looking around for one of these where you see houseplants for sale.
 
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Well it sounds as though it is enough light anyway.

Hey for planting plants like this one and others that might not necessarily do well with oxygen-poor substrates here is a good method.

For this Spathiphyllum peace lily I filled the bottom 2/3 of the cup with expanded clay pebbles as I planted the plant, then capped with a layer of finer gravel, which helped to hold the lightweight clay pebbles inside.
 
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Discussion Starter · #17 ·
That's funny. It seems that it is still busy season for houseplants here.

I wonder if potted plants are more likely to be enjoyed as patio foliage in your neck of the woods(?).

Hey Hoppy did I ever mention the blog Plants are the Strangest People to you? It is worth checking it out. It is one of only a few very good sites dedicated to houseplants. Here is the link...

http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/

As one would expect Asiatica currently offers several new and/or unusual Dieffenbachia. This one is described as being much smaller than most.

http://www.asiaticanursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=1416





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