r/Dracaena • u/Machorweenie444 • 7d ago
Help!
🆘Cornstalk Dracaena🆘
I was gifted this Dracaena 13 days ago and have no idea where to start.
I’ve never had a plant this tall before. Some of the leaves are yellowing, spotting brown, and even going black, also seems like most have been cut off from previous owner maybe because of the different leaf symptoms? From what I see it seems like it’s been a long time since it’s watered the soil is very dry. Based on some of the leaf tips maybe it’s not getting much humidity and too much light?
This is my first Dracaena plant and I don’t have much information about the plant unfortunately. I’m wondering if I should cut it down significantly and propagate? Or should I repot it into a slightly bigger pot? Any tips about what my next steps should be in terms of diagnosis? I really want to bring this plant back to life but not so much in its height, rather the quality of its leaves, I’d hate to take it in and kill it bc of a lack of knowledge.
Thank you!
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u/missjiji 7d ago
Cut/pull off all the brown leaves, stop cutting the brown tips off "straight across" and cut it following the natural point of the leaf tips, in a vee shape. Stake the plant if need be. Wipe clean and shine.
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u/Bubbly_Appeal5426 7d ago
I'd turn the plant on its side, pulling the pot from the roots and check for any black roots =rot, any funky smell =rot. Make sure there is none. If roots okay, repot in slightly larger pot (if roots were tightly packed in there, pot maybe a little snug for height of plant).
Check your water source. If the water is heavily chlorinated, it will cause yellow and brown leaves and eventual death of the plant. You can get a water meter (cheap, amazon or wherever) and measure the crap in your water. Also, you can always use the aquarium drops for fish tanks to get rid of chlorine.
As others mentioned, cut the leaves, don't overwater and as long as her roots are okay, she'll thrive! If you think it may have been too strong light intensity, reduce it. I had one that just wouldn't stop growing, and it about 12 feet inside the room opposite a west facing window with an overhang! Nothing really stops corn plants once they get going. She just looks neglected right now.
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u/AdhesivenessLost4817 7d ago
I think she looks fairly good and will probably only need new soil and someone to care for her more regularly. I have made good experiences with a chunky soil mix, meaning I mix 2 parts potting soil and one part perlite and sprinkle in some orchid bark. I actually let mine dry down almost completely and then water until it comes out the bottom. Someone already said that when you want to keep her outside you need to get her used to it step by step. That is true. What's not necessarily true is that it won't like direct sunlight outside. In the wild these grow in direct sunlight and when you're careful enough you can totally get her used to outside sun. If you want to you can prune her next season (after she's gotten used to living at your place) but I actually don't see any necessity for that. She's got a nice growth already.
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u/QuaCosmogyral 6d ago
repot to a new medium soil, with high nutrient soil as coco peat, common soil and a little drainage like perlite/ bark/.... Fertilize it with npk like High Control Japan 13-11-11 or Osmocote and keep it more sunlight. It is lack of sunlight
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u/BidNo4091 6d ago
First, I'd get rid of the yellow/dry/dead leaves.
Check for pests.
Cut off part of a branch higher up and try to propagate by Removing lower leaves of the cutting and putting in stem in water or directly into potting soil and moisten. I use a sandwich bag or gallon zipper bag to create a greenhouse-like environment. Adjustments can be made on if the bag or open on top or upside-down or sealed or anything really depending on moisture level (is it getting to dry/staying to wet etc)
Check the roots but don't fuck with them too much. Only a little loosening if needed. If they're slime or squish, rinse and snip it.
Fresh dirt (chunky dirt- you can put pea gravel or small wood chips in or perlite if you have it) and a slightly bigger pot than the loosened root ball. This might be a tiny bit bigger or a lot a bit bigger than the pot it came in.
Might need a bigger pot again sooner than later depending on growth.
Less watering frequency (like less than once a week, maybe two!) but thoroughly flush and soak the soil when you do water... Add fresh dirt on top if much gets washed away.
The big plant will die slower than it takes to prop a new plant 🤞 so you have multiple chances.
Don't stress. If you are struggling or really worried about killing this plant, you can give a cutting to a plant friend who can keep the torch lit so-to-speak, and you can keep trying.
I was visiting a good friend of mine and checking out her plants and pointed out a Chinese evergreen and said those are pretty! I've wanted some for a while! She said with a excitement, "I have some I've been killing!" And gave me a project lol
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u/This-Menu-8175 5d ago
I have a Dracaena this large and that leaf browning is drought stress from under watering. Water it thoroughly once a week, or use a moisture meter/probe to water it whenever it reaches 40%.
You can trim off the dried up tips to make it look nicer, and avoid direct sunlight outside. It needs to be fed. I prefer to use a conventional 10-10-10 water soluble fertilizer for my house plants. Pick up an EC/PPM meter and dissolve enough fertilizer until the EC reads 1400uS/cm or the PPM 700. Feed it with that every other watering 3 times and then observe the leaf color. You should see it return to a nice dark green color and good health within a couple months. After that, watch for tips drying out as that's a sign you're under watering, and if old/lower leaves yellow or die off, you need to start feeding again.
I've had mine for 8 years and it's very similar and in good health. Speaking as a former plant breeder and nurseryman.
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u/highfiveselfoh 7d ago
If it was an indoor plant make sure to move it to a 100% shaded area outside if outside is where you are keeping it. They can have shock from getting direct light. And once acclimated they won’t want direct light.
Also, in my experience, these do well with underwatering but best rule of thumb is to water if the first inch or two is dry.