Draceana Massingeana dying??

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by Savvy, Apr 25, 2017.

  1. Savvy

    Savvy New Member

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    Hello. Im new to plants. I dont have a really green thumb. I cant figure out what happened to my smallest cane. Its leaves died and stalk died. so I cut it off. The other stalk fell off, but is still alive. I placed it in water and it is growing new roots currently. The cane is now stalkless. What seems to have caused it all is the outside started to wither. The Outside bark started drying and is flaky. It literally peels off. Underneath the bark is black yucky stuff. But underneath that the cane seems to sill live and is hard to the touch not mushy. what is this? fungus?? I would repot the whole thing but I dont even know how!!!
     

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  2. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

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    Yuck. Those areas where the outer "bark" is slipping are already dead. The black damp stuff is the circulatory system of the cane. Once it's dead, the rest is, too. You would have to cut/saw down below the loose skin to where it all holds together nicely in order for this particular cane to regrow. And there really may not be any of that cane left that is viable. It could be a number of reasons, but overwatering is very common. The other canes don't look too bad. Could be lots better, but are managing.

    Repotting is a cinch. The black pot they are in now is a bit small for the height and weight of the cluster. The outer pot, if it has drainage, may be too large. Dracaenas prefer tighter quarters in my experience. Potting mixes are available by the bag at any big box store or nursery. Lots of reasons why people don't like certain mixes, but an all purpose mix should be fine. You would want to lay it all out on a tarp or something outside, tease and pull the canes out of the pot they are in, feel for rotted roots around the bottom especially, pull off anything that stinks or feels squishy, any potting mix that comes off easily, and any dead cane. Put some new potting mix in the bottom of the larger pot. (You can put a coffee filter over the drainage hole if the mix comes out too easily, but it will mostly stay inside the pot.) When you put the canes in, you want to plant them at the same depth they've been. It's not as critical with canes like these, but still a good idea. Since you've removed a lot of useless mix and dead material, you may need to prop the canes as you add new potting mix. That's fine. They will stabilize once they start growing new roots. A couple of rocks or chunks of firewood or funky concrete mushrooms maybe? Whatever, you'll only need them for a few months. And you can add in the part you've been growing in water now.
     

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